The Drivers

Many of you know that my family escaped to the United States approximately 34 years ago from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon.   My father was a pilot during the war and he flew for the South Vietnamese army. When I was a child, I heard many war stories from my mother and father.  The stories seemed almost Hollywood-like, tons of explosion, chaos, and pandemonium.  When my family finally arrived to the U.S. it was my parent’s goal to become United States citizens. “We are proud to be American and we should exercise the right to vote! ” My parents would proudly say.  Clearly, becoming a US citizen was a big deal given that my parents had never had the opportunity to vote or to voice their opinion about their government growing up in a communist country.  I remember my father always saying, “We are lucky that we are able to complain about our government!”

Recently, two men named Jan Herman (a historian for the Navy Medical Department) and Captain Paul H. Jacobs (a USN Retired Commanding Officer USS KIRK FF1087 {74-76}) went on a Vietnamese television news station in Washington D.C. to say that they were looking for a pilot that flew a CH47 to the USS KIRK FF1087 on April 29th, 1975.  Apparently, this pilot hovered over the USS KIRK FF 1087 and dropped off approximately 60 Vietnamese on this vessel.  The pilot was not able to land his Chinook helicopter on this vessel because it was too large.  As a result, this pilot had to fly out into the Pacific, steer his helicopter so that it would be ditched into the sea, and jump out of the helicopter, seconds before it would crash into the Pacific.  34 years later, Mr. Herman and Mr. Jacobs are looking for this pilot so they can complete their documentary film called, “The Lucky Few” and also to honor him for his heroism and courage.

Despite the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who immigrated to the US during the fall of Saigon, the Vietnamese community is very small and we all seem to know each other.  Long story short, the pilot that Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Herman is looking for, is my father.

Looking at these photos that Mr. Herman and Mr. Jacobs have shared with my family recently has been incredibly moving.  I can’t believe how brave and heroic my father was during this time.   I am so proud of my father’s work in saving so many lives and I think to myself, he must have had to make such quick but careful decisions during this time of turmoil.

This is a picture of the USS KIRK FF1087 on April 29th, 1975

Here is my father in his CH47 flying towards the vessel.  The men on deck are signaling to let him know that he cannot land.

In this photo below, my father has turned the helicopter to its side to crash into the water.  By this time, my father has already jumped out into the Pacific.

Navy men came out in a boat to get my father out of the water.  My father is the man in the white t-shirt sitting in the middle of the boat.

Here is a piece that was written in the USS KIRK FF1087newsletter:

http://www.kirk1087.org/page.php?14

My oldest brother, Miki, who was 6 years old at the time, recounts his story now as an adult:

As a 6 year old, I remember that day very well. Our immediate family was stationed in Bien Hoa, where I grew up playing around in the barracks. The days leading up to the 29^th was very chaotic in Saigon however my dad instructed us to be with our grandparents in Saigon. I recall heavy shelling and missiles flying in the city at night time. The morning of the 29^th, we heard the unmistakable sound from a Chinook approaching grandma’s house. We all ran out of the house to find that my dad was about to land this huge Chinook in the small front field. Pop-open the door and we find one of his crewmen frantically waving us to come on board. Quickly my mother grabbed my younger brother (then 3) and sister (then only 12 months old) and I ran to get on the Chinook and fly off. He noted that at this time, it was very much like a western movie where you had your horse (chopper) and you just ride as quick as you could. He went back to get whatever rations he could find (gas, water, food…) and picked up a few more of his crewmen, noting that maybe they could fly to a remote island or some other safer location to buy time – at this moment simply survival mode. Off went the Chinook with close to 20 members on board.

As he flew out, he said he heard on the radio that there was an American ship out in the pacific. Loosely translated, he said “what the heck, let’s give it a shot”. Upon flying out he spotted an American naval ship in the distance, and tried to approach it in a non-threatening way, if at all possible. He said he circled the ship a few times to indicate he needed assistance and saw the crew below pointing guns at him and could only interpret that he was to not land on board. He noted that the seas that day was rough and windy and he had a challenging time trying to steady the Chinook for “personnel drop-off”. He re-counts that he was very cautious about staying away from any radar or antenna from the ship as hitting those would do more harm than anything else to the ship from a communications standpoint. As the door opened up, a few of the crew members jumped out, and shortly thereafter my mother grabbed my sister and nearly forgot my little brother who was sleeping on the floor and immediately sent them down to helping hands below. My dad told his co-pilot to do one more check and afterward hopped out.

He preceded to fly out to a safe distance and began to quickly rip his flak jacket off, side arm and got down to his undershirt and boxers. As he kicked the left door open, from here onwards you saw the rest. He noted however that it was very difficult for him to dive because of the salt water buoyancy – he said it took him 3 attempts to actually dive into the water to get away from the blades. At that moment, all he could hope for was someone to come and get him – shortly thereafter, his prayers were answered as a small boat came to his rescue.

Miki Nguyen

This story gives me profound respect and appreciation for what my parents (and other families caught in this awful war) went through to bring our family safely to the United States.