Captain Ed Freeman  - November 14, 1965             A Company, 229th Aviation Battalion

Captain Freeman's Huey displayed the 229th crest on the nose, the A Company blue triangle on the pilots' doors, and a small 1st Cavalry Division emblem on the rear of the tail boom. The 229th's aircraft  had "high visibility" markings (yellow and red vertical stripes on the fuselage) at LZ X-Ray. A photo of Captain Freeman's aircraft taken at LZ X-Ray by Joe Galloway shows that there was no M60 gun mount, nor a free-hanging M60 being used on his ship. The cargo bay doors were removed from the aircraft. His ship also sported an antenna strung along the tailboom. There was a small white or yellow placard on the frame post just behind the pilot's door with the number "2" in black. This signified the "second " ship in the combat assault mission. The canvas seat coverings in early Hueys were red in color. Mr. Freeman doesn't remember the a/c number of the ship he flew on the first morning of the battle.  Andy Spencer has researched a/c numbers of early 229th Hueys.  In 1965 A Company flew 1963 and 1964 manufactured Hueys with a/c numbers that fell in the ranges of 63-08xxx and 64-13xxx. The majority of A Troop's Hueys were built in 1963. Because Ed Freeman flew a Huey with the nose number of "775" on occasion, I've illustrated his ship as 63-08775.

Major Crandall's aircraft was very similar in appearance to Ed Freeman's, with one major exception. Major Crandall had a unique A Troop door insignia - a large, winged rattlesnake coiled inside the A Company triangle symbol. The snake is smoking a lit cigar, and blowing smoke out it's nostrils. Mr. Crandall told me that flight crews didn't have assigned aircraft in the 229th. Instead, they took any aircraft that was available for the mission at hand. As a result, at the end of a mission, Major Crandall's crew chief would unhinge Major Crandall's distinctive doors from the aircraft they had just flown. At the beginning of the next mission, his crew chief would fasten the doors in place on the new aircraft they were going to fly! That way, Major Crandall's distinctive doors always marked him out for the other pilots during the mission. Photos also show Major Crandall's ship displaying a small  white or yellow sign with the numeral "1" on the frame post just behind the pilots' doors. This signified the lead ship in the combat assault mission. Major Crandall's ship may or may not have had his rear cargo door present. He did not have an M60 hard mount or any free-swinging M60 in use during LZ X-Ray.  I don't have any photo evidence that his ship carried the tail boom antenna, but other 229th Hueys during this time period did, so I illustrated Mr. Crandall's aircraft with this detail. Mr. Crandall doesn't remember what a/c number his ship had on the morning of  November 14th, 1965. Based on Andy Spencer's research of early 229th a/c numbers, and based on photos show Bruce Crandall flying ship number "888" on occasion, I illustrated his aircraft as a/c number 63-08888.

Pless's ship was a UH-1E. The vertical VHS antenna fin normally mounted on the roof is missing. This was common on Marine UH-1E's. However, there was a large rounded dome on the roof in front of the engine. To the right of this dome was a roof-mounted hoist (not visible in this illustration). Pless's Huey was a gunship, and had rockets and dual M60s mounted on a Marine TK-2 weapons mount system. There were also defensive M60s mounted on swivels for the crew. The MARINE legend on the tail boom was painted in flat black. The aircraft number "15" was painted on the nose, behind the pilot's doors, and on the tail in flat black. Step covers on the aft cabin sides were painted red. There were vertical white stripes around the covers, and a vertical red stripe on the engine cowling. Like most Marine UH-1Es, this Huey carried tail boom mounted antennas. This Huey survived the Vietnam War and in 2005 was restored to it's August 1967 appearance by the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA. The Huey is now on display in their Vietnam gallery.

"Robin Hood 866" was a UH-1D. It had the 173rd "Robin Hood" nose art, and 11th Combat Aviation Battalion tail boom vertical stripes (white-green-white for the 173rd). At this point I don't know if the tail number was only the three-digit "866" or a five-digit number. (anyone out there know how the 173rd displayed their tail numbers? - If so, please contact me!) "866" flew with rear cargo doors during this action.  You can see a photo of  heavily damaged "866" after it's recovery on page 20 of Wayne Mutza's book "UH-1Huey in Action", published by Squadron/Signal Publications.

Lt Lassen's UH-2A Seasprite was painted a flat gray color, with the legend "NAVY" in flat black on the tail boom. There was a small color national emblem in front of the Navy legend. The only other known markings were two "Night Rescue Mission" talleys painted below the right-side pilot's door (see illustration at left). Markings on the aircraft were minimal in an effort to lower visibility during combat SAR (Search and Rescue)operations. The tops of the main rotor blades appear to have been a light grey color with yellow tips. The undersides were painted black. The rear rotors were flat black with red-white-red stripes at the tips. While the UH-2A Seasprite isn't a "Huey" in the accepted sense - a Bell manufactured UH-1 series or Cobra, the Kaman Aerospace Industries UH-2A was part of the UH family of light utility helicopters used in Vietnam.

B Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Huey UH-1H that carried SP4 LaPointe on his last mission. Aircraft number was "17573". The 101st Airborne Division emblem was displayed below the a/c number on the tail. B Troop Hueys carried a white vertical tail boom stripe just forward of the horizontal tailplane. Yellow crossed sabres adorned the nose of the aircraft. The front ends of the skids were painted black. The aircraft was commanded by Lt. Fernando DePierris. Lt. DePierris flew numerous resupply missions through bad weather and heavy enemy fire to the surviving patrol members trapped on the hilltop. He lifted the survivors and casualties off the hilltop the next day after the enemy positions had been taken out.  This Huey was turned over to the South Vietnamese when the 101st withdrew from Vietnam. Surprisingly, the aircraft survived and is now on display, complete with 101st markings, in the Vietnam War museum in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

82nd Medical Detachment aircraft had two distinctive insignia. They had a unique pilot's door insignia involving a med evac kangaroo carrying a wounded youngster in its pouch, over a red cross emblem. The nose and cargo doors also carried a unique red cross, trimmed in white, without the normal white square background. The unit designation "82" was placed in the center of the cross. 82nd Hueys had red tips on the skids. The call sign of CW3 Novosel's ship was "Dust-Off 88".