The last days of the 239th Helicopter Squadron

I would like to take this opportunity to answer a few questions you asked about the 239th. After the fall of Danang, the pilots flew further South. Members of the 239th was among those pilots. To my best estimate, only 25% made it to Phu Cat air base for refuelling. 50% did not even have a chance to make the trip, other 25% were not so lucky, either ran out of fuel or crashed due to very bad weather of that night. One of my friends called out on UHF radio, saying goodbye to everybody....
He and his crew crashed into the sea near Chu Lai to kill themselves rather than being captured by the communists. A lot of helicopter pilots assumed Chu Lai was the next stop for POL! (Petroleum, Oil, Lubricant - i.e. refuelling point). After refueling at Phu Cat, our next POL was Nha Trang. Tan Son Nhat was our final destination. After three days, we received an order to regroup at Can Tho. Due to the small number of helicopter pilots that made it to Saigon from Danang, the 239th HS was officially disbanded, all the remainimg 239th pilots were placed with the 213th HS, which also from Danang under command of the formal 213th HS Lt Colonel Luan. The 213th did not log any flights when it moved to Can Tho. After Duong Van Minh declared defeat, we flew to Con Son, we refueled there then escorted by US cobra gunships, we flew to a small airfield which I believed in the **********(classiefied) territory, the airfield was close to the Thailand border, and the airfield seemed like it had been abandoned for a long time. From there we were taken by US C130 to Guam.

Mr. Leon, all of my pictures were lost in VN, of course, including a lot of my Air Force pictures; but the memories are still with me, either good or bad. The picture I sent you was in my flying jacket, as you can tell it was folded in half. I scanned the 239th badge from that jacket. Keep in touch. You are doing a great job.

Thanks and regards, Gioang Nguyen

Click here to see a picture of Gioang Nguyen's VNAF class. The picture was taken on Aug 15th, 1971 of class 71-21 at Ft Steward Hunters US Flight Training Center in Savannah, Georgia, USA.