Our Bob Cooper, excuse me, Mr. Cooper, CW2, Retired CW4, Greyhound 2, is to humble to post these photos he shared with me after I made a comment about his Sergeants stripes before becoming a Warrant Officer, so I will!!! Not only did he have sergeants stripes, he had Specialist 6 chevrons and SFC stripes, a Senior NCO! Here are two pictures he shared with me, I hope he doesnt mind and make a run on me with that .50 caliber BROWNING with his UH-1H, 007. On the left with his lovely wife, Ditte and his children. Their son went on to become a top notch CH47 Chinook pilot. Theres Greyhound 2 being promoted to Warrant Officer on the right. In the 240th, CW2 Bob Cooper, Greyhound 2, was one of our fabulous Charlie-Charlie Aircraft Commanders, C&C Pilots, they ran the entire mission of our Greyhound SLICKS and Mad Dog GUNS for that day. For the civilians reading my post, the C&C Huey carried the Infantry Troops Commanders in the back of their Huey above the mission which the Greyhounds and Mad Dogs were working with at the time. It was NOT an easy job. Talking on the radio with the Greyhound SLICKS coming into and out of the LZs (landing zones), talking on the radio with the Mad Dog GUNSHIPS capping (circling) the area providing cover for the infantry) and having to speak over the intercom in their own Huey with the ground troops commanders in the back--it could get very stressful and the C&C Aircraft Commander had to be cool under pressure and fire and Greyhound 2 did a fantastic job! We also had Greyhound 26, Captain Mike Fitzgerald, another great Command and Control, C&C Aircraft Commander that did a exceptional job of running the entire mission! I remember Captain Fitzgeralds voice distinctly one time coming over our radio frequency to my Mad Dog AC, I believe Mad Dog 6, and letting him know how the ground troops commander in back was very demanding and wanting this and wanting that, but Captain Fitzgerald was cool and calm under pressure and the mission was completed successfully! I could NOT have handled it myself, would NOT wanted to have handled it, dealing with all the personalities! Another great C&C Aircraft Commander was Captain Danny Spitzer, Greyhound 3, Greyhound 16, Greyhound 26, Kennel Keeper 6 and Mad Dog 6!!!! Captain Spitzer, like Captain Fitzgerald and CW2 Cooper, did an EXCELLENT job running the entire mission and handling the stress and ACTION when it happened and seeing the mission was completed with SUCCESS! During my time in the 240th AHC, I was very fortunate to have served with such professional and capable officers and superb helicopter pilots as these three men that were in charge of the entire mission.! The only time I got upset with them, the same for Mad Dog 16, CW2 Mike Forrester and Mad Dog 6, Captain Doug Price getting upset with them (lol, lol, lol), is when we had to break for fuel and to rearm and these three, great Charlie-Charlie Aircraft Commanders and their crews would then go low and get the KBAs, (KILLS BY AIR) when the Mad Dogs were out of the area refueling and rearming! Not only were these crews good at running the entire mission, THEY ALSO HAD A LOT OF GUTS, TOO! The other pictures after the first two of Bob Cooper and his family are of Captain Danny Spitzer. The first of him with the 1st CAV patch on his left shoulder is when he graduated from Flight School, 1968. The second image is when Captain Spitzer received the Army Commendation Medal while in the 240th AHC at Bearcat. The third picture with the number written on it is the back of the SECOND picture of Captain Spitzer, the image of him receiving the Army Commendation Medal. He did NOT have a piece of paper to write the tailboom numbers for the missions at the time so he wrote them on the back of the picture. I see my Mad Dog Gunship, 497. The last picture is of friends from the Thai chopper outfit, SKY Cobras.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 14:30:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015