Mark A. King, WO1, U.S. Army Helicopter Pilot, Vietnam War Part 2

At the time Warrant Officer Mark A. King had already completed 725 combat missions and more than 538 hours of combat training by the time he was medically evacuated from Vietnam on February 9, 1965.

Continued from Part 1

King’s Dragon Platoon, part of an attack near Benh Gia that had seen two armed helicopters go down and left about a dozen men wounded, was King’s Dragon Platoon. King recalls the following mission: “We flew back with an extensive fire-team a few days after our first Benh Gia mission.” U.S. Special Forces Advisor had informed King that the VC were assembling a large force close to Benh Gia, and he was worried that his force might become overwhelmed.

“It was getting late, and my fire-team leader Roy Azbel [Dragon 3] called for a low level strike over the tops the trees near a rubber plantation…About halfway through our firing run Dragon 3 flew straight into what looked to be a curtain of tracer and broke off. To avoid the tracer, I broke right. I could see Dragon 3-2 was on fire at the exact same moment he called me on the radio, screaming that he was ‘on fire’. I told him that I was right there with him and that I would take him to a clearing where I could pick him up.

“We were just half-way to the clearing, when I noticed his tail-boom fall off. Dragon 3-2 fell into the trees upside down and exploded in a ball of fire. We circled around the area a few more times, but saw no sign of life. So we returned to base. We could not do anything except return to base the next day when the situation was calmer, and let ground forces retrieve the bodies em>

The Dragon Platoon was decommissioned of its guns shortly after the battle at Benh Gia and converted into troop transports [ Slicks]. King requested to be transferred to Playboy Platoon, which still operated gunships. King was accepted and immediately began operation with his new platoon.

The Playboy Platoon participated in an attack against a large VC force north of Benh Gia on February 8, 1965. The entire 20-gunship helicopter company was dispatched to support the attack. King recalled that the VC had been well camped out and camouflaged within the LZ [landing area]. The VC responded with withering fire when the first helicopters arrived to deploy their troops in the LZ. They destroyed three troop-carrying aircraft, one of our gunships and the pilot of WO John Urban’s helicopter. Fighting continued in the LZ until it got dark, when the VC fled into the jungle. To refuel and rearm, the Playboy Platoon returned from their staging area at Vung Tau (about 60 miles southeast Saigon, on Saigon’s coast).

Two gunships, flown by Lt. DeYoung and WO King, were sent north to Benh Gia on February 9 to provide support for a maintenance helicopter as well as a Huey that had been downed. Playboy 17 was the playboy of WO King, while Playboy 18 was being flown by Lt. DeYoung who was the leader of the fire team.

King recalls, “After the other aircraft left the area, I left and as we were climbing up to altitude, my vessel was under fire from a large caliber gun. Four large explosions were followed by a fifth, which struck our engine. I immediately searched for a suitable landing spot. I turned left towards a small clearing deep in the jungle. I realized that I would be short so I lowered my rotor to 5000 rpm to stretch my glide… We were falling like rocks.

“Somehow, the good Lord placed a large tree in front of me. The tree landed on my windshield, causing a slowdown in our descent speed and forward air speed. We made a hard landing, and we tipped over in the 10-foot tall elephant grass. Lt. DeYoung was able to land his gunship to get us out. The rest of our crew was fine. I managed to walk to DeYoung’s ship despite being semi conscious and in great pain.

King was flown to the soccer field in a nearby village, where he was picked by a medevac unit. He was then taken to Saigon Navy Hospital. King was semi-conscious and heavily sedated, but he still remembered Brig. Gen. Oden came by to check on Mark. Mark sustained severe injuries, including three broken backs, broken legs, broken ankles, broken wrists, and fractures to his right leg. Mark was taken to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines with such severe injuries.

King arrived at the hospital and was contacted by his father via phone. The Red Cross had called a local office in Andalusia (Alabama) about Mark’s situation and whereabouts. Laurie Hamiter was the manager of the local Red Cross and had made the arrangement for the telephone call.

King was evacuated from the Philippines to Brook Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. It had been five weeks since the crash. He said that he was conscious only after he arrived at the hospital. To restore circulation, they kept my legs wrapped in ice for 2 months. To heal my injuries, I had to lay flat on my stomach for two months. Before I was finally released, I was there for 4 months.

King left San Antonio and was sent to Fort Rucker in Alabama where he enrolled at the instrument flying school. King was certified as an instructor in flight and trained pilots for helicopters upon his graduation. He was discharged in May 1967.

After serving four years, he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Army Aviator Badge.

King left the Army to join Page Aircraft in Lawton, Oklahoma. King flew new helicopters from Fort Worth (Texas) to Stockton (California), where they were sent to Vietnam. Page and King lost their government contract after two months. King then went to work at Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. in Lafayette, Louisiana. For six months, he flew workers between offshore oil rigs before he was sent to Ecuador to continue his work with the same company.

King flew oil drilling equipment from Ecuador to different jungle locations. King flew the Bell 204 helicopter, which was the civilian version UH-1B Huey. King spent about ten years in Ecuador before his helicopter crashed in a dangerous downdraft. The aircraft crashed into a berm near a dirt road, preventing it from rolling off the mountainside. King and five other men were injured in multiple ways.

His memory was that his nose was smashed, his jaw was fractured, my skull cracked, severe facial injuries, and my left foot was dislocated, broken. After a long time, we had been operating in jungle in only light clothing. We crashed at 12,000ft up in the Andes Mountains where it was 28 degrees. Two native Indian men arrived on horseback after a while. They went to a village nearby where Wycliffe missionaries were building a radio tower. [Where they would broadcast to natives in their language] They called Quito to get help.

“Help finally arrived after six hours. They took us to Quito’s Wycliffe Bible Association hospital. After about a week, I was flown back to America and taken to Jackson Hospital, Montgomery, Alabama.

King returned to Andalusia with his parents after about a week. King was still on crutches, and his jaws were wired shut. He lived with his parents until January 1969, when he decided that he would join Harry, his younger brother, at Livingston University. In 1972, he earned a degree in Business Administration and began work at the Alatex shipping department in Andalusia.

After a few years, King went to work for Tractor and Equipment Company in Montgomery, Alabama. King continued working out of Andalusia until 1977 when he joined State Farm Insurance. After 24 years, he retired from State Farm.

Mark A. King married Norma Worley on December 7, 1970. Marcie, Anthony, and Walter were their three children. Norma and Mark divorced in December 1988.

Mark married Lynn Hutcheson Shipp in March 1997. She had two children, Bryant Shipp and Dustin Shipp.

Lynn and Mark currently live in Andalusia.

Mark A. King requested to add a closing comment. “It was an honour to serve in UTT Helicopter Company. It is the first armed helicopter company in the world.” My servicemates were more like brothers than friends, not just by blood but through mutual respect and professionalism. The VC feared us, while other pilots and units admired and admired us. I don’t have animosity towards the Vietnamese people. They were caught between democracy and communism, and they lost. They had a stronger will to win, but we didn’t lose on the battlefield.

John Vick

Lynn and Mark were instrumental in telling Mark’s heroic story. Mark stated that he did it in the hope of inspiring others to do so.

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