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Remarks Vietnam Combat SAR Pilots Mural Dedication CAPT Sean M. Cross Air Station Traverse City, MI 13 May 2015 Thank you so much for joining us this morning for this special ceremony. It’s great to be among American’s who care about our Country’s armed forces and appreciate the important work that we do and the DIFFERENCE we make. I’d like to extend a warm Coast Guard City Traverse City WELCOME to retired CDR Robert “Bobby” Long and his wife Stephanie for joining us today all the way from Dover, Ohio. Many people in the audience are familiar with the Coast Guard’s honest and noble mission to save lives – what we officially call Search and Rescue. Search and Rescue is hard work, performed by regular people – who step forward and put themselves in extreme situations – all so that others might live. Not many Americans are aware that the United States Coast Guard is one of the Nation’s five Armed Forces. The service has participated in every major U.S. conflict from 1790 through today, including landing troops on D-Day and on Pacific Islands in World War II, in extensive patrols, shore bombardment and Combat Search and Rescue during the Vietnam War, and multiple roles in Iraq and Afghanistan. Webster’s defines HERO as: A person who is admired for courage or noble qualities. A group of men I admire for their courage and noble qualities are the 11 Coast Guard Aviators assigned to the U.S. Air Force in South Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. These Coast Guard aviators flew hundreds of rescue missions over enemy-infested jungles recovering downed American airmen. Their actions kept many pilots out of North Vietnamese prison camps. LT Richard.V. Butchka LCDR Lonnie L. Mixon LCDR Joseph L. Crowe LT James C. Quinn LT Lance A. Eagan LT Robert T. Ritchie LT Robert E. Long LT Jack C. Rittichier LT James M. Loomis LT Jack K. Stice LT Roderick Martin III I’ve been asked a few times over the last few week “why a mural, why a dedication ceremony for the mural, why now?” I have two answers…FIRST, this dedication is part of the National Vietnam War Commemoration program to memorialize the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War – when regular U.S. combat units were deployed in 1965. Also, next year, 2016, will mark the “Centennial of Coast Guard Aviation” - all of us at Air Station Traverse City “stand on the shoulders of giants” like the ones we will honor today. Ceremonies like this remind our current active duty members that the Coast Guard has a heritage to maintain and standards of HONOR, RESPECT & DEVOTION TO DUTY to uphold. SECOND, as a Coast Guard – we do a terrible job of marketing our value and our impact to the American Public… most Americans don’t know that 11 Coast Guard Aviators served as Combat Search and Rescue Pilots in Vietnam and I’ve been on a mission to change that – the mission continues today…I’m a proud Coast Guardsman and a proud Coast Guard Aviator… Most Americans don’t know that Surfmen from Kill Devil Hills Life-Saving Station helped carry materials to the launch site for the first successful heavier-than-air aircraft flight by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and then assisted the brothers in their flights that day. The life-savers were John T. Daniels, W.S. Dough and A.D. Etheridge. Most Americans have probably heard of Charles Lindbergh and know about his famous trans-Atlantic solo flight in 1927, but most Americans that have no idea that 8 years earlier, in 1919, Coast Guard First Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone, piloting the Navy's flying boat NC-4 made the first-ever successful trans-Atlantic flight from the Naval Air Station at Rockaway, New York to Lisbon, Portugal on 27 May 1919. This same Coast Guard Aviator – Elmer Stone – accomplished groundbreaking work on aircraft carrier catapults and arresting gear that helped the U.S. win the Pacific War. Most Americans don’t know that during early stages of WWII the Coast Guard became a driving force in the development of the helicopter. There is a great letter from Adm. Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations that hangs on the wall at our Aviation Training Center in Mobile, AL. Dated February 19, 1943, the letter is an issued directive which placed the development of the helicopter with the Coast Guard. There were no objections from the Army or any other service. If you read about the very first qualified helicopter pilot from each of the other Services – it usually reads “received helicopter flight instruction from the Coast Guard at Floyd Bennett Field and became the first Marine, Soldier, Sailor, or Airman to be designated as a helicopter pilot.” Two Coast Guard Aviators – Frank Erickson and Graham Stewart – could be, in my opinion – SHOULD BE – considered the Fathers of Military Rotary Wing Aviation. These men took Igor Sikorsky’s fragile invention and made the crucial steps forward for maximizing the unique flight and rescue capabilities of the helicopter and turning it into a machine that could do valuable work. They pioneered shipboard deck landing operations, dipping SONAR and medical evacuation techniques…they initiated the development of helicopter flotation systems, instrument flight capabilities, and autopilot systems, as well as rescue hoists and rescue baskets. And this is really where today’s story begins… You have to remember that when the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered that search and rescue forces be sent into Southeast Asia in May of 1964 – the helicopter had only been around for about 20 years. In 1951, the Coast Guard earned the Collier Trophy – the Nation’s highest aviation Award – for their pioneering helicopter work…the citation read: "Deservedly sharing honors with the helicopter industry and the military services is the United States Coast Guard. It has pioneered in peace-time rescue work. During the eight years it has been using helicopters; it has saved many hundreds of lives in offshore rescues, in floods, fires and other disasters on land." With the purchase of the HO4S-3G the helicopter became an integral part of the Coast Guard search and rescue operations. In the years to come the helicopter became predominate. During the 1960s, Frank Erickson's dream of having helicopter life-saving stations along the coasts had become a reality. Coast Guard Aviators had been expertly flying helicopters since the 1940s and were the most seasoned “hoisting & hovering” helicopter pilots in government service. [I’ll say that again…] Conversely - early on in the Vietnam War, the Air Force struggled - no written directives, no tactics, no rules of engagement, and no concept of combat rescue operations. Moreover, the Air Force helicopter pilot requirements were being met by transitioning fixed-wing pilots to helicopter operations. These pilots arrived in Southeast Asia directly from initial helicopter training. [discuss “Coastie hover” – Canadian SAREX] As a result of these factors, the ARS experienced many failures and growing pains which raised concerns all the way to the White House in Washington. In recognition that the ARS was effectively overburdened and undermanned, U.S. Air Force officials began looking for help from other sources. To help solve these problems, the Air Force approached the Coast Guard for supplemental help at the beginning of 1966. An aviator exchange program was suggested. However, it was not until March 1967 that the Coast Guard agreed on an implementing memorandum of agreement. What Coast Guard aviators accomplished in Vietnam was truly extraordinary. Flying search and rescue missions is tough enough without the added, terrifying element of people trying to kill you in the process. It always amazed me how those rescue pilots could get into their helicopter every day to fly into the enemy's guns. For the yearlong tour, they were basically live shooting targets. To honor those Coast Guard aviators and to insure what they accomplished is remembered I’ve devoted many of my HERO discussions throughout my career to what they did. A combat search and rescue mission involving a Coast Guard Aviator was immortalized in William C. Anderson’s famous book BAT-21: Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Jay Crowe, with additional aircraft cover, broke through the clouds and began a rapid descent towards the area where Lieutenant Colonel Hambleton waited. He was met by an immediate curtain of enemy fire, hurled against him with an intensity that defied belief. Enemy rounds literally shredded "Jolly Green 65", and it was only the courage and flying skill of the Coast Guard pilot that enabled the chopper to stay airborne long enough to return to base. As with this case, the Combat Rescue crews in Southeast Asia didn't get all of the downed airmen, but no one can say they didn't try. They did get 3,883 and provided the world with thousands of examples of selfless humanity. An Air Force report, summarizing helicopter use in Vietnam combat rescues between 1965 and 1972, noted that helicopters came under significant hostile fire in 645 opposed combat rescue operations involving downed aircraft. Crews were rescued in 600, or 93 percent, of these cases. This was not accomplished without cost. The 37th ARRS lost 28 men including Coast Guard Aviator #997 LT Jack C. Rittichier – who hailed from the Great Lakes region. LT Rittichier and the entire crew of “JOLLY 23” perished while attempting to rescue a downed airman from a Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk that went down 37 miles west of Hue in the A Shau Valley on June 9th, 1968.

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