PENNSAUKEN, NJ — From October 1967 through February 1972, a special helicopter unit consisting of soldiers from America and Australia came together to provide helicopter support for soldiers in Vietnam. It was an experimental unit and it only existed during this time.
One of the members of that unit lives in South Jersey, and he will be participating in this weekend’s events in Camden County to commemorate the Vietnam War.
“It was interesting getting to know them,” said Mike Foley, who served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam from 1968 through 1969. “I still keep in touch with one guy from Australia. I still see him from time to time at reunions.”
When Foley, who grew up in Haddon Heights and lives in Pennsauken, gets together with his Australian counterpart, Mike Perrott, the two can reminisce about being part of an experience only very few people have ever been a part of.
About one-third of the 135th Assault Helicopter Company consisted of Royal Australian Navy personnel, and the other two-thirds were made up of U.S. Army personnel, according to hueyvets.com, a website dedicated to the unit’s history. It formed after the United States requested Australia send more pilots to Vietnam.
The unit’s initial purpose was to provide helicopter support to Australian and New Zealand units in a specific region in South Vietnam known as “Military Region III.”
Its calls signs were EMU (an acronym for Experimental Military Unit and ironically also the name of a flightless Australian bird) and TAIPAN (a deadly Australian snake). EMU was used for slick platoons, while TAIPAN was used for gun platoons.
Once it became clear that the Royal Australian Air Force was capable of handling this support on its own, though, the unit’s mission expanded to include support for the infantry of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, as well as miscellaneous American units to include Navy SEAL Team One which operated throughout the Mekong Delta, according to the website.
In this role, Foley flew every day for a year. He says he flew about 300 missions or more during his tour of duty.
“My time was full of excitement and fear,” Foley said. “I always had a helicopter full of infantrymen. I had to get them in and out safely, often while I was being shot at. It was a tricky situation getting them in and out of there.”
Foley flew two helicopters that were shot down, but in both instances, he managed to land with power and without crashing. In one case, there were infantrymen on board at the time and they had to veer away from their intended location and land near an artillery base.
“It was safe compared to where I was,” Foley said. “It’s important to know where things are. I was aware when the fire started that a base was close.”
Some days, there was no fire. Most days, there were. Foley flew a utility helicopter in a squad of between five and 10 helicopters moving large units of men. The utility helicopter was the most prominent helicopter in Vietnam.
The missions he flew were combat assault missions. The helicopters would drop the infantrymen off, fly back to base and return to pick up the men at the conclusion of their mission.
Sometimes, he would fly a medevac mission. He earned Vietnam Service and Air Medals for his 900 hours of flight time as part of a unit that he didn’t know he would be in until he arrived in Vietnam.
His father flew B-17 Bombers as part of the Army Air Corps — the precursor to the Air Force — in World War II.
“I guess that’s why I had it in my head that I wanted to be a pilot,” Foley said. “I enlisted specifically for helicopter training.”
He said if he was going to fight in Vietnam, he wanted to make sure he was in the air and not on the ground.
“Some guys told me they thought what I did was more dangerous,” Foley said.
Australia withdrew from the unit in June 1971, at which time the unit was replenished with American personnel. During the final eight months of its existence, it fought primarily along the Cambodian border and often inside Cambodia itself.
In all, the unit logged 121,955 total flight hours, using 147 aircraft, with 25 to 30 operational at any given time.Thirty-seven pilots and aircrew were killed in action, while about two to three times that were wounded, according to the website.
It shut down in 1972, as the war was winding down. There were never any units like it before or after the 135th.
After the war, Foley worked in the insurance business for a while before joining the Post Office. He put the war behind him as much as he could.
He said he was eager to go over to Vietnam. He also said nothing can really prepare you for what you’re going to see in a war zone.
“It was something I wanted to do, but after seeing what war does, I wasn’t very happy with it,” Foley said. “I understand that wars happen, and that young men have to go.”
He also made friends he still talks to. In addition to Perrott, Foley keeps in touch with his crew chief Jerry O’Connell, who now lives in Ohio. Foley flew the same helicopter every day, and O’Connell was usually his chief.
Foley is also a member of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, and goes to reunions around the country. Foley was in attendance when the association dedicated the memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, and called it an emotional time. He thinks the event coming up this weekend is great. Read more here: 4-Day Event Commemorates Vietnam War In Camden County
“I’ve been to the wall in DC, and I’ve seen the traveling wall several times,” Foley said. “I think it’s a wonderful honor.”
He said he looks for the names of people he was friends with in high school and lost touch with after going to Vietnam.
“I am happy and proud to have served in the military for this country,” Foley said. “It’s an experience I will never forget, and I made friends who will be my friends forever.”
See related:
4-Day Event Commemorates Vietnam War In Camden County
After 3 Tours In Vietnam, Collingswood HS Grad Still Helping Vets
NJ Vietnam Vet Opens Up About Service After Years Of Silence
In His Own Words: Oaklyn Vietnam Vet On What Traveling Wall Means
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