C Troop, 7th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment

7/1 Command & Control	This is an old high school friend from my hometown in St. Petersburg, Florida...He was in a St. Petersburg Reserve unit that got called up and ended up in the Delta. His name is Dave Coe. He was a Spec 5 "Cock of the Walk" on a Mike Boat. I believe their unit was the 31st Transportation Company. They were out of Vung Tau and did supply throughout the delta via "Mike Boats." Several of my friends from home were in that unit and I ran into some of them in Vinh Long, and then made it a point to contact them occasionally. And, since various boats RON'd (remained over night) on the Mekong River which went by Vinh Long, I hooked up with several of my buds (to party) during my tour down south. This story goes even further...I arranged for Dave to fly as my gunner on our C & C aircraft the particular day this picture was taken. We went out and got in a big-time fire fight (Supporting the 9th Infantry Div out of Dong > Tam) which lasted all day and into the night...I logged over 15-hours that day. We had to replace Dave about the second refuel due to the need for a more experienced gunner ... Dave's mother was a reporter for the St. Pete Times. I remember that Dave relayed the day's activities to her and she did an article on our meeting and the "flying experience." Mike Conway I also took a couple of days and did a supply mission down the river on his Mike Boat. A good time was had by all...Amazing that these guys went easily through areas that I knew were hot (helicopters would take fire)---no doubt Chuck was glad to see supply boats since he would ultimately help himself to a share... Many more stories about good times with these guys... Unit was C/7/1st Cav out of Vinh Long; Delta...Date was March, 1969 (picked up an Air Medal w/ "V" device for our 15-hour C & C activities in the fire fight).... Image courtesy of Mike Conway
Close to my tour end; August 69...C/7/1st--Flying C & C + UH-1H IP (In-country check-outs and orientation flights)...Event was an awards presentation for the various C-Troop recipients...I picked up a meritorious Bronze Star (for lasting a year) and an Air Medal w/"V" device. The hat, though it never really fit very well, was preserved for many years; then my Irish Setter got hold of it and did some severe battle damage---Nearly beyond recognition...I've since replaced it with a big-ass cowboy-type Stetson; looks good and actually fits. Image courtesy of Mike Conway	ARVN Aero-Rifle platoon troops. Wonder what's going on toward the rear of the tail boom, card game??? Image courtesy of Mike Conway	C troop, 7/1 Cav Lift Bird with ARVN Aero Rifle troop. Location is in the Northwest Delta region, Near Three Sisters Mountains Image courtesy of Mike Conway
A C 7/1 "Slick" in the Delta. Note the .45 pistol wired to the seat support Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief	Tools of the Trade on our F.L.I.R. (Forward Looking Infrared Radar) ship. Note flash suppressors on the mini gun Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief	C troop, 7/1 sign board. Note the machine gun which was a WWII Gerrman 8mm that was captured from the V.C. Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief
C troop F.L.I.R. Gunship, 1971 Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief	Interior shot of our F.L.I.R. (Forward Looking Infrared Radar) gunship. The crew compartment T.V. screen can be seen as well as the gun ammo tracks on the floor. Each Pilot had his own screen as well. Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief	Overall shot of our F.L.I.R. gunship. Note the radar unit mounted on the nose Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief
C troop Slick Crew Chief Olinger - W.I.A. 1971 Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief	Some of the different types ofstandard and improvised grenades we used Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief	F.L.I.R. gunship pilots. I wish I could recall their names. Note the special F.L.I.R. crew patches visible on their shirt pockets Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief
C troop, lift Platoon pocket patch Image courtesy of Al Sever, Crew Chief	Image courtesy of E-5 Bill Schmidt, Technical Operations Center 1970 � 1972 Vinh Long , C Troop, 7/1 Air Cav	Image courtesy of E-5 Bill Schmidt, Technical Operations Center 1970 � 1972 Vinh Long , C Troop, 7/1 Air Cav

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