Hey guys,

A few weeks ago I began making an MP mission attempting to depict some of the flying during Operation Lam Son 719 in the spring of 1971, and this morphed into the idea to make a video to pay tribute to the air crews that flew during those horrific few weeks.

If you're unfamiliar with the operation, it was basically an effort to interdict or destroy the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos into South Vietnam. A recent Congressional ruling forbade the use of U.S. ground troops, so it essentially became an all ARVN operation with U.S. force relegated to supporting roles only.

The one big exception was the use of U.S. air assets. Air Force and Navy bombers and fighters were used, but the bulk of the flying fell to the U. S. Army helicopter units. Cobras, LOACHes, Kiowas, Chinooks, and of course, our beloved Hueys flew thousands of sorties in support of the ARVN forces.

In the end, the trail was not destroyed, the ARVN were less than victorious, and history has painted it with a very unfriendly brush. It was not only the largest helicopter operation of the entire war, but indeed one of the costliest.

In the credits, I used the term "short video", and my teenage daughter gave me a huge ration of crap over it...lol. She is (of course) right, it's not short... 25 minutes in length. Obviously, I couldn't put it up on "the Tube" in one vid, so it's split into two parts.

A couple of suggestions when watching the videos:
1). Crank up the sound. I used music of that time frame, and IMHO, it's some of the best ever written. My guess is that the "old farts" amongst us (present company included), will love the tunes in the video.
2). Select the "HD" option.
3). I personally don't select the "Full Screen" option (I use "Large player"), IMHO, it looks way too washed out in full screen mode (I'm am BY NO MEANS any sort of expert/professional on this type stuff... I'm a rank amatuer). In an effort to have a modicum of historical accuracy in terms of the weather (it was the beginning of the monsoon season), I chose an overcast day in an early morning time frame for most of the vid. This makes it seem rather dark but "c'est la vie"...

Links to the videos on You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEIohvBIyw
and,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3pJIi5ZOIA

I hope you enjoy them,

(A/229) BBall

Hey BBall, Awesome video...watched both parts. My last name is Warr and all of my life I've heard...War...huh...what is it good for...absolutely nothing...so it was good to actually hear the whole song. What a fitting tribute to your dad. While in the military myself, I had a lot of friends who flew in Vietnam. They told many stories about their time there. I considered them all hero's. I was proud to be trained by them. I have much respect for all Vietnam era UH-1 pilots who flew against such great odds, some returned to tell their stories while others didn't...I salute them all...

I am speechless infact I have to confess the end of the second video had me all choked up and teary eyed awesome work BBall.

And the 1stCavDiv Oscar for best video this month goes to drum roll BBall for his excellently executed video and music.

Next time you are about can I tap you up for some help as it seems you are the man.

First of all guys....thanks for the kind words. It was definitely a "labor of love", and was lots of fun to make (except for dealing with some of the A/I behavior.....lol).

Those of you that have known me since my early days of working for Mark Bush over at Frugalsworld of Simulations, know that I've written many pieces about my Dad, his flying (my own career in the clouds too), and my love of all things Army aviation related. If the kind owners of this site would be interested, I would love to maybe share some of those here....just a thought.

Oh, and McCoy.... I am MOST ASSUREDLY NOT THE MAN.....the lovely "Mrs. BBall" will attest to that!

:-)

Have a great day all!

(A/229) BBall

Awesome !!! Thanks you for sharing