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ExNotes Review: The 600 m.o.l. Black Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam

By Joe Berk

This is the first of several book reviews to follow in the next few weeks.  The 600 m.o.l. Black Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam is the true story of the second wave of Tuskegee Airmen.  The first wave included the Black aviators who flew combat missions in World War II.  There have been movies made about those men and their accomplishments are well known.  The second wave refers to Tuskegee airmen trained to be helicopter pilots by the famed Alfred Anderson, who trained the first wave for World War II.  Their exploits and the paths they blazed are not nearly as well known.

I happened on to The 600 m.o.l. Black Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam as a result of visiting one of the pilots featured in the book, a man who was my first boss when I was in the Army in Korea.

The story is fascinating on many levels, not the least of which is the story of the author, Dr. Joe Ponds.  He was one of the more or less (that’s where the “m.o.l.” comes from) 600 Black helicopter pilots in Vietnam who flew Huey and Cobra gunships during that war.  The book begins with the author’s end in sight:  A cancer diagnosis with only a few months left to live.

What do you do with what is essentially a death sentence diagnosis?  Dr. Joe Ponds decided to tell the story of the Black helicopter pilots who flew in Vietnam.  Theirs was not an easy path.  They faced institutionalized racism and discrimination in both civilian and Army life.  These men managed to overcome limits imposed by others and they became U.S. Army aviators.

The 600 m.o.l. Black Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam covers seven major topics:

    • A brief history of discrimination in America and efforts to overcome it.
    • Dr. Pond’s experiences in gaining a officer’s commission in the US Army, and then becoming a helicopter pilot.
    • A discussion of the different types of helicopters flown in Vietnam.
    • A review of the kinds of helicopter missions in Vietnam.
    • Stories from several Black aviators featured in the book.  All were interesting, especially the ones who flew medevac helicopters.  Those helicopters flew with no armament whatsoever, and they were literally sitting (or hovering) ducks when they flew in to retrieve wounded soldiers.
    • A list of the approximately 600 Black aviators who served in Vietnam.
    • A chapter describing how Dr. Ponds’ cancer went into remission and his subsequent activities on several fronts, including mentoring young people, counseling, helping first responders cope with post-traumatic stress syndrome, motivational speaking, and more.

The 600 m.o.l. Black Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam was a great read.  I know you’ll enjoy it.


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Joe Berk

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  • I’ll put that book on my list for when I have enough things I need to qualify for free shipping. It may take some time because I don’t order from Amazon unless I have no other choice. We still have racism and wars. The human species is a piece of work I tell ya.

          • Ok. There’s approximately 8,500,000,000 people on Earth. Most people prefer to get along with their fellow humans rather than fight. I’ve seen examples of it many times as have you. But for some reason there’s always one guy who likes to shake things up for his own benefit, greed and thirst for power. And then a war breaks out. Of course the guy who starts it never does the fighting, its others less fortunate. (Remember that old TV commercial that showed two old geezers in suits, surrounded by spectators, slugging it out on a hillside? Then the caption read "Maybe if those that start the wars had to fight them there wouldn’t be any") Anyways, here’s my theory—> There’s roughly 8,500,000,000 people who would enjoy peace and harmony on Earth if it weren’t for about 200. If you were to remove 200 heads of state, presidents, dictators, kings, premiers, whatever they call themselves, and replace them with truly good and intelligent people who’s goal was to actually serve their countrymen, you could change the lives of everyone on this planet for the better. Living on Earth would be like living in a dream. 200 people! I can think of a half dozen right now that would get us well on our way. If you study the forces that needed to come together to make Earth the way it is, there may not be another planet like it in the universe. There’s billions and billions of galaxies and some may contain a planet with an atmosphere that would sustain human life but I’ll bet none as beautiful and diversified as our Earth. There’s something here for everybody regardless of their preferences. So that’s my theory. Maybe we need to swap out more than 200 but you get the idea. The 200 Man Theory, spread it around.

          • A good theory. I think the problem is that if you get rid of the 200, there will be another 200 right behind them.

            I'm sitting here wondering how, in a nation of more than 300 million people, we wound up with the two who are currently running for president.

          • The idea is the 200 are truly good people. In other words, there’s a mere handful of people in power screwing it up for everyone. We know who they are.

  • One to put on the list for sure. I read a book called "Chickenhawk" about the Helicopter pilots in Vietnam and was sort of shocked about the exploits of the pilots. I have always been in awe of the Tuskegee red tails in WW2 so much so I took my kids to meet some of the remaining pilots just to let them know about history and what's left out. Wish we could just get the hell past color and just get along, sure would be a better place to be.

    • Thanks for commenting, Jim.

      The battery commander I worked for in Korea mentioned that he had been a helicopter pilot in VIetnam, but I did not know the full story about those exploits until 50 years later. He was characteristically low key about his service in Vietnam. I visited with him recently (first time I saw him since Korea), and he gave me his copy of the book. It was only later when I read it (he is one of the featured pilots in the book) that I learned the full story.

      Good on you for taking your kids to meet those Tuskegee pilots. They are lucky kids to have you as their father.

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