174th Assault
Helicopter Company


DOLPHINS & SHARKS



Candy for the Kids


One of the "universal truths" of helicopter operations in Vietnam might be, "When you shut down near a ville, the kids will come." (...especially if you feed them candy.) Here, Dolphin crewchief SP4 Baker is giving the kids candy who have gathered around after we shut down in an open area near the center of this ville. This is either Duc Pho, Mo Duc, or another small village in the vicinity (actually, they all look pretty much the same). The kids had to be watched, though, for when you left them unattended they'd be happy to "souvenir" anything on or around the helicopter that wasn't tied down. For those of you looking at details (at the nit-picking level), this looks like the same Dolphin that's in the mountain-top photo under the page "LZ San Juan Hill." Note it has the "174" on the door, has the nose-mounted pitot tube, and has the same one-painted-and-one-unpainted configuration on the push-button releases to the avionics/battery door on the front panel of the helicopter (between the two chin bubbles). Click here if you wish to go to the LZ San Juan Hill page now.

(All three photos by Jim McDaniel, June 1967)