Ask A Vet Podcast

What They Don't Tell You About Flying the CH-54 Skycrane in Vietnam

What does it take to fly the Army's heaviest helicopter, a 72-foot rotor-span Skycrane, into one of the most dangerous combat missions of the Vietnam War? Jim Oliphant knows firsthand. Jim grew up in San Diego, got drafted four times while studying architecture, and ended up becoming one of the Army's elite CH-54 Flying Crane pilots. In this episode, he takes us from boot camp at Fort Bliss to flight school in Texas, all the way to a classified mission on a mountain pinnacle overlooking the Ho Chi Minh Trail- a mission they never even told him the real purpose of until it was over. Jim shares the near-disasters, the ingenuity under pressure, and the surprising moments of humor and humanity that made his year in Vietnam unforgettable, including a hamburger stand on a Vietnamese island, barbecue with steak and lobster, and what it felt like to command the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a NATO exercise on his last day in the Army. 🎙️ Ask A Vet is a podcast dedicated to honoring the stories of Veterans — told in their own words. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Like and share if this story moved you.

What They Never Told You About Being a Combat Flight Nurse in Vietnam

She was 21 years old, a Johns Hopkins-trained nurse, and she had no idea what was about to walk off that plane. In Episode 39 of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Deanna Halterman Savage — Air Force flight nurse, Vietnam-era veteran, and one of the most remarkable women you'll ever hear from. Deanna flew medevac missions out of Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefields of Vietnam back to the United States. Two nurses. Two corpsmen. No doctors. Dozens of critically wounded men, many of them teenagers. She talks about the moment 35 young amputees stepped off a plane and changed everything she thought she knew about nursing. About flying through the night with burn patients whose dressings dried at altitude. About bringing boys home to a country that didn't want to acknowledge them. And about carrying all of it quietly for decades…until she couldn't anymore. This is a story about service, sacrifice, and what it really costs to care. 🎙️ Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Ask A Vet.

EP 38: What They Don't Tell You About Serving in the Korean War

Richard Colborn was 18 years old when the Air Force made him a shift supervisor in a classified military communications center in the middle of the Korean War. Born in 1933 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, Richard joined the Air Force in 1951 with no expectation of ending up in a war zone. He ended up at Kimpo Air Base, just 20 miles outside a bombed-out Seoul, running teletype operations that sent classified messages across the globe, six hours on and twelve hours off, seven days a week. In this episode, he opens up about what Korea actually looked, sounded, and felt like from the inside — the distant flash of artillery visible from the base, the North Korean planes dropping grenades from above like a nuisance rather than a threat, hitchhiking through a live war zone on his time off to visit a cousin, and the Korean houseboy named Lee whose family living in a lean-to against a bombed-out factory wall quietly showed Richard what the war was really doing to an entire people. After Korea, Richard's story keeps going: Andrews Air Force Base, a transfer to French Morocco that his base doctor essentially prescribed, R&R in Rome and Madrid, and a post-military career with Westinghouse Electric that took him to Istanbul, Cairo, Chicago, and beyond. CHAPTERS 01:45  Growing Up in Rural Pennsylvania and the Decision to Enlist 03:30  Joining the Air Force in 1951  04:45  Boot Camp & Leadership 06:00  Shipping Out: California to Seattle to Yokohama by Boat 08:30  Landing in Korea — A Bombed-Out Seoul at Night 10:00  Life at Kimpo Air Base: Huts, Pot-Bellied Stoves, and F-86s 11:30  Running a Classified Comm Center at 18 Years Old 13:30  The "Bombing" That Wasn't — North Korean Piper Cubs and Grenade Runs 15:00  The Korean Houseboy Named Lee — The Human Side of the War 17:30  Hitchhiking Through a War Zone to Visit His Cousin 19:30  R&R in Tokyo: Elevated Trains and Chicken 21:00  Watching the Armistice Negotiations from the Base 22:30  Coming Home Under the Bay Bridge Into San Francisco 24:00  Andrews Air Force Base and Two Promotions 26:00  A Doctor's Prescription: "You Need a Change of Venue" 27:30  French Morocco: Bombers, Tangier, and R&R in Rome and Madrid 30:30  Discharge in New York and Back to Civilian Life 31:30  Indiana Tech, Electrical Engineering, and Westinghouse Electric 34:00  A Career That Took Him to Turkey, Cairo, Chicago, and Beyond 38:00  Cairo, His Wife, and the Telegram That Changed Everything 39:30  What Korea Taught Him ───────────────────────────────────────── 🎖️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served. ✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Every flight is free to veterans and made possible by generous donors. Learn more or support the mission at utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org. 💼 If you or someone you know isn't getting the VA benefits you've earned, click the link in our description. We've teamed up with a group of experts that help veterans build stronger VA claims and get the benefits they deserve. Click the link for a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec [https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec] Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

EP 37: What They Don't Tell You About Getting Shot Down Over Vietnam

Paul Huber grew up in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an Army Air Corps officer, and went on to fly 220 combat missions in an F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam War. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Paul takes us inside the cockpit — from jungle survival school in the Philippines, to night bombing runs over the DMZ, to the morning in March 1968 when his aircraft was hit over Laos and he had to eject into the jungle. Paul shares what it was really like to fly one of the most iconic aircraft of the Vietnam era, what he was thinking as he floated down through the jungle canopy, and how he called his wife from a command post phone just hours after being shot down. He also reflects on his post-Vietnam career as an instructor pilot, his time flying F-111s in England during the Cold War, and what 23 years of service ultimately taught him about America.Subscribe so you never miss an episode. ⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS 1:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=90s] – Growing up in Arizona & deciding to fly 4:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=240s] – ROTC, Arizona State & getting commissioned 6:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=390s] – F-4 Phantom training 11:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=660s] – Jungle survival school in the Philippines 14:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=840s] – Arriving at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam 17:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1050s] – Night bombing missions over the DMZ 22:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1320s] – What it was like to drop napalm and fly close air support 27:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1620s] – Getting shot down over Laos 33:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=1980s] – The ejection, the jungle, and the rescue 39:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2340s] – Calling his wife hours after being shot down 42:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2520s] – R&R in Hawaii with his family 46:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2760s] – Returning to fly after being shot down 48:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=2910s] – Distinguished Flying Cross & 220 combat missions 52:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=3120s] – Life as an instructor pilot in Texas 58:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=3480s] – Flying F-111s in England during the Cold War 1:13:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=4380s] – The meaconing incident: nearly lured into East Germany 1:16:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=4560s] – Final years, ROTC command at Utah State & retirement 1:26:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsj5JVHwa88&t=5160s] – Reflections on Vietnam and what service meant If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org.If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.

What They Don't Tell You About Combat Search & Rescue in Vietnam

Dick Van Allen dreamed of flying from the moment a B-24 roared over his small Ohio town when he was seven years old. What followed was a lifetime of aviation:  from propeller trainers in Georgia to jet fighters in Alabama, from combat rescue helicopters over Vietnam to a dam disaster in Idaho. In this episode, Dick takes us through it all: the engine failures in training, arriving in Vietnam to discover he was the only pilot on his base, flying 300+ days of combat, nearly being hit by falling flare parachutes while hovering over a crash in the dark, and the civilian rescues that gave him just as much satisfaction as the military ones. Dick served in the United States Air Force, flying multiple tours in Vietnam with the 20th Special Operations Squadron — the Green Hornets — and later as a combat rescue pilot flying on three-minute alert. He logged over 6,500 hours in the Huey alone and performed roughly 75 civilian rescues after his military career, including responding to the collapse of Teton Dam. If this episode moved you, please subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with someone who should hear this story. CHAPTERS: 0:01:30 – Growing Up in Willard, Ohio: A Seven-Year-Old Decides to Fly 0:11:00 – Propeller Training, the T-28, and Engine Failures Over the Okefenokee 0:17:00 – First Jet Flight — Five Minutes of Pure Chaos 0:22:00 – Formation Flying, G-Force Blackouts, and Close Calls 0:29:00 – Choosing Helicopters Over the B-47 Back Seat 0:36:00 – Helicopter School: Igor Sikorsky Said We Were Crazy 0:41:00 – The Huey, SAC, and Moving Seven Times in Seven Years 0:44:00 – Volunteering for Vietnam: The 20th SOS Green Hornets (1966) 0:47:00 – Jungle Survival School and Arriving at Cam Ranh Bay 0:53:00 – General Ryan and the Island Assignment 0:57:00 – First Mission: Finding a Downed F-4 by a Dead Tree 1:03:00 – Arriving at Takhli: The Only Pilot on the Base 1:08:00 – Drying the Softball Field and Other Unusual Missions 1:12:00 – Supporting President Johnson in Bangkok 1:17:00 – Back to Shepherd: Training the F Troop Gunship Crews 1:20:00 – Second Tour: Return to Thailand, Evacuation Planning That Never Started 1:24:00 – The Scariest Night: C-141 Crash, Hovering in Jet Fuel and Falling Flares 1:29:00 – Flying Asleep: Eight Scrambles in One Night 1:35:00 – Combat Rescues, Hot LZs, and Fake Beacons 1:41:00 – MAST Unit at Hill AFB and the Teton Dam Disaster 1:50:00 – 19 Years of Helicopter Flying: What It All Meant 1:53:00 – Closing Thoughts & Reflections  ──────────────────────────── 🎙️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. 🤝 Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — part of the National Honor Flight Network — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Learn more or donate: utahonorflight.org 📋 Not getting the VA benefits you've earned? Click the link below — we've partnered with experts who help veterans build stronger claims and get the benefits they deserve. Free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec [https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec] Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link. 📲 Subscribe | Like | Comment | Share — Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served. #AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #MilitaryPodcast #CombatRescue #HelicopterPilot #VietnamWar #VeteranStories #HonorFlight #UtahHonorFlight