This Week on Veterans Radio-Left For Dead

THE NIGHT BEFORE TET It was almost 2100hrs on 30 January 1968, the night before the “Tet Offensive” when Wendell Skinner’s helicopter crashed in Vietnam attempting to extract a Special Forces Long Range Patrol Team that had come in contact with a large force of Viet Cong and NVA. From Wendell’s Facebook page, he noted “this is my chopper day after shot down near Bear Cat. Team from Co. F. 51st Inf Airborne LRRP’s was who we were picking up, night extraction.” The Landing Zone was a burned out area in the jungle that was covered with ashes. As the helicopter made its approach the ashes flew up around the aircraft blinding the pilot and he made a hard landing resulting in the pilot being thrown through the windshield still strapped in his seat almost tearing his arm off. The co-pilot and door gunner were thrown against the dash and suffered b ...