Ronald Strickland
Mr Vann's Crew Chief
Mr. Vann had two OH-58A's with the standard Army seating replaced with a tan leather covering with the II Corp red in a circle. These aircraft were maintained at a high state of readiness at all times. Mr. Vann would often return from the Kontum area with Vietnamese on board the aircraft mostly families fleeing the Kontum, Pleiku area. And tasked me to take them into Nha Trang for a new beginning. Mr. Vann was a good man always concerned about my well-being. Concerned I wasn't being over tasked for his sake. The news about his crash to us back at Nha Trang was saddening for us all. I had just returned from Pleiku where I was TDY with the OH-58's while supporting the activities at Kontum when I received word about the crash and felt so helpless. When I read the post at your site about the concern Mr.Vann had about the soldiers at the Base Camps, this was the John Vann I remembered truly an American Hero.
Ronald Strickland <ronalds11@yahoo.com>
USA - Tuesday, August 27, 2002 at 18:23:30 (PDT)