No Man Left Behind: "... Our crewmen ... run over to the downed Huey. They recover the charred bodies of Scott and his crew.... It is a very quiet trip flying back with our fallen comrades lying prone on the floor with their bodies sealed in heavy plastic bags.".

• Author: Freeland, Larry A.
• Position: LITERARY SCENE

WHAT REMAINS of the night passes by very slowly for me. I have lost a good friend and will not be able to rest until we go back out there and retrieve Scott and his crew. I do not sleep, only toss and turn, waiting for the night to end. Luckily, we had no calls for help from any of the long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) teams during the night.

After our brief meeting last night, Stan requested and received approval for us to mount a recovery effort. We will take a group back across the DMZ into North Vietnam and retrieve the bodies of Scott and his crew. Greg's Butchers group, consisting of four Cobras, will fly cover. Stan, Capt. Bamett, and I will take our Hueys. Each Huey will carry a small squad of infantrymen from the 101st Airborne. They will set up a perimeter and provide ground defense after we land at the crash site. Crew members will recover the bodies from the downed chopper.

While we snack on c-rations for breakfast, Stan briefs us on our mission. After the briefing, Stan looks over at me while directing his comment to the men present. 'Taylor will be leading this recovery mission."

My mood and that of the men is still somber and grieving from our losses. Acknowledging Stan with a nod, I choose to say nothing. I know we all have a grim determination to recover the bodies of our fallen comrades. We have an obligation, a responsibility. We cannot do otherwise and owe it to ourselves and their families, hoping it will give them some closure.

It still is dark when we emerge from the tent and head for our choppers. The night sky is just beginning to lighten to the east. Walking to our Hueys, we see large flashes of light across the horizon to our north and west. Almost immediately, the ground shakes beneath us, followed by explosive shock waves. This would be the U.S. Air Force's B-52 "arc lights" being dropped over North Vietnam and inside Laos. Apparently, the LRRP teams are enjoying some good hunting.

Our recovery mission will take us across the DMZ and just inside North Vietnam. The area where Scott went down is fairly rugged but relatively flat, with considerable room to land three Hueys simultaneously. This will help in our recovery effort and should require less time on the ground. We will be flying "nap of the earth" over and back while keeping our radio chatter to a minimum. In some respects, this is more dangerous than the night mission. Several factors come into play on this mission. It will be light soon, and the...