Cowboy and Mustachio

The story of two of the most legendary helicopter pilots in Vietnam.

March 30, 2024

(To those who may be new here: A Tardy Salute is written to help recognize the great many brave men who fought and died in Vietnam. To the Americans, because this is not just about the Americans, I say: Welcome Home! The posts here relay some of the heart-stirring stories I come across while researching the book I am writing on Cobra helicopter pilot Terry Crump, who earned a near unprecedented number of seven Distinguished Flying Crosses. Some of them may appear in some form in the book titled It Was My Turn. If you know of any vets or others interested in learning more about the American War, please forward these posts to them and encourage them to subscribe. The honor and respect tardily due these men is increased when they know that others are reading and reflecting on their courage, fighting skills and sacrifice. Also, I very much want to hear from you. Kudos or complaints, I’m most interested in hearing what interests you and your response to what you may be learning for the first time.)

The Americans were sent to Vietnam first to help the French, and when they were booted out, to help the South Vietnamese government. It was to stop the Communists, led initially by Ho Chi Minh, from turning all of Vietnam into a Communist state, thinking that by stopping the “domino” here, it could keep all of Southeast Asia from falling to then much feared Communists.

The South Vietnamese government was pretty much a disaster and the corruption, brutality and dictatorship of President Diem helped the Viet Cong to gain strong support among the villagers, and made helping the government very difficult for the US. ARVN, the South Vietnamese army, was seen by most as uncommitted and inept, although there were certainly many exceptions. Terry Crump, in a tape sent to his parents shortly after arrival said the South Vietnamese military “weren’t worth a damn.”

The RVNF, the South Vietnamese Air Force, became the fourth largest in the world during the war. It had some outstanding pilots, both fixed wing and helicopter. One was a daring young Colonel named Ky who was recruited by the CIA to fly the first agent insertions into North Vietnam. Ky would become the vice president and de facto leader of South Vietnam during the war after the coup and assassination of President Diem.

Two of the very best pilots of any side in the war were Kingbee helicopter pilots who went by the names of Cowboy and Mustachio. Mustachio got the nickname from his very neatly trimmed mustache. His real name was Nguyen Van Hoang. Cowboy’s real name was not recorded. He got his nickname for his fascination with Western movies, his unique very neat camo uniforms, and wearing cowboy boots and other Western gear. There are quite a few stories about these pilots and their bravery and skill was widely understood to be unmatched. Stories are told of them taking off flying backwards and descending into the trees with the rotors slapping at the foliage.

A website dedicated to SOG included information about the Vietnamese Air Force 219th Vietnam Helicopter unit, and provided this about Cowboy and Mustachio and the Kingbees they flew:

“The Kingbee pilots were legendary in C&C [Command & Control centers for SOG] — especially two we called “Cowboy” and “Mustacio”. They flew in near “zero ceiling” weather and without gunship support to extract teams. They hovered against steep hillsides and even used their rotor blades to “cut” through vegetation in order to get to the teams.”

The “Kingbees,” were officially known as H-34s. Developed in the 1950s by Sikorsky as primarily an anti-submarine helicopter, it was sidelined by the US with the arrival of the Hueys. But the old, noisy, hydraulic leaking choppers were used to great effect by the Vietnamese pilots who flew them, especially the duo of Mustachio and Cowboy. The helicopters proved exceptionally rugged as the piston engine was located high above the cockpit and crew compartment. The only armament was a WW2 era 30 caliber machine gun near the entry door and a can of 1000 rounds of ammo.

John Plaster, the former recon team One-Zero or team leader, has written likely the best accounts of SOG in his three books. 

By 1965 North Vietnam had about 30,000 troops on the Ho Chi Minh trail and about 200 trucks a day were trundling down the mostly dirt roads that made up the 900 miles of trail. It was a major means of supplying the Viet Cong and NVA regulars that were attacking in the south and Central Highlands. SOG was new (see previous post on SOG and the Green Berets for an introduction if needed) and the first insertion of a twelve man reconnaissance team was planned. Three Green Berets served as leaders, the rest were ethnic Chinese “Nungs” or Yards, as the tribal Montagnards were called. They were to identify specific targets for US air assets, Air Force jets and A1-Skyraiders mostly, to attack. Massive B-52 raids, called “Arc Light” were also used to destroy targets on the trail once identified by SOG teams or observer aircraft.

Cowboy flew the first part of the team into Laos, the forbidden territory to Americans. Mustachio flew the second group in and a third Kingbee held the SOG group’s leader, Larry Thorne. A Fin, he was a famous Green Beret having served Finland throughout WW2 mostly behind Russian lines. He led a convoy ambush in that conflict that killed 300 Russians without a single loss of life of his team. After the war, the former head of OSS recruited him to come to the US and join the Green Berets. He was overall in charge of this, the first mission of a SOG effort called “Shining Brass,” to gain much needed intelligence on the Trail. 

The recon team, RT Iowa, led by One-Zero Charles “Slats” Petry, was dropped into the thick jungle landing zone by Cowboy and Mustachio. The weather got bad and after inserting the team the choppers had to fly to 8500 feet to return to their base at Kham Duc. Thorne, in the helicopter above waited until the team on the ground radioed they were OK, then radioed he too was returning to base. The legendary soldier was never heard from again, the first SOG recon team to be lost. 

He was not the only one lost on this first SOG insertion in Laos. Forward Air Controllers (FAC) were provided to SOG by the Air Force. A tiny Cessna 0-1 was used for this mission flown by USAF Major Harley Pyles, and in the backseat was a Marine, Captain Winfield Sisson. The bad weather over the LZ caused their “Bird Dog” to also disappear. All three were listed as MIA but their bodies were never found.

John Plaster tells the story of one of Mustachio’s most remarkable exploits. It was in 1966 and the RT (Reconnaissance Team) on the ground had been hit hard. Several were wounded but they slipped away from their attackers and needed to be extracted, now! Wait until daylight and they would likely be found and wiped out. Hueys didn’t fly at night, and Kingbees weren’t supposed to either. But Mustachio, once again ignoring protocol and concerns about his own safety, took off. He would not let any crew go with him, even his co-pilot or door gunner. He went alone knowing the risks. In complete darkness, and taking groundfire, he got the team out alive. His Kingbee came back with 88 holes in it, and Mustachio lost his thumb to an enemy bullet, but the team’s lives were saved.

This is the thin margin of the war Terry would fight in, and why it called for such courage and flying skill on the part of the helicopter pilots who supported the incredibly courageous men on the ground.

Plaster also told a similar remarkable story about Cowboy. It was July 12, 1967 when a SOG team ran into fatal trouble in Laos. The Green Beret team of M. Sgt. Samuel Almendariz and Sfcs. Robert Sullivan and Harry Brown, plus five Nungs, were ambushed by North Vietnamese regulars (NVA). Almendariz and Sullivan were killed along with the Nungs and Brown was wounded in the shoulder. Cowboy was in Khe Sanh and jumped aboard his Kingbee to rescue the wounded Brown. Three SOG men jumped on board with him. These rescue missions, called “Bright Light,” were a crucial part of the role of the SOG teams. No gunships or rescue Slicks accompanied them. Cowboy was skimming along the tree tops looking for the team and finally spotted them. He tried to put down into a LZ that was so small the rotors were slapping against the tree branches. He couldn’t put down and had to return to Khe Sanh to refuel. Knowing the risks of getting these men out, he wouldn’t allow the other SOG men to return to the extraction with him. M. Sgt Skip Minnicks wouldn’t be refused, so the two of them took off. His co-pilot and door gunner were forced to stay back as well.

Here is Plaster’s account of what happened:

“Cowboy descended again into that narrow hole and hovered while Minnicks leaped off. An AK slug passed completely through Cowboy’s neck, but somehow he flew the Kingbee with one hand and slowed the bleeding with his other hand while Minnicks dragged the wounded Brown aboard, and off they went. Cowboy’s bravery astounded Billy Waugh [one of the SOG men Cowboy refused to take with him], who thought, ‘He should get the Medal of Honor.’”

In Vietnam, it seems there are relatively few happy endings. Perhaps one reason why it seems we almost have to be forced to dig into the stories. There was no happy ending for Mustachio and Cowboy. They did many more amazing things after the incidents recorded here. But on July 3, 1966, a year before Cowboy’s legendary extraction, Mustachio had successfully extracted RT Nevada when he climbed to 5000 feet in very heavy weather. The old Kingbees were designed for operating on a carrier and had a folding tail for more compact storage. But, it was a weak spot on an otherwise rugged machine. The folding tail broke loose in the buffeting of the weather, chewed into the main rotors and the ship went down with the loss of RT Nevada, Mustachio, his co-pilot and door gunner. Later, all bodies were recovered except that of M. Sgt Ralph Reno.

Plaster didn’t provide what happened to Cowboy, but I found an account with a web search:

https://groups.google.com/g/alt.war.vietnam/c/hiJ5XimPXN8/m/d3ncjO1teHIJ

Another SOG team was in trouble, and perhaps for reasons of darkness or bad weather, no Hueys would fly to extract them. Cowboy volunteered and it is not known if, as before, he required he be alone on the rescue mission. However, he did successfully recover the team and deliver them to Kontum, their base and the same one Terry would fly to from Camp Holloway to receive the mission briefings. It was the Green Beret base for many of the most dangerous SOG missions. Having delivered the team home to safety, Cowboy took his Kingbee back to his base. The weather was heavy overcast and he flew his Kingbee into a mountain. 

Cowboy and Mustachio have flown into combat legend. They also deserve the honor and respect we seek here to give to Americans who fought that tragic war. No one counted the American and Vietnamese lives they saved, but we know there were many. In telling the story of Cobra pilot Terry Crump, relating the exploits of these two remarkable pilots provides some valuable context.