Honoring the Legacy of the Vinh Long Outlaws

VHPA Aviator Q4 2024 Book Review

“Tales From the Cockpit” by Chuck Howard

Not many Vietnam Helicopter books are written by Test Pilots…this one is, giving one more perspective of flying in Vietnam. However, this well-written book goes even further. Author Chuck Howard also gives a bird’s eye view of his many adventures after Vietnam. At least half the book is dedicated to his later career and is very entertaining. Quite the career, Sir!

Logging his flight time as “TP” for Test Pilot in VN, Chuck does an exceptional job describing his numerous “Excellent Adventures” (my words) growing up, flying helicopters in combat and post-Vietnam flying for the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey. Talk about a career! The book consists of 52 Chapters with very few Chapters more than several pages and many only a couple of pages. Quick, concise writing using easy to read plain English. Kinda like Reader’s Digest; some short, quick “snippets” that allow the reader to read a couple of chapters and come back later at the reader’s convenience without having to remember the previous chapters.

Here are some things to look for in “Tales from the Cockpit”: Playing “Chicken” with a helicopter and a Deuce-and-a-Half. An interesting R&R to Japan. A “Gotcha” experience with a Korean passenger. The World Record Exhibitionist. And a VERY prophetic comment from the Mastermind of the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. Most of these got a verbal reaction from me.

 However, to me, the most interesting post-Vietnam Chapter was his documenting the loss of TWA Flight 800 over the Atlantic. I’m thinking “What the heck did he have to do with that?” You will have to find out for yourself, but here’s a hint: Pilot Howard is the first helicopter on the scene; his eye-witness accounts of that tragedy and his analysis of the final accident report were quiteinteresting to me. Things that make you go “Hmmm?” Overall, his post-VN “Excellent Adventures” were just as good as his combat time!

Books like Howard’s are the things that make me glad I volunteered to review books for the VHPA Aviator. Otherwise, I would have missed many of the Excellent stories contained in all of them.

Thanks for serving, Chuck.

Phil Marshall

DMZ Dustoff 711

Camp Evans and Quang Tri, 1969

“What kind of a man would I be if I didn’t tell their stories?”

Ray Lambert, WWII Survivor, Omaha Beach

Available on Amazon or via Chuck’s website: www.chucktheauthor.com

What is the VLOA          Jim Donnelly

Let’s talk about what the Vinh Long Outlaws Association is: It can be defined as a company of equals. The VLOA does not recognize prior military rank and so we are equals.

The VLOA is an organization of veterans who are linked by memories of a place far away in both time and distance.

We define ourselves as members as we are a group of veterans who gather every two years to pursue the comradery formed from our shared experience long ago. Membership is an acknowledgement that you honorably served at the Gauvin-Upton Airfield also called the Shannon-Wright compound, just west of the city of Vinh Long South Vietnam.

Our reunions form traditions that bind us together. From our welcome dinner to our Missing Man Ceremony at our closing banquet these activities reinforce these ties. The reunions promote the unification of Brothers in Arms.

I am proud to be a member of the VLOA and I honor your dedication and sacrifice of having served in the Vietnam War.