We also had a Forward Air Controller, who flew a Cessna Skymaster which was a twin push pull engine aircraft, and he would guide us into the LZ.
The reason we had the helicopter gunships was because SOG teams were sometimes attacked on insertion, because the NVA knew the only way in for us was by using Landing Zones (LZ’s), coming in by chopper, so any good LZ was always watched if the NVA had the personnel.
PAL: Were you ever ambushed on insertion?
JB: With almost 50 missions I only remember one time that we were shot out of a LZ during insertion. We were fired on during the insertion before we were on the ground. It seemed to be only one NVA, probably a LZ watcher that got spooked. It was enough to cause us to abort the LZ and go to the secondary LZ.
PAL: How did you select your landing zones?
JB: The LZ was always picked out by the team leader, about a week or so before actual infiltration. This was done with the FAC during a flyover of the area with our map. We would have to fly high enough not to give any warning to the NVA of a possible insertion so some times the LZ up close during insertion was not nearly as good as we would have liked when we originally saw it a few thousand feet in the air through binoculars.
Once you had your primary LZ picked out you then looked for a secondary LZ in case the first one was compromised. The second LZ was on the other side of your area of responsibility, hopefully far away from the enemy you just encountered. The bad thing about having to use your second LZ was the NVA knew you were trying to get into their area and go on alert which made the mission much more dangerous.
PAL: Were the gunships ever needed?
JB: Not during infiltration for my team, luckily, but definitely on extraction. I came out 39 times under fire. Many times as I got on the chopper I would see the pilots taking rounds through their windshield. That is why I said in my book how brave these guys that supported us were. The men in the choppers were sitting ducks but they always came in to get us anyway. One of our worries were the NVA would use us for bait just to bring the choppers in so they could destroy as many as possible. The NVA knew that the choppers would keep coming in for us as long as we were alive.