Saturday, November 26, 2005
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
GIRARD -- Howard W. Jacobs, who flew 616 combat missions as a helicopter single-door gunner in Vietnam, is among 26 people inducted into the Enlisted Combat Air Crew Roll of Honor this year.
Jacobs, 54, flew those missions between May 1971 and March 1972, mostly over the Mekong Delta. He was a member of one of nine detachments that made up the Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron, the only combat assault helicopter squadron in the Navy's history.
Known as "Seawolves," the squadron, which mainly inserted and extracted Navy SEALS teams, was commissioned and decommissioned in Vietnam during the war, Jacobs said.
"We didn't know what the SEALS were doing. We just knew things would be happening," he said.
Former fire captain
Jacobs, who retired in 2001 as a captain with the Girard Fire Department, said his two-helicopter detachment was based at Binh Thuy. From there, they flew mainly over the Mekong Delta, which included the U Minh Forest. The other eight detachments were scattered around Vietnam, he said.
"I was deeply honored," said Jacobs of his induction onto the Roll of Honor.
In addition to the 616 missions, he was decorated with 27 Navy Air Combat Medals and received Combat Aircrew Wings, which he said is unusual in the Navy. Jacobs said the squadron was the most decorated Naval unit that served during the Vietnam War.
He was accompanied to the ceremony, conducted Nov. 4 aboard the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point, S.C., by his wife, Gail, and daughters, Jill Steeleof Liberty, and Laurenat home.
Special bond
"The squadron was a unique unit, and its members became brothers. Even today, if any of them called and needed me, I'd be on a plane in a heartbeat," he said.
"We had an unspoken saying in Vietnam that we would leave no one behind. It was something we lived by," Jacobs said.
His closest Navy friend is Ed McCarthy of North St. Paul, Minn.
They went through weapons ordnance school and other training together and were stationed at the Naval Air Station at Brunswick, Maine, when they got their orders for Vietnam.
McCarthy, originally from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, also was a helicopter gunner with the same attack squadron. And, though they were in different detachments, they managed to meet a few times in Vietnam.
The two men have met only once since the war, but they have a tradition of talking to each other by telephone on Veterans Day.
Jacobs, who has attended several squadron reunions, said he is determined to talk McCarthy into going to the 2006 reunion in Reno, Nev.
Joined Navy
Initially, Jacobs said, he joined the Navy in June 1969 right after he graduated from Girard High School because he didn't want to go to Vietnam.
After boot camp, however, he was talked into volunteering for the helicopter combat squadron and found he liked the military. He said he had planned to make it a career until his father, William G., became ill and he had to come home. He left the Navy as a petty officer second class.
"I love this country. I'm very proud of what I did," said Jacobs, who flies a Navy flag on his home.
"You did what you had to do. We did our job. We felt we were stopping communism and helping the people of Vietnam," he said.
Hostile return
One thing Jacobs did not like was the welcome he received when he came home. He admitted it threw him.
"We were brought back at night to avoid demonstrators. I was called a baby killer. I didn't appreciate it. Everybody is entitled to their opinions. But, even if they don't agree, they should welcome their servicemen home. They deserve it. They shouldn't degrade them," he said.
Jacobs said Vietnam veterans greet each other with "welcome home" because they didn't get one from their country.
Jacobs said he grew up during his nine-month tour and learned the value of life. The usual tour was one year, but when the squadron was decommissioned, its air crews were sent home.
"People take too much for granted. I'm grateful to have had a job and been able to raise a family and have this nice home," he said.
Jacobs said his father, who served in the Army's 1st Armored Division under Gen. George S. Patton during World War II, never talked about his time in the military.
But when Jacobs knew he was going to Vietnam, he said his father cried, probably because he knew from his own war experience what his son would have to face.
"He cried, but I know he was proud," Jacobs said quietly.
Can't go back
Jacobs said he does not plan to ever go back to Vietnam. "It wouldn't be the same."
Also, he said, "I don't know if I'd want to take in that smell again. You got used to the heat, the mosquitoes, the snakes, the cockroaches, and being wet all the time.
"But the smell. It was just a combination of things. They did not have bathrooms; the cooking, the vegetation, just everything," he said. "You ask any Vietnam vet, he will remember the smell."
Jacobs is now a part-time patrolman with the Hubbard Township Police Department, where he was named 2005 Officer of the Year.
"I've had a good year. I was inducted into the Roll of Honor and named officer of the year. I'm happy," he said.
alcorn@vindy.com