Armor, Well Maybe

submitted by: Alva Leon Matheson

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When we first got to SVN in 1962, the L-28s we used for FACing had no protection. Some innovative soul had plain old plexiglas bolted in certain places, more for good feelings than for protection. When I went to Laos (May to Nov 1966) as a Butterfly FAC, we had CIA furnished Pilatus Porters (PC-6), flown by Air America or Continental. We Butterfly FACs of course served in the right seat. All these birds obviously had no protection.
When an HH-53 crashed on the hillside near Twenty Alternate (PDJ), I went there and with a trusty crescent wrench removed one of the titanium plates bolted in a “U” configuration for the pilot and CP. I tied a rope on to it as a handle. I magic marked it with my Butterfly call sign and a colorful picture of a butterfly. The Hmongs I flew with loved it. I sat on this as I flew. The pilot continued to makeshift. As it turned out when we were indeed shot down, the rounds tore through the pilot’s foot and hit my arm! None hit the titanium plate!