Vietnam helicopter pilot talks service, heroism on Veterans Day

Former U.S. Army Capt. Jack Dale Jordan on Nov. 11 shares his journey from enlisted infantryman to his days as an attack helicopter pilot and Air Cavalry instructor in Vietnam at SAU’s annual Veteran’s Day program. The Texas native and Southern State College alum served in the armed forces from 1966 to 1972.
Former U.S. Army Capt. Jack Dale Jordan on Nov. 11 shares his journey from enlisted infantryman to his days as an attack helicopter pilot and Air Cavalry instructor in Vietnam at SAU’s annual Veteran’s Day program. The Texas native and Southern State College alum served in the armed forces from 1966 to 1972.

The campus of Southern Arkansas University played host Monday to a salute to past and present military members as former U.S. Army Infantry Captain and helicopter pilot Jack Dale Jordan spoke on Veteran’s Day. The former Air Cavalry instructor and attack chopper aviator served in Vietnam. He is also a Mulerider, having spent two years at what was then Southern State College.

The Tyler, Texas, native spoke of his own journey from an enlisted man in 1966 to his career as a helicopter pilot. He also noted the heroism of those in Vietnam and other conflicts.

“It’s never a successful mission unless every last person comes home,” he said.

Jordan himself was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, 36 air medals, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm after rising to officer status and became an attack helicopter pilot throughout his first tour in the Republic of Vietnam, then served as an Army instructor pilot for H Troop, 1st Squadron of the 10th Cavalry. In total, he spent seven years in the armed services.

His Army days took him from Louisiana to Georgia to South Vietnam until 1972. He initially had another career path in the service, but shortly after enlisting and arriving at the Pelican State, he changed his mind.

“I had enlisted for Special Forces, but while I was wading through the swamps down in Fort Polk, Louisiana, I realized what I had done,” he said.

When his company commander stated that anyone with at least two years of college education could apply for Army Officer Candidate School, Jordan jumped at the chance. He made his way to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he was given the chance to test for helicopter flight school. Jordan, being “gung-ho,” passed the training and selected the Bell AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter as his preferred method of travel in the air.

In his first tour of Vietnam, he was assigned to the 361st Aviation Company (Escort), call-signed the Pink Panthers, based in Pleiku, Vietnam.

“We actually got written authorization for the use of the [Pink Panther] emblem and that name,” he said.

Jordan and the Pink Panthers worked with MACV SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group). The unit was a highly classified special operations group that operated mostly in Laos and Cambodia — an area they weren’t technically supposed to be.

“Of course, politically, we were not in either one,” he said. “But that’s where we inserted our Special Forces teams and extracted them, as need be.”

The AH-1 Cobra carried incredible armament. Jordan’s craft alone was equipped with 48 2.75-inch rockets, 5,000 mini-gun rounds, and 150 40mm grenades.

“We could do some serious damage,” he said.

Jordan’s remarks quickly turned to the heroic efforts displayed by those in Vietnam and by others throughout the history of the country. He particularly highlighted the true “no guts, no glory” attitude many helicopter pilots spoke of during conflict, but that one man truly embodied in Vietnam.

He reminded the audience of pilot Ed Freeman who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor in Ia Drang Valley. Freeman’s efforts were depicted in the 2002 Mel Gibson film “We Were Soldiers.”

While soldiers at Landing Zone X-Ray were pinned down by machine-gun fire and American forces were heavily outnumbered, so much so that medical evacuation units had been called off, Freeman took 14 trips into the fire zone and took 30 men out alive who would not have otherwise survived.

“None of this is Hollywood fiction,” said Jordan.

Freeman was one of fewer than 105 men who served in the Republic of Vietnam to wear the light blue ribbon and gold-pointed star that is the Medal of Honor – America’s highest decoration for valor above and beyond the call of duty.

“God bless Ed Freeman and all the others who sacrificed for their love of God and County,” the former Army Captain added, “and demonstrated no guts, no glory.”

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