CENTAURS UNIT HISTORY
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Information letter from Troop Commanders
Interview Reference Form
Interview Consent Form
History Project Poster
Bain Cowell (Arty FO - 'Short Round' 1966-1967), with primary assistance from
Rick Arthur (HOGS 1967), is gathering information, including oral history, on the
Troop's actions in Vietnam primarily during the Troop and Squadron's second year
in Vietnam, March 1967 - 1968. We are using the Centaurs
Unit History title here so if anyone volunteers to shepherd a history of D Troop
(Air), 3/4 Cav during other periods of Vietnam service, or history of F Troop,
4th Cav (Air) which was the unit designation when it became an independent Air
Cavalry Troop following the Squadron's departure from Vietnam back to Hawaii, we
can include information on those other periods here for everyone's benefit.
Bain and Rick will be at the 2010 Reunion in Tucson and look forward to your
participation in recording and maintaining the physical documentation of the
Vietnam era Centaurs.
Please let Short Round and Rick know that you appreciate their efforts. Also,
if you have any questions about the history project or want to help, please
contact Short Round via email at baincowell@hotmail.com or contact Rick via email at
rickarthur at comcast.net (replace the " at " with
@).
Thanks also go to Tom Fleming (Service Platoon and Troop Commander) for his not so off the cuff 'suggestion' to Short
Round that helped
get this project started.
Information from Rick Arthur on the oral history part of
the project:
Rick's email to
Tom Fleming:
Tom, you asked
me about recalling a gun team incident/mission that I was sent on to
interdict some 1st ID soldiers who were deserting and traveling down the Saigon
river via sampan to (somehow) escape the war.
You reminded me of the dilemma I faced when they fired on me as I attempted to
land on them. Tropic 6 came on the radio and told me I was free to return fire.
My dilemma was that not only were they US Army but when they shot at me their
aim was so far in front of my aircraft that my thoughts were that they were
either lousy shots, they were on drugs or they we trying to show me they really
didn't want me to pick them up. My door gunner had them in sight (wish I
remembered his name) and I know he was confused like me. When someone
recommended a gun run to take them out I remember responding with "these rockets
don't have a conscience." We ended up dropping CS on them in an attempt to see
how they would respond. I made several more low passes on them, they must have
crawled into the bush... we couldn't see them and left them to their own fate.
Seems like they were arrested by some ground troops that happened on them later.
Not sure. (I wonder what stories they tell now.)
But I have a question for you guys. In retirement my wife and I are involved
with The America Folklore Society and the Library of Congress with recording a
project in ethnomusicology about American Music. Mainly Blues and Appalachian
Folk music. But during the process of developing our project, contacts in the
Library of Congress have suggested making some video recordings of
interviews/war stories for the "Veterans History Project"
www.loc.gov/vets.
We have all the equipment to do the interviews. We also have the methods,
release forms, etc. to put together a group of interviews. We could use the
files for a documentation of the units experience in Viet Nam and also put it on
file with the Veterans History Project.
If we were to do these interviews at the reunion I would need to do a few things
in advance:
Get out the instructions to the troops as to what was happening and to
bring photos or other documents. May need a sign up sheet for scheduling.
Have a place (maybe a room) at the conference that is quiet and audio/video
friendly for the recordings.
It has to be individuals not a group (project requirements)
Let me know what you think.
Regards,
Rick Arthur
Email Rick at
rickarthur at comcast.net
Rick's guestbook page is here.
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Information from Bain Cowell on the Centaurs history
project:
Shortround's
email to Rick Arthur:
Rick, you've made a very creative proposal. I plan to attend
the 2010 reunion and would be happy to be involved. This would be a big
help to me in assembling information from the 1967-68 Centaurs for our vol.
II history book. I've gotten some returns from the letter that Tom and
George circulated back in July, but need more to reach a critical mass.
Oral interviews (recorded in audio or video) could reach a lot of guys who
are reluctant or unable to put their reminiscences in writing.
I understand the Veterans History Project at LOC covers all
U.S. wars from which there are survivors and would be a great choice,
especially given your L.O.C. contacts. There's also another "Vietnam
Project" of oral history at Texas Tech University (accessible online) which
was recommended to me by Army Command and General Staff College historian
Dr. James Willbanks (several books on Vietnam War). I've had no contact with
them to date.
BTW, in your enthnomusicology research have you looked into
Vietnam-era folk or pop music that might have been sung by deployed troops?
Some of those songs were anti-war, but others celebrated the soldiers'
loyalty and heroism. There must be some out there besides "The Green
Berets" (from the John Wayne film). I recall that my predecessor as the
Centaurs' "Short Round," a 1LT whose name I have unfortunately forgotten,
composed a "Ballad of the Centaurs" that may be lost to posterity. He
played the guitar, composed a simple tune, and got help writing lyrics. One
verse celebrated the combat exploits of "smiling Captain Delvy."
