REAL AMERICAN HEROES-LT. COLONEL JOHN B. POPE

REAL AMERICAN HEROES

LT. COLONEL JOHN B. POPE

    In July of 1966, my Dad, then Major John B. Pope, was deployed to Vietnam. Major Pope was set to become the Company Commander of the 229th Aviation Battalion of the 1st Calvary Division.  The 229th was one of the first to provide tactical mobility to combat troops by use of the helicopter. Major Pope was the third Company Commander of the 229th following two legends of Army Aviation.  Major Bruce Crandall, who was featured in the Mel Gibson movie "When We Were Soldiers" and was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley was the first Commander of the 229th.  Major Crandall, who was portrayed by actor Greg Kinnear in the movie, arrived in Vietnam in the summer of 1965 and was later replaced by Lt. Colonel Bob Jackson who was an American hero in his own right. 

    Major Pope took over as Company Commander in December of 1966 and was very shortly involved in a major engagement with the enemy.  On the morning of December 27th, 1966, three North Vietnamese Army battalions used a truce brokered for the Christmas holiday to move into position for a surprise attack on LZ Bird.  "LZ Bird was an artillery position that was defended by only part of C Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. The combined American strength at LZ Bird was 170 personnel. The NVA force was estimated at over 1000 and was supported by mortar, recoilless-rifle, and machine gun fire. They broke through the perimeter and occupied some of the American gun positions. The 1st Cavalry soldiers fought back, with some of the fighting dissolving into hand-to-hand warfare. A number of the 105mm guns were cranked down to pointblank range, and "beehive" rounds sliced through the attackers like scythes, effectively stopping the assault in it tracks."  Battle of LZ Bird, Marshall

    Major Pope and his men volunteered to fly into heavy gunfire, dense jungle and darkness to rescue combat troops and remove the casualties and wounded.  As a result of their actions, the 229th was awarded a Presidential Citation and Major Pope was awarded the Bronze Star and Distinguished Flying Cross.

       Major Pope remained in Vietnam until the summer of 1967 and returned home to his family and to continue his career.  He retired as Lt. Colonel John Pope in 1974.

    I received this message from one of his men that served with him in Vietnam, "Your father was very much the career military man, always the image of a professional.  Your father had quite a job trying to keep a bunch of wild young helicopter pilots in check.  After all these years I have forgotten a lot of the details but I will remember your father as a success as no helicopter pilot was wounded or killed while he commanded our company."

    Lt. Colonel John Pope died April 20th, 1995.  Thank you for your service to our country.