Correspondent photo / John D. Bagnola . . .
Marine Sgt. Robert Hian of Boardman, who graduated from Chaney High School, flew more than 900 missions on an HMM-164 Helicopter Marine Aircraft Unit like this one pictured. The helicopters were nicknamed “Flying Death” because of the dangerous missions their crew flew during the Vietnam War.
BOARDMAN — If you think war is the answer, then think again.
Robert Hian had a difficult time recounting the horrors he experienced during his many missions in Vietnam because there were so many.
He said he had suppressed these stories for years but now feels obligated to tell it like it was. He was a trained medic, crew chief and mechanic on an HMM-164 Helicopter Marine Aircraft Unit, nicknamed “Flying Death” because of the dangerous missions flown by its crew.
During his tour of duty in Vietnam, he flew more than 900 missions from Marble Mountain, an aviation airfield facility mainly used by the U.S. Marine Corps southeast of Da Nang. He also flew helicopter missions by sea on four ships in the South China Sea. Each helicopter mission usually included a pilot, a crew chief / medic, a gunner, troop supplies and a fresh military unit to assist in the unending battles.
“It has been said that the ground troops were fighting a losing battle and the helicopter aircraft units were sitting ducks. We were instructed to wear our bullet bouncers (bulletproof vests) and helmets during every mission,” Hian recalled. “When they shot at us from the ground, we would see our lives flash before our eyes, because the belly of the aircraft was just a thin wall of metal that was easily penetrated by enemy fire. Obviously, we were scared.”
Hian’s choppers were shot down eight times and crashed twice.
He has several U.S. Armed Forces awards and decorations. He took bullets and shrapnel twice and has two Purple Hearts to prove it. He caught a round in the shoulder, his arm, fingers and hand, and face, cheek and mouth.
As a medic and chopper crew chief during 960 missions, Hian, his pilot and gunner saved thousands of lives, but he regrets thousands more who were dead when their chopper arrived.
Most missions were supposed to be in secured areas, but the Viet Cong were hunkered in everywhere, he said. During war time, the crew found out there is no such thing as a secured area. On many missions, it wasn’t just a flyover to drop water, food or more ammo.
“It was to save lives, to pound on a chest, to administer heavy duty CPR to restart a solder’s heart or to apply multiple tourniquets to stop the bleeding,” he said. “We are flying in to assist the wounded, but we seemed to always be moving targets. I am lucky to be alive. I caught a round right in the shoulder. It knocked me down. My gunner and pilot took rounds in their legs. Can’t believe any of us made it out of there. We were young kids — 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds. We thanked God for being alive on many occasions. Very few people ever experienced someone dying in their arms. It became a daily ritual for our team.”
As medics, they were trained to assist the wounded and save lives. However, many missions had few survivors.
Hiam and his team called it a reconnaissance extraction. After one heated battle, the three of them arrived at the battle zone, lowered the chopper and saw no movement. They ended up assisting seven men, and it became apparent that the other men, about 20, never had a chance. There were no body bags, so they just loaded them in the back of the chopper and headed back to Marble Mountain.
On “big mission operations,” as many as 24 helicopters would be deployed to prepare for battle. Each chopper had a crew of three and 20 Marines, along with ammo, food, water and other supplies. As the war waged on, more men, supplies and medical evacuation were needed.
Hian recalls the time his chopper crashed into the side of a mountain because the weight and balance of the cargo aboard was too much to ascend and clear the mountain. Luckily, there were no casualties except for the $1 million helicopter.
“I finally became a crew chief and my best friend Kenny Luther became my gunner. At first, we went on some easy supply-delivering missions. But then, in the heat of another battle, he was shot up pretty bad and died,” Hian said.
“We got called to another event where an emergency medevac was needed. Ten American soldiers had been riding along in the back of a military truck. A Vietnamese civilian came up and threw a grenade into the 6-foot by 6-foot area where they were seated. We managed to save six of the injured soldiers. We had our own battle moving from one victim to the other trying to get a pulse. . . . . trying desperately to stop the bleeding . . . . and thinking the entire time about all of the grieving parents back home. We were scared. I wanted to cry, but there was no time for an emotional experience. I was a Marine and I had a job to do.”
There was no down time for the Helicopter Marine Aircraft Unit. If any one of the helicopters needed repaired or got shot down, the team in charge of that chopper had to perform repairs and maintenance as quickly as possible for the next mission.
Hian also was a trained aircraft mechanic , pilot and medic. Besides running reconnaissance missions, the team would spend countless hours administering periodic maintenance on their chopper and rebuilding the aircraft after a crash or after being shot down. He was actually given the challenge of rebuilding a chopper by himself that crashed, and it had to be completely restored. He took pride in his work and after many hours of rebuilding, the chopper was airworthy and named “The Buckeye Bomber” since the unit knew Hian was an Ohio State fan.
On another mission Hian recalled the time his pilot mistakenly landed on a minefield. Explosions were numerous. Hian went to work and pulled all injured to the helicopter and there was no loss of life, but many loss of limbs. The colonel awarded a Bronze Star to Hian and promised him a Congressional Medal of Honor.
After spending six months on Marble Mountain, Hian was transferred to a helicopter carrier called the USS Tripoli. They did operations off the carriers, where needed, south of Chu Lai and then up to Fu Vai for two months and then on to Quang Tri before heading back to Marble Mountain for the remainder of his tour. During that time, he also was stationed on board the USS Valley Forge, the USS Guam, and the USS Iwo Jima in the South China Sea.
Following Hian’s tour of duty, he continued his “Never Give Up” and “Never Say Die” attitude. He wanted to take on job opportunities in the Mahoning Valley that were not only helping people, but he wanted to make use of the military knowledge and experience he gained as a Marine in saving lives.
He applied for and passed the test to become a police officer, which he did from 1973 to 1976. He then got the urge to become a Youngstown firefighter. He was hired in 1976 and retired as a battalion chief in 2011 after 35 years of service. During his tenure as a firefighter, he started the first city ambulance service. During that time, he also was the union president for Local 312 and was the first commander and creator of the new 911 Emergency System in Youngstown.