We Thought We Were Invincible

Warrant Officer Heidi Ungrich
US Army UH-60 Blackhawk Pilot
I am extremely fortunate in that I was selected for and completed Army
Helicopter training. Having completed two one-year tours in Iraq and am
going back again I have come through without any major incident.
One night I was flying over Baghdad. Rocket propelled grenades and
fifty-caliber machine guns were being hurled at me. Tracer’s from 50-
caliber machine gun bullets were coming at me. Every fifth bullet is a
tracer and looks like green basketballs coming at me. My question is,
where were the other four bullets going?
The whole sky lit up all over and all around my helo. I was too busy to
get scared at the mayhem.
All I could think of was that I was in the middle of a Star Wars Movie.

WE THOUGHT WE WERE INVINCIBLE

In the summer of 1970, I had the privilege of joining Detachment One of the United

States Navy Sea Wolves (HAL)-3 in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam. At that

time Dr. Art Schmitt was the commanding officer and was known as CDR. Art

Schmitt (or Uncle Art). Little did I know how fortunate I would e to serve under his

leadership in this truly unique fighting force of sailors.

All established methods of command had to be rewritten in order to earn the respect

of these seasoned combat veterans. Cdr. Schmitt led by example, always there at the

front, allowing his men to do their jobs to the best of their ability by giving them the

same respect as everyone else in our team. On every mission the possibility of

disaster lurked.

The mental strain on us was tremendous, yet there was never the slightest problem

manning those gunships, no matter how great the odds were against us. I flew 853

combat missions and Cdr. Schmitt is, without a doubt, the best officer I ever served

under. His experiences and other Invincible Warriors are well documented in this

book. “We Thought We Were Invincible, The True Stories of invincible Warriors”.

----Michael W. Dobson

Aviation Electricians Mate 2^nd Class (AE2)