Norm Clark writes to Doug Olsen's father telling about their Nam experiences
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Hi Don,
Well the last email address I had for you was .......................... Then my emails started coming back to me, so I figured you got a new email address. Then, about a year ago I saw Doug and asked him how you were doing because I never heard from you and he said you were having computer troubles or something. Anyway, I’m glad I found you again!
And yes, that is a picture of our “daily driver”. That is 513 that Doug and I flew together on for about six months or so…we put a lot of Combat Assault hours on that gunship! And Doug was the best Crew Chief in Vietnam. I didn’t feel safe flying on any other Hueys except the ones he maintained. I remember him “red-lining” the ship because of a dangerous mechanical problem and we couldn’t fly until it was fixed. That pissed off a few people who wanted to use the chopper for the flight but Doug had the right and responsibility as the Crew Chief to red-line it and get it over to Maintenance if it was a big problem. I felt totally “safe” flying on his ship and also because he was a good door gunner on the left side too! Of course, I maintained the two M-60 machine guns, the M-5 Grenade Launcher on the front and the rocket pods on both sides. Doug may remember it differently, but my recollection is that neither of our guns ever went down when we needed them the most! I used to beg, borrow and steal the operating rod springs for the M-60 because they were at a premium…you just had a really hard time getting them replaced. And when I got a new one, I had a special way of lubing it so I used a minimal amount of grease on just the right spots getting the most wear, and this kept down the unnecessary accumulation of dirt and grit that would get into the guns. Plus, I was also very careful to ream out the gas port on a regular basis to keep the guns firing smoothly and not get any stoppages…I prided myself on that!
Anyway, I’m rambling, so gotta go for now. See you all later and God’s Blessings to you all!
Norm
