He was CO of HT-8 when I went thru that program. Got a flight in my first of four logbooks with him as off-wing instructor. We chatted and I asked him about that flight and he simply answered "We were a great crew, we were determined to get them out, and we just had lot of luck". No "I" in the entire conversation.
I was too young for Vietnam and too old for Desert Storm. But I thank all those and stand in amazement at the men that stood in the breach so that I didn't have to.
My son is 25. I'd like to think that he'd show the same courage under fire. I suspect that he would, but I'm biased. Thanks for preserving and sharing Lassen's well-deserved word-fame. Heroes should be remembered.
He would do what he had to do and if he measured up it would be good if he didn't never call him out on it, if he went and did the job good or bad he was doing good.
I think that a new base should have been named. Some of the old ones have 100 plus years of history already. That doesn’t go away overnight. All the locals just kept the old name
So I'm not Navy and not a Helo Pilot, but I've been into hot LZs. My basic spec checking says the SH-2A was heavier than the comparable UH-1B, had less SHP was not armed, )though I can see door guns on the crew photo). Overall a fairly gutless bird to be doing fancy flying under tree tops.
Indeed. The SH-2F’s I flew in, in the 80’s and 90’s, were twin engine ASW helicopters with a lot of avionics. We still used FLIR and other advancements with this little helicopter. I loved flying in them and deploying with them. Some of our squadron birds were Vietnam CSAR aircraft with repaired bullet holes.
The H2 in this config UH-2A was a single engine armed helicopter. It was decently powered with a gas turbofan engine. They were light and had automatic trim on the trailing edge of the main rotor blades. They were used for CSAR in the Vietnam war because they could fit on small decks. This mission: they carried twin MH60D mounted on each side of the helo. Cook carried an M16 as did the aircrew. They had chicken plate on the seats and in the cabin for armor protection. The Navy changed these to twin engine aircraft starting in the 70’s and used them until the 90’s.
Note: Lassen and crew landed on a different deck than the one they were stationed on. They landed with 5 minutes of fuel as measured by AD3 West when they shut down.
The Navy didn’t fly UH1 for CSAR because they couldn’t get any production as the Huey was being built for the Army. The only Navy Squadrons to fly Huey’s in Vietnam were HC1 and HAL-3 and they “borrowed” surplus Army helicopters. Their mission was helicopter gunship fire support and interdiction working with the brown water Navy PBR and special boat units in the Mekong Delta.
Commissioned and decommissioned OCONUS. They never saw duty in the states. I was friends with some of the old timers that were stationed as original plankowners that worked at the naval aviation museum. The Huey they have on display in seawolf livery isn’t a B model but it represents. The stories these guys would tell. Most heavily decorated squadron in the Navy during that time frame.
He was a humble man. It was rumored that he asked to be buried in the uniform of the day. A flannel shirt and jeans. His legacy also is preserved at NAS Whiting Field where all new rotary aviators get their wings. In the Clyde Lassen Memorial Auditorium.
His crew chief Bruce Dallas told me some stories about their experience. He said everything you heard about Clyde was 100 percent true. I used to have the privilege of telling his story and showing the MOH to Navy and Marine Corps flight students.
A giant of a man. And the rest of the crew of Clementine 02 aren’t too shabby. Bruce lives in South Carolina and West retired as a Chief. Cook retired as a Commander.
Flew CSAR helos for nearly 20 years, never heard a shot fired in anger. Doing this, without NVGs, in a not "hot", but "sizzling" situation, is deserving of the MOH. OBTW, the whole crew likely used small wheel barrels when walking to carry their "brass balls"...caliber...155 or 8inch. Just sayin...
“Character is not built, it is revealed.” At any point after first semi-locating the F-4 crew, he could have said it was too hard. But if not them, then who?
I was a member of HSL-36 Det 4 from 87-89 aboard USS Gallery (FFG-26). Didn't know we had a MOH pilot! The venerable Sea Sprite was often the butt of jokes fleet wide, especially after the SH-60B came online but I loved working on the hookey toot! The pilots loved it as well. It was a sports car compared to the "Cadillac" Seahawk.
Yes. Had a pair of GE T58's feeding the combining gearbox and then shafts up to the main gearbox and tail rotor. Plenty of power for any and all missions. What made it a sports car though was its main rotor blade flaps. Very maneuverable and very responsive. The swash plate was only about 8" in diameter and less than an inch thick. Control rods were only 1/4". Amazing design!
In January 2025, a very appropriate tribute was installed & dedicated at the NAS North Island main gate to honor & recognize then-Ltjg Clyde Lassen’s heroic rescue.
The “VADM Stockdale Gate” has an A-4 in honor of former Coronado resident Adm Stockdale and a plaque detailing his MOH on one side. On the north side of the gate is a refurbished SH-60 (there weren’t any UH-2s available that could be restored), with HC-1 squadron logos & Cdr Lassen’s & crew’s name painted on it. The site, put together through donations and years of work by the Naval Helicopter Association Historical Society also has the plaque detailing Lassen’s MOH citation, a fitting tribute for his heroism at the Navy’s West Coast Master Helo Base.
Small side story about this rescue, Bruce Dallas actually disembarked from the Helicopter to find the F4 crew. He got back in the helo and literally pulled claw and burns inside the aircraft while Lassen maintained a hover. When Bruce tried to tell Lassen to begin forward flight, his ICS was disconnected. So he slapped Lassen on the helmet “a little too hard” Bruce told me later. Lassen was pissed that he got out of the helo, but Bruce said he needed to see where the F4 crew were and he couldn’t from that position.
Cook was firing his M16 full auto from the left seat. The brass ejected into Clyde’s flight suit around his neck and was burning him, he thought he was shot. He finally realized it was Cook’s spent brass.
On the way to the rescue site, the crew dumped fuel to be able to hover in the dense humid air. Cook got caught up in comms and took his hand off the dump switch. They dumped too much fuel. That allowed them to be so light and maneuverable but they also figured they would rescue and ditch if needed. Lassen put it to a vote. All the crew said let’s go.
When they landed on the deck of the Jouette they were given a bottle of whisky from the ships doctor. They sat on the deck and drank the whole bottle not discussing really what they had just been through. Instead, their biggest concern was they lost the door to their helicopter and didn’t know where they would get a new one.
He was CO of HT-8 when I went thru that program. Got a flight in my first of four logbooks with him as off-wing instructor. We chatted and I asked him about that flight and he simply answered "We were a great crew, we were determined to get them out, and we just had lot of luck". No "I" in the entire conversation.
FULL BORE saa-lute.
Wow CDR Sal. Great article. It is wonderful to tie the name of one of our warships to an individual truly worthy of having the namesake.
I was too young for Vietnam and too old for Desert Storm. But I thank all those and stand in amazement at the men that stood in the breach so that I didn't have to.
My son is 25. I'd like to think that he'd show the same courage under fire. I suspect that he would, but I'm biased. Thanks for preserving and sharing Lassen's well-deserved word-fame. Heroes should be remembered.
He would do what he had to do and if he measured up it would be good if he didn't never call him out on it, if he went and did the job good or bad he was doing good.
Excellent! Wow.
I just want to say in an offside here…speaking of ballers. A part of me was sad to see Fort Hood return to Fort Hood. Why? No woke reasons.
It was just that the name taken down was also a bad ass and deserving of the honor, probably much more so that Hood.
General Cavazos was also a Medal of Honor recipient and he earned the honor, maybe more than once.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_E._Cavazos
Some Forts like Fort Benning/Moore etc. should have kept their names or shared them somehow.
Some needed changing.
I think that a new base should have been named. Some of the old ones have 100 plus years of history already. That doesn’t go away overnight. All the locals just kept the old name
So I'm not Navy and not a Helo Pilot, but I've been into hot LZs. My basic spec checking says the SH-2A was heavier than the comparable UH-1B, had less SHP was not armed, )though I can see door guns on the crew photo). Overall a fairly gutless bird to be doing fancy flying under tree tops.
Am I missing something?
Specs don't always conform to reality.
Indeed. The SH-2F’s I flew in, in the 80’s and 90’s, were twin engine ASW helicopters with a lot of avionics. We still used FLIR and other advancements with this little helicopter. I loved flying in them and deploying with them. Some of our squadron birds were Vietnam CSAR aircraft with repaired bullet holes.
The H2 in this config UH-2A was a single engine armed helicopter. It was decently powered with a gas turbofan engine. They were light and had automatic trim on the trailing edge of the main rotor blades. They were used for CSAR in the Vietnam war because they could fit on small decks. This mission: they carried twin MH60D mounted on each side of the helo. Cook carried an M16 as did the aircrew. They had chicken plate on the seats and in the cabin for armor protection. The Navy changed these to twin engine aircraft starting in the 70’s and used them until the 90’s.
Note: Lassen and crew landed on a different deck than the one they were stationed on. They landed with 5 minutes of fuel as measured by AD3 West when they shut down.
The Navy didn’t fly UH1 for CSAR because they couldn’t get any production as the Huey was being built for the Army. The only Navy Squadrons to fly Huey’s in Vietnam were HC1 and HAL-3 and they “borrowed” surplus Army helicopters. Their mission was helicopter gunship fire support and interdiction working with the brown water Navy PBR and special boat units in the Mekong Delta.
Scramble the Seawolves is a great documentary about HAL-3 for those who may be interested.
Commissioned and decommissioned OCONUS. They never saw duty in the states. I was friends with some of the old timers that were stationed as original plankowners that worked at the naval aviation museum. The Huey they have on display in seawolf livery isn’t a B model but it represents. The stories these guys would tell. Most heavily decorated squadron in the Navy during that time frame.
Many HAL-3 personnel went to HAL-5 at Point Mugu until they were disbanded. I believe HAL-4 was the East coast reserve sqn.
Great recommendation
It a very good DVD!
He was a humble man. It was rumored that he asked to be buried in the uniform of the day. A flannel shirt and jeans. His legacy also is preserved at NAS Whiting Field where all new rotary aviators get their wings. In the Clyde Lassen Memorial Auditorium.
His crew chief Bruce Dallas told me some stories about their experience. He said everything you heard about Clyde was 100 percent true. I used to have the privilege of telling his story and showing the MOH to Navy and Marine Corps flight students.
A giant of a man. And the rest of the crew of Clementine 02 aren’t too shabby. Bruce lives in South Carolina and West retired as a Chief. Cook retired as a Commander.
OOOHHRRAA! Shit Hot Aviators!
Ho-ly cow! Thanks, Sal!
I didn't know this story to my shame. I certainly do now and will remember it and retell it.
Full-bore. We need to get back to naming DDG and FFG's for naval heroes instead on Congressional-critters.
Flew CSAR helos for nearly 20 years, never heard a shot fired in anger. Doing this, without NVGs, in a not "hot", but "sizzling" situation, is deserving of the MOH. OBTW, the whole crew likely used small wheel barrels when walking to carry their "brass balls"...caliber...155 or 8inch. Just sayin...
“Character is not built, it is revealed.” At any point after first semi-locating the F-4 crew, he could have said it was too hard. But if not them, then who?
I was a member of HSL-36 Det 4 from 87-89 aboard USS Gallery (FFG-26). Didn't know we had a MOH pilot! The venerable Sea Sprite was often the butt of jokes fleet wide, especially after the SH-60B came online but I loved working on the hookey toot! The pilots loved it as well. It was a sports car compared to the "Cadillac" Seahawk.
I assume the sports car was the SH-2F with twin 1350 SHP turbines rather than the single 875 shp bird in the story?
Yes. Had a pair of GE T58's feeding the combining gearbox and then shafts up to the main gearbox and tail rotor. Plenty of power for any and all missions. What made it a sports car though was its main rotor blade flaps. Very maneuverable and very responsive. The swash plate was only about 8" in diameter and less than an inch thick. Control rods were only 1/4". Amazing design!
Per a bit of searching, the -2A had a single 1250shp turbine, whereas the 4 T&E birds had the 875shp.
Great story about a real American Hero!
In January 2025, a very appropriate tribute was installed & dedicated at the NAS North Island main gate to honor & recognize then-Ltjg Clyde Lassen’s heroic rescue.
The “VADM Stockdale Gate” has an A-4 in honor of former Coronado resident Adm Stockdale and a plaque detailing his MOH on one side. On the north side of the gate is a refurbished SH-60 (there weren’t any UH-2s available that could be restored), with HC-1 squadron logos & Cdr Lassen’s & crew’s name painted on it. The site, put together through donations and years of work by the Naval Helicopter Association Historical Society also has the plaque detailing Lassen’s MOH citation, a fitting tribute for his heroism at the Navy’s West Coast Master Helo Base.
Small side story about this rescue, Bruce Dallas actually disembarked from the Helicopter to find the F4 crew. He got back in the helo and literally pulled claw and burns inside the aircraft while Lassen maintained a hover. When Bruce tried to tell Lassen to begin forward flight, his ICS was disconnected. So he slapped Lassen on the helmet “a little too hard” Bruce told me later. Lassen was pissed that he got out of the helo, but Bruce said he needed to see where the F4 crew were and he couldn’t from that position.
Cook was firing his M16 full auto from the left seat. The brass ejected into Clyde’s flight suit around his neck and was burning him, he thought he was shot. He finally realized it was Cook’s spent brass.
On the way to the rescue site, the crew dumped fuel to be able to hover in the dense humid air. Cook got caught up in comms and took his hand off the dump switch. They dumped too much fuel. That allowed them to be so light and maneuverable but they also figured they would rescue and ditch if needed. Lassen put it to a vote. All the crew said let’s go.
When they landed on the deck of the Jouette they were given a bottle of whisky from the ships doctor. They sat on the deck and drank the whole bottle not discussing really what they had just been through. Instead, their biggest concern was they lost the door to their helicopter and didn’t know where they would get a new one.
Just looked at his pic in the bio you posted. Looked like a kid.