On the afternoon of July 21, 1970, a standby dustoff crew was notified of an urgent mission to evacuate 101st Airborne Division wounded from a small hilltop landing zone near Fire Support Base Ripcord. Captain Laurence Rosen was the pilot in command of a five-man dustoff crew on continuous standby at outpost Camp Evans for missions in the area of operations around FSBs Ripcord and O’Reilly.

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Rosen had joined the U.S. Army in 1969 after graduating from college and immediately entered flight training. He completed rotary wing and instrument training at Fort Rucker, Ala. On February 20, 1970, he deployed to Vietnam as a pilot in the all-volunteer Air Ambulance Platoon of the 326th Medical Battalion at the 101st Airborne Division’s Camp Eagle near Hue.

Rosen, along with his co-pilot Warrant Officer Douglas J. Rupert, flight medic Spc. 4 Brent R. Law, crew chief Spc. 5 Donito C. Deocales and the new medic, Spc. 4 James L. Wieler, lifted off and headed for the firefight. Rosen approached from below the altitude of the LZ, barely above the trees, and at the last moment climbed up to the touchdown point at the north edge of the LZ. The 101st Airborne troops were firing at NVA troops in the treeline to Rosen’s right, and the smell of gunpowder was thick in the air. The ground medic, soldiers, dustoff medic and crew chief loaded six or seven wounded onto the floor of the aircraft. Rosen departed the LZ with a backward takeoff, a pedal turn to the right and a dive for the treetops in order to stay out of the direct line of enemy fire.

Off-loading the wounded at the aid station at Camp Evans, but without refueling, Rosen immediately headed back to the LZ to pick up another load of wounded. The pilot critically evaluated the situation on the LZ — the direction of the NVA attack and the exposure of the aircraft to enemy fire. Then he made the decision to violate ‘Rookie Rule No. 1′ — Don’t fly over the same patch of jungle twice. He elected to sneak in from the north, the same way he had the first time.

As he touched down lightly, the crew and ground troops helped another group of wounded get aboard. With men of the 101st firing M-16s, M-60 machine guns and grenade launchers from behind trees and hastily constructed defensive positions, Rosen’s helicopter departed backward to the left from the LZ as enemy mortar rounds landed among the ground troops. Rosen knew they would have to go in again, but he was particularly distressed by the continuous flow of casualties, the restricted approach and departure routes, the confined LZ and the close proximity of the enemy.

As Rosen headed back to Camp Evans for the second time, he radioed for another dustoff from Camp Eagle to assist in the evacuation. Again, after off-loading the wounded at the aid station, Rosen immediately took off on his third trip to the LZ. The ground situation had continued to deteriorate, with the 101st soldiers in danger of being overrun. The radio telephone operator (RTO) on the LZ did not answer calls. There were more wounded than the helicopter could carry, and only one ground soldier was available to assist in loading. Enemy mortar rounds hit behind and in front of the helicopter as it left the LZ, flying low and fast to the aid station.

Rosen touched down at Camp Evans as the relief dustoff from Camp Eagle radioed him for a situation report (sitrep). After unloading the wounded, and with the cabin floor of the helicopter covered in blood and fragments of flesh and fabric, Rosen, again without pause, headed back for the fourth rescue. As they flew, Rosen asked his crew if they were willing to go back into the LZ. They unanimously agreed to continue as long as there were wounded.

Lieutenant Allen Schwartz, at the controls of the relief dustoff flying from Camp Eagle, received a sitrep from Rosen by radio and a recommended approach and egress route for the LZ. Schwartz landed and loaded two litter cases and six walking wounded, but just as he lifted up only a few feet, his Plexiglas windshield suddenly shattered from a hail of automatic weapon fire. The aircraft lost lift, crashed straight back down and began to shake violently on the ground. A rocket-propelled grenade had blown off the tail boom.

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