T-R PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY Ret. USMC Col. Gerry Berry of Florida, center, and Dan Gannon, a Marine combat veteran who served in Vietnam — chat with IVH resident and Vietnam combat veteran Jim Ross before Berry’s presentation Friday at IVH.

A Des Moines Technical High School graduate and Marine helicopter pilot who evacuated the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam during the final day of the war in Vietnam gave a dramatic and compelling presentation to more than 100 attendees Friday morning at the Iowa Veterans Home.

The pilot, Capt. Gerry Berry, and crew of the “Lady Ace 09” flew non-stop for 18 hours. They were in harm’s way during numerous evacuation missions to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and back from aircraft carriers in the South China Sea during “Operation Frequent Wind. (OFW).”

On April 29-30, 1975, U.S. military launched the operation upon orders from US ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin to rescue US embassy employees and thousands of South Vietnamese.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
One of the most compelling and dramatic photos of “Operation Frequent Wind” is a helicopter perched on top of the U.S. embassy roof in Saigon April 29-30, 1975, preparing to evacuate civilians as the North Vietnamese army approached.

OFW was necessary because an initial plan to use larger military aircraft for evacuation from Tan Son Nhut air base in Saigon was halted due North Vietnamese Army (NVA) attacks on the airbase, Berry said.

An attack on April 29 killed Marshalltown native L/Cpl. Darwin Judge, 19, and his comrade Cpl. Charles McMahon, 21, of Woburn Mass. Both were guarding the base.

Berry said 71 helicopters from Air America, Air Force, Marines and Navy comprised OFW – making it the largest helicopter evacuation in military history.

“The operation evacuated 8,000 civilians as 150,000 NVA troops were approaching Saigon,” Berry said.

The now retired pilot described a chaotic scene as evacuations were ongoing … thousand were waiting to be evacuated. In one instance American paper money was being burned on the roof of the embassy.

Berry described in graphic detail efforts to get Martin and staff out of the embassy as NVA troops were approaching.

“Martin wanted to go down with the ship,” Berry said.

Berry began his service in Vietnam in 1969. He described other dramatic and harrowing but successful missions to rescue Marine reconnaissance teams who had encountered enemy combatants and suffered killed -and wounded in action.

“We were young … all of us in our 20s – our crew and the men we rescued,” he said.

Using archival photos and other documents as part of his Power Point presentation, Berry described several pivotal historical moments which paved the way for the United States’ involvement in Vietnam.

Under President Dwight Eisenhower, America’s commitment in South Vietnam started with a limited number of military advisors, Berry said. That number increased under president John Kennedy. Another was the U.S.-ordered assassination of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. Another key point was the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

in 1964 by the House or Representatives and U.S Senate which “essentially declared war on North Vietnam,” he said. “Two Navy ships – the USS Maddox and Turner Joy – were reported to have been attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats although it was proven to be a myth.”

He also pointed directly to the failed strategies of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and President Lyndon Johnson during the war.

“At times it was hard to tell who was winning,” Berry said. “The troops who served in Vietnam were America’s best. There were young men in the US burning draft cards in the streets or going to Canada to avoid the draft and protest our role in Vietnam. But the troops in Vietnam carried out their duties.

Support for the war among Americans began declining beginning with the Tet Offensive in 1968.

“Although the enemy was soundly defeated, they proved they could attack major cities including Saigon,” he said.

As part of the Paris Peace Accords, U.S. troops began withdrawing from Vietnam in 1969,and continued through March of 1973. The U.S. suffered 58,220 casualties with thousands more injured mentally and physically. The Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) Army suffered an estimated 250,000 casualties.

Of the US casualties, 868 were Iowan and 32 from Grundy, Hardin, Marshall and Tama counties. One man’s family considers him missing in action.

“The presentation was good,” said Larry Bowden, a Vietnam combat veteran and IVH resident from Des Moines. “I was hit twice and left Vietnam after 11 and one-half months.”

“I enjoyed his (Berry’s) presentation,” said Jim Ross, an IVH resident from St. Charles. He served in Vietnam as a corpsman for several years and received a Silver Star.

In Berry’s final position, he was the commanding officer of MAG-36 commanding more than 60 aircraft and 3,000 Marines and sailors to support fleet operations during Operation Desert Shield.

He retired with the rank of colonel in 1993 after 25 years of service and more than 4,800 flight hours. Berry, 80, resides in Florida with his wife.

“America is a great country,” Berry said during his presentation which drew a strong round of applause.

The pretext to the remark was Berry relating a story that he was home on leave to visit his mother in Wichita, Kan. On the way his car overheated and had to be repaired. The service station’s crew stayed overnight to repair the car free of charge so Berry could be on his way early the next day.