The Rescue at Cau Song Be

In the 1950s the U.S. Army began to understand the usefulness of helicopters during the Korean War. As a result, the Army decided it needed medical evacuation and utility helicopters to fulfill its missions. The Bell Helicopter Company developed the Bell 204 helicopter to fill that role. The initial contract for 100 Bell HU-1As was issued in March of 1960.

The use of piston power for helicopters received a lot of criticisms, and Bell quickly developed a number of models using more powerful turbine engines that had been developed by the Lycoming Turbine Engine Division in Stratford, Connecticut. They were designed by Anselm Franz, who was the chief designer of the German Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine during World War II. 

By 1960 Lycoming's T53-L-13 turbine engine was capable of 1,400 shaft horsepower, and it was installed in a stretched version of the HU-1As, first flown in August of 1961. This led to development of the Bell Helicopter UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" helicopter. By 1962 the UH-1 was being used for general troop support, air assault, cargo, medical evacuation, search and rescue and ground attack missions.

A photograph of a Bell Helicopter Company UH-1 Iroquois helicopter.

Bell UH-1 Huey specifications:

• Length: 57 feet;
• Height: 14 feet;
• Rotor Diameter: 48 feet;
• Gross Weight: 9,040 pounds;
• Empty Weight: 5,215 pounds;
• Maximum Speed: 135 mph;
• Cruise Speed: 125 mph;
• Powerplant: Lycoming T53-L-13 turbojet engine 1400 shaft horsepower;
• Range: 315 miles

By the start of the Vietnam conflict, commonly known as "America's Helicopter War," U.S. Army Aviation decided to inrease the use of Bell Helicopter Company UH-1 Iroquis (Huey) helicopters in roles supporting South Vietnames and U.S. Army soldiers conducting missions in Southeast Asia.

Lt. Gen. "Jumping Jim" Gavin helped advance the use of air mobility for the Army, and called it the "Sky Cavalry." One of its primary missions was to be delivering soldiers to the battle field, and to support outposts scattered throughout Vietnam. Because of the promotion of helicopter use in ground warfare, the Army wanted to create a separate aviation branch for aviation. Also, a new tradition was born: naming new Army helicopters to honor the strength and spirit of Native American tribes.

Capt Larry Liss, U.S. Army

Larry Liss was young Jewish boy who grew up in the state of Pennsylvania, and while a high school senior attended the 1958 Mother's Day Parade at the school's stadium. As part of the celebration, cadets from the Pennsylvania Military College (PMC) marched onto the field. As soon as he saw them, young Larry Liss turned to his father and said "I've got to go to this school." 

And, go he did. Upon graduation from high school Larry Liss did attend PMC, and was sucessful in balancing his academic and cadet life well. As a "Rook" he joined the Pershing Rifles, which as a demanding experience. In 1963 Larry graduated as a Distinguished Military Student, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt in the Regular Army. 

He was then stationed in Germany, and while there, he volunteered for helicopter flight training. Upon completion of primary flight training, Larry was sent to the U.S. Army Aviation Center, where he learned to fly the Bell UH-1 Huey helicopter. Larry graduated from flight school in the fall of 1966. 30 days later Larry found himself in South Vietnam.

Lt. Larry Liss in 1966, sitting in a Huey helicopter with two orphans in South Vietnam.

Map of Vietnam from 1954-1976 showing Demilitarized Zone and the Partion Line.

The Rescue at Cau Song Be

It's 1967 in Vietnam, and the Army has outposts throughout the country where both U.S. Green Berets and South Vietnamese soldiers are based. One of those outposts was Cau Song Be, near Tay Ninh City, some 55 miles northwest of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). 

Cau Song Be was a Special Forces camp that was used by Green Berets during the Vietnam War.

On May 24, 1967, around 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday, an unarmed UH-1 "Huey" VIP helicopter landed at the Cau Song Be outpost. The helicopter was piloted by Lt. Larry Liss and CWO (Chief Warrant Officer) Tom Baca, another "Huey" pilot. They had brought a staff chaplain to visit the small special operations outpost. It should have been an easy mission.

CWO Tom Baca, serving in Vietnam, took part in an epic 1967 rescue operation with Larry Liss.

A Green Beret captain by the name of Johnson, who was in charge of the camp, approached the pilots asking them for some help. He told the pilots he needed to provide medical evacuation for some nearby troops. As it turned out, a group of about 100 South Vietnamese soldiers, and a small group of Green Berets, were positioned some 7 miles away, and they had found themselves surrounded by 650 North Vietnamese soldiers, ready to overrun the outpost. A call had gone out for some help.

The Rescue

When the pilots arrived over the outpost it looked like it was impenetrable in all directions, as far as they could see. As they descended through the jungle of tree branches and bamboo, the Huey weed-wacked the vegitation with it's rotor blades, creating a landing zone. However, the descent had resulted in some damage to the helicopter, almost making it nearly impossible to fly.

Around 15 minutes before Liss and Baca had arrived, another helicopter had attempted to land, but it damaged it's tail rotor. They then had moved away from the area to a safer location. By the time Liss and Baca had landed, a firefight was already underway. There were already a number of casualties near to where they set the helicopter down, and Capt. Johnson, and another special ops advisor, helped load them onto the helicopter.

After departing and dropping off the injured at Cau Song Be, Liss and Baca returned, cutting through more bamboo with their rotors, in order to get closer to friendly troops as the perimeter got smaller, and some of the enemy forces were by then only 50 yards away. 

Liss and Baca then returned for an additional five times, continuing to make an unheard of maneuver through the bamboo vegitation. The manuevering of the Huey in this manner was an unheard of manuever. On the final flight out that day, the Huey was so overloaded that there were men hanging onto the outside of the helicopter. 

Later, in an affidavit written by CWO Baca, he said ". “I witnessed that Capt. (Lt.) Liss, in total disregard for his own well-being and safety, exited the aircraft on the fifth and sixth landings with his personal weapons to assist in rallying the troops left on the ground,” Baca wrote. “He was totally exposed to small arms fire on both of these courageous initiatives. They were outside of his normal duties as a pilot, but showed bravery beyond the call of duty”. 

The Fog of War

Unfortunately, the rescue at Cau Song Be faded into obscurity due to the fact that officials at the time never wrote down the details of what happened that day. In fact, an operations officer by the name of John Green of the II Field Forces Flight Department, acknowledged as much years later.

John Green said that he was angry at Lt. Liss at the time, and that he chewed him out for risking CWO Baca's life unnecissarily. You see, Baca's time in Vietnam was drawing to a close in a matter of days. Later, Green said that he regretted his own actions because he was very protective of his air crews. He admitted that he overreacted that day.

But, he was not alone. He and others in the chain of command failed to investigate the action on May 14, 1967, and to properly honor those men and their crews for heroism. That also meant that their commander in Vietnam, Lt. Gen. Fred Weyland, was never fully appraised of the heroics of Liss and Baca that day.

Many, including Liss's brother Arthur, feel that Larry Liss and Baca should have received the Medal of Honor for their heroism on that day. After a number of recommendations, the Army Board of Corrections of Military Records did decide that Larry Liss met the minimum standards for the Silver Star, which was later issued to him. 

However, as a result of this action of rescuing 87 South Vietnamese and Green Beret soldiers, Liss did receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for Valor.  In 2024, his Distinguished Flying Cross for Valor was upgraded to the Silver Star.

You can watch a movie titled "Rescue at Cau Song Be" by clicking below:

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this blog, sign up to receive your own weekly blog post here: Subscribe here!

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!