eAl Tagliaferri, 240th Greyhound crewchief for pilot Gerald Ewing. Photo courtesy of Joe Tarnovsky.

The Greyhounds. The shoulder patch of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company's slick platoon - the Greyhounds. In their UH1H helicopters the Greyhounds inserted Leroy Wright's recon team on the morning of May 2, 1968 into enemy controlled territory in Cambodia. Soon the Greyhounds were called to extract the team and they returned to begin a long hard battle that Roy Benavidez called "Six Hours in Hell." Photo: 240th AHC.

Greyhound Slick. The popular greyhound logo from Greyhound busses was copied as the symbol of the 240th's slick platoon. Their slogon was "leave the flying to us." The symbol was usually painted on the nose of the aircraft, on the battery compartment door, and also on the pilot and copilots cockpit doors. For the covert operations into Cambodia these symbols were painted over. Photo: 240th AHC by John Thrift.

Michael Craig, Greyhound crew chief. Craig was the first member of the 240th to die during the emergency extraction of Leroy Wright's recon team. He was the crew chief for Chief Warrant Officer 2 Roger Waggie, and was hit by enemy fire on the first attempt to reach the trapped team. Craig died of his wounds shortly after Waggie landed back at their launch site in Loc Ninh. Photo: RPB.

UH1H Slick. Michael Craig 240th AHC crew chief stands beside his aircraft. The aircraft is a slick, intended for troop transportation, and mounting two M-60 machine guns, one on a post in the large rear passanger compartment doors. These were manned by the crew chief and the door gunner as defense against enemy troops in the landing zone. Photo:RPB.

Larry Sims McKibben. Warrant Officer Larry McKibben was the slick pilot killed attempting to extract Wright's team. Photo: 240th AHC.

Warrant Officer Larry Sims McKibben in the cockpit of a UH1H Huey helicopter of the 240th AHC's Greyhounds. Photo: 240th AHC.

Warrant Officer William Armstrong, slick pilot who made the second attempted extraction of Wright's team.

Bill Armstrong was misdirected to the wrong end of the landing zone and landed about one hundred meters from the friendly team's position in the midst of an enemy position. The mistake was quickly discovered and a fierce firefight developed around the aircraft. Before Armstrong could escape from this trap everyone in his helicopter was wounded. Photo: 240th AHC.

May 2, 1968 mission participants. All the men pictured here were on the emergency extraction of Leroy Wright's team. From the left, Spc4 James Fussel, CW2 Roger Waggie, WO1 Larry McKibben, WO1 Jesse Naul, and WO1 William Armstrong, kneeling. Photo: 240th AHC.

Warrant Officer Two Roger Waggie, Greyhound pilot who successfully extracted the survivors of Wright's team and Roy Benavidez. Roger Waggie dressed in the special tiger stripe fatigues that were issued to many of the special operations forces during the Vietnam War. Photo: 240th AHC.

Greyhound slicks in flight. The Greyhound slicks were not unarmed. A M-60 machine gun was mounted on a post in the passenger compartment door on each side of the aircraft. In this picture taken from inside a Greyhound slick, the dual aiming handgrips and trigger are seen in the foreground. Photo: 240th AHC.

WO David Hoffman and Lloyd Mousseau. Hoffman was copilot for Roger Waggie on the May 2 mission. Hoffman (right) died on a subsequent mission. Lloyd Mousseau died of his wounds after being successfully extracted from the landing zone by Roger Waggie and Dave Hoffman. Photo: RPB.

Misson Scarf. Red, white and blue neck scarf warn by many of the 240th members when they were flying their covert operations into Cambodia. Photo: 240th AHC.

After Roger Waggie fought his way out of the hostile landing zone with Roy Benavidez and the survivors of the mission, Gerald Ewing, flying the backup Greyhound slick announced that he was going to land in the zone to check the bodies of Larry McKibben and his crewchief Nelson Fournier for signs of life. As Ewing idled his aircraft on the ground, under constant observation and fire by the enemy, Al Tagliaferri left the aircraft to check the bodies, trapped in the wreckage of McKibbens aircraft. Before leaving he told Ewing that if he found that either of them was alive he would stay there alone until reinforcements arrived. During this daring operation the enemy still controlled the landing zone and the gunships overhead were out of ammunition and were reduced to making dummy straffing runs to protect Ewing and his crew. Tagliaferri reached the aircraft and confirmed that both men were dead. He then returned to Ewing's aircraft and they successfuly left the landing zone. Photo: 240th AHC.

240th AHC pilots Warrant Officers William Darling, James D. Eisenhour, KIA, 8/18/68, and Warrant Officer 2 Roger Waggie (left to right). Darling's aircraft was damaged during the early attempts to extract Wright's team. When Roger Waggie announced that he was going to make another attempt in his battered UH1H, Darling volunteered to join the crew as crewchief and door gunner. Eisenhour was not on this mission. He was killed in action on 8/18/68 attempting to rescue a long range recon patrol member. For his valor Eisenhour was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Photo: 240th AHC.

Warrant Officer Tom Smith. Tom Smith was a pilot in one of several helicopters that were put out of commission by enemy fire during the earlier attempts to recover Wright's team. He, along with William Darling, joined Roger Waggie's flight crew as a doorgunner. He was with Roger when he successfully pulled out Roy Benavidez and the survivors of the team. Tom Smith was killed a few months later in a tragic midair collision between three of the 240th helicopters. Photo: 240th AHC.

Mad Dog pilots William Darling and Jesse Naul, emerging from a bunker. Photo: 240th AHC.

Warrant Officer William Darling. Darling was a gunship pilot with the 240th AHC "Mad Dog" gunship platoon. His aircraft was damaged during the early extraction attempts so when Roger Waggie determined to make another attempt to extract Benavidez and the survivors Darling volunteered to join the crew as a crew chief/door gunner. During the final extraction attempt Darling's courageous and skillful action with the M-60 machine gun was instrumental in the success. In that attempt he faced enemy soldiers who rushed the aircraft and actually attempted to enter the crew compartment. He was hit by enemy fire while assisting Roy Benavidez in boarding the aircraft. Photo: RPB.

Paul "Frenchy" LaChance. Mad Dog Line Chief, points to one of many bullet holes in his aircraft. LaChance was the Line Chief for the Mad Dogs. He was responsible for all of the crew chiefs and their crews and he also flew regularly as a crew chief. On the May 2, 1968 mission he was crewchief for Warrant Officer Louis Wilson in the lead gunship. Photo: 240th AHC.

Paul LaChance counting holes in his aircraft. LaChance became a close friend of Roy Benavidez and now serves on the board of the Roy P. Benavidez Foundation. Photo: 240th AHC.

Mad Dog Lne Chief. Paul "Frenchy" LaChance, line chief for the gun platoon of the 240th AHC. Photo: 240th AHC.

Mad Dog 36. In this photo a Mad Dog gunship, a UH 1C is seen parked on a muddy landing field. The aircraft mounts a total of six M-60 machine guns including four forward firing guns and two door guns. Fourteen, 2.75" aerial rockets were also carried in two side mounted rocket pods. Photo: 240th AHC.

Mad Dog nose art. This hand painted sign was applied to many of the Mad Dog gunships. Photo: 240th AHC.

Kennel Keepers Patch - the maintenance platoon for the 240th AHC. Members of the maintenance platoon kept the aircraft flying. their contribution should not be forgotten. Photo: 240th AHC.