***DO NOT PUBLISH***CW-4 Rod Williams flew a ‘Cobra’ chopper during multiple tours in Vietnam

by Don Moore

Rod Williams of Royale Palm Retirement Center in Port Charlotte, Fla. spent almost 30 years in the Marine Corps. He started out as a ground pounder carrying a rifle, most of the rest of his career was in aviation flying Huey helicopters in Vietnam during the war and later in other spots around the world.

His second tour in Vietnam in 1968 was the high water mark of his military career as far as front line action is concerned.

“I returned to the 3rd Marine Division that was stationed in Hue, the ancient religious capital of Vietnam,” the 69-year-old Marine explained. “There were only 300 of us and we were attacked by 6,000 to 8,000 North Vietnam Army Regulars. We took an ass licking.

The “Tet Offensive” is what the attack by the North Vietnamese Regulars and the Vietcong guerrillas throughout South Vietnam was called. It began in the afternoon of the last day of 1968 and ran until Feb. 25, 1969. The coordinated enemy attack involved 100 of the South’s major cities and tens of thousands of NVA and VC soldiers.

From a casulty standpoint it was a disaster for the North Vietnamese. Politically “Tet” was a disaster for the Americans. After “Tet” U.S. forces in Vietnam were in a pullout mode. By 1975 the decade-long conflict was over.

“I was sitting in the radio room at Hue when we were first attacked. They caught us with our pants down. We didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “All of us ended up in bunkers during the attack. If it wasn’t for airpower I wouldn’t be talking to you today. We threw everything we had at them —rockets, napalm, helicopter gunships, bombs.

“This is where I got wounded. I got hit by shrapnel in my right leg,” Williams said. “They shipped me to a MASH Unit to begin with. Then I went on to a hospital in Subic Bay in the Philippines where I spent most of my time recovering. Ninety days later I was back on the front line.

“When I returned to the 3rd Division in Vietnam I joined a military intelligence unit. I think a ‘hooker’ in Saigon knew more about military intelligence than we did,” he observed with a chuckle. By this time Williams was a sergeant.

After going back to the States he decided he wanted to be a Marine aviator. He was sent to Cherry Point, N.C., where he went to flight school and learned to fly single-rotor helicopters—primarily Hueys—UH-1 “Iroquois” and AH-1 “Cobras.” for enemy light arms fire,” Williams said.

“I flew many, many missions. None of them were much fun.”

Looking back on Vietnam he said the worst part of that war was the lack of support back home.

“The hippies were raising hell in the streets of the U.S. When I got back to Alameda, Calif. they told us not to wear our uniforms off base. So of course I wore my uniform off base,” he said. “ This was in ’69 and I got spit on and called ‘Baby Killer!’”

His next tour in Vietnam took him to the 3rd Division once more. The unit was stationed along the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Vietnams.

“We were located in Da Nang North which was the headquarters for the 3rd Marine Division. I was still driving my helicopter and hoping to survive. I ended up in Okinawa in 1974 and spent a year there sitting on my butt doing field maneuvers with the 1st Marine Division.”

He was still a chopper pilot when he returned to Camp Pendleton, Calif. where Williams spent the next 3 1/2 years. Some time in the midst of all this flying he was driving a motorcycle off duty and got hit by a guy in a car who ran a stop sign. The car driver not only wiped out his Harley he also did in his flying career.

“I suffered a head injury in the accident and they wouldn’t let me fly any more,” Williams said somewhat regretfully.

That may be one of the reasons a lot of his military career mushed together in one big glob.

Williams knows he spent some time aboard the Carrier USS Kitty Hawk, he also flew his helicopter from Iwo Jima and he saw action in a number of other areas of the globe he can’t recall.

On March 27, 1997 Chief Warrant Officer-4 Roderick M. Williams was honorably discharged from the USMC. He was 46-years-old.

“I was lucky, the Marine Corps had educated me. I had an engineering degree from UCLA,” he said. “I went to work for United States Bridge Co. headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa. I spent the next eight years building bridges around the country until I suffered a severe heart attack and was force to retire in 2005.

He and his wife, Gennie, who has passed away, had four girls: Katie, Karen, Kateland, Karie and Kristen.

Name: Rod Williams
D.O.B:  7 Nov. 1949
Hometown:  Bradley, Tenn.
Currently: Port Charlotte, Fla.
Entered Service: 1967
Discharged: 27 March 1997
Rank: Chief Warrant Officer-4th Class
Unit: 3rd Marine Division
Commendations: Purple Heart w/1 Oakleaf Cluster
Battles/Campaigns: Vietnam  “Tet Offensive”

This story was first published in the Charlotte Sun newspaper, Port Charlotte, Fla. on July 10, 2017 and is republished with permission.

Click here to view the collections in alphabetical order in the Library of Congress. This veteran’s story may not yet be posted on this site, it could take anywhere from three to six months for the Library of Congress to process. Keep checking.

Click here to view the War Tales fan page on FaceBook.

Click here to search Veterans Records and to obtain information on retrieving lost commendations.

All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be republished without permission. Links are encouraged.