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"Then knock me the hell out," he told the medic. The medic told him he could only attend to him if he was unconscious. He had taken shrapnel in his chest from a grenade and asked the medic to help him because he was having difficulty breathing. Joe Startt Jr., president of Chapter 850 VVA, told how he was extracted from the jungle after being wounded by friendly fire. One of the members talked about how cool the helicopter pilots were under fire, while a wounded soldier talked about being lifted out and being taken "straight into the clouds" while at the same time hearing the pilot say "we are in the soup." Stories like those told by Curnock and Claywell could be overheard over and over Saturday as Huey crews and Vietnam veterans alike remembered the horrors of so many years ago in a country thousands of miles from home. "I know a lot of soldiers didn't make it, but I'm glad made it home." "I really didn't know where we were, but we were getting overwhelmed by enemy fire," Claywell said. When they broke off from the group and talked further, both realized they were at the same place at the same time 48 years ago. He said that just before Saturday's ceremony started, the two happened to be talking in a group and their stories sounded familiar.
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soldiers from the dangerous landing zone somewhere near the Cambodia-Laos border. Richard Claywell, of Houston, was the pilot of the Huey helicopter that plucked Curnock and other wounded U.S. The ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park was a part of the Vietnam Dustoff Association – a group that refers to themselves as “A flight of rusty eagles” – national convention held this weekend in Dover.
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The soldier and pilot were in Dover being honored by the Kent County Chapter 850 Vietnam Veterans of America organization at a special ceremony for 43 pilots, crew members and medics who flew thousands of rescue missions in Vietnam. They risked their own lives to save so many wounded soldiers. "I never thought I would find the guy who saved me. "This gentleman saved my life," said Curnock, who lives in Milford and served in Vietnam from 1970-72. David Curnock thought he would never be able to thank the crew of the UH-1 "Huey" helicopter that flew him out of the jungles of Vietnam after he sustained a life-threatening injury.īut it happened Saturday as he and the pilot of the helicopter met face to face in an unplanned, emotional reunion that brought both men to tears.