A Tardy Salute

It Was My Turn recounts the true story of Warrant Officer Terry Crump, a highly decorated Vietnam War pilot who flew Cobra helicopters in support of the covert Studies and Observations Group (SOG). Author Gerald Baron’s well-researched narrative highlights Crump’s dangerous missions in Laos and Cambodia, revealing the courage of aviators who risked everything to support Green Berets and special forces. This remarkable and much-needed account is a must-read for fans of military history, particularly anyone interested in the bravery and sacrifice of the pilots who flew in the shadows of the Vietnam War.”

Colonel (retired) William Reeder Jr., Ph.D., author of three books on the Vietnam War: Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam, Extraordinary Valor: The Fight for Charlie Hill, and We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War. 

An exciting and important book about a true hero of the Vietnam War. Terry Crump flew Cobra attack helicopter missions in support of highly classified special operations conducted behind enemy lines. The risks were great for the special ops recon and raid teams on the ground, as well as the Cobra gunships and the Huey lift helicopters that inserted and extracted them. Readers will learn of America’s secret commandos in the Military Assistance Command, Studies and Observations Group (MACVSOG), of their bravery and sacrifice, and about the aircrews who flew and covered them. Having flown in the same proud unit as Terry, the 361 st Aerial Weapons Company, the “Pink Panthers,” I can vouch for the authenticity of this story and the raw courage of everyone involved. This is a great read!

“Thousands of Distinguished Flying Crosses have been awarded for heroism in aerialflight since World War I. Many hundreds of pilots and crew members have received two or even three DFCs. But seven DFCs awarded to a single aviator was unheard of until It

 Was My Turn was written. This is the incredible story of Warrant Officer Terry Crump, one of the most decorated aviators of the Vietnam War. It tells of Terry’s exploits “acrossthe fence” in Laos, and the effect the war had on him during and after he left Vietnam. It’s a must read for military history buffs and anyone who wants to experience what it’s like fighting a war in the Cobra gunship.

Terry Crump was an outstanding pilot and courageous warrior in a group of outstanding and courageous aviators, the Pink Panthers. He earned every one of those seven DFCs. I am very proud to have served alongside Terry and the other great men of this dedicated group. It Was My Turn is well-written, very factual, and brings back stirring memories. I'm grateful that the Pink Panther's contribution to the secret war of SOG is being brought to light.

Mike Wilson, “Putter”, Bikini 36, Aircraft Commander serving with the 170th AHC 

As a Huey pilot serving with Terry and the Pink Panthers with the 170th Assault Helicopter Company, the Bikinis, I can attest to the stories told about Terry and the Pink Panthers in this incredible book. The research is in-depth and very valuable in telling the story of SOG and the “across the fence” missions. The Pink Panthers were the best gunship unit in the war and guys like Woody and Terry did things few other pilots would do, often continuing to pretend to attack the enemy with their ordnance all expended just to keep the enemy’s heads down. 

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"A new light is emerging, highlighting the long-shrouded secret wars of MACV-SOG. The exceptional skill, professionalism, character, and sacrifice that defined SOG's faithful helicopter warriors of the 361st Aerial Weapons Company "The Pink Panthers" deserve to be known. Gerald Baron's faithful, authentic documentation of the story of PANTHER 38, CW4 Terry Crump, captures the incredible skill and precision with which he and his brothers-in-arms flew their heavily-armed Cobra warbirds directly into enemy fire time and time again for one purpose: so that others may live. Heavy are the hearts that mourn the losses endured on both sides during this brutal war, but brave and courageous can't begin to characterize the hearts of the men who fought and flew these seemingly impossible missions. Read this book. Learn their story. You won't regret it!"

In It Was My Turn, Gerald Baron tells a fascinating but previously neglected aspect of America’s war in Vietnam—the exploits of the 361st Aerial Weapons Company (the Pink Panthers) and their fellow warriors in the 57th and 170th Assault Helicopter Companies.  These units flew perilous secret missions into enemy-held territory in Laos and Cambodia supporting small Special Forces teams assigned to the Military Assistance Command Vietnam- Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) whose missions and lives depended heavily on the incredible skills, determination and courage of those helicopter pilots and crews.

The book is built around the exploits of Terry Crump, a heroic Cobra helicopter gunship pilot who was awarded an astonishing seven Distinguished Flying Crosses.  But this book also contains a wealth of information about the exploits of many other helicopter pilots and crews, both “snakes” (Cobras) and the “slicks,” the famed ‘Huey’ choppers who flew stealthy missions to insert the teams, and then repeatedly flew through storms of small arms and anti-aircraft fire to extract those teams.  

It Was My Turn puts you in the cockpits of the Cobras and Hueys on these dramatic missions and shows you how only supreme airmanship, a killer instinct, full commitment, an adventurous spirit—and a certain amount of luck—were components of victory and survival in the intense air-to-ground combat environment in this part of the war.

Terry Crump and his fellow knights of the air flew some of the most challenging combat helicopter missions of the Vietnam War, and as a former member of a SOG reconnaissance team, I have always been in awe of what the Pink Panthers and the assault helicopter units supporting SOG did in helping SOG carry the fight to the enemy. But in reading this book, I have learned much, not only about the view from the cockpit of a helicopter fighting what was then a secret war in Laos and Cambodia, but about details that were new to me about SOG operations on the ground.

More than fifty years after the end of the U.S. combat role in Vietnam, Gerald Baron has done the essential work of a historian, giving us new information, providing a fresh perspective and shining a light into the further reaches of a war that lingers still in the American imagination.

The remarkable exploits of CWO Terry Crump and his fellow warriors exemplify the valor required to fly these missions, but also highlight the heavy emotional costs that combat imposes on those who fight.

It Was My Turn is full of thrilling accounts of some of the most dangerous helicopter combat missions of the war in Vietnam, and the simultaneous secret wars in Laos and Cambodia.

It Was My Turn belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the Vietnam war, special operations, the vital role of combat helicopters and their crews in that conflict, and the always central element in combat: the character of the individual warrior.

SOG Read this book. Learn their story. You won't regret it!"