JUST A FEW OF THE PEOPLE AND PLACES TOLD ABOUT IN TERRY CRUMP'S STORY

"Mad Dog" Jerry Shriver's incredible exploits on SOG missions has earned him one of the top places in the pantheon of this group of heroes. Bob Howard, Dick Meadows and others are in that group. Known as "good in the woods" Shriver boldly attack enemy positions attacking his team. On one such frontal attack, he and his Yard disappeared into the jungle and were never seen again.

Joe Walker, One-Zero of RT California, was a colorful and legendary leader of SOG missions. He famoulsy carried a bazooka as one of his favored weapons. Terry Crump helped get him and his wounded team out on more than one occasion.

An Air Force and Army aviation base in the Central Highlands near Pleiku. It was Terry's and the 361st's homebase. The Panther hooches are near the bottom left. From there they would fly to Kontum for mission briefings, then to Dak To for

Terry's friend  Pete Gotch (Panther 33) is seen low crawling along the fence in this photo that is the cover of Barry Pencek's book Tailwind. Dak To was under rocket and mortar attack. Gotch attempted to get his Cobra in the air when it was hit by mortar fire. Shortly after this photo was taken it blew up.

On January 11 1971 Terry with his new company commander were nearly shot down by a direct hit by 37 mm shell on the rocket pod. Over 300 shrapnel holes. Major Goins was on his first mission in the Cobra. Terry was the pilot and mission commander. He received one of his 7 DFCs for placing himself in a position to take the hit to protect the Huey and extraction of the SOG team on the ground.

Cowboy, along with Mustachio, were the two most famous of the many incredible Vietnamese pilots flying the old CH-34 Kingbees. Their exploits are legendary with numerous death-defying rescue missions. Sadly, both were killed while supporting SOG.

Wild and crazy, but incredibly skilled and courageous Panthers. Woody Woodard (on left, Panther 27) and Lash Larue Wisener (Panther 37) were the best of friends, frequent flying mates of Terry, and well known for having fun and getting into trouble. Woody flew medical helicopters as a career after the war and was very instrumental in telling Terry's story. Lash died in 2020 after an Army career.

Marine CH-53 Sea Stallion, with steel ladder, extracts part of the SOG team led by Capt McCarley from deep into LAOS. Read about how several of these rescue attempts led to crashes. All 16 Americans on the team of 136 were wounded, several Yards killed. Terry, Woody and others were supporting the insertion and extractions. Major Henry, Panther Commander, was shot down on this mission.

Terry Crump earned two DFCs on two different battles on Firebase 6 involving Medal of Honor winner Lt. Brian Thacker. The first was for heroic work in enabling the crew of a downed Huey to escape to the command bunker and later get them and other survivors extracted. The second was to rescue the wounded and weak Thacker after he returned to the base after hiding out for 8 days among the enemy.

Terry's story starts with his dad's cousin, a WWI fighter pilot. Then Terry's dad, Wild Bill Crump, flew 77 combat missions in World War II in the P-47 and P-51. But he is most known for adopting a pet Coyote named Jeep who flew with him on five combat missions over Holland in Operation Market Garden.

Most SOG missions were supported by the Kingbees, the nbame for the Vietnamese pilots of the 219th VNAF Squadron. Mustachio and Cowboy were the most famous. They flew the outdated CH-34 Navy helicopters. Mustachio was killed along with the entire SOG team he rescued when his helicopter came apart at 5000 feet.

Bell used the Huey foundation to build the world's first special purchase attack helicopter. It proved an exceptionally effective close airs support weapon throughout the war. Especially when flown by highly skilled and courageous pilots like Terry Crump. The 361st Aerial Weapons Company, the Pink Panthers, were the only helicopter unit dedicated to the SOG mission.

Considered an elite helicopter unit, the 361st Aerial Weapons Company was the only helicopter company assigned exclusively to the SOG war. Terry accumulated over 700 combat hours with about 300 plus missions in his one year tour.

Kontum, also known as FOB2 and CCC (Command and Control Central) was one of three main units of SOG. Centrally located in Kontum, SOG missions were mostly in Laos and Cambodia. It's 60 man Green Beret unit received five Medals of Honor, the highest of any unit in Vietnam.

Captain Larry Thorne was a legendary Green Beret leader. Recruited after WW2 where he had led Finnish forces against Russians with great success, Thorne was supervising the first SOG mission into Laos October 18, 1965 when his helicopter went down and he was never found.

The TH-55 Osage trainer was the first helicopter that Terry and thousands of other Army aviators learned to fly. There were so many crashes with student pilots attempting autorotations that most were practiced high above the ground.

Bob Howard, legendary SOG leader at Kontum, remains today the most highly decorated US soldier in history. He was written up for three medals of honor, but only one is allowed. He was one of five SOG MOH recipients who operated out of Kontum. Here he receives the DSC which was upgraded to a MOH.

The giant Boeing twin rotor helicopter served as a primary transport aircraft, including transporting damaged or destroyed Hueys and Cobras to maintentance. Terry's top record in training provided him the option of flying the Hooks or Cobras. He chose the Cobra as he liked being able to fire back.