What They Didn’t Tell You About Being a 19-Year-Old Vietnam Combat Pilot

Herman "Butch" Peace enlisted in the Army at 19 and became a Huey pilot in Vietnam — flying troop insertions, taking fire, and watching men he served with die, all before he could legally rent a car back home. At 77, he finally put that year into words in his memoir, One Year: Or the Rest of Your Life. In this episode, Butch walks us through flight school, his first solo flight, arriving in-country, the crew that became his second family, a midair collision that changed everything, and the long, slow process of coming home. He also opens up about the year he spent training pilots in Iran during the fall of the Shah, and how he eventually became a classically trained portrait painter after studying in France.

This is a raw, funny, and deeply human conversation about war, brotherhood, and what it means to carry that year for the rest of your life.

📖 Get Butch's book, One Year: Or the Rest of Your Life: https://www.amazon.com/ONE-YEAR-Vietnam-Helicopter-Pilots-ebook/dp/B0FXPD6Z7K?ref_=ast_author_mpb 

🎨 See Butch's artwork: https://hlpeace.com/

TIMESTAMPS 

01:06 – Family history: his father, a WWII ball turret gunner shot down after D-Day 

04:43 – Boot camp at Fort Polk 

06:56 – Flight school shenanigans 

07:40 – First helicopter: the Hiller OH-23 

07:56 – His first solo flight 

11:19 – Flight school culture vs. basic training 

16:56 – Shipping out 

18:27 – Arriving in Vietnam 

22:14 – Meet the "Robin Hoods" 

23:55 – Life at the base, rockets, and "Rocket City" 

27:43 – First assignment: flying the smoke ship 

33:09 – Crew roles: aircraft commander, Peter pilot, crew chief, door gunner 

34:57 – What made the Huey special 

36:43 – Accidents in-country 

54:20 – The midair collision, in his own words 

1:03:36 – A sling-load accident and its aftermath 

1:13:00 – Base camp life, C-rations, and R&R stories 

1:40:11 – Comparing the UH-1D and UH-1H 

1:45:26 – The flight surgeon and a sergeant's act of humanity 

1:49:38 – Coming home on the "Freedom Bird" 

1:53:16 – Adjusting to life after Vietnam 

1:59:08 – Teaching pilots in Iran during the fall of the Shah 

2:06:49 – Looking back on the war

Ask a Vet brings you unfiltered conversations with veterans about their service, their struggles, and their lives after the uniform.

If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 
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