Joseph Fennessy

Joseph Fennessy was born in June 1947 in East Orange, New Jersey. He was about to be drafted in 1968, while working as a machinist’s helper. Fennessy believed that, because of his civilian qualifications, he would be able to get a position as a helicopter mechanic, and his assumption proved correct. He volunteered for service in October 1968, was sent to Fort Dix for basic training, and then moved to Fort Eustis, Virginia for Advanced Individual Training as an aviation mechanic. Fennessy remembered Basic Training as being extremely hard on everyone, but aviation maintenance training was more pleasant. He described his overall adjustment to life in the military as a lot more regimented than civilian life, saying “you don’t have your mom waking you up in the morning”. 

Fennessy flew to Vietnam in April 1969 and landed at Cam Ranh Bay. He was then sent to Qui Nhon to join a “dustoff” battalion, more formally known as an Army Aeromedical Evacuation unit. There were also smaller dustoff units, and his sergeant asked him if he would be interested in being a crew chief for the 159th Company of the 44th Medical Brigade, stationed at Cu Chi. Fennessy said yes, preferring Cu Chi to Long Binh, the large supply center near Saigon where the dustoff headquarters was located. He believed that in a combat zone it was better to be out in a rural area than in or near a city, which is why he preferred to be stationed in Cu Chi.

Fennessy recalled the Bob Hope USO show performing at Cu Chi. The show was accompanied by astronaut Neil Armstrong, who had landed on the moon and held a Q & A after the show. Fennessy also noted that Martha Raye was part of the Hope show in Cu Chi. Martha Raye had traveled with the USO since World War II and was an honorary colonel in the U.S. Marines and an honorary lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. She reportedly also nursed wounded soldiers. The Fifth Special Forces Group (Airborne) made her an honorary Green Beret for her work in Vietnam.

Fennessy’s main job was as part of a team rescuing the wounded, by performing hoist and rescue missions in the “Huey” helicopter. Sometimes there were heavy jungle canopies preventing the Huey from landing, and hoisting was the only choice. There were enemy tunnel systems all over the area, including some under Cu Chi base camp, and in one of the largest mountains in South Vietnam, Nui Ba Din. The 25th Division held the top and the base of the mountain, but the middle was held by the Viet Cong. Fennessy recalled performing several hoist missions for wounded soldiers off the side of the mountain, because it was not possible to land. His crew also had to perform civilian pickups inside or near villages. The Viet Cong often used villagers as “human shields.”

Fennessy noted that many medics in the army were conscientious objectors who were drafted but did not want to engage in violent action. Dustoff units were not allowed to carry machine guns in their Huey’s. Crewmen on the Huey would bring their issued M-16s, and some brought M79 grenade launchers. Fennessy opted to carry a pistol. He explained that the weapons were intended to be used for last resort defensive situations, as their missions were not designated to return enemy fire. Fennessy added that the Huey was resilient in its ability to withstand fire.

While out on one mission, however, Fennessy’s Huey was shot up badly. The helicopter was still operational, but the pilot had been wounded and was unable to control it. Fennessy said that crew members like himself were “not flight-qualified, but flight-savvy,” and he told the medic to move the pilot out of his seat as the Huey was starting to go down. Fennessy then acted and moved the pilot out himself. He knew exactly what was going wrong. The pilot’s leg was injured and off the throttle. Thankfully, missions had two pilots. The other pilot grabbed control and rolled back the throttle. Everyone on the aircraft made it out okay.

Another narrow escape that Fennessy recalled was on a rescue mission for a downed ‘Loach’ (OH-6As were called Loaches, “Light Observation CHoppers.”) team who were part of a light and fire team. Light and fire teams would bait the enemy with a Loach, and then fire at them with a Cobra helicopter. Fennessy’s aircraft landed, and he and his medic had to run over on foot to the wounded. The gunner from the Loach had severe wounds to his left arm, but was still able to walk. The pilot had been killed; the crew chief was still alive. Fennessy and his medic were going back to their aircraft when he noticed that it was taking off! Suddenly, a Cobra shot up the whole tree line, with the fire so close to them that they could feel the percussion from the blasts, as well as saw some spinning shrapnel. Fennessy and his medic got left behind with the wounded soldiers. He later found out that his aircraft was radioed to get out of the area as soon as it could, because there would be heavy incoming fire. Their helicopter returned, and Fennessy and his team later went back to retrieve the pilot who had been killed.

Almost everyone in Vietnam had a nickname. Fennessy’s was Hungry Joe. Since dustoff units were always on call and meals were only designated at certain times of the day, crew members of dustoff units were able to skip the line to get food when it was possible. Other soldiers knew that sometimes dustoff units would have to leave, missing one or more meals at a time. It always seemed that whenever Fennessy was first up, meaning first on call, his unit would get called right before dinner. This is what gave him the nickname Hungry Joe. People knew that he went hungry; and, if some were put on a mission with him, other soldiers would laugh and tell them that they would be going hungry that night too.

Fennessy returned home in 1970. He landed in San Francisco, California, with orders not to engage with any civilians who might be protesting the war. All soldiers were made to fly in their uniforms, which sometimes caught the attention of anti-war protestors. Fennessy recalls being yelled at by people at the airport. After being home for six months, he received tentative orders to go back to Vietnam. With a year and a half left to serve, Fennessy was stationed instead with the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood. He served a total of three years in active service and three years in the reserves. Fennessy had over two hundred hours of combat flight time; he received an Air Medal for every 25 hours of combat flight time. He also received a Distinguished Flying Cross, an award featured in his hometown newspaper. His dustoff unit had two successful reunions, one of which Fennessy attended.