The Rat Pack

1st Platoon
281st Assault Helicopter Company

10th Combat Aviation Battalion,
First Aviation Brigade,
US Army, Republic of Viet Nam


       Photo: Mike Hargis
   

281st AHC Association RatPack Roster

 

Missions included support of II Field Force HQ, Recondo School at Nha Trang, the various A, B, and C teams, ROK headquarters and troop units, reinforcement of our sister companies, and various combat assaults in support of any unit short of aircraft. We specialized in the support of organizations that still don't exist.

Not to be confused with the fine fellows and families of the Gun Platoon of the same callsign of the 187th Assault Helicopter Company, formerly stationed at Tay Ninh, Republic of Viet Nam, but now also on the inactive list. Find the other Rat Pack at the Crusaders Home Page. Whoever took their autographed photo of the real RatPack, (Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Peter Lawford, etc), give it back! (;-)

Roster of the platoon members whose names I can remember. Send me more. The roster will undoubtedly contain names of those more (in)famous for their work as Bandit or Wolf Pack, 'cuz the bosses assigned many to us for training. Glad to have'm. The roster page links to the "before" and "after" photos of some of the guilty parties. [Soon, links to unidentified photos.]

Coming not so soon: pictures of days in the lives of the RatPack. I have almost 600 slides and b&w prints of aircraft, scenery, missions, clouds, and, of course, the people of my first tour. I'll get the people first, then the flying pix and some scenery. All in due time, as if 30+ years wasn't enough time. Then, off to the museum with them all.

Need some art work, too. The platoon office door in 1967 had a pencil sketch of a V formation of rats in a cloud of dust. Anybody out there know where it went? I can't even find a photo of it. CPT John Hopper (Hoppy) was the platoon leader in mid-1967 when we named the platoon.
 

This RatPack page is no longer maintained.


The fine print: Legal Stuff about the photos.