Mohawk vs. MiG

An unusual air battle over North Vietnam

- BY THOMAS MCKELVEY CLEAVER

FROM 2,000 FEET ABOVE the triple-canopy jungle, the Ashau Valley was deceptive in the early morning light through the clouds to the east. Twenty-two miles long and less than six miles from Laos, Ashau was one of two strongholds for the North Vietnamese Army in South Vietnam, the other being the U Minh Forest north of Saigon. Known to the North Vietnamese as Base Area 611, it was Charlie's personal territory: a major hub on the Ho Chi Minh Trail for the infiltration of personnel and supplies into Thua Thien Province and northern I Corps, the launch point for the Tet Offensive against the Marines at Khe Sanh and the ancient imperial capitol of Hue.

On that clear morning in mid-February 1968, the pilots of the two Grumman OV-1A Mohawks, flying in loose trail across the valley as they headed toward the Laotian end of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, could easily look through the scattered cumulus clouds and see the three abandoned U.S. airfields along the middle of the valley floor and the deserted Special Forces camp that had been overrun in March 1966. U.S. forces had been pushed out of Ashau back then and had no immediate plans of returning.

Flying lead was Capt. Ken Lee, a veteran considered to be one of the most experienced Mohawk pilots in the 131st Aviation Co., who had first flown Mohawks with the 73rd Aviation Co. from December 1964 to November 1965, when the 73rd “wrote the book” about Mohawk operations in Vietnam. Lee was thoroughly familiar with this particular piece of geography. He had taken hits regularly over the Ashau as he “threaded the needle” through the pass at the eastern end of the valley that led to the Laotian plains beyond.

"I WAS A SITTING DUCK. WITH OUR FULL LOAD OF ORDNANCE AND EXTRA FUEL, I WAS SO HEAVY I WOULD STALL AT ABOUT 165 KNOTS IN A 30-DEGREE BANK, SO I SURE COULDN'T DOGFIGHT HIM."