Capt. John Wuethrich, USMC, Army National Guard, Vietnam

Veterans Chronicles

John Wuethrich became fascinated by flying at a young age by listening to his father's stories of flying B-24's in the European theater of World War II. After joining the U.S. Marine Corps, Wuethrich went through Navy flight training but was eventually assigned to helicopters. He flew UH-1's at first but would pilot the CH-46 during his tour in Vietnam in 1969.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Captain Wuethrich explains the missions he flew to deliver troops and supplies and to evacuate the wounded. He shares the story of having to make a crash landing and describes what it was like to fly into a hot zone. And he tells us about his mission after the peace agreement to remove mines from Haiphong Harbor.
Finally, Wuethrich explains why he eventually left the Marines and later joined the U.S. Army National Guard, first in Illinois and later in Texas.