GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — “I got a high award for killing people, but I’d rather have gotten an award for saving people,” said John Neilsen, a helicopter pilot who saw aerial action during the Vietnam War. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross. 

According to criteria outlined by an Act of Congress in 1926, the medal is awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight.

Neilsen, now 81, recalled his service with the “Head Hunters” of the 1st Cavalry Division, the 1st of the 9th, flying out of the Central Highlands from 1965-1966 with a recon outfit. They were commanded by the legendary Bill Stockton (1933-2018), who flew 129 combat missions in Vietnam, and later retired from the United States Air Force as a Lt. Colonel.

Continuing his story during the third annual Vet Fest on Saturday, September 28 at the Grahamsville Fairgrounds, the veteran Airman said of this dangerous mission, “They were trying to kill me, and rather than fly away, I wasn’t going to let this happen. So I turned around to get air speed, and dived the machine… that’s when a lot of them started shooting, and then my door gunners [opened up], and then they were gone...”

Neilsen shared this story while meeting with two other veterans of the Vietnam War: Sandy Garzon, who served with the 11th Armored Cavalry, and Charlie Breiner, of Co. C, 26th Engineers, Americal Division, 1967-68.

As Neilsen and Garzon gathered around their wheelchair-bound comrade-in-arms, Breiner said that he lost a leg due to the effects of Agent Orange, a tactical chemical herbicide used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange has affected thousands of personnel. 

“We would go from the South China Sea over to Cambodia looking for bad guys. We were hardly ever in a safe place… We had a lot of bullet holes when we got home [to base],” recalled the chopper pilot

These days, he lives with his wife of 60 years, Darlene, whose father was an ironworker on the Neversink Reservoir and a WWII veteran.

“I call her a vet, because she’s a veteran’s wife,” he said in a lighter moment.

During his conversation with the River Reporter, Neilsen wore several mementos, personal reflections of the past: three small metal bracelets in memory of comrades including “two were captured and tortured; I’ll never get that out of my head.” There’s one from the Montagnards, the indigenous people of Vietnam’s Central Highlands, and a dog tag attached to a boot lace.

 Of the latter, he said this was common practice for helicopter pilots to use, as in case of a crash and resultant deadly fire, it was in essence often the only way for their remains to be identified.

In these turbulent times, Neilsen reflected upon this nation’s withdrawal from the fields of fire in Vietnam, and more recently from Afghanistan, by saying it was a matter of trust broken.

The third annual Vet Fest was presented by the Sullivan County Veterans Coalition as “A day for veteran life enrichment with hobby and occupational information, and demos, vendors, music, food and fun.”

Music was provided by veteran Green Beret Derek Stoner and local artists Jesse Noren and Albi Beluli.

Representing the younger generation were several uniformed members of the Air Force Junior ROTC program at the Newburgh Free Academy, including 16-year-olds Jasmine Gonzalez and Genesis Merlin.