Hillclimber Charles Cutrone Album

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unit patch This HIllclimber patch was in use for most of the time that the 147th was located in Can Tho, South Vietnam. The move from Vung Tau to Can Tho took place during June of 1970. There were some color variations to this patch that took place over time and that is to be expected with different people doing the artwork. This was the patch that was in use during most of Charles Cutrone's time in the Hillclimbers.
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Hillclimber Charles Cutrone

Charles died 24 November 2016. I'm going to do the best I can to supply captions to these pictures. I have quite alot of Can Tho Army Airfield experience so many of these pictures look a little familiar to me. Charles was there a couple of years after my time in Can Tho, but I will try my best. Feel free to correct or add to anything I have posted. Rodney Brown-Webmaster

Pic 3 Not sure what this is. The Hillclimbers moved from Vung Tau to Can Tho in the middle of 1970. My time at Can Tho was 1967/68 in a TDY status. This does not look like anything I remember in Vung Tau and I was there for four years. I was in Vung Tau for twenty two months as a soldier and two years as a Department of the Army Civilian with Dynalectron Corporation. I was very familiar with the Vung Tau of that time frame.
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This is Can Tho. I recognize the airfield tower. The aircraft is a 147th Chinook. You can make out the "racing stripe" painted on all the Hillclimber aircraft by Melly Mel. This is most like looking out from the Hillclimber maintenance hanger.

Pic 6 This is part of the Hillclimber living quarters in Can Tho. In Vung Tau all the enlisted quarters were single story buildings. In Can Tho they mostly lived in two story structures. Also, in Vung Tau the pilots all lived in downtown Vung Tau in a building called "Tiger Towers." In Can Tho they lived on base in building that were like these pictured here.
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Charles was, I believe, a hydraulic systems repairman. As such, like other maintenance personnel, he would be subject to pulling guard duty periodically. Flight crews were generally exempt for reasons of flight safety and a duty schedule that resembled that of a modern-day firefighter rather than an eight to five office worker. Flight crews never had a routine work schedule. Charles is definitely ready for action in this picture.

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Pic 9 Charles is posing next to some Can Tho Army Airfield battle damage. Can Tho was subject to mortar and rocket attacks on a fairly regular basis at different time periods as best I remember. Vung Tau on the other hand was fairly quiet. I don't remember any ground attacks, but there was some rocket activity that destroyed aircraaft on the field. As far as individual solders were concerned I'm not aware of deaths caused by these attacks. Doesn't mean they didn't happen. I know that Victor LaBelle came to within a hair's breath of being killed when a rocket went off a few feet from him during one attack.
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Page 11 I remember scenes like this from the TDY time that I spent in Can Tho in 1967 and 1968. If I remember correctlly this is on the road from the base to the town of Can Tho.
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Page 15 Charles Cutrone standing in front the Hillclimber Orderly Room sign in Can Tho. I have been able to determine that the Commanding Officer posted on the sign is Maj. Joel Hinson. That dates this picture between May 71 to Sep 71.
Page 16 This has to be a Can Tho guard duty post. I don't remember the ones at Vung Tau looking anything like this.
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Page 18 Charles on guard duty again. This is the same guard duty post in the picture above. You can tell by the way the sand bags are stacked. For unit historians it is interesting to note that Charles is holding an M16. The Hillclimbers did not have M16s for the entire time that I was I was in the unit. M14s were the weapons that were used in the company at least until December of 1968 when I left. R. Brown
Page 19 Can Tho
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Page 22 Can Tho
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Page 24 I actually remember this scene from the time period 1967 and 1968 when the Hillclimbers maintained on average of four ships at Can Tho in TDY status. The 271st ASHC finally arrived and the Hillclimbers stopped the TDY assignments. In the middle of 1970 the Hillclimbers moved from Vung Tau to Can Tho and remained there until they were transferred to Hawaii at the beginning of 1972. Rodney R. Brown
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Page 38 This picture is also from Vung Tau. This is the 54th Otter Company, AKA "Big Daddy." Just of top of the end of the right wingtip you can see the two radio antennas on top of a mountain. This picture was taken in Vung Tau. Charles Cutrone did spend a little bit of time there before the move to Can Tho. Rodney R. Brown
Page 39 This the Vung Tau flight line. I remember this because I was there at this time. Also, the "X" symbol for the 222nd CAB is on the aft pylons. The Hillclimbers were transferred to the 214th CAB in November of 1968 and that is when the "X" symbol was removed from the aft phylons. Rodney R. Brown
Page 40 This Hillclimber aircraft is 074. If you look in the nose art part of this website you will set a reproduction of this nose art. At one point this nose art had 074 written on the aft pylon. Rodney R. Brown
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Page 43 In this picture I see two aft pylon battalion symbols. One is the 222nd CAB "X." This picture would also be Vung Tau. Looks familiar to me. Rodney R. Brown
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The maintenance facility at Can Tho for the Hillclimbers. Rodney R. Brown

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Page 48 Another shot of the maintenance facility at Can Tho. Rodney R. Brown
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Page 53 This is also Can Tho. Vung Tau didn't have a big cement area like you see here. Also visible in this picture, lower left, is a can of MIL 7808. This was, and may still be, the primary oil used in the engines and transmissions. It is the aluminum can with the big red stripe painted around it. Rodney R. Brown
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Page 14 Charles D. Cutrone - A great soldier, a great American, and a wonderful friend. Rodney R. Brown
  I have attempted to fill in some of the captions on the pictures above. If anyone looking at this page was in Can Tho and better recognizes what is in these pictures then please help me correct a picture caption or add one that is currently blank. Thank you, Rodney R. Brown, Hillclimber FE 67/68 - Webmaster