The Lore of the Corps

Pilot displayed valor on rescue missions

By Keith A. Milks - Special to the Times
Marine Corps Times
March 19, 2007 Edition

During the Vietnam War, two Marines were awarded the Navy Cross twice for battlefield valor - one of them was Joseph P. "Pat" Donovan.

Raised in the small town of Waxahachie, Texas, Donovan graduated from the University of Dallas in 1966 and entered the Marine Corps shortly thereafter.

Trained to fly the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, then-1st Lt. Donovan was assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 and sent to Vietnam in late 1968.

The heroism that earned Donovan his first Navy Cross occurred Feb. 22, 1969, when he took off from Marble Mountain Air Facility as part of a two-aircraft medical evacuation mission. The lead aircraft was forced to turn back due to mechanical problems, but Donovan continued.

While accompanying gunships attacked Viet Cong gun and missile emplacements, Donovan pushed through a storm of enemy fire to touch down at the landing zone.

As four wounded Marines were loaded onto the aircraft, Viet Cong mortar rounds and grenades began cratering the landing zone. At one point, shrapnel blasted the aircraft, slicing vital components and Donovan's thigh.

As soon as the last casualty was loaded, Donovan flew the violently shaking helicopter to the hospital at Da Nang.

Refusing medical attention, he undertook two more missions that night, plucking 10 more casualties from danger. Only after the last mission was accomplished did Donovan allow corpsmen to tend his wounds and a relief pilot to assume command of his helicopter.

In the following weeks, Donovan continued to hone his flying skills and earned his second Navy Cross on April 21, when he raced his helicopter to Quang Nam Province to retrieve wounded Marines from an open rice paddy.

As the aircraft approached the site, enemy machine-gun fire punched into the forward section of the Sea Knight. Undaunted by the increasingly heavy enemy fire, Donovan hovered the stricken aircraft over the rice paddy as the wounded Marines were loaded aboard.

Donovan then flew to Da Nang, where he declared his helicopter too damaged for further action. He appropriated another helicopter and returned to the battlefield.

Heavy fire again greeted Donovan and his crew as they flew into a landing zone for more casualties. Donovan was forced to lift off after having loaded only half of the wounded when his crew chief was hit by enemy fire.

Realizing that his helicopter was still airworthy and his crew chief's injuries were minor, Donovan circled the landing zone while another helicopter evacuated the wounded Marines. Only after the Marines had been lifted to safety did Donovan turn his damaged helicopter toward Da Nang.

In addition to two Navy Crosses, Donovan left Vietnam with a Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Purple Heart and 35 Strike/Flight Air Medals.

He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a major in 1984.

The writer is a master sergeant. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.