Just a Few Bolts
Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s, the Piroutek family always listened in to the evening news, catching up on the Vietnam War, and hoping no battles involved areas where their two sons were serving in the military. This gathering around the TV was similar for many families who had children fighting for America in the Vietnam War.
The Piroutek’s had two sons who had earlier returned safely from their military assignments, Joe and Gary. But now, Lee and Jack were over there. Lee was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay in the southern part of Vietnam for most of 1969 and until early 1970. At times he was on a river boat on the Perfume River farther north near Saigon. Lee was a trained radioman, spending his military work shifts mostly sending and retrieving radio teletype messages. These were the main communications between various sea and ground units.
Jack had enlisted in the Air Force after his graduation from the School of Mines and Technology on June 2, 1967. His degree was in civil engineering. After completing his Helicopter Transition Training, he served in the 21st Special Operations Squadron in Thailand from 1970 until 1971, flying a helicopter to transport the wounded from battlefields in Vietnam. Known as a “Dust-Off” pilot, he had to land a large helicopter in a small landing zone, getting in and out quickly.
From Randy Tompkins, a Timber Lake, South Dakota, Vietnam vet who served at the same time as Jack: “Some of the most skilled helicopter pilots in Vietnam were the Dust-Off Pilots (medical). They had to land a fairly large helicopter (Slick) in a tight (very small) LZ (Landing Zone), get in quickly, and get out just as quickly to get the wounded to medical help back at the base camp. They also had to have the nerves and guts of stone. It was not unusual for them to have to land in a hot LZ with bullets and explosives all over the place. Everyone, especially the Grunts, had huge respect for the Dust-Off Pilots. They relied heavily on the Slick crew chief, who was a door gunner on the left side, and on the door gunner on the right side, to guide the pilot in and out of an LZ. They would talk to the pilot through the radio system in the helicopter saying, ‘Clear up right or clear down right, or clear up left or clear down left.’ The crew chief and door gunner were the eyes for the pilots.”
With the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January of 1973, the United States ended its direct involvement in the war, but fighting continued in Vietnam. South Vietnam fell quickly after U.S. military aid ended, allowing North Vietnam to advance. Saigon was captured by North Vietnam on April 30, 1975, marking the end of the war.
Lee Piroutek was discharged in 1970, had a terrible car accident, and then got his accounting degree at Black Hills State College. He went to work for the IRS. Jack Piroutek made the Air Force his career and was now stationed at Sembach Air Base in West Germany as the first Wing Standardization and Evaluation Pilot for the 601st Tactical Control Wing. Military worries for the Piroutek’s were in the past.
They were not expecting that knock on their door and then opening it to face men in Air Force uniforms. These men had come from Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City to inform Allen and Kathryn that their son, Capt. John G. Piroutek, had died in a tragic helicopter crash in Germany on March 17, 1976. No one could be prepared for this.
The greatest casualty is being forgotten. It has been 50 years since this tragedy, and fellow airman, Lt. Col. David Ellis, USAFR (ret.) has put together a memorial service to honor the four crewmen who died in that helicopter. The ceremony is to be held on March 17, 2026, exactly 50 years since the crash, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Sembach Air Base where the crash happened is no more. The flight line half of that base is now a pretty ugly German industrial park. The administrative side of the base is now a U.S. Army installation called Sembach Kaserne. A very special event has been planned with speakers, photos, tributes, and a military band. The poem, “High Flight” will be read.
David Piroutek (son of Gary) and his wife, Rita, plan to attend the special ceremony/anniversary in Germany on March 17, 2026. David will speak at the ceremony.
It was a USAF CH-53C helicopter going up for a routine test flight. The aircraft crashed on the flight line helipad. It had been in a 15-foot hover when it suddenly pitched nose up and then rolled to the right, crashing on its right side. It ruptured the 650 gallon sheet metal auxiliary fuel tank outboard the right sponson. This caused an immediate explosion and fireball, consuming the aircraft and the four crewmen aboard. All four had served in Vietnam. Capt. “Bill” McGeorge, listed as an instructor pilot was 35. Pilot Capt. “Jack” Piroutek was 31. The other two men aboard were 23-year-old flight mechanics—Sgts. Ronald G. Bridges and Richard D. Seaman.
