Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum. I'm a military historian and an illustrator. I'm currently working on illustrations of Hueys associated with Medal of Honor actions from Vietnam. I just recently completed illustrations of Bruce Crandall's and Ed Freeman's A Company, 229th ships. I had the pleasure and honor to talk to Mr. Crandall about the markings and details of his and Ed's ships. One note of caution - Bruce and Ed don't remember all the "minute" details of their aircraft at the Ia Drang battle - that's only to be expected after 40+ yrs! However - Joe Galloway took color photos of the LZ X-Ray battle on November 14, 1965, and he has three photos showing 229th aircraft. Two are A Company ships, one is C Company. Based on what Bruce Crandall and Ed Freeman remember, and on the details that are evident from Joe Galloway's photos - here's what I have on their ships:
229th crest on the nose - YES. It was there. Bruce Crandall is definite about that. There's always the possibility that he doesn't accurately remember when the crest was applied, but until photos appear that prove otherwise - put the crest on the nose.
M23 gun mounts for the M60 - NO, not there. None of the photos from Joe Galloway show any ship at LZ X-Ray with the mounts. Also the photos do not show any bungee-mounted M60s. No weapons of any kind on at least three of the ships that flew into the battle on the first day.
1st Cav Division insignia - small division insignia on rear of tail boom, aft of the "danger" arrow. Not on the tail. This comes from Bruce and Ed.
Cargo doors - no cargo doors on the ships at LZ X-Ray. They were removed. The cargo doors, both front and rear, are missing from all three ships photographed by Joe Galloway at LZ X-Ray. If you examine other photos taken of 229th Hueys, the smaller front cargo doors are always missing/removed. The larger aft doors - sometimes there, sometimes off. My suggestion based on Galloway's photos - take all the cargo doors off for the Ia Drang action. I illustrated Bruce Crandall's aircraft with the rear cargo door on, but may change this based on Galloway's photos.
High visibility markings - Some were on the ships at LZ X-Ray. I'm talking about the yellow vertical stripes on the rear of the cabin behind the cargo door opening, and the red vertical stripe down the rear portion of of the engine housing. Joe Galloway's photos show all three ships with these markings. ALso, the small informational data was still in high visibility yellow (stuff like serial number and aircraft data, turn handle, etc,) The rest of the markings were subdued - US ARMY, tail number. NO yellow stripe on the tail boom - those were gone by LZ X-Ray.
D model pitot tube and antenna on nose - YES. They were there.
Small numbered placards behind the pilot's doors. These indicated the position of the ship in the combat assault formation. They were on the aircraft at LZ X-Ray. Bruce Crabdall's ship was number "1" - lead ship in the assault. Ed Freeman's ship was number "2". One of Joe Galloway's photos show a nice close-up of ship number "2" on the ground at X-Ray, dumping supplies while a wounded soldier is being carried up to the aircraft.
Antennas strung on along the tail boom (early D models) - Ed Freeman's ship had this - Joe Galloway photo shows it. Not sure about Bruce Crandall's ship - he doesn't remember and photos don't show conclusively.
A/C numbers or ship numbers - neither Bruce nor Ed remember their a/c or ship numbers from LZ X-Ray. Mr. Crandall told me that in the early days they flew whatever ship was available for the mission - crews weren't assigned to specific ships. My suggestion - the 229th Hueys had three digit ship numbers painted in black below the 229th crest on the nose. Photos show Bruce Crandall flying ship "888" on occasion, so use this number unless more definitive data comes along. His tail number would be "00888" in black. Ed Freeman flew ship "775" on occasion, so use that ship number on nose - tail number "00775".
A Company insignia on pilot's doors - as stated in a previous reply, Mr. Crandal had a unique door insignia. It was a rattlesnake, smoking a cigar and blowing smoke out its nose, coiled inside the A Company blue triangle. Ed Freeman had the normal blue triangle without any other decoration. As an interesting side note - Mr. Crandall told me this: Because they didn't have assigned aircraft, his crew chief would unhinge and remove Crandall's distinctive doors at the end of a mission. When they prepared to fly the next mission, the crew chief would take the doors out to the new ship, remove its doors, and install Crandall's "Ancient Serpent 6" doors on the aircraft!
Sorry for the length of my post, but I hope this helps those who are interested in these two 229th aircraft. I can provide clean, crisp, detailed art of the 229th crest, Bruce Crandall's door insignia, a normal A Company triangle insignia, and the 1st Cav Division insignia for anyone who wants to try making them into decals. I have about 35 Vietnam Huey illustrations posted on my website http://vietnam-hueys.tripod.com/ so far, with more illustrations coming. I have four Medal of Honor associated Hueys posted at the moment, including Bruce Crandall's and Ed Freeman's. I hope you will check it out!
Geoff