Local Vietnam pilot to be buried in Arlington

Nov. 29—Whether you were alive to remember seeing the news images of the Bell UH-1 "Huey" helicopters, or have since seen such scenes recreated in movies of the Huey helicopters flying above the jungles of South Vietnam with soldiers sitting on the side of the open doors, these helicopters are synonymous with images of the Vietnam conflict.

Warrant Officer James David Anderson was one of these heroic pilots, eventually participating in the battle of Ia Drang, the first major battle between American and North Vietnam, which was the storyline of the 1992 book and the 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers" starring Mel Gibson as Lt. Col Hal Moore, commander of the 7th Air Cavalry, renamed in honor of Gen. Custer's Regiment, right before the battle in Nov. 1965.

David Anderson grew up in Deep River. Abandoned by his mother, and never knowing his father, he was sent to Lee County, from Atlanta, when he was five years old to live with his grandparents, James and Lillian Fletcher, on their tobacco farm.

It was here that he met his good friend Robert Johnson. "We were like brothers." Johnson said, "He was highly intelligent — a good person, but boy was he a character." he laughed, remembering Anderson.

Anderson and Johnson graduated high school together in 1958.

"He had the highest I.Q. of anybody in the room" Johnson said. "At one time his I.Q.was so high they thought they made a mistake on his test — but they didn't."

After graduating high school David joined the army and spent six years as a radar operator, but that wasn't enough for him — he wanted to do more — and he became interested in flying helicopters.

In 1963 he started Army Flight School. "He made the highest score on the flight test that had ever been recorded at that time," said his widow, Sandra, whom he married in 1961, "and within a few weeks we were on our way to Mineral Wells, Texas to begin his flight training."

Anderson earned his aviation wings on Feb. 5, 1964, and would eventually be sent to An Khe, Vietnam in late 1965.

"I had just had a baby," Sandra said, "so he was able to get a month-long deferral and join his unit in Vietnam by that October."

Anderson flew soldiers into a hot LZ (landing zone) and the dead and wounded out of the battle, numerous times during the Battle of Ia Drang on Nov. 14-19, 1965.

Anderson served two tours in Vietnam, facing almost certain death every time he landed and took off in his Bell Huey helicopter during heated pitched battles between American and Communist North Vietnam — Vietcong forces.

In June 1966, while landing during a mission for soldiers to jump off his helicopter, a Vietnamese soldier, hiding in the bushes, started shooting at Anderson's helicopter. Anderson was wounded, with a bullet going through a small side area near the seatbelt that wasn't protected with armor, hitting him on his left side, going clean through his right side.

"He didn't even realize that he had been shot until his pants felt warm and wet and realized it was blood." his widow Sandra said, "His co-pilot had just arrived in Vietnam, so David had to tell him how to get to the aid station."

Anderson was evacuated to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. and spent three months recovering before he could return to active duty.

In late September he was assigned to Fort Bragg, and then eventually went back to Vietnam for a second tour of duty, this time as a helicopter maintenance officer, rather than flying combat missions.

After the Vietnam War, Anderson was transferred to Fort Wainwright, Alaska, where he flew Chinook Helicopters in high altitude missions to rescue stranded hikers on Mt. McKinley, and helping fight forest fires by dumping water from Chinooks, until 1977.

In 1979 Anderson retired from the Army, settling in with his wife Sandra, in Texas, working for Texas Instruments until his retirement in 2006.

Anderson, who died Feb. 28, 2021, will be buried later this week in Arlington National Cemetery, the highest honor of any U.S. military veteran.