THE PILOT WHO FOUGHT THE ENEMY WITH HIS RIFLE FROM HIS AIRCRAFT
Late in the afternoon of February 24, 1967, forward air controller Capt. Hilliard A. Wilbanks was flying his unarmored Cessna over Tây Nguyên in Vietnam, running aerial reconnaissance for a “Vietnamese Rangers” unit.
As he searched the ground for the enemy, he spotted several Viet Cong units set up for an ambush on two hilltops. The South Vietnamese Rangers were outnumbered and had no cover between themselves and the enemy. They were walking straight into a trap.
While Wilbanks radioed a warning to the Rangers, the enemy troops spotted him and put fire directly on his aircraft. He flew through the heavy fire and marked the area with white phosphorus rockets for the airstrikes he had called in. The Viet Cong saw that their surprise attack had failed and that fighters would arrive soon, so they charged down the hill at the Vietnamese Rangers.
Wilbanks watched it all from above and knew the fighters would not get there in time. To buy time, he dove on the Viet Cong and fired his last phosphorus rockets, which only held them up briefly.
With still no sign of air support, Wilbanks picked up his M16, took his light aircraft down to 30 meters and fired on the Viet Cong through the side window as he flew past. Once he was clear he reloaded, turned and emptied the next magazine into the enemy. The Viet Cong could no longer ignore the aircraft above them and had to take up positions, which slowed their advance and won valuable time.
On his third pass Wilbanks was badly wounded and went down inside the battle area, moments before air support arrived. While F-4 fighters held the Viet Cong off, US Army Rangers made their way to the wreck of Wilbanks’ aircraft and evacuated him by helicopter. He died before he reached the hospital and left behind a wife and 4 children. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
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