Page 22 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Fall 2021 - Online Magazine
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Paul Harpole Dustoff Crew Chief,
Public Servant, and Patriot
by Jelaine Workman
was trained as a worked 24 hours a day, seven
helicopter door days a week, monsoon rain
gunner and crew or stifling shine. There were
chief. only five such ships covering
the entire country in the early
Paul was stationed days of the Vietnam conflict. As
at Fort Stewart, the war progressed, the
GA, where he was need for Dustoffs increased
assigned as a crew dramatically, but, even
chief (mechanic) on at its peak, only 125 of 7000 Huey
one of the 250 ships helicopters were designated
(helicopters) used for for this important duty.
training pilots. When
he turned 18, he Four men made up each crew: the
was eligible to go to pilot, copilot, medic and crew
Vietnam. In Saigon, chief. Each time they flew,
he was loaded onto each member had to be at his
a cargo truck full of best. They had not only their
GIs and driven to own lives to protect, but also the
Long Binh, where soldiers they were saving from
they were dropped the field. Dustoffs completed over
outside a hospital 990,000 patient evacuations during
next to a helipad the conflict.
with 25 ships. He
was appointed Modern CPR or rescue breathing is
crew chief to the common now, but it wasn’t widely
45th Dustoff Air used until Vietnam. The medics
Ambulance. taught Paul to do CPR and other
lifesaving procedures to assist in
As crew patient extraction and care. Many
orn in Deer Lodge, Montana chief, Paul was of the medics were
to a baker and stay-at-home responsible for maintaining his
Bmom, Paul Harpole was the ship and the equipment for
third oldest in a family of nine evacuation of the injured
children. When Paul was small, and KIA (killed in action). His
they moved to Denver where helicopter never left the ground
he attended Catholic school. without Paul. One of Paul’s
Somehow, his teachers jobs was to lower the hoist for
maintained discipline, even the men below to load the
though class sizes were typically injured and then bring them up
over 50. His father passed for the medics to begin caring
away when Paul was 15. After for them. The hoist missions
graduating from high school at age were extremely dangerous,
17, Paul volunteered for the Army. as the ship had to hover in
He wanted to be a pilot, but was the treetops to avoid enemy
told by his recruiter that fire for up to 45 minutes,
he didn’t qualify because depending on the number
of his eyesight. Instead, he of injured. The Dustoff helicopters
22 Amarillo Senior Link
