Saved in Vietnam

Join Ann Curry as two Vietnam veterans search for the heroes who saved them. An Army officer searches for the helicopter pilot who rescued him, while another soldier wants to reconnect with the surgeon who saved his leg from amputation.

Dave Johnson and wife Judy describe their reaction to receiving news that Dave would have to serve a third tour of Vietnam in 1971. During this tour while conducting surveillance across the border in Cambodia, Dave's helicopter was shot down. Stranded in the jungle under enemy fire, Dave believed his time was up. But Commander Bruce Grable chose to fly his massive Chinook helicopter into danger.

Finance clerk Roger Wagner describes being wounded by enemy fire during a training session at the Long Binh Base in Vietnam in 1967.  Roger was transferred to a MASH hospital where surrounded by the wounded, many of them missing limbs. He was informed that he would most likely have to have his left leg removed in order to save his life.

Roger Wagner visits Dr. Norman Ritch at the Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland, where he is shown his medical record from Vietnam. The document charts Roger’s operation to save his leg and reveals the information Roger needs.

Dave Johnson has reached out to the Helicopter Pilot’s Association in the hope that one of the retired pilots may know where Commander Bruce Grable went to after Vietnam.  It has thrown up a result, and now Dave has uncovered the current number and address for the retired helicopter pilot.