Tom had already been shot down five times and Larry wounded twice before they embarked on their epic mission to rescue a company of more than 100 ambushed in the undergrowth. Surrounded and outnumbered six to one, the men's situation was dire. Their only escape was by air. Two choppers answered the soldiers' desperate call for help. But when the flight crews arrived, there was nowhere to land amid the thick 40ft bamboo.
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They decided their only option was to chop their own landing zone using the helicopters' rotor blades. And to rescue all of the trapped company, they had to return five times.
Throughout the entire operation, Tom and Larry's helicopter was totally unarmed, while in the back of Jack's helicopter was a single machine gun manned by a chap called Al.
Yet, despite all these obstacles, the two choppers managed to rescue every single survivor"
luckily the tips of the rotors were solid aluminium and acted as cutting blades




