No Warrior Left Behind – The Untold Story of HC-7
Last spring, I was interviewed by Robert Child (http://robchild.blogspot.com), an Emmy nominated and award-winning producer for his podcast. He has produced many documentaries on U.S. military history and after the interview, I asked if he was interested in producing one on HC-7, the only squadron in U.S. Navy history focused solely on combat search and rescue.
My pitch mentioned that the late Lieutenant Clyde Lassen was one of only two Naval Aviators awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. And, over the eight plus years it was on Yankee Station, its detachments never missed a commitment and it made about a third of the rescues in and around North Vietnam.
While HC-7 had a laundry list of helicopters, its detachments flew mostly H-2 Seasprites and H-3 Seakings modified for the combat search and rescue mission. Its helicopters flew off destroyers and cruiser stationed off the coast of North Vietnam as well as from the carriers on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Rob said, send me more info and after his own research and the info I sent him, he wanted to write the script and produce the documentary. What we needed now, Rob advised, was a script.
To pay for a script, we needed money. To produce the film, we need a lot more money.
Suddenly, I was the executive producer of a documentary called Leave No Warrior Behind, the Untold Story of HC-7. As such, I was responsible for two things – raising money and solving problems. Not what I expected.
However, I believe this squadron’s story needs to be told and time is, unfortunately running out because the members are into their 70s or older. The movie, once it produced will tell the story from four different perspectives – the pilots, the aircrewmen, the maintainers and the survivors.
You can watch a short video on the movie here on this page.
Next step was to reach out to the Naval Helicopter Association who immediately leapt on board. The movie’s web site is hosted by the Naval Helicopter Association’s Historical Society and it was kind enough to allow us to use their 501(c)3 so donations are tax deductible.
We have the support of the Tailhook Educational Foundation as well and are actively looking for a sponsor for what will be a two-hour film that we hope to be able to release in the spring of 2023.
The script is finished. We have four interviews in the can and are in the process of scheduling more. But to finish the film, we need your help.
You can find out more about the project at https://www.nhahistoricalsociety.org/hc-7-seadevils-the-movie/ .
There’s info on how you can contribute to this project. Every dollar counts so please donate.