Phil Rybolt – Helicopter Pilot

The road from Kenney, Illinois to Bong Son, Vietnam was lined with uncertainties for 19-year-old Phil Rybolt as he embarked on a plan to serve his country from the air and stay off the ground during his four-year stint with the U. S. Army.

It was 1966 and Rybolt chose flight school over infantry training. His experience with air travel was limited to a childhood flight with an uncle in a two-passenger aircraft near the family farm.

Rybolt completed Basic Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana and then moved on to Fort Wolters, Texas for 5 months training. He spent four months at the world’s largest training installation for helicopters at Fort Rucker, Alabama learning the skills he needed to operate the military birds.

Many recruits washed out of the program; the delicate touch required to steer and maintain the critical hover position and maintain control of the aircraft proved too difficult. Rybolt mastered the skill in nine hours and graduated from the program on June 6, 1967.

In July 1967, Rybolt landed in Saigon. He was assigned to the 1st Air Calvary Division, 1st Brigade, flying scout missions over areas of active fighting.

“They were so short of OH-13 pilots. A lot of them crashed and some were shot down,” Rybolt said of the aircraft. He also flew UH-1, known as “Hueys,” the workhorse for pilots navigating the mountainous terrain of Vietnam.

The work was dangerous. Each day carried a new set of risks that left pilots – most of them 19 and 20 years old – exposed to severe injury or death. A total of 2,282 service members were killed while on board the nearly 12,000 helicopters that crashed or went down by enemy fire during the war, according to the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association.

Now retired from more than four decades of flying helicopters, Rybolt recalls the frequent near-misses he saw in Vietnam, “some even before I turned 21.”

“I turned 21 in Vietnam and 11 days later, I was wounded,” he said, pausing for a moment to let the reality of the statement sink in.

Award of 3rd Distinguished Flying Cross to Phillip Reboot Germany 1968

Rybolt received multiple military honors for his wartime service, all of them in recognition of his willingness to take enemy fire and complete maneuvers to save fellow soldiers in the air and on the ground.

Four of those close calls are outlined in a series of General Orders awarding the service medals.

On Aug. 17, 1967, an infantry unit asked Warrant Officer Rybolt to help locate enemy snipers during a combat mission near Bong Son. Rybolt eliminated the threat and stayed in the area after his and another aircraft came under intense ground fire. Two months later, Rybolt’s “personal bravery and devotion to duty” was cited in the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart.

Rybolt’s helicopter took several hits during an Oct. 1, 1967, reconnaissance mission near Bong Son. His return of fire provided cover for a downed helicopter. He then escorted two other damaged aircraft and went back to mark the enemy emplacements for aerial rocket artillery aircraft. The Air Medal of Freedom was awarded Rybolt for his actions.

When a medical helicopter was unavailable to evacuate casualties near Dak To on Nov. 13, 1967, Rybolt landed his helicopter in a hazardous area, risking exposure to heavy enemy mortar fire. He left the ground only after the wounded were safely on board, service that earned Rybolt a second Distinguished Flying Cross.

On a Feb. 1, 1968, rescue mission, Rybolt’s scout helicopter took heavy fire during efforts to assist a downed aircraft. Rybolt “made low level passes over the enemy positions while, at the same time, directing the rescue operation,” according to an account attached to a Distinguished Flying Cross award.

The DeWitt County native has no regrets about his decision to fly the missions that left him injured on several occasions, including facial injuries from shrapnel that tore through the bubble of the aircraft. Moving from place to place, in tents with no electricity, was the norm.

“You didn’t have to look far to see someone who was worse off,” said Rybolt.

Rybolt’s wife of 53 years, Ann, described helicopter pilots as “a breed apart, they are all smart, independent thinkers.” After Rybolt’s time in the Army, he and his wife and daughter traveled extensively for his work with Caterpillar Corp.

29 Feb 68 Quang Tri, Vietnam Col. Rataan presenting 2nd Distinguished Flying Cross to Phillip A Reboot

Rybolt’s service with the National Guard in several states, including Illinois, kept him active as a pilot. After his retirement in 2004, Rybolt went to work with Air Evac Lifeteam, an air ambulance service. The position required at least 1,000 hours in a helicopter. The long-range aircraft routinely picked up patients from small hospitals in Illinois for transfer to Level I facilities.

After 42 years at the helm of helicopters in the U.S. and overseas, Rybolt and his wife are enjoying retirement in Clinton, a few miles down the road from Kenney.