It was the summer of 1965, the Beatles were raging, Winston Churchhill passed, the Twist was at its height of popularity, and the Vietnam war was rapidly escalating where people were blowing up things and shooting each other. My husband, Gary, was, of course, making his living flying UH1 (Huey) helicopter gunships amidst the mayhem in Vietnam’s central highlands.
Gary was semi-permanently assigned to support a Special Forces operation headquartered in Kontum, a small city located in the central part of what the Army called II Corp where he often encountered Montagnards, the bronze age indigenous people of central southeast Asia. Named by the French as the mountain dwellers, Gary was soon invited by Special Forces team members to lunch with the Montagnard village chief which is where his relationship began with a small black furry being with a white face who would forever have a special place in my husband’s heart.
This is the story of James Lewis
As the lunch meal and gift giving concluded, several children wondered about the gathering offering to sell the Americans unique products. A Montagnard teenage girl carrying a small bundle wrapped in cloth approached Gary and indicated she would like to sell what was in her arms. Gary gestured as to say let’s see and was presented with what appeared to be a very small monkey. How much, Gary again gestured, and after a bit of negotiation, he became the proud father of what he later learned was not a monkey, but rather an orphaned male Gibbon my husband named James Lewis.
Gibbons, the smallest of apes, are found in the tropical forests and highlands of southeast Asia. A mature Gibbon is typically a foot tall and weighs 8 to 10 pounds. Gibbons walk upright and use their exceptionally long arms for balance. They come in a variety of colors and have no tail. The Gibbon is very social, prefers to eat fruit, is monogamous, and communicates with family by distinctive calls emanating from an air bladder in their throat that be heard over a distance of a half a mile.
Through an interpreter, Gary learned that the Gibbon’s mother was deceased, that his age was indeterminate and he was eating ground fruits provided by the young Montagnard. It was time to return to base, so Gary loaded himself and the Gibbon he named James Lewis into the backseat of a jeep to the friendly jibes from his pilot teammates and vociferous kidding from the Special Forces guys.
Over the next few weeks, Gary introduced James Lewis to an Army helicopter pilot’s life, eat and sleep when you can and bathe when a shower is available. Early on, James Lewis was cared for by the ground team during flight operations, and in a short time, James Lewis was eating a variety of fruit, sometimes flying with his brothers in arms and sleeping when he could.
Gary had three pair of shorts made from ammunition pouches with an over the shoulder suspender strap which James Lewis would wear whenever on a mission or out in public. He learned to shower, brush his teeth and was toilet trained after about a week. He walked with Gary, his hand in Gary’s hand, and sat on the back of a chair when Gary was eating, drinking or playing cards. He slept in his cardboard bed carefully folding his shorts before lying down and pulling his blanket up to his chin.
While walking alongside Gary and holding his hand, crew members, Special Forces and other camp personnel would often stop and speak to James Lewis as if he were a human, always asking him about his well-being. They would offer him treats which were discouraged because the food’s source was not known and would often compliment him on his clothing ensemble, admiring his shorts and suspender strap. As days went by, James Lewis became comfortable with new places and new people and made new friends easily. He quickly adapted to a pilot’s vagabond life, never knowing where he would sleep that night and always making sure his bed and blanket were aboard the aircraft.
Kontum, Dak To and Pleiku, all located in the highlands of Vietnam, were frequent overnight stops. James Lewis favored Pleiku as it was at the officers club that he could cheer for his friend. The Snake Pit, as the club was named, featured a really big python named Fred. Housed in a glassed wall cage behind the club’s bar, Fred was thought to be 18 feet long and weigh around 150 pounds as nobody wanted to get in the cage to measure or weigh him to make sure the length and weight estimates were correct. Fred was fed a live chicken several times a month and James Lewis enjoyed the festive atmosphere leading up to the chicken’s release into the snake pit.
Club members would place a pool bet on the time of day the snake would eat the chicken which invariably occurred sometime after happy hour. The bet closest to the time the snake consumed the chicken won. With a bunch of slightly happy pilots cheering the snake on, James Lewis would watch with consternation as the chicken got too close to the wrong end of the snake, and emit soft cooing sounds as if to encourage the bird to move. Gary never stayed long enough for James Lewis to witness the chicken becoming a meal, but was always amazed that the first thing James Lewis wanted to do after arriving at Pleiku, was to visit his friend, Fred.
A UH1 helicopter gunship has a crew of four, an aircraft commander, a copilot, a crew chief and a gunner. This four-man team melds and performs as a team of one as there is no time to stop and explain what needs to done when the situation becomes ‘hot.’ Everyone knows their job, is very good at it and does what is expected almost automatically.
Gary introduced James Lewis as the ‘fifth’ crewmember slowly, leaving James Lewis with a member of the ground-based support guys when he was off flying missions. He became a permanent fifth crew member almost two months to the day after his adoption. Even though his cardboard bed sat on the floor at the back of Gary’s pilot’s seat, James Lewis preferred to ride quietly perched on the top of the seat so he could observe all activities becoming very animated when the situation became ‘hot.’
Army aerial gunnery tactics required at least two gunships for each mission. The philosophy being that the enemy’s head was down when fired upon and came up as the firing ceased as the aircraft began to turn, and became very vulnerable to enemy fire. The solution was to have the trailing gunship begin to fire at the moment the lead ship ceased fire and started to turn away from the target. As one can imagine, in order to maintain the effectiveness of the two aircraft daisy chain and to maintain constant fire on the target, the communications between the gunship aircraft commanders and special forces guys on the ground was unique, curt and straightforward. James Lewis quickly learned to be still and quiet as a fire mission commenced.
James Lewis became famous with the flyers of the highlands and hearing Gary’s call sign, Sidewinder 2, the radio would fill with how is James Lewis today? Even the Special Forces radio operators would make an inquiry. This little ball of black fur with very long arms and white face was instantly adopted by all whom he met. There was never a complaint about an animal in the eating area or a request to take James Lewis outside. Well-behaved and gregarious, he treated all with grace and, if you were a chosen one, an offer to shake your hand.
Combat crews grow dependent on each other as Gary did with his crew. Gary was especially close to Jake, his copilot, and they remain close friends to this day. As Gary frequently says, Jake is an oddity as he is Canadian and came to America to attend university. Failing to maintain his fulltime student visa, Jake became draft eligible and ended up in Vietnam as an Army aviator. After three months of flying together, Jake was promoted to aircraft commander and became Gary’s flying partner as his number two or wingman.
As Gary would rotate Stateside before Jake, and the fact that Jake had grown very close to James Lewis, they planned for Jake to adopt James Lewis when Gary departed.
Bringing James Lewis to America was impossible due U.S. animal immigration laws so Gary and Jake discussed the problem with the Special Force team who maintained a permanent ground staff in Kontum, it was agreed that James Lewis would become their ward when both Jake and Gary completed their tour of duty.
With the time upon them and after being together for almost a year, James Lewis and Gary said their sad goodbyes with Jake taking James Lewis on a mission (with his bed and blanket) on the day Gary left Vietnam for the Army’s Aviation Center based at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
While at Fort Rucker, my husband often expressed his worry for James Lewis’s welfare, and frequently received letters from the troops that were caring for James Lewis. All of James Lewis’s caregivers were temporary as they all left Vietnam after they completed their tours of duty and came home to the U.S. Gary wanted James Lewis to have a loving, permanent home.
Several months before departing for his second tour, he found the solution. He began corresponding with the Mother Superior of a Nha Trang Catholic Convent that managed an orphanage and learned that the sisters used animals to teach the young children how to care for others. Gary thought it could be the perfect answer.
Nineteen months after departing, Gary returned to Vietnam, this time flying Beech King Airs, a fixed-wing twin turbo prop. Based in the seaside city of Nha Trang, he flew VIP’s to locations throughout the country. Three weeks after his arrival, and after making the arrangements, Gary and James Lewis reunited on a runway near where they first met. By prior arrangement, Gary loaded James Lewis, his bed, blanket and his clothes and off they flew to Gary’s new Nha Trang home. Both were ectstatic.
In their letters to each other, the Mother Superior and Gary had agreed that James Lewis would be an excellent candidate for a home with youngsters with whom he could love and be loved. The Mother Superior wrote Gary that a decision to accept James Lewis would be made the day he was introduced as the children, as their acceptance would be the determining factor.
Several days later, Gary and James Lewis visited the convent and children. James Lewis was instantly a star and responded to each child individually. Taking their hand in his and petting their arm, James Lewis was saying, “I am your friend, always.” To say it was love at first sight is an understatement. The Mother Superior and Gary looked at each other nodding in silent agreement that James Lewis had found a new home. My husband secretly retrieved James Lewis’s bed, blanket and extra clothes, placing them in a flat basket left for James Lewis by the nuns in a space especially prepared for James Lewis.
Later that day, Gary left James Lewis at the convent amongst a group of noisy children clamoring for James Lewis’s attention while the Mother Superior and her bevy of nuns beamed at the happy scene. A permanent home was made for the new star resident.
Over the next year, Gary visited the convent at every opportunity often lunching with a group of nuns and young people. Watching James Lewis interact with the children and seeing the joy he brought to each child when James Lewis would touch their arm while holding their hand gave Gary the confidence that James Lewis would have a very happy and safe life.
After a year’s tour flying throughout Vietnam, Gary returned to the U.S. and was discharged from active duty. Over the intervening years, my husband frequently thought about James Lewis and wondered aloud about how he was doing as the political change in 1975 made private communications impossible.
So, in 1993, while on a business visit to Singapore, and to find the answer as to how James Lewis was doing, Gary decided to make a side trip to Vietnam and visit Nha Trang. Upon arriving in the seaside city, he found the orphanage still existed and during a hotel concierge assisted telephone call was surprised to learn that the Mother Superior he had known was enjoying her retirement as a convent member. He left a message with the sister who had taken his call and several hours later received a call from his retired friend who insisted Gary come to lunch the next day.
After a long lunch featuring many funny and entertaining stories about James Lewis and his coterie of children, she asked if Gary would like to visit James Lewis. With that, the Mother Superior stood and grabbed Gary by the hand and walked him through a door leading to a magnificent, landscaped tropical garden. Down a stone walkway and beneath a beautiful stand of trees, the sister stopped and said, “Here is James Lewis” and pointed to a plaque placed in the center of a small grave with a carved picture of a gibbon inscribed ‘God Bless James Lewis.’
My Husband was told that James Lewis had passed in 1988 at the estimated age of 23 surrounded by his family of many children, some who had returned as adults just to hold the old Gibbon’s hand one last time. The Mother Superior turned to Gary and said “May God Bless all of us who met that funny little black being with a white face…. James Lewis.”
