A Man They Call Black Hawk

One of the focal points of Bob Miller’s tour of duty in Vietnam during 1968-69 as documented in his new book, Kill Me If You Can, You SOB was when he served under the command of the man they called, “Black Hawk,” Lt. Colonel Manuel A. Alves.

We get a very clear picture of Black Hawk right from the get-go:

After some coffee, Talbert, the crew and I cleaned the inside and outside of the chopper. By the time the Colonel came out, it looked great. He laid his map on the floor and asked if I could get him to a location he had marked. He wanted to recon an area to find a suitable LZ.

Looking at my name tag, he said, “Mr. Miller, I guess you were told not to take me below twelve hundred feet.”

“Sir, let’s just say I was told that I would be held responsible for this helicopter and the life of everyone on board. They did sneak in that my mission was to help you accomplish yours, so if the crew doesn’t object, Talbert and I will fly you any damn place you want to go and at any altitude you want. Que Sera Sera”

An “Oh, ****,” came from the other side of the aircraft. It was almost a whisper, Diary. But Black Hawk heard it.

With a look on his face that would have melted steel, Black Hawk did an about face and yelled, “Don’t you, ‘Oh ****’ me. Get your ass out of that seat, Lieutenant, and shake the hand of our new aircraft commander, Mr. Miller.”

“Yes, Sir.” The Lieutenant went on, “Sir, you’ve raised so much hell around here, he’s probably a damn VC and once we’re on board will fly us directly to Hanoi.”

Black Hawk looked at me so seriously it was scary. “Do you think you could get me to Hanoi?” Before I could reply, he said, “No, that’s asking too much. VC or not, I like you Miller.”

“Amen,” came from the crew chief’s compartment. Black Hawk said, “Looks like we’ve got a mutiny on our hands, Mr. Miller.”

As Humphrey Bogart said at the end of the movie, Casablanca, “Frenchie…I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”