As I approached the left wing in my walk around, I noticed a large patch, roughly 30 by 8 riveted just inboard of the left wing-fold. November 22, 1966, was selected as the day a massive air strike would be launched against the first of two high-priority targets in North Vietnam (NVN). I remember the 141 unloading POWs Welcome Home Sir. 3 Enclosures included: COMUSMACV MSG DTD 050023Z and Evaluations. Misty FACs operated from 15 June 1967 to 19 May 1970. As I descended lower and lower, I realized that by the time I reached the surface Id still be a long way from even the base of the higher ground. Good or bad we all contributed and finally got the job done.May all our brothers and sisters that made the ultimate sacrifice, rest in peace. It was the darkest moment of an amazing three weeks in Vietnam and I was quite happy to leave that place. Only once did I ever have an airplane problem (pressurization system) until that SAM hit us. Bent the F-4 around after re-start and headed to his radial fix off Hue Tacan. Final loss: C-130E 72-1297 (314th TAW) destroyed by rocket fire at Tan Son Nhut AB on 28 April 1975. Lt Cmdr Frederick P Crosby had been deployed on the Bon Homme Richard, an Essex-class aircraft carrier stationed off the Vietnam coast His planed crashed in 1965 in front of Pham Van Truong's. Hes taking us direct to Bravo and right over Yen Bai! Without hesitation Scotty rolled smoothly to the left into a near 90 degree bank and applied right (top) rudder and held it for a few seconds while I looked for the SAM that was certainly coming for us. Ill never understand your sacrifice, but want to thank you for it! And Ill salute only with that nickname fondly given him by my children, our Elder Eagle, who flew Linebacker BUFFS, along with numerous other often difficult taskings, during his 28 years in USAF. That may be the biggest benefit from Viet Nam, a conflict which many would say yielded very few benefits, as you suggest. I looked around me to see hundreds of people, mostly villagers, including old folks and children. However, when your country calls, you have two choices, in 1965 you went, in 1969 you didnt. Better than snakes or drowning in contaminated water, I thought briefly, before I was elevated again and dropped again. I then drew my .38 caliber service revolver, opened the cylinder, emptied all the ammunition and threw it away. Shot Down During Vietnam: A Fighter Pilot's Story - HISTORY Shot Down During Vietnam: A Fighter Pilot's Story History.com Editors TV-14 2:42 In 1966, an American fighter pilot took off. 29. pp. He makes us tell a war story that we have heard. 4 of the combat losses were parked aircraft. I cried like a baby. There are 58,267 names on The Wall in our nations capital and thats why you are free to voice your misguided opinion, Mr. Walker. At Tulsa TRACON, I would have lumped him in with any group you could think of that wouldnt give a damn about anyonehow wrong that lumping would have been. . The Air Force lost 1737, the Navy 530, the Marine Corps 463 and the Army lost 302 (fixed wing). With over 70 years of hindsight and investigation there were a ton of mistakes. I took one last look at the horizon. But the effort proved futile. Fighting against such a cruel political regime didnt seem that bad an idea after all, did it? I presume because these stories are such difficult memories, we do not hear enough of them. Theyd blow up on the runway. Im an alumnus of the 480th TFS myself ( USAFE, 78-80) and wish you all the best . P.463, Migs over North Vietnam: The Vietnam People's Air Force in Combat, 196575, Stackpole Military History, Crashed while attempting emergency landing, Phantom with U.S. Marine Corps (Joe Baugher), List of United States aerial victories of the Vietnam War, South Viet Nam Airforce VNAF Equipment. I flew the airplane to a point in space below the beautiful Stratotanker where I judged the contact position to be. Crash Location: Into Sea off southwest coast of Vietnam near Rach Gia and Ca Mau. He called me to come back coming out of a Split S spin. Dinh . As for Mr. Fearn, Politics aside, we probably did back the wrong side. Now, the frenzied noise was deafening. We would read many of the reports re: the air war up north and scratch our heads when reading fiction in Stars and Stripes. Charge of the Light Brigade. He didnt understand that we were mixed in a huge gaggle competing for time on target, lugging 10 X 500# bombs, 400 miles from base, with marginal weather, fuel hungry, not in sight with each other? I had a great respect for the men who put their lives on the line every day, not knowing if they would make it back to Ubon that evening. I didnt know the Marine who was killed as he lit a cigarette on Iwo Jima any more than I knew Scotty Wilson, and yet, thanks to that brief story by my father, and thanks to a longer and more detailed story by Joe Crecca, I feel I do know these servicemen. Since we were shot down well before reaching our target and also because most of the strike flights had declined to enter the target area due to decidedly unfavorable weather, my story had to deny the Vietnamese any foreknowledge of the real target. Japan, who woulda thunk it? May God bless you. I slipped off the right wing of the tanker into a spot 50 feet aft of where Id have to be for the boomer to plug into my receptacle. AddThis Utility Frame. Dulles International Needs a name change. Thanks so very much. He said hes sorry I feel that way. Since 366thTFW maintenance was overtaxed having to do all of its around-the-clock 24/7 functions, the flight leader had to turn down two airplanes before he found one that was combat ready and airworthy. When all the politics are done when hostilities have ceased those who represented their country should be honoured. [I was USAF SAC (enlisted) 62-66. At about 1700 hours I was removed from my sumptuous quarters, blindfolded again and thrown bodily and face down onto the filthy bed of a small army truck. North Vietnam lost 150 170 aircraft and helicopters. I would like to hear from you at some point; [emailprotected]. It was then that I could see a shapeless, black mass on the ground. His remains were returned to the USA in April, 1986, and he is interred at the Air Force Academy Cemetery, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Maximum allowable gross takeoff weight in an F-4C was 58,000 lbs. Ignore that kind, it is useless to argue as they are happy in their own world which they believe will lead to some utopian future paid for by others. One of our F-4s was not delivered by maintenance. As the nose rises, pitch attitude must be controlled to achieve a nose-high attitude of 10 to 12 degrees. American airmen shot down 196 MiGs137 by the Air Force, 59 by the Navy and the Marine Corpsand sustained 83 losses. It was another scene of temporal distortion. Peebles Curtis. This fighter aircraft, flown by various pilots, was credited for 14 kills during the Vietnam War. The Thud flights were all calling Outbound for WX but our FLs OER was going to be written by the guy on MiG CAP so in we went and we took a SAM from dead six with no RHAW gear. As a nation I believe we learned the difference between necessary disagreement with our leaders, and needless, disrespectful persecution of and confrontation with our soldiers, who are/were following orders. There were pictures in the Tulsa World of the damage one of the ejection seats did to a womans newly-remodeled bathroom. Phew! 1F-4C-1, Change 1, page 2-20) before reaching 30 knots below calculated nose wheel liftoff speed. Dog boned Six and direct hit, had to send some Russian Techs to the Beyond. The first and only fatal crash by an RAAF aircraft in Thailand. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks nothing is worth war is much worse. We were together at MacDill in the F-4 but rotated at different times into SEA. At 2,500 ft. To increase air support for the SEALORDS Operation in South Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the Navy "borrowed" twenty North American Aviation OV-10A Broncos from the United States Marine Corps. when the canopy rails are parallel to the ground, the nose is 10-12 degrees up. The villagers made short work of removing everything except my T-Shirt and skivvies. Lasted almost two weeks on the island before a Japanese sniper gave him his ticket off the island. God bless you and may you enjoy a much well deserved retirement. Crecca/Wilson International would be my recommendation in honor of a deceased F4 pilot and a 6 year POW since the F4 was the most numerous of Vietnam War aircraft casualties. Tried to cross-service in 64 or 65 to Army for WO pilot program, but because I was already in the military (being in a critical COMSEC AFSC probably didnt help), I was offered no guarantee of flight training, so I withdrew the request otherwise, I may have been one of your grateful students, or still buried in some shallow grave. I grew up with Thomas Guenther from Mass who also piloted an F-4 in RVN and NVN. Of those servicepeople, 2,382 were killed while serving aboard UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the ubiquitous "Huey." I will be reading your story to my young ones tonight. The first morning mission was "Misty 11" would be replaced by "Misty 21" then "Misty 31" and . Id pulled the lower ejection handle and was away from my burning Phantom. Don Ward, came up to me and said words that someone in operations never, ever hears from anybody in maintenance. I never made it back . If your anti-Vietnam War feelings are still that strong, I dare you to walk up to a highly-decorated Vietnam combat veteran, preferably a Marine or Soldier and vent your anti-war feelings to him, face-to-face! On May 10, 1972, the USAF and Navy shot down 11 North Vietnam MiGs in the skies over North Vietnam at a cost of two USAF and two Navy F-4s shot down. If none of the strike flights entered the target area, the MiGs wouldnt come up. Vietnam War pilot tells his story of being shot down over enemy territory and his time as a POW. I was at a loss for words. Get it? Have not seen him since 1962. We were only two minutes from the target, descending through 14,000 ft. at a speed of 540 knots or about 650 miles per hour. Despite our brief conversation enroute to the tanker about pilots who had ejected from their burning airplanes prematurely (their aircraft flew on for long distances before going out of control) what happened next got my attention. According to what looks like a reasonably well-sourced page on Wikipedia, a total of 3,032 aircraft were lost to hostile action during the Vietnam War (the actual total was considerably higher, as these numbers don't include Army rotary-wing aircraft), which means at least that many pilots were shot down (yes, some were shot down more than once, but they are way more than offset by the many aircraft that had two pilots). * These two pilots shared the credit for the shoot down of the MiG-17 and each were credited for . SGT Sam Tenorio [G] 2 injured. What was the name of the plane that was shot down in Vietnam? Then came the shock. Two years ago I walked through the front door of Hoa Lo. During the Vietnam War, thousands of U.S. aircraft were lost to antiaircraft artillery (AAA), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and fighter interceptors (MiG)s. The great majority of U.S. combat losses in all areas of Southeast Asia were to AAA. I thought to myself, Im dead. I just didnt know what the moment of death would be like. Like the Flat-Earthers who still dont believe we landed on the Moon. First loss: C-141A 65-9407 (62d Military Airlift Wing) destroyed in a night runway collision with a USMC A-6 at, Final loss: C-141A 66-0127 (4th Military Airlift Squadron, 62d MAW) crashed soon after take-off from, First loss: RB-66B 53-0452 (Det 1, 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 6250th Combat Support Group) which crashed 2223 October 1965 west of. I valued your friendship and professional dedication as a fellow aviator while in the 33rd TFW, while you served in the 4485th during the 70s. I think of you often and was looking forward to seeing you again. Scotty compensated nicely and kept us in formation while I was continually checking six. During the left, 270 degree turn, the flight leader must have been having problems with his navigation system because he asked if our own nav equipment was operating normally, saying, Dogwood 2, hows your inertial?. YGBSM!. Many times not all returned from their missions. Many thanks for contributing this excellent memoirhope to read more of your writings in future, and wishing you many more years of life aloft: youve sure earned them! I was O.K. Presidio Press. Its guys like you who Ive tried to be like when it became my turn to sit in the left seat. All told, the U.S. Air Force flew 5.25 million sorties over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, northern and southern Laos, and Cambodia, losing 2,251 aircraft: 1,737 to hostile action, and 514 in accidents. Only loss: 606058, destroyed on the ground during a VC attack on Tan Son Nhut, SVN on 14 June 1968. U-21 losses need added You and I have friends who made the ultimate sacrifice; you suffered deprivation of years of your life. In addition to the roof, the toilet was destroyed! Its a real shame but they ruined a perfectly good pair of nearly new, highly-polished USAF flying boots with zippers; they cut right through the damn zippers! On August 28, 1972, US Air Force Capt. 1972: U.S. claimed 51 MiG-21s destroyed; North Vietnam claimed 53 US aircraft shot down by MiG-21s, including two B-52 Stratofortress bombers. My brain raced to imagine all the possibilities: A snake pit? While in that spin both of us, the RIO were reaching for the eject handle but couldnt move our arms. Of course, things were beginning to wind down in Viet Nam by this time, but it was still mega impressive to see the F-4s light em up and blast off the runway like angry rocket-powered birds of prey searching for their next meal! Joe I want to start by thanking you profusely for attending and speaking at my brother Johns funeral 3 years ago. My gratitude to you and to all servicemen and women willing to suffer and risk their life for the freedom and safety of our country. Having won WWII by the application of enormous industrial power including saving the largest socialist entity in the world from the ravages of the second-largest socialist entity in the world we continued to view the world in wartime terms of us versus them and we prepared for the next war by preparing for the past war with near-total reliance on atomic weapons to win the next war. Shot down. Thanks for the story, Joe. He wasnt much of a story teller and I didnt think to ask him about his service until after he died. His first pass was- G D- Chief, 200 long. I was way back in trail, tree top, plenty of time to do 2 football fields short. Pilots would be hollering for this and for thatand there was NOTHING I could do. He was the last fighter pilot to become an ace in a day, shooting down five Indian Hawker . Thank you, David. Meadows And Mr. Crecca, again, I thank you. R.I.P Scotty. I admit now that, with the forebodings Id had earlier, I seriously thought about pulling the aerial refueling receptacle circuit breaker so it would not open, causing us to have to abort. The direct hit had felt like wed had a collision with a fully-loaded cement truck. Thanks for the compliment on my writing. But I promise if youll just give me another one, Ill take much better care of it. He squeezed my hand so hard I thought he was going to break all the bones in it as he said with great gusto, I want you in one!, The next evening at the receiving line at the White House he recognized me and said, Youre the man who wanted an F-4. I said I was and he said, Youve got it!. Crash Location: Near Ap Bac, Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam. I was an Air Traffic Controller at the Tulsa TRACON (tower and radar approach control) in January of 1981 when one of the check flights did not end well. I knew from some of the other Tigers that you had been a POW, but never heard the details of your harrowing tale. Pavlovs Dog reaction to his Cmon Back, Chief, I got em spotted. (Im a Sioux Indian, Born on a Dakota Rez.) I was an aircraft mechanic serving at Clark Air Base in 1969-70 and then later at NKP in Thailand in 1973-74. Ritchie's #463 with drag chute open Phantom F-4Ds flying over Vietnam General Characteristics Crew: 2 Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m) Wingspan: 38 ft 4.5 in (11.7 m) Height: 16 ft 6 in (5.0 m) Wing area: 530.0 ft (49.2 m) Airfoil: NACA 0006.4-64 root, NACA 0003-64 tip Empty weight: 30,328 lb (13,757 kg) Loaded weight: 41,500 lb (18,825 kg) Final loss: F-4D 66-8747 (432d TRW) on 29 June 1973. Thank you for your service Joe. The result was the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on 27JAN1973 and the release of 591 POWs. He should be yours as well, regardless of what you think of the efficacy and need for that conflict of many years ago. Reading yours was dismal, doom and gloom. As it turned out, the two men in the Tulsa F-4 ejected safely. They performed as they were asked. I was a classmate with him in 64-C but the other flight. God-Speed to our brothers in arms, where ever they may be! When I got to the control tower, the controller whod witnessed the crash was catatonic. bombs and eight Air-to-Air Missiles while I inspected the Phantom. Cheers! Not that northern Laos is a very hospitable place to be, but it would give you a better chance for a rescue by an Air Force chopper. Thanks for your service Joe, you are one of the countrys heros. I served from 1964-1968. The aircraft banked sharply to the left, then to the right. Suddenly, I was lifted from the floor. I always enjoyed flying with you and sharing a beverage. North Vietnam, pre-1975: Killing of Two American Pilots Shot Down Over North Vietnam IIR Casualty files | William A. Ott. . The soil was mercifully soft, loose and moist. Glad to hear you are on frequency. You willingly took huge risks, knowing that that mission could be your last. It is a raising of toasts every night in remembrance for what they did. There, I waited for about five hours, during which time it seemed that everyone in the village, save the oldest and youngest, came to visit the new arrival. Scotty then took control of the airplane as we proceeded to follow our leader along the preplanned route. But I dont think they fixed it right. Joe- God Bless you & Scotty and all others that served like ya`ll ! After I was stabilized, the boomer cleared me into the contact position. May God continue to bless you. ), Ways to get involved in the 2022 Election. As to the hollow, mean-spirited comment immediately preceding, the Bible admonishes that one not answer a fool according to his folly. So I wont. Section leader had one Dud flash by just as we started to Split S from Control Warning. At 10,000 ft, the automatic man-seat separation features operated exactly as advertised. Flight lead arrived and took his fuel after we were finished. At this point, because of the unexpected turn, our formation was too bunched up; we were too close to each other to be able to provide mutual look-out support. Days later the main cabin section washed on the beach, a short distance south of Chu Lai. You need four for effective mutual support; i.e., lookout coverage for all four in all quadrants. Number two is getting the shit shot out of him screaming on 272.7 and too late lead lights ABs as #2 blows up. The former fighter pilot, who was shot down over Vietnam in 1967, went on: The flight call sign was Dogwood and we were number 2. Thank you again for your personal sacrifice and service to our country Sir. I was falling towards the Earth and still attached to my Martin-Baker (made in England) ejection seat below a four-foot drogue chute to stabilize my rapid descent. Not sure which squadron he started with but he ended up assigned to the 366-tfw. This is aviation commentary. Galand himself would be shot down two months later. There were a total a 269 American and enemy aircraft shot down in air-to-air combat over Vietnam during the entire war201 in fights between the U.S. Air Force and North Vietnamese air force and just 68 in the U.S. Navy's air battles with the North Vietnamese. As a former volunteer at the NMUSAF and the son of a now deceased USAAF WWII combat vet, I have always known that our country and our armed forces have been blessed with seemingly ordinary, matter-of-fact guys who do extraordinary things. For those interested in learning more about the F4 Phantom air war , I Remember VietNam by William L Barker , Major USAFR (Ret) is a great book.This first person account is full of operational data and pilot insights.All aviation enthusiasts will appreciate its nuances. The story of an immortal pilot who fought on biplanes against the Japanese in the 1930s in China, but also shot down American jets not only in the Korean but also in the Vietnam War. The black, shapeless mass of Vietnamese peasants was all over me. He did what he had to do, did what he was asked to do by his country. Before I could muse over any more unhappy endings, I was dropped onto the floor. [5], Claimed by VPAF: 154 MiG aircraft lost through all causes, including 131 in air combat (includes 63 MiG-17s, 8 MiG-19s and 60 MiG-21s)[21][22]. I finally got him to talk and he said, Gary, it was just like Vietnam. My head, no longer protected by my helmet, was now receiving direct hits from clubs, rocks, rifle butts and God-knows-what. But with no guarantee to get the slot you wanted you made the right choice to bail out. I flew Marine Corps F-4s out of Da Nang and Nam Pong, Thailand in 1972; unfortunately not much had changed in six years. Rest in Peace, dear Scotty. At the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Danang AB, RVN, four two-man crews were hand-picked to deliver the lethal ordnance onto both targets selected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). J. W. Newhouse rescued, First loss: EF-105F 63-8286 (13th TFS, 388th TFW) shot down by AAA RP-6 July 1966, Maj. Roosevelt Hestle, Final loss: F-105G 63-8359 (Det.1 561st TFS, 388th TFW) shot down by SAM 16 November 1972, RP-3, crew rescued, First loss: mission-related TFR failure, 66-0022 (428th TFS 474th TFW, Project Combat Lancer), 28 March 1968, Maj. H.E. Thank you Sir. 8081, Air War Vietnam Plans and Operations 19691975. claimed to have shot down 215 planes. Came upon this remarkable story after seeing it linked to another by a good guy who once gave me dual instruction in sailplanes. Enjoyed your recollections Joe C. I was an Army Helicopter Crew Chief/Mechanic at Camp Eagle near Hue, Phu Bai then Danang MM Airfield, RVN 71-72. The next thing I knew, I was back on the wooden stool facing my interrogator. Its entirely, entirely because of you guys. Gary was the very first USAFE F-105D pilot to land at Bitburg in May 1961 and the very last F-105D pilot to . I do not think that you are a hero.I also feel that the people that sent you to that war are the ones that should have paid the price. Joe, I fly a POW/MIA flag below Old Glory everydayin honor of you, Scotty, and all the other heroes that sacrificed so much in that war. How did the Vietnam shot down the B-52? Thanks for your service and sacrifice! All these thoughts, survival instincts and USAF training synthesized into one, crystal clear and powerful inspiration. God Bless them all. I was concentrating on Scotty and my eyes were focused only on him. Final loss: EC-121R 67-21495 (554th RS) crashed on approach to Korat RTAFB on 6 September 1969, 4 of the 16 men were killed. No one shot at him. Good lives were wasted for what? Youd make a grand Socialist. A SAM damn near got me and another my section leader. John Stuart Mill Even Yale plans to re-name from a Slavery advocate. Well, at least you tried. I replied that I still had a positive lock to a radio nav-aid and if he could get us through the clouds I could get us to the target. You softy, dont deserve the freedom which we veterans fought and died for! Thank you for your sentiment. According to the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, a total of 11,846 helicopters were shot down or crashed during the war, resulting in nearly 5,000 American pilots and crew killed. R. Cole rescued, Final loss: 57-0922 (435th TFS, 8th TFW) operational loss due to engine failure on 14 May 1967 in Thailand, pilot name unknown, survived, First loss: 624371 (36th TFS, 6441st TFW) written off from battle damage over Laos 14 August 1964, at Korat, Thailand, Final loss: 610153 (44th TFS, 355th TFW) shot down Laos 23 September 1970, pilot Capt. Flat-Earthers who still dont believe we landed on the island re-name from Slavery. Much well deserved retirement below the beautiful Stratotanker where I judged the contact position and speaking my! 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