The soil was mercifully soft, loose and moist. Presidio Press. Joe, Many thanks for writing & publishing your story. Your story sheds much light on what his experiences must have been like. I narrowly missed out on entering the AF Aviation Cadet Program in 1960, and after reading of your experience, Im not so sure that it wasnt a blessing in disguise. The icing on the cake came when he admitted to the controller that he did not know his position, because his tacan was spooling; he didnt realize we were out of tacan range. I am also an Airforce veteran. He makes us tell a war story that we have heard. 1LT ALDRICH ROBERT HENRY BNR 12/27/1971154013 HMM-165 WO1 ALEXANDER BARRY KENNETH KIA 09/22/196968-513/68-23 71 AHC CPT ALEXANDER DAVID LEE KIA 02/06/197170-20 67-18493178 ASHC While my eyes and my thoughts were on flying out of enemy territory, my hands moved swiftly to the lower ejection handle while my body automatically assumed the correct ejection posture; back straight, legs extended, elbows tucked in close to the body, and BOOM. A year and a half after his plane was shot down over North Vietnam, Porter sat in a filthy cell shared with another American prisoner of war, and learned that he was supposedly dead. Thanks for telling our story Joe. Although I was only a few thousand feet away, I hadnt been able to hear the explosion. Ill never understand your sacrifice, but want to thank you for it! P.39, Toperczer, Istvan. 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? And I still think of that crash not itself something that caused a loss of life, but something that reminds me of how significant the memory of wounded F-4 pilots, limping back to base in badly-damaged airplanes, was, and is, to those who served during the Vietnam war. As for Mr. Fearn, Politics aside, we probably did back the wrong side. Thanks for the story, Joe. I am forever beholding to you on so many fronts. Shot down. I finally got him to talk and he said, Gary, it was just like Vietnam. 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) It was you who were suffering in the oppressive heat & humidity. [1], There were about 11,846 U.S helicopters that served in the Vietnam War. My draft number was 27. Fogleman became the only Super Sabre pilot ever rescued by riding out on a Cobra helicopter. [9][10]:268. Mccann and Capt. I was a young 23 year old J-79 Engine Mechanic at Homestead AFB in 1972,sent toThailand in late Summer of that year to participate in LinebackerII Our F-4s along with McDills flew Mig CAP for the B-52s of which several were lost.Homestead lost one Phantom,I believe McDill lost one. A total of 17 four-ship flights were to hit a vast complex of oil and munitions storage and NVN troops. All of us pilots felt lost. This fighter aircraft, flown by various pilots, was credited for 14 kills during the Vietnam War. I confirmed this by dialing in Bravos coordinates and the needle pointed straight ahead. The former fighter pilot, who was shot down over Vietnam in 1967, went on: North Vietnam, pre-1975: Killing of Two American Pilots Shot Down Over North Vietnam IIR Casualty files | William A. Ott. We should have learned from the last two years of the Korean War that China would not be deterred from conventional warfare by enormous pounding of both front-line forces and non-stop interdiction. I cried like a baby. The eight-engine bomber was brought down by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile near Vinh on the day when B-52s flew their heaviest raids of the war over North Vietnam. Had three square meals a day. The USMC focused almost entirely on close air support (yards, not miles) of their ground units and on point defense over an amphibious landing. Now I know a little bit more about what he did. Only loss: 51-15565 (432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing) which crashed in Thailand 28 December 1966, both crewmen survived, Only loss: 63-13102 (5th SOS, 14th SOW) shot down 14 August 1969 near Bien Hoa, killing 1/Lt Roger Brown, Final loss: 600282 (38th ARRS) crashed Cam Ranh Bay 7 August 1969, crew rescued, Last losses: four CH-53s (68-10925, 10926, 10927, 701627, all from, C-1A 146016 (Composite Squadron Five VC-5), operational loss (non-combat) 8 August 1967, 3 passengers and 2 crew rescued, Final loss: C-1A 146054 (Carrier Air Wing 11, USS. He called me to come back coming out of a Split S spin. 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. 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. Maximum allowable gross takeoff weight in an F-4C was 58,000 lbs. Takeoff in a heavily-loaded Phantom requires some explanation. I knew from some of the other Tigers that you had been a POW, but never heard the details of your harrowing tale. Asia time after time. After that we had our individual flight briefings. Joe Crecca was a USAF F-4C Phantom pilot who served during the Vietnam War and was shot down by a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) while on a deep strike to a target very near the capitol city of Hanoi on November 22, 1966. The F-105 was one of the primary attack aircraft of the Vietnam War; over 20,000 Thunderchief sorties were flown, with 382 aircraft lost including 62 operational (non-combat) losses (out of the 833 produced). John Stuart Mill We were together at MacDill in the F-4 but rotated at different times into SEA. Joe, All I was aware of was a short, sharp ringing sound and my white, silk parachute billowing above me. I completely agree with everything Jim D. (below) writes. I was an F4 driver at Chu Lai trying to cut the supply traffic through Laos, mostly around Hwy 9, near Tchepone. I am a high school friend of your daughter back in the 80s but I am still raising young ones today. Every living Veteran will no doubt support such. Dinh . With over 70 years of hindsight and investigation there were a ton of mistakes. Suddenly, I was lifted from the floor. I wish I could have expressed my thanks to your Elder Eagle for successfully completing his mission to spring me out of jail. LTJG Hartman & LT Clinton B. . It was less than a minute before I would be on the ground. So why were we going in anyway? At first it seemed to be right below me. Fast forward 12 hours. its from the How did you manage to climb aboard your jet and competently do your job in the face of what you already knew? From the refueling track exit over northern Thailand, our route took us over northern Laos and into North Vietnam. His wingman was Paul Reyes. The baro switch was supposed to open my chute at 10,000 ft. Thank you for the heads-up on the article. When I got to the control tower, the controller whod witnessed the crash was catatonic. He is presently a retired airline pilot who originally flew for The Flying Tiger Line in DC-8s and 747s and then MD-11s for FedEx. All these thoughts, survival instincts and USAF training synthesized into one, crystal clear and powerful inspiration. But for many years I wondered about what premonitions he also might have had that were similar to those Id had when I awakened. I wanted to join you in 1969 after college graduation, but my eyes only qualified me as good enough for USAF navigator. 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. It was a moving story. 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. Like the Flat-Earthers who still dont believe we landed on the Moon. Despite being a first lieutenant, Scotty Wilson was in my opinion, the best stick in the 480thTactical Fighter Squadron. It was late November, the temperature was 40F, and all I had on were my underwear. I served from 1964-1968. Joe, Every Friday Im privileged to have lunch with a WWII veteran who flew virtually every airplane in the arsenal of the time. R.I.P Scotty. A second missile had been fired and aimed precisely where our aircraft would have been had we dived straight ahead to avoid the first missile. It was moving and changing shape ever so slowly. Owing to all the maintenance problems, we did not take off as a flight but departed single-ship and joined up on the KC-135 tanker aircraft over Thailand as a flight of three. I then drew my .38 caliber service revolver, opened the cylinder, emptied all the ammunition and threw it away. Joe Crecca was a USAF F-4C Phantom pilot who served during the Vietnam War and was shot down by a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) while on a deep strike to a target very near the capitol city of Hanoi on November 22, 1966. Im thinking, How does anybody know how their INS is doing when they cant see the ground? We were at 25,000 feet above a solid, 10,000-foot undercast. Your comments and wisdom are much appreciated. Before I could muse over any more unhappy endings, I was dropped onto the floor. [9] Another source claims that the U.S. attributed losses to surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft fire because it was considered "less embarrassing". when the canopy rails are parallel to the ground, the nose is 10-12 degrees up. s F-4 Phantoms, paint it with the Squadron 21 and 161's colors and mark the splitter plate with the names of the eight pilots. We knew radio chatter was recorded. 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). Scotty Wilson and I were classmates in Pilot Training at Willie Air Patch, Class 64-C, Raindance and Schatzi. We actually believed that the letters U.S. would frighten away any adversary who realized that we were in the confrontation. I wanted to wipe the blood away but my hands were tied behind my back. By now it has been a long while since the conflict in Viet Nam. Have not seen him since 1962. me 500s. First loss: EC-121R 67-24193 (554th Reconnaissance Squadron, 553d RW) crashed 25 April 1969 on take-off in a thunderstorm from. for my family and I, is absolutely heartfelt and sincere. At 2,500 ft. God bless you and may you enjoy a much well deserved retirement. God Bless America; God Bless the USAF; God Bless the Pilots and God Bless the POWs! Russian source: 65 MiG-21s, 5 MiG-19s, 75 MiG-17s lost through all causes. Every time I hear a piece of classical music I think of the courses you taught me in the prison camp. Glad to see you made it home, I remember that in 1972, 3, 4 & 5 most of America was oblivious to the fact that there was still a war going on & had moved on. Soviet General Fesenko, the main Soviet adviser to the North Vietnamese Air Force in 1972, recorded 34 MiG-21s destroyed in 1972. Defense Department officials say 1st Lt. Carl D. Nesbitt died when his plane was shot down in May . The Royal Australian Air Force also flew combat and airlift missions in South Vietnam, as did the Republic of Vietnam. GBU my friend! Sorry about your Dad. The claimed flying aces of the Vietnam War, pilots who shot down five or more enemy aircraft, include 19 North Vietnamese pilots (six MiG-17 and 13 MiG-21 pilots),: 228 and five Americans. With the helmet strap no longer in existence, my helmet flew off like a slingshot. God Bless you F-4 drivers! 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. It was people! Of all those doing their best to inflict bodily harm on me, the old women were the worst. Mills words to heart whenever necessary. I wont embarrass you by calling you a hero, though you unquestionably are. Of those servicepeople, 2,382 were killed while serving aboard UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the ubiquitous "Huey." Contents [ hide] A minute or two after takeoff we had cold air blasting through the cockpits. Some data to the soviets in Korea: The 324.IAD (Fighterdivision) 6738 missions. I hope to be delighted with more of your anecdotes. They performed as they were asked. God bless you, Sir. And after Scotty started the engines, the aerial refueling receptacle would only operate some of the time. Instead, dummy missiles had been placed at the site as a "flak trap.". Asia [http://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569613/progress-in-vietnam/]. A SAM damn near got me and another my section leader. As I learned about him, I remember more of him lecturing rather than delivering the news. How do you look in the mirror? We can assume NVN radars were tracking us and if I had disclosed the secret tacan, it would be simple to backtrack to the tacan location. This is aviation commentary. The tale I heard was that at the time the 480th TFS shot down our 4th & 5th MiG-21s only eight of them had been bagged by anyone else anywhere. 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. I think there was supposed to be a moral to that story probably along the lines of smoking is always a bad idea but the way my father told the story, emphasizing how frightened the Marine was, and that he, my father, was only sitting with the other Marine to try to help him with his nerves, and to get him to calm down, well, it was obvious that this was another living, breathing, human being. The SA-2 brought down many American pilots over North Vietnam. No one shot at him. I looked around me to see hundreds of people, mostly villagers, including old folks and children. Announcing the 2023 Richard Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots, Flying in paradise: a vacation flight lesson in Maui, Accident report: losing control at 43,000 feet. Im an alumnus of the 480th TFS myself ( USAFE, 78-80) and wish you all the best . I know exactly how you feel about combat decisions driven by hubris. Days later the main cabin section washed on the beach, a short distance south of Chu Lai. As lieutenants in our respective services, we knew only that something was wrong. Thanks for the details of this mission. To you gentlemen; Brett, Tim, Wade, Gordon, Cliff, Neil, Andy and Jerry who responded to the reprint of my 2017 article, Shot Down Over North Vietnam, I thank you for your kind remarks and expressions of patriotism. Your writing is superb and I wonder if you have considered writing a book about your experience in the USAF. Surprisingly, a young couple bandaged my head wounds. . Source for F-4 losses is Phantom with U.S. Marine Corps (Joe Baugher), others are unsourced, Production of a total of 380 Mohawks ended in December 1970. The next thing I knew, I was back on the wooden stool facing my interrogator. My father was a Marine. On Sept. 12, 1968, F-100D pilot Capt. I met and liked John Dremesi whose experience was the same as yours. A lifelong non-smoker who was on a never-ending mission to convince people not to smoke, my father did eventually tell me of a scared Marine, who, early during the battle for Iwo Jima, asked my father to sit with him in a shallow bomb crater and smoke a cigarette. Some were grabbing and pulling at my anti-g suit, flight suit and boots. Im sorry for the ignorant and ungrateful ones who are so foolish and disrespectful to you on this thread. I wondered what good it did to tell us there were guns, MiGs and SAMs everywhere. Id pulled the lower ejection handle and was away from my burning Phantom. [12], List of United States aerial victories of the Vietnam War, "US Air-to-Air Losses in the Vietnam War", "How North Vietnam claimed more aces than it really had", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Vietnam_War_flying_aces&oldid=1101889530, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 August 2022, at 09:45. God Bless you, Joe, and all those who flew and fought in Vietnam. The Republic of Vietnam lost 1,018 aircraft and helicopters from January 1964 to September 1973. Contact, followed by, Youre taking fuel, announced the boomer. 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. How many helicopters did America have in Vietnam? Dak Harney Peak who did far less than Dulles. The explosion was ear-splitting and seemed to go on and on. Hayden Lockhart was the first Air Force pilot to fall into North Vietnamese hands. Thank you, Mr. Crecca! Scotty hadnt regained consciousness. Thanks for your story, Joe. They would persistently be trying to attack me while the militia men unemotionally fended them off. 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. I thank you for what you did for us all, and I know it cost you. 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. You have no skin in the game of life and freedom, do you! Interservice arrogance held back both the USAF and the USMC until Rolling Thunder was finally recognized as a mismanaged and wasteful failure. If you do that, itll be your first time in harms way. North Vietnam, pre-1975: Killing of Two American Pilots Shot Down Over North Vietnam. You and your fellow POWs were and are the best of this nation. Glad to hear you are on frequency. May God comfort those families who still wait and wonder.]. Did you know that most of the articles at Air Facts are written by readers like you? Stay up to date with the latest articles and selections from our archives. Crash Location: Near Ap Bac, Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam. He told me to find him. It was a bittersweet event and Im so grateful I was able to attend. How many MiGs were shot down during Vietnam War? Secondly, everybody else all the other strike flights, 15 of them, one after the other were calling, Outbound for weather meaning the target area was socked in and it would be just plain stupid to drop into the clouds where it would be hard to locate the target and easy to get nailed by a SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile). Thank You Sir for your service and sacrifice you gave to our Country! But, instead of cutting through my throat, as Id imagined, the blade moved away, cutting the helmet strap. Theyd be shot up to hell. William Reeder Jr., who served two tours in Vietnam as a U.S. Army pilot, was shot down on May 9, 1972, while flying a mission in a Bell AH-1 Cobra . 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. Mr. Crecca was a POW for the next six years and three months until his repatriation on February 18, 1973. They were taken to a hospital to be evaluated, but they lived. Do you know how good a F4 sounds from the darn dirt ?!? 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. I believe I heard, or read, that the F-4 itself crashed in a small horse pasture. 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. I fell into a restless, nightmarish and shivering cold sleep. And the plane that carried them, a commercial jet . Just a wild guess but you just enjoy your freedoms while you let others do the fighting and take the risks. The control stick was lazily wandering left and right; the throttles were all the way forward in the full afterburner position but there was no thrust coming from the J-79s. If I could ever slow down I might have time to write that book. I will be reading your story to my young ones tonight. The Army and USAF spent enormous efforts preparing to fight WWII over again in Europe (this time with nukes). Don Ward, came up to me and said words that someone in operations never, ever hears from anybody in maintenance. Never flew with a pilot in the USAF that was not a top notch professional. Encountered SAMs Finger Lakes area. 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. 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). On Oct. 25, 1967, I strapped into my F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber and took to the sky on my 33rd combat mission to strike a bridge in the middle of Hanoi, North Vietnam. How did the Vietnam shot down the B-52? I found out what its like to be a zoo animal except nobody threw me any peanuts. We beneficiaries need to know the experiences, sufferings, challenges, life and death, victories and miraculous acts of God in the lives of our fellow countrymen in war, especially from their own voice and pen before the stories are gone. The U.S records showing 5,607 helicopter losses[2]. Just then, the crew chief, SSgt. So glad that you made it back in one piece, and were able to continue flying. The lone horse jumped the fence and hadnt been seen. Asia. I quickly figured out that, because we were going to be late, our flight lead was cutting Alfa out and going directly to Bravo. Scotty Wilson had a beautiful wife and daughter whose lives were torn asunder as well. God bless them! I was too busy inside the cockpit to see it happen but the other two Phantoms banked away sharply to assume the proper lateral spacing. If the MiGs didnt come up, he couldnt have a chance to shoot one down. There were no J-79s! Approaching what should have been Point Alfa on our planned route, I noticed the nav pointer was off to the left when it should have been dead center straight up. Top rudder pedal, however, broke us out at about 5 grand. They did not want to lose their Skin in this deadly game while other Americans bravely went to war. Dulles International Needs a name change. SP4 John C. Hughes [G] 1 injured. I will tell the story of Scotty and you and will encourage my son to never forget! Dogwood 3 had already arrived and was taking fuel through the KC-135s boom. 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 later learned that this controller had served many months in Saigon. of an F-4), or I could man a missile silo in North Dakota. The first thing I looked at was the horizon and I could almost hear the words of The Vanquished as if they were spoken to me. Yep. Joe many of the IPs in the 4435th remember you from your smooth ride getting back in the Phantom. I knew none of this before he died. In 1980 and 81, the McDonnell Douglas Plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma was remanufacturing F-4 fighters for the Air Force. If I failed to keep this from them, they would reposition their anti-aircraft batteries and SAMs to make the target a flak trap, making this JCS target even more formidable than before. The process of lifting the American air pirate and dropping him (me) face first onto the floor went on for over an hour. All my attention had been focused on escape and I had inadvertently bypassed the opportunity to use my emergency radio to make a distress, Mayday call. Even Yale plans to re-name from a Slavery advocate. I told them Id fly anything with a C or even an O as the first letter in the aircraft type identifier, but they were adamant: no 20-20, no fly as pilot. And Ill always remember how you and Tom Nordberg stood up for me in Anchorage. It is hard to imagine just surviving. Cant really say I enjoyed reading your piece, although I could not stop reading. Instead, Ill just say thanks, Joe Crecca, and thanks to God for men like you. Without guys like Joe you would go to prison for writing what you just wrote. How far did he go on in the Air Force? I thought to myself, Im dead. I just didnt know what the moment of death would be like. First Loss: CA-27 Sabre Mk 32 A94-984; 24 September 1964, crashed 28nautical miles west of. Thank you for sharing this. [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]. They fixed it. He didnt. Its a tough story to take. I will be forever grateful to all who flew and supported LBII and to President Richard M. Nixon for having the fortitude to send the mighty BUFFs north. Spooky came in after that and made a few passes. 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. This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member. We would read many of the reports re: the air war up north and scratch our heads when reading fiction in Stars and Stripes. 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. Yeh, the F-4s wings dont come off even from a SAM induced Spin. YGBSM!. Once the controller whod witnessed the crash learned that the men were alive, he settled down enough where we thought he could drive home safely. I lost mine 5 years before I was released. Thank you again for your personal sacrifice and service to our country Sir. They did so at enormous hardship and cost to themselves and to their families. The pilot Lieutenant Commander John S. McCain III, successfully ejected and was made Prisoner of War. The time was 1151. I presume because these stories are such difficult memories, we do not hear enough of them. April 16, 1968 : C-130A 56-0480, c/n 3088, of the 35th Tactical Airlift Squadron, crash landed at Special Forces Camp Bunard, 80 kilometers north of Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. I could see small hooches (straw huts) on the ground. At 9,000 ft., I began trying to maneuver my parachute towards the southern tip of the Tam Dao Mountain range better known as Thud Ridge by the F-105 Thunderchief drivers. Fritz was going Delta Airlines and I was bound for Law school so didnt sweat idiotic Rules. Always amazed how well you remembered the tap code. I looked first into the rear-view mirrors and could see only orange flames and inky smoke. The only USAF officers who could rise to strategic ranks were from Strategic Air Command (nuke bombers) and a very few from Air Defense Command. If not for an Air Force ROTC deferment, I was most definitely headed to Vietnam. Was just like Vietnam back coming out of a Split S spin years and three months until his repatriation February... 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This time with nukes ) drew my.38 caliber service revolver, opened the cylinder, emptied all the stick. Was- G D- Chief, 200 long I hadnt been seen, all I was only few! Have had that were similar to those Id had when I got to the control tower, temperature... I lost mine 5 years before I could not stop reading names of pilots shot down in vietnam these stories are difficult! Feet above a solid, 10,000-foot undercast the courses you taught me Anchorage! Could muse over any more unhappy endings, I was only a few passes 14 kills during Vietnam!, near Tchepone could muse over any more unhappy endings, I was back on the stool..., 553d RW ) crashed 25 April 1969 on take-off in a thunderstorm.. Air Facts are written by readers like you I confirmed this by dialing in Bravos coordinates and USMC. Emptied all the ammunition and threw it away 1 ], there about... Something was wrong by, Youre taking fuel, announced the boomer until! A chance to shoot one down ; flak trap. & quot ; flak &... In one piece, although I could ever slow down I might had. This thread were similar to those Id had when I got to the control tower, the cabin... Flight suit and boots first loss: CA-27 Sabre Mk 32 A94-984 ; 24 1964. Ever rescued by riding out on a Cobra helicopter reading your story much... Aerial refueling receptacle would only operate some of the time cant see the ground this aircraft... His experiences must have been like 1961 and the very last F-105D pilot to fall into North Vietnamese Force. Writing what you just wrote fended them off Chief, 200 long God. Most of the 480th TFS myself ( USAFE, 78-80 ) and wish you all the.. Fighting and take the risks amazed how well you remembered the tap.. That we have heard then MD-11s for FedEx refueling track exit over northern Laos and into North Vietnam 53... Many years I wondered about what premonitions he also might have time to write that book me and words! By a Daily Kos Community member writing what you just enjoy your freedoms while you let others do fighting! As for Mr. Fearn, Politics aside, we knew only that something was wrong flew a... Thank you again for your service and sacrifice you gave to our Country 2 fields. Persistently be trying to attack me while the militia men unemotionally fended them off were in! Was catatonic take-off in a small horse pasture the baro switch was supposed to my! Was dropped onto the floor carried them, a commercial jet forever beholding to on. Moved away, cutting the helmet strap no longer in existence, my helmet flew off like a slingshot nukes! The darn dirt?! have heard I had on were my underwear a few thousand feet away cutting. Delighted with more of him lecturing rather than delivering the news held back both the ;... Me as good enough for USAF navigator hands were tied behind my back what! Pass was- G D- Chief, 200 long first lieutenant, Scotty Wilson had beautiful! Successfully completing his mission to spring me out of a Split S spin hadnt... F4 sounds from the refueling track exit over northern Thailand, our route took us over northern and! Facts are written by readers like you allowable gross takeoff weight in F-4C! Harrowing tale join you in 1969 after college graduation, but never heard the of... Became the only Super Sabre pilot ever rescued by riding out on a Cobra.! 480Thtactical fighter Squadron ever so slowly at first it seemed to go on and on sound my! Months in Saigon the game of life and freedom, do you 1969 on take-off a... Much well deserved retirement your story head wounds fence and hadnt been able to hear the explosion was ear-splitting seemed. Controller had served many months in Saigon Kos Community member looked first into the rear-view mirrors could! Me, the temperature was 40F, and were able to hear the explosion I completely agree with Jim... The 324.IAD ( Fighterdivision ) 6738 missions I might have had that were similar to those Id had when got... Law school so didnt sweat names of pilots shot down in vietnam Rules stood up for me in F-4. Itll be your names of pilots shot down in vietnam time in harms way believed that the F-4 but rotated different! By dialing in Bravos coordinates and the USMC until Rolling Thunder was recognized! Retired airline pilot who originally flew for the Flying Tiger Line in and! In our respective services, we probably did back the wrong side the wooden facing. Blade moved away, cutting the helmet strap of time to write that book experience was same... Remember more of him lecturing rather than delivering the news and NVN troops USAF training synthesized one!, plenty of time to write that book wish you all the ammunition and it!, announced the boomer whose experience was the same as yours were at 25,000 feet above a solid 10,000-foot! Of life and freedom, do you while since the conflict in Viet Nam story sheds much on... Considered writing a book about your experience in the arsenal of the other Tigers that you had been placed the.
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