Do you know how good a F4 sounds from the darn dirt ?!? Thank you for your service and thank you for sharing your incredible experience in such a telling manner. On Oct. 26, McCain would fly his 23rd run over North Vietnam, joining a 20-plane mission to bomb a power plant in the capital city of Hanoi, which had been off-limits to U.S. attacks . Was he making a record that his stupid wingman was messing up the mission? 31 DEC 71. ), Ways to get involved in the 2022 Election. They did not want to lose their Skin in this deadly game while other Americans bravely went to war. Daily Kos moves in solidarity with the Black community. God Bless You for your service. Takeoff in a heavily-loaded Phantom requires some explanation. Joined up and reported a suspected Truck Park near Finger Lakes since we had avoided calling in to Ask Permission and wait the usual half hour to allow the Russian Radar trainers time to get out courtesy of our GD State Dept. (Shaking head sadly) It seems theres always someone willing to take a conversation on an inappropriate tangent. First Loss: CA-27 Sabre Mk 32 A94-984; 24 September 1964, crashed 28nautical miles west of. After 52 years, the remains of Air Force pilot Col. Roy Knight Jr., who was shot down in 1967 during the Vietnam War, have finally come home. Joe, Im sure we met at the DOOM club as I remember seeing Scotty there as we occasionally had battle damage, weather back home or lack of fuel to get there and Da Nang was our recovery base. As it turned out, the two men in the Tulsa F-4 ejected safely. Shot down. By my count I was about the 335thPOW to walk up onto the stage to shake hands with the President. I could see small hooches (straw huts) on the ground. 29. pp. God Bless you, Joe. Flew supplies into Vietnam but had less time there than John Kerry; which is not easy. North Vietnam, pre-1975: Killing of Two American Pilots Shot Down Over North Vietnam. Hap. During the tour at NKP Thailand, I had opportunity to go TDY to Ubon Air base. We would have to fight if not listened to. Overcome with his Ivy League false sense of academic Superiority, he stupidly turned them down, not even a crucial, critical, disastrous war saving meeting. Fighting against such a cruel political regime didnt seem that bad an idea after all, did it? It was late November, the temperature was 40F, and all I had on were my underwear. One of our F-4s was not delivered by maintenance. Mr. Creccas response (farther below) displays considerably more class than that displayed by b fearn in this particular instance. SGT Sam Tenorio [G] 2 injured. From the back seat, I accomplished the fuel on-load at an altitude of 25,000 ft. having to use minimum afterburner on the left engine to stay in position due to the heavy load. Spent the day with Tom and Scottys brother Mark. RIP Scotty thank you Joe for sharing your experiences and for your commitment as an aviator. The intercom was intermittent. Then we switched roles and Scotty flew while I coordinated the rendezvous. Only loss: 606058, destroyed on the ground during a VC attack on Tan Son Nhut, SVN on 14 June 1968. May God bless you. Maximum allowable gross takeoff weight in an F-4C was 58,000 lbs. It is hard to imagine just surviving. They fixed it. The former fighter pilot, who was shot down over Vietnam in 1967, went on: 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! A-1E (S/N 52-132649) was flown by Maj. Bernard Fisher on March 10, 1966, when he rescued a fellow pilot shot down over South Vietnam. 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. !Cheers my friend. B/2/20 ARA #63-08597 A/C was shot down and after it hit exploded into flames. SP4 John C. Hughes [G] 1 injured. Its a tough story to take. Im still honored to have flown a 10 day trip with you around Asia with FedEx. So, with that, you have to question the command and leadership, not the foot soldier. This farmer pilot is Nguyn Vn By who died on Sept. 21, 2019 at the age of 83. 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. lost 26 planes (written off) and 9 pilots (killed in combat) top scorer Yevgenij Pepeljayev with 109 mission, 38 dogfights and 19 shot down planes (15 kills are confirmed by american sources) 303. I fell into a restless, nightmarish and shivering cold sleep. The Navy had it right (mostly) in equipping, training and tailoring tactical air assets. Thank you for your bravery and endurance. You also draw a conclusion that isnt at all clear-cut, which is why no one else has commented on it. Then with release of the first group of POWs WO1 James Hestand was released! God Bless America and her brave warriors! All we wanted to do was tell him we wanted the French out! Youve earned it. Rescued Misty Pilots . 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. Between January and July, U.S. Air Force fighters flying air-to-air missions shot down 29 MiGs while losing just two of their owna 14.5-1 kill ratio. I taught math, physics, automotive theory and practice, and classical music in the Hanoi Hilton. Mr. Crecca was a POW for the next six years and three months until his repatriation on February 18, 1973. And thanks to one incident at Tulsa International Airport sometime around January of 1981, I know how much the loss of servicemen and women can mean to people you might never suspect would have any feelings at all. While in that spin both of us, the RIO were reaching for the eject handle but couldnt move our arms. 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). Most of them, unlike yourself, were combat veterans who put themselves in harms way; something you have never done. For the briefest moment I contemplated that a right 60 degree turn would take me via the shortest route out of NVN. I would like to hear from you at some point; [emailprotected]. 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. 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. A well? Thank you, Mr. Crecca! We held a mass intelligence briefing at wing HQ. Osprey 2001, No. Richard Stephen "Steve" Ritchie and Weapons System Officer Capt. Jim witnessed the other pilot CW2 Richard Bauman and crew chief Craig Dix being captured. But, I stuck to my story answering the same question in the same way each time. His unit was flying in support of South Vietnamese troops fighting in Laos. 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. It was great to learn about your time before FTL/FDX. Not sure which squadron he started with but he ended up assigned to the 366-tfw. 33 years 6 months after his loss. While I was thinking how dumb a question that was, Scotty asked me an entirely different one over the intercom: To me, this is a refreshing change of phraseology, demonstrating a far greater sense of situational awareness. I finally got him to talk and he said, Gary, it was just like Vietnam. 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. 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. Reeder is being held behind the middle window. Even at max takeoff weight, Scotty had to be careful not to exceed the landing gear limit airspeed of 250 knots with both afterburners cooking. On 27 July 1968, Commander Mongilardi was the pilot of an A4C Skyhawk that launched from the deck of the USS Coral Sea as the section leader in a flight of two on a armed reconnaissance/strike mission over North Vietnam. I quickly figured out that, because we were going to be late, our flight lead was cutting Alfa out and going directly to Bravo. When I was finally in front of President Nixon, I said what hed be hearing all night, Thank you Mr. President for bringing us home with honor. Then without missing a beat I said, And Im really sorry about that F-4. Jan 12, 06:12 PM. Dickens rescued) No better tribute to a warrior and man then to be remembered by his fellow warriors 50+ years later. Messrs. Crecca and Wilson were asked by their nation to serve. How about that for a cool presence of mind? He wasnt much of a story teller and I didnt think to ask him about his service until after he died. Scotty preflighted the weapons: six-M117, 750 lb. The USAF sustained approximately 0.4 losses per 1,000 sorties during the conflict, which compared favorably with a 2.0 rate in Korea and a 9.7 figure during World War II. 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. 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 8081, Air War Vietnam Plans and Operations 19691975. 1:00 Jan. 6 will mark 50 years since former Newburgh resident Dave Middleton was shot down in Vietnam while piloting a Loach helicopter on a mission to which he wasn't originally assigned.. Your story sheds much light on what his experiences must have been like. At 2,500 ft. Our detachment was working on WWll vintage C-47s, but we got to observe AC-130 gunships and the F-4 unit known as Wolf-Pack in action. By that point the airflow over the isoclinic horizontal stabilizer was sufficient to start the nose up. It was then that I could see a shapeless, black mass on the ground. It was my honor to read about Scotty, and to digest another example of true American heroism. Source's information probably relates to the incident.. Don Ward, came up to me and said words that someone in operations never, ever hears from anybody in maintenance. Both Fire and Overheat lights were illuminated and all the amber and red indicators on the telelight panel by Scottys right knee were lit. Public Servants who screw -up Big, Big time do not deserve such glorified recognition. Thanks, again, for your story many more years of good health & happiness to you. The upper estimate puts it at nearly 260 million! Pinches were both rescued. Then, I was pushed face down to the floor and blindfolded. Yeh, the F-4s wings dont come off even from a SAM induced Spin. My squadron commander, the pentagon prince and I had an interesting discussion about flight discipline and the military justice system. Hes a real dope. 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 flight call sign was Dogwood and we were number 2. 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. I did enjoy reading this and I am grateful for men like you. Scotty gave me the airplane and I climbed out at 350 knots until it came time to find the tanker on the radar. 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. In the solitude of my tiny enclosure, staring unfocused at the floor, I said aloud, Todays the day, thinking this was the last day of my life. My guess is that the powers that be decided that a punitve investigation into my conduct would also raise questions whether our flight leader had exposed both aircraft to unnecessary risks. Glad to hear you are on frequency. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he values above his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of men better than himself.. We were going to make it. what would the world be like if we never had stories like this told to us, i shudder to think. Have not seen him since 1962. You and Scotty are my heroes. Page and Smith were with VF-21, and the aircraft modex was NE101. The USMC focused almost entirely on close air support (yards, not miles) of their ground units and on point defense over an amphibious landing. I know about Uncle Walt, as I grew the truth about his allegiances became more and more public and exposed. But that didnt keep the Triple Nickel (555th TFS) from calling themselves the Largest distributors of MiG parts in Southeast Asia. Not as of 05NOV66 they werent. Sayonara, engines! This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member. We did that maneuver three times until clear of the array of Yen Bai SAM sites. AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN DURING THE VIETNAM WAR BY USN/USMC PILOTS. Thank you for your expressions of gratitude, sir. 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). I put off law school acceptance for a year to volunteer for the combat tour instead. "Kos" and "Daily Kos" are registered trademarks of Kos Media, LLC. 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. Scotty Wilson and I were classmates in Pilot Training at Willie Air Patch, Class 64-C, Raindance and Schatzi. 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. No need to bring up the sorties flown with 1/2 ordnance loads so the (Squadron, Group, Wing) would look good on paper. I was concentrating on Scotty and my eyes were focused only on him. Im an alumnus of the 480th TFS myself ( USAFE, 78-80) and wish you all the best . Among fixed-wing aircraft, more F-4 Phantoms were lost than any other type in service with any nation. If I were you, I wouldnt take the airplane., I was in disbelief about what I had just been told, but a realist about the exigencies surrounding me and said to Sergeant Ward that he should tell Lt. Wilson what he had just told me which he did. netspend ssi deposit dates for 2021 october, what was patmos like when john was there, Steve & quot ; Steve & quot ; Steve & quot ; and! 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