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Fighter pilot UHF
radio transmissions

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Ready to defend the free world

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It was called the world's most

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powerful one man airplane

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Setting a world record of

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1,216 miles per hour in 1959,

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The THUD was the largest

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single seat, single engine

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combat aircraft in history

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It could exceed the speed of

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sound at sea level

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and reach twice that

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speed at high altitude

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weighing in at approximately

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25 tons.

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Entering the service in 1958,

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the F-105 represented America’s

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advances in applied science and

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engineering.

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Named Thunderchief, this

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technological marvel could

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deliver a greater bomb load

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than American heavy bombers

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used in WWII

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My name is Hank Goetz and I flew

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the F-105 at Bitburg, Germany,

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in the 53rd Tactical

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Fighter Squadron

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where our primary mission

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was one way nuclear alert

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My first introduction to the

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Thud was in 1961. Just loved it

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from the moment I saw it,

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of course everybody wanted to

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get their hands on it and fly it

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It's unique design was tailor

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made for nuclear delivery

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Carrying a single nuclear

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weapon internally, the

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high speed low altitude

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penetration

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guaranteed its delivery deep

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into the threat

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NEWS REPORTER VOICE

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The Thundercheif is capable.

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Yet everyone hopes

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it never has to perform the

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mission for it was designed

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The growing geopolitical

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tensions between the U.S. and

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the Communist Bloc countries

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were viewed as a clear

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and present danger

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The F-105 was the deterrence to

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that threat and

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neither the Soviets nor China

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had anything comparable.

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The missions we sat were

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one way nuclear missions.

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Headquarters decided that since

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we were so close the the East

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German border, that, if we were

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lucky enough to get off in the

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15 minutes that they said we all

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had to get off, chances are the

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bases wouldn't be there much

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longer. So there was no reason

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to plan return fuel because

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the bases probably weren’t

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going to be there.

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So everything was one-way

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missions. Enough fuel to get

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to your target,

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deliver the weapon

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and then get out to what they

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called a safe zone, where we

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told there would be people

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there that might help us.

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I always figured the safe zone

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it was someone else’s target

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and it probably was.

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We had these little kits that

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they gave us when we went on

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alert pad. We used to

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go on for 24 hours.

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but these little kits they had

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everything from maps, to gold

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coins, and a bunch of other

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stuff, of course your target

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material, and everything else

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but it was probably going to be

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useless I didn’t think my safe

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zone was gonna be very safe when

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I got there if I got there

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In 1962, the Cuban missile

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crisis sprung up

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JFK fade in - go unchecked and

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unchallenged, ultimately leads

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to war.

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This nation is opposed to war.

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Hank - And the brass over in

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Europe decided that due to that

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blockade, that the Russians

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would probably start harassing

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our airplanes going in and out

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of the Berlin corridor.

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And so, in anticipation of them,

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the Russians, harassing

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airplanes or

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causing some trouble, they took

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my particular squadron

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and we downloaded the nuclear

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weapons and uploaded

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sidewinders. And instead of

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Victor alert, which was 15

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nuclear, we set Zulu alert, off

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the end of the runway, sitting

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in the cockpit with

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guns and sidewinders.

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Just in case something happened,

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we were never told what we were

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allowed to do if

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we could ever get airborne.

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After a few days of that,

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everything kind of cooled off

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and we went back to normal.

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The situation

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had resolved itself.

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Thud pilots would soon realize

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their primary mission was about

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to change,

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and the F-105 would be forever

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etched in history.

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A red storm was rising on the

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horizon.

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Far off, in the once

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French colony of Indochina.

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First, the United States only

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provided limited air operations

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in South Vietnam

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to support the South Vietnamese

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army forces against Viet Cong

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insurgency.

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I flew L-19s on the Mekong

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Delta in 1962. I probably got 50

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missions, but you

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couldn't call it combat because

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we weren't in battle

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so I forget what you called

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it, but we would fly

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low enough that were were

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looking in the doors

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of the huts. And then I remember

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a guy came running out and he's

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pointing a rifle at me and he’s

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tracking and the gun, and

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I can see it jump...oooh,

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and it didn't hit.

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He missed. So we would go back

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and get a ranger company of

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about 100 irregular,

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some of them were Chinese, some

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of them were Vietnamese, and go

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back up and kill them all

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I remember one night

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they set off grenade next to

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this two story hotel

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I was in, in Can Tho, and so I

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ran down. We all carried guns.

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And uh...

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There was a toddler,

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lying on the ground,

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just a baby. I picked him up.

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And he didn't move but

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his mouth kept opening and

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closing.

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I ran out into the

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street, and there was a taxi,

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I said, "We're going to the

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hospital" and he said, he's not

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gonna get involved.

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I had a gun. So he got involved.

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We went to the hospital and I

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delivered the little kid

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but that was it. So

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I was there for flying the L-19.

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And then we went

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back in '64 and '65

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for TDY bombing

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and then I went back in '67,

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'68 for the 100 missions.

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Soon, the U.S. resolve to

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contain Communist expansionism

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would be tested by relying upon

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gallant Thud pilots.

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Given their unchallenged ability

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and capacity to carry

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a 14 thousand pound

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weapons load, the Thud was sent

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to be the primary

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aircraft to deliver the heavy

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bomb loads to the targets in

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North Vietnam.

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On March 2nd, 1965, the

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United States launched

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Operation Rolling Thunder.

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It was no surprise it was code

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name Rolling Thunder. After all,

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the Thunderchief operating out

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of bases in Thailand flew 75% of

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all Air Force bombing missions

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during this campaign.

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This marked the first sustained

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American offensive on

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North Vietnam

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and signaled a major

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expansion of U.S. involvement

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in the war.

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Voice of LBJ on the phone:

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We're off to bombing these

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people, and over that hurdle.

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And I don't think anything is
going to be as bad as losing,

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and I don't see
anyway of wining.

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The massive bombardment was

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intended to only last six to

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eight weeks and bring

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North Vietnam's Communist

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regime to it's knees.

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It didn't.

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As you know, we have lost

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about 500 aircraft.

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Attacking lines of communication

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to other targets in

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North Vietnam

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Hi, my name is John Casper. I

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was fortunate enough to fly the

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105, the Thud.

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It was the greatest airplane

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I've ever flown and guys ask me,

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they say,

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"Well what's your favorite

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airplane," and I go, "Well, it's

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the 105," and

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they'll say, "Why," and I say,

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"It's the airplane

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I went to war in."

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And it was a delight to fly. And

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I might add, I managed to fly

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the F-5, the F-4 for a

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little while. I flew the A-10

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for a long time. I flew the

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F-16. The last thing I flew in

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the Air Force was the F-15.

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And of all of those airplanes,

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and it had a lot more capability

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than the Thud, the 16 and the

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15. The Thud was still the jet

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that I really loved flying.

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So there I was, 23 years old, a

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jet fighter pilot and my first

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assignment was Korat Air Base,

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Thailand to fly combat. So that

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was my initial training.

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We got to Korat and lieutenants

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were in short supply, I found

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out. Most of the reason was,

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everybody was busy getting

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shot down.

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And little did I know that I

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was going to get to do it not

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once, but twice. I mean by doing

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it, I mean getting shot down.

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On my eighth mission, we were up

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basically trying to drop bombs

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singly into a cave

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in southern North Vietnam.

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When all of a sudden somebody

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yelled that they were shooting

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at us, and the next thing

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I heard was a big explosion,

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fire lights came on,

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all the warning lights came on,

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and shortly there after, the

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airplane basically started going

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end over end on me.

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So I ejected. And the funny

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part about the ejection was,

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about two days before, one of

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the lieutenants in the squadron

290
00:09:53,726 --> 00:09:55,328
had gotten shot down and

291
00:09:55,328 --> 00:09:57,396
he said when he ejected, when

292
00:09:57,396 --> 00:09:58,998
the canopy came off prior to the

293
00:09:58,998 --> 00:10:01,233
seat firing, he said, holy cow

294
00:10:01,233 --> 00:10:02,668
you can really see good with

295
00:10:02,668 --> 00:10:03,903
the canopy gone.

296
00:10:03,903 --> 00:10:05,571
Funnily enough, that's exactly

297
00:10:05,571 --> 00:10:06,672
what went through my head when

298
00:10:06,672 --> 00:10:08,140
the canopy came off and it's

299
00:10:08,140 --> 00:10:09,508
just micro seconds from the

300
00:10:09,508 --> 00:10:11,110
canopy leaving til the seat

301
00:10:11,110 --> 00:10:13,112
fires, but that went through my

302
00:10:13,112 --> 00:10:15,147
mind. Not I'm in trouble their

303
00:10:15,147 --> 00:10:16,282
made at me, we just dropped

304
00:10:16,282 --> 00:10:17,416
bombs on them, I said, I can

305
00:10:17,416 --> 00:10:18,184
really see well out

306
00:10:18,184 --> 00:10:19,118
of this airplane.

307
00:10:19,118 --> 00:10:20,353
So what was I worried about, was

308
00:10:20,353 --> 00:10:21,187
I worried about the people on

309
00:10:21,187 --> 00:10:22,621
the ground that we just dropped

310
00:10:22,621 --> 00:10:24,156
bombs on, no I was trying to

311
00:10:24,156 --> 00:10:26,158
remember, do I put my legs

312
00:10:26,158 --> 00:10:27,593
together when I go into the

313
00:10:27,593 --> 00:10:29,428
trees or do I cross my legs.

314
00:10:29,428 --> 00:10:30,763
Cause the last thing I wanted to

315
00:10:30,763 --> 00:10:33,366
do was split a tree branch right

316
00:10:33,366 --> 00:10:34,433
in my crotch.

317
00:10:34,433 --> 00:10:35,768
Well I managed to come down

318
00:10:35,768 --> 00:10:37,536
through the trees, I got hung up

319
00:10:37,536 --> 00:10:38,471
for a little bit,

320
00:10:38,471 --> 00:10:40,473
and then broke free and hit the

321
00:10:40,473 --> 00:10:42,441
ground. Doing so I managed to

322
00:10:42,441 --> 00:10:43,476
bite my tongue,

323
00:10:43,476 --> 00:10:45,144
so I had blood all over me. But

324
00:10:45,144 --> 00:10:47,013
I wasn't hurt at all. For that

325
00:10:47,013 --> 00:10:49,515
one, it lasted about three and a

326
00:10:49,515 --> 00:10:51,117
half hours I was on the ground.I

327
00:10:51,117 --> 00:10:52,618
could hear people looking for me

328
00:10:52,618 --> 00:10:54,787
Fortunately enough I went and

329
00:10:54,787 --> 00:10:56,489
hid. I remember my flight lead

330
00:10:56,489 --> 00:10:57,690
talking to me right after I got

331
00:10:57,690 --> 00:10:59,525
on the ground and he said,

332
00:10:59,525 --> 00:11:00,626
"We gotta go to the tanker

333
00:11:00,626 --> 00:11:02,728
the rescue forces are coming,

334
00:11:02,728 --> 00:11:05,398
stay calm, and call us in an

335
00:11:05,398 --> 00:11:07,033
hour." So I waited what I

336
00:11:07,033 --> 00:11:08,901
thought was an hour, he came up

337
00:11:08,901 --> 00:11:10,036
on the radio, and he said,

338
00:11:10,036 --> 00:11:12,038
"That's five minutes. You need

339
00:11:12,038 --> 00:11:13,706
to call us in another 55

340
00:11:13,706 --> 00:11:15,908
minutes." In training they tell

341
00:11:15,908 --> 00:11:17,309
you when a the tree penetrator

342
00:11:17,309 --> 00:11:18,310
comes down, do not

343
00:11:18,310 --> 00:11:20,312
touch it til it hits the ground.

344
00:11:20,746 --> 00:11:22,314
So what did the lieutenant do?

345
00:11:22,314 --> 00:11:23,749
Well, I had to try to jump on it

346
00:11:23,749 --> 00:11:24,984
before it hit the ground.

347
00:11:25,084 --> 00:11:26,385
Due to static electricity,

348
00:11:26,385 --> 00:11:27,386
it knocked me right on

349
00:11:27,386 --> 00:11:28,254
my butt. I mean it was

350
00:11:28,254 --> 00:11:29,688
incredible. So I finally got in

351
00:11:29,688 --> 00:11:30,923
it, got strapped in the tree

352
00:11:30,923 --> 00:11:33,059
penetrator, and tell them I’m on

353
00:11:33,059 --> 00:11:34,527
the hoist you can haul me out.

354
00:11:34,527 --> 00:11:36,195
Well, about that time, as I’m

355
00:11:36,195 --> 00:11:37,530
coming up through the trees, the

356
00:11:37,530 --> 00:11:38,864
helicopter had some kind of a

357
00:11:38,864 --> 00:11:40,232
problem and he had to break his

358
00:11:40,232 --> 00:11:42,101
hover and start going. So he

359
00:11:42,101 --> 00:11:42,768
dragged me through the

360
00:11:42,768 --> 00:11:44,036
treetops for about a quarter

361
00:11:44,036 --> 00:11:45,604
mile. As far as I was concerned,

362
00:11:45,604 --> 00:11:46,338
he could have dragged

363
00:11:46,338 --> 00:11:48,340
me all the way back to Thailand.

364
00:11:48,674 --> 00:11:49,508
When they got me on the

365
00:11:49,508 --> 00:11:52,044
chopper, finally, and then the

366
00:11:52,044 --> 00:11:53,245
next problem they had was,

367
00:11:53,245 --> 00:11:55,581
they're trying to leave, and I'm

368
00:11:55,581 --> 00:11:56,916
trying to hug and kiss everybody

369
00:11:56,916 --> 00:11:58,951
in the helicopter. Which is a

370
00:11:58,951 --> 00:12:00,920
common thing for guys who’ve

371
00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:02,721
been rescued. So they finally

372
00:12:02,721 --> 00:12:04,090
got me to settle down, gave me

373
00:12:04,090 --> 00:12:05,458
an airline miniature booze, of

374
00:12:05,458 --> 00:12:07,960
some kind, which they carry and

375
00:12:08,461 --> 00:12:09,929
dropped me off at another base

376
00:12:09,929 --> 00:12:11,697
in Thailand for the evening.

377
00:12:11,697 --> 00:12:13,132
Believe it or not, the next day

378
00:12:13,132 --> 00:12:14,600
after the flight surgeon looked

379
00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:16,135
at me, I was back in the

380
00:12:16,135 --> 00:12:18,537
the airplane, flying in the

381
00:12:18,537 --> 00:12:19,939
exact same area I went down the

382
00:12:19,939 --> 00:12:21,207
day before. So they didn’t give

383
00:12:21,207 --> 00:12:22,374
me any rest at all. They said,

384
00:12:22,374 --> 00:12:23,576
you're good to go.

385
00:12:23,576 --> 00:12:24,944
I felt like there was nothing in

386
00:12:24,944 --> 00:12:26,745
that airplane that I couldn't

387
00:12:26,745 --> 00:12:27,780
get out of.

388
00:12:27,780 --> 00:12:29,415
It could pull all the G's you

389
00:12:29,415 --> 00:12:30,783
could pull, it could run as fast

390
00:12:30,783 --> 00:12:33,052
as you could run it, it was just

391
00:12:33,052 --> 00:12:35,788
a good airplane. And, you looked

392
00:12:35,788 --> 00:12:37,256
good on the ladder.

393
00:12:37,656 --> 00:12:39,758
It's been said that a dog is the

394
00:12:39,758 --> 00:12:41,427
only thing on earth that will

395
00:12:41,427 --> 00:12:42,728
love a fighter pilot

396
00:12:43,262 --> 00:12:44,230
more than a fighter

397
00:12:44,230 --> 00:12:46,165
pilot loves himself.

398
00:12:47,633 --> 00:12:51,670
In 1966, after tours to Takhli,

399
00:12:51,670 --> 00:12:53,739
Major Merrill Ray Lewis loaded

400
00:12:53,739 --> 00:12:56,308
up man's best friend on a C-130

401
00:12:56,308 --> 00:12:59,111
to accompany him on another tour

402
00:12:59,111 --> 00:13:01,947
at Korat. He'd raised Roscoe

403
00:13:01,947 --> 00:13:04,083
as a pup, and had named him

404
00:13:04,083 --> 00:13:06,252
after his friend, Captain Roscoe

405
00:13:06,252 --> 00:13:08,621
Anderson, who'd been killed

406
00:13:08,621 --> 00:13:10,523
earlier in an F-105.

407
00:13:10,823 --> 00:13:12,091
Roscoe never left

408
00:13:12,091 --> 00:13:13,359
Ray Lewis's side,

409
00:13:14,527 --> 00:13:15,928
would sit and wait for his

410
00:13:15,928 --> 00:13:17,930
return when he flew off on his

411
00:13:17,930 --> 00:13:19,165
missions up north.

412
00:13:20,499 --> 00:13:22,368
One day, Major Merrill Ray Lewis

413
00:13:22,368 --> 00:13:23,702
did not return,

414
00:13:25,504 --> 00:13:26,772
and Roscoe nearly died

415
00:13:26,772 --> 00:13:28,374
from a broken heart.

416
00:13:28,707 --> 00:13:30,809
He wouldn't eat, and just sat,

417
00:13:30,809 --> 00:13:33,012
waiting for him to return.

418
00:13:33,512 --> 00:13:35,047
Major Merrill Ray Lewis

419
00:13:35,047 --> 00:13:36,849
was declared missing in action,

420
00:13:36,849 --> 00:13:38,651
and soon the 34th tactical

421
00:13:38,651 --> 00:13:41,854
fighter squadron adopted Roscoe

422
00:13:42,788 --> 00:13:43,722
Or maybe it was the other

423
00:13:43,722 --> 00:13:44,690
way around.

424
00:13:45,324 --> 00:13:47,493
Roscoe, now the official

425
00:13:47,493 --> 00:13:50,629
mascot, quickly rose to the

426
00:13:50,629 --> 00:13:52,231
honorary rank of colonel.

427
00:13:52,965 --> 00:13:54,133
And pretty much owned

428
00:13:54,133 --> 00:13:55,834
Korat Air Force Base

429
00:13:55,834 --> 00:13:57,536
including the officers club,

430
00:13:57,536 --> 00:13:59,338
and mission briefs.

431
00:13:59,805 --> 00:14:01,006
He had his own chair, next to

432
00:14:01,006 --> 00:14:02,508
the Wing Commander,

433
00:14:03,209 --> 00:14:04,343
where Thud pilots would observe

434
00:14:04,343 --> 00:14:06,979
Roscoe's response to the brief.

435
00:14:08,047 --> 00:14:09,815
If he instinctively sat up,

436
00:14:09,815 --> 00:14:10,883
poised and alert,

437
00:14:12,084 --> 00:14:13,085
the pilots braced

438
00:14:13,085 --> 00:14:14,587
themselves for what awaited them

439
00:14:14,587 --> 00:14:15,921
over the target.

440
00:14:16,722 --> 00:14:18,524
If he was asleep or bored,

441
00:14:19,325 --> 00:14:20,559
the mission was gonna be a

442
00:14:20,559 --> 00:14:21,827
piece of cake.

443
00:14:22,428 --> 00:14:23,929
In 1975,

444
00:14:25,064 --> 00:14:26,832
Roscoe died in one of his

445
00:14:26,832 --> 00:14:27,666
favorite spots,

446
00:14:28,767 --> 00:14:30,769
the Korat Officer’s Club.

447
00:14:33,405 --> 00:14:35,441
I'm Giles Gainer, retired Air

448
00:14:35,441 --> 00:14:37,109
Force Lieutenant Colonel,

449
00:14:37,109 --> 00:14:38,877
who've been retired

450
00:14:39,678 --> 00:14:41,914
about 42...3 years ago.

451
00:14:41,914 --> 00:14:42,948
The F-105

452
00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:44,750
was the greatest airplane in

453
00:14:44,750 --> 00:14:45,851
the world.

454
00:14:45,851 --> 00:14:46,518
When...

455
00:14:47,553 --> 00:14:48,721
we first had the missions

456
00:14:48,721 --> 00:14:50,022
going up North Vietnam,

457
00:14:50,522 --> 00:14:51,724
we were not allowed to

458
00:14:51,724 --> 00:14:54,526
bomb half the targets that we

459
00:14:54,526 --> 00:14:56,095
ended up getting later.

460
00:14:56,528 --> 00:14:58,964
But we could go to the

461
00:14:58,964 --> 00:15:00,065
air fields and bomb them, we

462
00:15:00,065 --> 00:15:01,634
couldn't go to forts and bomb

463
00:15:01,634 --> 00:15:03,068
them. There wasn't hardly

464
00:15:03,068 --> 00:15:05,537
anything we could drop bombs on

465
00:15:05,537 --> 00:15:06,705
except maybe a

466
00:15:07,806 --> 00:15:08,474
a bridge.

467
00:15:08,907 --> 00:15:09,808
And then every time they

468
00:15:09,808 --> 00:15:11,076
said to drop the bridge you

469
00:15:11,076 --> 00:15:12,645
could see on the side of the

470
00:15:12,645 --> 00:15:13,646
bridge there was a road

471
00:15:13,646 --> 00:15:15,214
already taken care of. They had

472
00:15:15,214 --> 00:15:16,982
already had every one of them

473
00:15:16,982 --> 00:15:18,384
worked around.

474
00:15:18,484 --> 00:15:19,918
The fear of the Soviet Union and

475
00:15:19,918 --> 00:15:21,887
China entering the war

476
00:15:21,887 --> 00:15:22,988
paralyzed the U.S. military.

477
00:15:23,922 --> 00:15:25,124
For U.S. pilots,

478
00:15:25,457 --> 00:15:27,326
compounding this threat were the

479
00:15:27,326 --> 00:15:29,495
insane rules of engagement

480
00:15:29,495 --> 00:15:31,397
and targeting decisions coming

481
00:15:31,397 --> 00:15:33,132
directly out of Washington

482
00:15:33,265 --> 00:15:35,267
The skies over North Vietnam

483
00:15:35,267 --> 00:15:36,835
became a shooting gallery, with

484
00:15:36,835 --> 00:15:38,570
the hunters becoming the hunted.

485
00:15:38,570 --> 00:15:39,672
I'm Gary Barnhill.

486
00:15:40,105 --> 00:15:42,408
I flew the Thud out of the

487
00:15:42,408 --> 00:15:44,343
562nd Tactical Fighter Squadron

488
00:15:45,110 --> 00:15:47,980
at Takhli, Thailand in 1965.

489
00:15:48,347 --> 00:15:50,482
My tour of bombing missions in

490
00:15:50,482 --> 00:15:51,417
North Vietnam was the last half

491
00:15:51,417 --> 00:15:53,285
last half of 1965.

492
00:15:53,852 --> 00:15:56,288
And at that time we could not

493
00:15:56,288 --> 00:15:57,156
touch the SAMs.

494
00:15:57,256 --> 00:15:58,123
We saw the SAMs

495
00:15:58,123 --> 00:15:59,325
being unloaded in Haiphong.

496
00:15:59,325 --> 00:16:00,459
We saw them being set

497
00:16:00,459 --> 00:16:02,127
up, we had to over fly them

498
00:16:02,127 --> 00:16:03,295
we couldn't touch em. Then when

499
00:16:03,295 --> 00:16:04,463
they finally proliferated, and

500
00:16:04,463 --> 00:16:06,198
were all over the place,

501
00:16:06,198 --> 00:16:08,600
then they said, oh, okay now you

502
00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,169
can get the SAMs. So that was

503
00:16:10,169 --> 00:16:10,836
the biggie.

504
00:16:11,036 --> 00:16:12,304
We had to over fly

505
00:16:12,304 --> 00:16:14,440
the MiG bases, we saw them down

506
00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:15,541
there. We couldn’t touch them.

507
00:16:15,541 --> 00:16:16,475
We should have bombed their air

508
00:16:16,475 --> 00:16:18,043
fields. Those two things

509
00:16:18,043 --> 00:16:19,645
cost us dearly, later on.

510
00:16:19,645 --> 00:16:21,213
Contrary to the skies over

511
00:16:21,213 --> 00:16:25,284
Berlin, Tokyo, and even Korea,

512
00:16:26,018 --> 00:16:27,619
the battle space over

513
00:16:27,619 --> 00:16:29,121
North Vietnam was nothing like

514
00:16:29,121 --> 00:16:30,622
anyone had ever experienced in

515
00:16:30,622 --> 00:16:32,124
aerial warfare.

516
00:16:32,291 --> 00:16:34,793
For the target planners, North

517
00:16:34,793 --> 00:16:37,296
Vietnam was divided up into six

518
00:16:37,296 --> 00:16:40,499
sectors, which they titled

519
00:16:40,499 --> 00:16:43,836
Route Packages. The impregnable

520
00:16:43,836 --> 00:16:45,971
Route Pack Six soon became

521
00:16:45,971 --> 00:16:48,140
second only to Moscow, in anti

522
00:16:48,140 --> 00:16:50,309
aircraft defense. The 1000 to

523
00:16:50,309 --> 00:16:53,979
1100 mile round trip required

524
00:16:53,979 --> 00:16:56,081
the Thuds to be refueled

525
00:16:56,081 --> 00:16:58,217
airborne by KC-135 tankers,

526
00:16:58,217 --> 00:17:00,419
prior to entering their intended

527
00:17:00,419 --> 00:17:01,920
intended route pack. At

528
00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:03,422
designated tracks, over

529
00:17:03,422 --> 00:17:05,924
northeastern Thailand and Laos,

530
00:17:05,924 --> 00:17:08,660
Thud pilots rendezvoused with

531
00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:09,928
their flying gas stations to

532
00:17:09,928 --> 00:17:11,330
get the fuel needed to strike

533
00:17:11,330 --> 00:17:12,698
their targets deep into North

534
00:17:12,698 --> 00:17:15,667
Vietnam. Sometimes it proved

535
00:17:15,667 --> 00:17:16,268
deadly

536
00:17:16,435 --> 00:17:18,203
Our targets up in North Vietnam

537
00:17:18,203 --> 00:17:19,538
were about 7-800 miles away from

538
00:17:19,538 --> 00:17:21,039
our base in Thailand.

539
00:17:21,407 --> 00:17:23,709
So we needed to get on a tanker

540
00:17:23,709 --> 00:17:24,943
every single mission.

541
00:17:26,412 --> 00:17:28,414
This day, I was Dodge 2.

542
00:17:28,714 --> 00:17:30,616
I was tucked under the tanker

543
00:17:30,616 --> 00:17:32,084
taking on fuel at a

544
00:17:32,084 --> 00:17:33,852
very high rate.

545
00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:38,056
The wing man, Dodge 3, John Bets

546
00:17:38,056 --> 00:17:39,525
was waiting to get on and

547
00:17:39,525 --> 00:17:41,093
he called out in a

548
00:17:41,093 --> 00:17:42,428
very authoritative voice,

549
00:17:42,428 --> 00:17:43,762
"Dodge 2, you're gushing fuel,

550
00:17:43,762 --> 00:17:45,197
you're gushing, back off,

551
00:17:45,197 --> 00:17:45,964
back off, you're on fire,

552
00:17:45,964 --> 00:17:47,566
eject, eject, eject!"

553
00:17:49,701 --> 00:17:51,870
I backed off. I punched out,

554
00:17:51,870 --> 00:17:53,272
it's what we call ejection.

555
00:17:53,272 --> 00:17:55,741
What had happened was the tanker

556
00:17:55,741 --> 00:17:58,243
which is pumping in fuel very

557
00:17:58,243 --> 00:17:59,778
high rate automatic shutoff

558
00:17:59,778 --> 00:18:01,313
valve didn't work, and so it

559
00:18:01,313 --> 00:18:03,282
ruptured the internal tanks and

560
00:18:03,282 --> 00:18:05,617
they vaporized around the body

561
00:18:05,617 --> 00:18:07,953
of the 105, that went into

562
00:18:07,953 --> 00:18:10,122
the engine and it ... all that

563
00:18:10,122 --> 00:18:12,458
fuel blew up. That fuel that was

564
00:18:12,458 --> 00:18:14,126
vaporized had been sucked into

565
00:18:14,126 --> 00:18:17,129
the engine. A jet engine is just

566
00:18:17,129 --> 00:18:18,964
a suck, squeeze, bang, blow.

567
00:18:18,964 --> 00:18:19,832
Anyway,

568
00:18:19,832 --> 00:18:21,667
the time from being on the

569
00:18:21,667 --> 00:18:23,502
tanker to the aircraft blowing

570
00:18:23,502 --> 00:18:26,271
up into two big fireballs

571
00:18:26,805 --> 00:18:28,974
was six seconds. And

572
00:18:28,974 --> 00:18:31,143
John Bets, who saw the whole

573
00:18:31,143 --> 00:18:33,312
thing, reckoned that I beat

574
00:18:33,312 --> 00:18:34,980
the explosion by one second

575
00:18:34,980 --> 00:18:36,648
So I went from going

576
00:18:36,648 --> 00:18:38,350
about 425 miles an hour over the

577
00:18:38,350 --> 00:18:39,985
ground to, bam, zero. Opening

578
00:18:39,985 --> 00:18:41,620
shock. Everything opened

579
00:18:41,620 --> 00:18:42,454
automatically.

580
00:18:42,454 --> 00:18:44,656
I now find myself three miles

581
00:18:44,656 --> 00:18:46,859
above the ground, 14,000 feet,

582
00:18:46,859 --> 00:18:48,694
hanging in a parachute.

583
00:18:49,294 --> 00:18:50,629
My first reaction was,

584
00:18:50,629 --> 00:18:52,297
was, "I can't believe this is

585
00:18:52,297 --> 00:18:53,966
happening to me, this is

586
00:18:53,966 --> 00:18:55,601
supposed to happen to the other

587
00:18:55,601 --> 00:18:57,202
guy." It was about a ten minute

588
00:18:57,202 --> 00:18:58,937
ride down from 14,000 feet

589
00:18:58,937 --> 00:19:01,673
and awaiting me was a

590
00:19:01,673 --> 00:19:04,443
menacing forest. In fact, one

591
00:19:04,443 --> 00:19:07,713
pilot had been impaled on a tree

592
00:19:07,713 --> 00:19:09,147
limb in the area of his

593
00:19:09,147 --> 00:19:11,016
testicles, landing in that

594
00:19:11,016 --> 00:19:13,519
forest. The parachute is not

595
00:19:13,519 --> 00:19:14,853
like what you see in the movies

596
00:19:14,853 --> 00:19:15,888
where they guide it around.

597
00:19:15,888 --> 00:19:17,789
The parachute is stable. It's

598
00:19:17,789 --> 00:19:19,224
literally like riding the

599
00:19:19,224 --> 00:19:20,492
elevator down, you're just along

600
00:19:20,492 --> 00:19:22,361
for the ride. You can not steer

601
00:19:22,361 --> 00:19:24,897
it. Yet, I needed to find an

602
00:19:24,897 --> 00:19:26,498
open spot, there were a few, in

603
00:19:26,498 --> 00:19:28,567
the trees, to land safely.

604
00:19:28,567 --> 00:19:29,801
We were taught in a

605
00:19:29,801 --> 00:19:31,537
lecture in survival school

606
00:19:32,037 --> 00:19:34,072
that if you take the little hook

607
00:19:34,072 --> 00:19:35,140
shaped knife,

608
00:19:35,140 --> 00:19:37,075
which you have in a pocket, and

609
00:19:37,075 --> 00:19:38,810
you reach back here and you cut

610
00:19:38,810 --> 00:19:41,013
these risers, and you cut these

611
00:19:41,013 --> 00:19:43,048
risers, one of your panels will

612
00:19:43,048 --> 00:19:44,716
blow, and you'll get a little

613
00:19:44,716 --> 00:19:45,984
bit of momentum, and you can

614
00:19:45,984 --> 00:19:47,519
steer the shoot modestly.

615
00:19:47,719 --> 00:19:49,421
I’m hanging in the chute.

616
00:19:49,855 --> 00:19:50,589
I look down at

617
00:19:50,589 --> 00:19:51,890
that menacing forest.

618
00:19:53,525 --> 00:19:55,327
I take the knife, and I

619
00:19:55,327 --> 00:19:56,094
cut the risers.

620
00:19:56,228 --> 00:19:57,429
With the risers cut,

621
00:19:57,429 --> 00:19:58,730
I now had a little

622
00:19:58,730 --> 00:20:00,032
bit of steerage and I was able

623
00:20:00,032 --> 00:20:01,366
to find a spot in the forest

624
00:20:01,366 --> 00:20:03,669
and basically land on my feet,

625
00:20:03,669 --> 00:20:04,770
uneventfully.

626
00:20:04,937 --> 00:20:06,071
So now I’m on the ground,

627
00:20:06,405 --> 00:20:07,606
the other members of the flight

628
00:20:07,606 --> 00:20:08,840
had aborted their mission and

629
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:10,042
they were now directing a

630
00:20:11,043 --> 00:20:12,945
a helicopter from Thailand to

631
00:20:12,945 --> 00:20:14,713
come and pick me up.

632
00:20:14,713 --> 00:20:16,548
But they got low on fuel

633
00:20:16,548 --> 00:20:18,350
and so the Dodge leader said,

634
00:20:18,350 --> 00:20:20,118
we're Bingo fuel, we're out of

635
00:20:20,118 --> 00:20:21,954
here, but you're golden.

636
00:20:21,954 --> 00:20:23,689
The helicopter is inbound,

637
00:20:24,356 --> 00:20:25,591
and he's reading your emergency

638
00:20:25,591 --> 00:20:26,925
beacon from the little hand

639
00:20:26,925 --> 00:20:28,727
radio, so you're okay buddy, see

640
00:20:28,727 --> 00:20:30,796
ya. So great news, the chopper

641
00:20:30,796 --> 00:20:32,197
is inbound, he's reading my

642
00:20:32,197 --> 00:20:33,565
emergency beacon, but what

643
00:20:33,565 --> 00:20:34,933
the heck. I thought I would have

644
00:20:34,933 --> 00:20:37,235
a little fun. In the survival

645
00:20:37,235 --> 00:20:40,606
vest, we had smoke bombs, we

646
00:20:40,606 --> 00:20:42,441
had roman candle kind of flares.

647
00:20:42,441 --> 00:20:44,276
So just for fun, I shot all this

648
00:20:44,276 --> 00:20:46,912
stuff off. Big orange smoke

649
00:20:46,912 --> 00:20:48,814
bloom, whatever, the helicopter

650
00:20:48,814 --> 00:20:51,249
came in, he landed, I jumped in

651
00:20:51,249 --> 00:20:53,819
we shuttered, we took off.

652
00:20:55,253 --> 00:20:57,823
I learned later, he'd had radio

653
00:20:57,823 --> 00:20:59,324
failure. He couldn’t find me.

654
00:20:59,324 --> 00:21:00,959
And the only way he found me was

655
00:21:00,959 --> 00:21:02,594
that little Fourth of July

656
00:21:02,594 --> 00:21:04,129
display I was putting on down

657
00:21:04,129 --> 00:21:05,664
there. So we landed back at

658
00:21:05,664 --> 00:21:06,832
Naked Fanny,

659
00:21:06,832 --> 00:21:08,166
Nakhon Phanom, which we had a

660
00:21:08,166 --> 00:21:09,501
hard time pronouncing, we called

661
00:21:09,501 --> 00:21:10,836
it Naked Fanny.

662
00:21:10,836 --> 00:21:12,104
I was rushed off the meet some

663
00:21:12,104 --> 00:21:13,839
General, and then after I got

664
00:21:13,839 --> 00:21:15,674
released, I didn't get a chance

665
00:21:15,674 --> 00:21:17,609
to thank the helicopter crew.

666
00:21:18,644 --> 00:21:20,579
There were 183,000

667
00:21:21,613 --> 00:21:23,515
aerial refueling in the

668
00:21:23,515 --> 00:21:26,351
Vietnam war. I was the only guy

669
00:21:26,351 --> 00:21:28,253
that blew up on a tanker.

670
00:21:28,587 --> 00:21:30,188
So now I'm a TWA copilot.

671
00:21:30,188 --> 00:21:31,490
We're on a layover in

672
00:21:31,490 --> 00:21:33,191
Philadelphia. I'm having

673
00:21:33,191 --> 00:21:34,760
breakfast with the flight

674
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,328
engineer, who I didn’t have a

675
00:21:36,328 --> 00:21:38,997
a chance to talk to earlier in

676
00:21:38,997 --> 00:21:41,800
the day, and he asked me, "What

677
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:42,768
did you fly in the Air Force,"

678
00:21:42,768 --> 00:21:45,971
and I told him, "Thuds." He

679
00:21:45,971 --> 00:21:47,506
said, "You flew Thuds?" He said,

680
00:21:47,506 --> 00:21:48,807
"I was a helicopter pilot."

681
00:21:49,941 --> 00:21:53,045
I rescued five Thud pilots

682
00:21:54,379 --> 00:21:55,847
He said, "There was this one

683
00:21:55,847 --> 00:21:57,783
crazy guy that blew up on a

684
00:21:57,783 --> 00:21:58,817
tanker one second before it

685
00:21:58,817 --> 00:22:00,152
exploded.

686
00:22:03,021 --> 00:22:04,189
This was Bill Worstrum,

687
00:22:04,189 --> 00:22:06,291
the pilot that rescued me.

688
00:22:08,860 --> 00:22:11,129
Air refueling was an integral

689
00:22:11,129 --> 00:22:13,365
part of the missions up north.

690
00:22:13,365 --> 00:22:15,667
The KC-135 crews were

691
00:22:15,667 --> 00:22:17,536
indispensable to the Thud, and

692
00:22:17,536 --> 00:22:20,005
on many occasions enabled pilots

693
00:22:20,005 --> 00:22:21,807
to return home safely.

694
00:22:22,207 --> 00:22:23,642
Due to the fortified air

695
00:22:23,642 --> 00:22:25,010
defenses within North Vietnam,

696
00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:28,480
KC-135's would have to

697
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,315
penetrate into North Vietnamese

698
00:22:30,315 --> 00:22:32,317
air space to rescue Thuds short

699
00:22:32,317 --> 00:22:34,386
on fuel or suffering from

700
00:22:34,386 --> 00:22:35,487
battle damage.

701
00:22:36,021 --> 00:22:36,988
Technology was changing

702
00:22:36,988 --> 00:22:38,890
aerial warfare.

703
00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:40,892
radar controlled antiaircraft

704
00:22:40,892 --> 00:22:43,762
artillery, new MiG fighters, and

705
00:22:43,762 --> 00:22:45,197
Surfaced Air Missiles

706
00:22:45,197 --> 00:22:46,932
known as SAMs made it lethal.

707
00:22:46,932 --> 00:22:50,068
Soviet Union and China ensured

708
00:22:50,068 --> 00:22:51,670
the North Vietnamese had one of

709
00:22:51,670 --> 00:22:53,438
the most sophisticated

710
00:22:53,438 --> 00:22:54,706
air defense systems

711
00:22:54,706 --> 00:22:56,875
possible in the world. It was

712
00:22:56,875 --> 00:22:59,177
effective. North Vietnam shot

713
00:22:59,177 --> 00:23:01,847
down over 2500 U.S. aircraft

714
00:23:01,847 --> 00:23:04,449
On April 4th, 1965,

715
00:23:04,449 --> 00:23:06,351
the first Thud pilots of the war

716
00:23:06,351 --> 00:23:08,019
were killed in action at the

717
00:23:08,019 --> 00:23:10,388
vital target Thanh Hóa Bridge,

718
00:23:10,388 --> 00:23:12,224
known as Dragon’s Jaw.

719
00:23:12,224 --> 00:23:14,092
The road and rail bridge was

720
00:23:14,092 --> 00:23:15,861
a strategic passage for supplies

721
00:23:15,861 --> 00:23:17,529
and reinforcement for the

722
00:23:17,529 --> 00:23:18,697
Viet Kong.

723
00:23:18,797 --> 00:23:20,732
Losing three aircraft at

724
00:23:20,732 --> 00:23:21,933
Dragons Jaw

725
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:23,902
was an ominous indication

726
00:23:23,902 --> 00:23:25,737
to what lay ahead for the Thud

727
00:23:25,737 --> 00:23:27,739
pilots. It was clear it was

728
00:23:27,739 --> 00:23:29,074
going to be politically fought.

729
00:23:29,274 --> 00:23:30,709
The first Thud pilots

730
00:23:30,709 --> 00:23:32,644
killed in action were a result

731
00:23:32,644 --> 00:23:34,746
of MiG's and lay at the feet of

732
00:23:34,746 --> 00:23:36,314
Washington's nonsensical

733
00:23:36,314 --> 00:23:37,983
policies, which gave

734
00:23:37,983 --> 00:23:39,951
the MiG's free reign.

735
00:23:40,152 --> 00:23:41,486
Their irrational and downright

736
00:23:41,486 --> 00:23:43,789
dangerous orders, that all air

737
00:23:43,789 --> 00:23:46,124
bases were prohibited targets,

738
00:23:46,124 --> 00:23:47,893
meant the MiG's could only

739
00:23:47,893 --> 00:23:49,928
be destroyed in the air.

740
00:23:49,928 --> 00:23:50,796
News Reporter- They're saying

741
00:23:50,796 --> 00:23:52,330
our failure to bomb the North

742
00:23:52,330 --> 00:23:53,665
Vietnamese airfields

743
00:23:53,665 --> 00:23:55,066
are costing you hundreds of

744
00:23:55,066 --> 00:23:56,902
planes and hundreds of airmen

745
00:23:57,636 --> 00:23:59,104
It’s based on our desire to

746
00:23:59,104 --> 00:24:01,006
avoid widening the war.

747
00:24:01,606 --> 00:24:04,342
We seek to obtain our political

748
00:24:04,342 --> 00:24:05,310
objective, which is a very

749
00:24:05,310 --> 00:24:06,411
limited objective,

750
00:24:08,346 --> 00:24:09,948
the smallest possible cost of

751
00:24:09,948 --> 00:24:11,149
American lives.

752
00:24:11,516 --> 00:24:13,151
We think the present tactics

753
00:24:14,252 --> 00:24:15,854
are best suited

754
00:24:16,321 --> 00:24:18,423
to those two objectives.

755
00:24:18,423 --> 00:24:20,358
It quickly became evident

756
00:24:20,358 --> 00:24:21,827
American airmen would be nothing

757
00:24:21,827 --> 00:24:23,461
more than sacrificial

758
00:24:23,461 --> 00:24:25,697
pawns in a massive political

759
00:24:25,697 --> 00:24:27,833
chess game between the U.S. and

760
00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:29,534
two Communist super powers.

761
00:24:30,001 --> 00:24:31,603
Crucial targets that would have

762
00:24:31,603 --> 00:24:34,005
ceased North Vietnam's ability

763
00:24:34,005 --> 00:24:35,974
to wage war were deemed off

764
00:24:35,974 --> 00:24:38,143
limits by then Secretary of

765
00:24:38,143 --> 00:24:39,878
Defense Robert McNamara.

766
00:24:39,945 --> 00:24:41,813
McNamara exacerbated the

767
00:24:41,813 --> 00:24:43,682
situation even further when he

768
00:24:43,682 --> 00:24:45,617
began to identify areas

769
00:24:45,617 --> 00:24:48,353
by 10 and 30 mile circles of

770
00:24:48,353 --> 00:24:50,622
prohibited and restricted areas

771
00:24:50,622 --> 00:24:51,890
of operations.

772
00:24:51,990 --> 00:24:54,292
North Vietnamese used the rings

773
00:24:54,292 --> 00:24:56,361
as sanctuary. Placing deadly

774
00:24:56,361 --> 00:24:58,463
antiaircraft weapons to shoot

775
00:24:58,463 --> 00:25:00,165
down Americans right within

776
00:25:00,165 --> 00:25:01,633
the edge of the circles.

777
00:25:01,633 --> 00:25:03,235
There were so many things at the

778
00:25:03,235 --> 00:25:05,537
ROE in that show that made

779
00:25:05,537 --> 00:25:07,539
absolutely no sense.

780
00:25:07,539 --> 00:25:09,040
And the guy that invented that

781
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:10,575
POD formation should be

782
00:25:10,575 --> 00:25:12,811
executed. The idea of

783
00:25:12,811 --> 00:25:15,413
putting 16 airplanes together

784
00:25:15,413 --> 00:25:18,049
and then slowly trolling across

785
00:25:18,049 --> 00:25:19,985
at 18,000 feet

786
00:25:20,552 --> 00:25:22,187
with all kinds of stuff

787
00:25:22,187 --> 00:25:22,821
shooting at you,

788
00:25:22,821 --> 00:25:23,688
MiGs coming through

789
00:25:23,688 --> 00:25:24,723
missiles going through

790
00:25:24,723 --> 00:25:25,557
the formation,

791
00:25:25,557 --> 00:25:26,825
and you had to sit there.

792
00:25:27,192 --> 00:25:28,860
But I remember trying to change

793
00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:29,895
the tactics.

794
00:25:30,729 --> 00:25:32,364
I was a Captain and the Colonel

795
00:25:32,364 --> 00:25:33,598
said, "You're crazy. These

796
00:25:33,598 --> 00:25:34,833
tactics were written in blood

797
00:25:34,833 --> 00:25:36,034
and we're not changing them."

798
00:25:36,601 --> 00:25:37,602
So we go in and right

799
00:25:37,602 --> 00:25:39,371
away MiG 21's come out of the

800
00:25:39,371 --> 00:25:40,705
Chinese buffer zone,

801
00:25:41,006 --> 00:25:42,540
nail one of the F-4s,

802
00:25:42,540 --> 00:25:44,009
blow into our formation,

803
00:25:44,009 --> 00:25:46,878
nail one of the CBU carriers,

804
00:25:46,878 --> 00:25:48,747
the other guys dump CBUs

805
00:25:49,214 --> 00:25:50,949
the Weasels under the flight, he

806
00:25:50,949 --> 00:25:53,285
gets hit by a CBU and kills the

807
00:25:53,285 --> 00:25:54,519
guy in the back seat.

808
00:25:55,020 --> 00:25:56,421
Only two of us made it to

809
00:25:56,421 --> 00:25:58,356
the target. And it was the new

810
00:25:58,356 --> 00:25:59,858
Wing Commander, the other two

811
00:25:59,858 --> 00:26:00,892
had been shot down.

812
00:26:01,426 --> 00:26:03,261
And I don't know what

813
00:26:03,261 --> 00:26:04,629
happened to him on the mission

814
00:26:04,629 --> 00:26:06,064
but, a week later he died of a

815
00:26:06,064 --> 00:26:06,932
heart attack.

816
00:26:07,098 --> 00:26:09,467
So it was just a bad idea,

817
00:26:09,467 --> 00:26:10,702
But the idea that you got a

818
00:26:10,702 --> 00:26:12,637
spot you can't go into then you

819
00:26:12,637 --> 00:26:14,072
got targets you can’t hit,

820
00:26:14,072 --> 00:26:15,373
even though you see guys coming

821
00:26:15,373 --> 00:26:16,608
up to get you.

822
00:26:16,741 --> 00:26:17,976
The whole thing was a mess.

823
00:26:17,976 --> 00:26:19,277
I guess the thing that's

824
00:26:19,277 --> 00:26:21,079
the scariest, it was one of

825
00:26:21,079 --> 00:26:22,714
those stupid missions.

826
00:26:23,748 --> 00:26:25,483
We're passing Gia Lam Airfield

827
00:26:25,483 --> 00:26:26,117
going to the

828
00:26:26,117 --> 00:26:27,619
Halong Bay storage area

829
00:26:27,752 --> 00:26:29,421
all the way across the delta

830
00:26:30,822 --> 00:26:32,924
and the missiles are just...

831
00:26:32,924 --> 00:26:33,992
there must have been a dozen in

832
00:26:33,992 --> 00:26:35,126
the air, they're just blowing

833
00:26:35,126 --> 00:26:36,127
through the formation

834
00:26:36,127 --> 00:26:36,728
right and left.

835
00:26:37,429 --> 00:26:38,830
I'm number four in the lead

836
00:26:38,830 --> 00:26:41,132
flight, so I'm stacked high

837
00:26:41,132 --> 00:26:42,133
and number two

838
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:43,234
on the second flight

839
00:26:44,169 --> 00:26:45,603
is next to me, and he keeps

840
00:26:45,603 --> 00:26:47,238
moving in. I'm watching him,

841
00:26:47,238 --> 00:26:47,973
I'm watching him.

842
00:26:48,073 --> 00:26:49,341
But I'm also looking down at the

843
00:26:49,341 --> 00:26:50,742
ground and there's a gun site.

844
00:26:50,742 --> 00:26:52,344
It looked like a ring of fire.

845
00:26:52,344 --> 00:26:53,678
Every time that thing fired,

846
00:26:53,912 --> 00:26:55,246
there was a big ring of fire

847
00:26:55,246 --> 00:26:56,348
on the ground and there would be

848
00:26:56,348 --> 00:26:57,615
a delay, then all explosions in

849
00:26:57,615 --> 00:26:58,750
the formation,

850
00:26:58,750 --> 00:27:00,118
I thought, I'm getting that guy

851
00:27:00,118 --> 00:27:01,152
on the way out.

852
00:27:01,820 --> 00:27:03,355
So about that time, I'm watching

853
00:27:03,355 --> 00:27:04,589
this missile come up at

854
00:27:04,589 --> 00:27:05,623
10 o'clock and I think, uh-oh

855
00:27:05,623 --> 00:27:06,758
that looks like me.

856
00:27:07,258 --> 00:27:08,360
So I pushed over,

857
00:27:09,327 --> 00:27:11,463
I went down maybe 1000 feet, and

858
00:27:11,463 --> 00:27:12,964
it didn’t change. So I pull back

859
00:27:12,964 --> 00:27:14,265
in formation and it's still

860
00:27:14,265 --> 00:27:15,967
coming. But as it went under, I

861
00:27:15,967 --> 00:27:17,369
rolled and it went under me

862
00:27:17,369 --> 00:27:18,536
and when I rolled back it hit

863
00:27:18,536 --> 00:27:19,704
the guy next to me.

864
00:27:20,605 --> 00:27:22,040
And it was an enormous

865
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:22,774
fire ball

866
00:27:22,774 --> 00:27:24,042
Bigger than the airplane

867
00:27:24,042 --> 00:27:25,043
and I thought, wow, I didn't

868
00:27:25,043 --> 00:27:26,144
know it would be that big.

869
00:27:26,277 --> 00:27:27,679
But pretty soon the airplane

870
00:27:27,679 --> 00:27:29,014
comes out still looking like a

871
00:27:29,014 --> 00:27:30,782
105. The wings are still on it

872
00:27:31,316 --> 00:27:32,784
But pretty soon the nose

873
00:27:32,784 --> 00:27:34,786
dropped, and he was gone.

874
00:27:34,786 --> 00:27:35,787
And it was interesting,

875
00:27:35,787 --> 00:27:36,621
he was one of those

876
00:27:36,621 --> 00:27:37,989
there were a few guys like this,

877
00:27:38,556 --> 00:27:39,958
that knew they were gonna die.

878
00:27:40,191 --> 00:27:41,126
Just scared to death,

879
00:27:41,126 --> 00:27:41,960
but they went.

880
00:27:42,227 --> 00:27:43,628
They gritted their teeth,

881
00:27:43,628 --> 00:27:44,863
they stepped to that airplane,

882
00:27:45,163 --> 00:27:46,564
and this guy was one.

883
00:27:46,564 --> 00:27:47,999
He knew he was gonna die

884
00:27:47,999 --> 00:27:49,200
and that was the day he died.

885
00:27:49,334 --> 00:27:50,035
So anyhow,

886
00:27:50,835 --> 00:27:52,037
that mission I always

887
00:27:52,037 --> 00:27:53,705
used 60 degree dive

888
00:27:54,506 --> 00:27:57,842
and I’d release at Mach 1 and

889
00:27:57,909 --> 00:27:58,810
6000 feet.

890
00:27:59,644 --> 00:28:00,745
And then full back stick.

891
00:28:01,246 --> 00:28:02,680
And I figured dropping

892
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:03,848
at Mach 1, the bombs would be

893
00:28:03,848 --> 00:28:05,250
subsonic, by the time they got

894
00:28:05,250 --> 00:28:05,984
to the ground,

895
00:28:06,151 --> 00:28:07,419
the guide said they might not go

896
00:28:07,419 --> 00:28:08,720
off, if they were supersonic.

897
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:10,088
So I didn't know.

898
00:28:10,355 --> 00:28:11,756
So I'm full back stick and I can

899
00:28:11,756 --> 00:28:13,658
see the wings curl way up on the

900
00:28:13,658 --> 00:28:15,093
airplane. And I say, well

901
00:28:15,093 --> 00:28:15,827
I’m sure it wasn't oh,

902
00:28:15,827 --> 00:28:17,495
it was as hard as I could pull,

903
00:28:18,596 --> 00:28:20,498
And then a couple jinks

904
00:28:20,498 --> 00:28:21,166
score the bombs,

905
00:28:21,599 --> 00:28:22,934
now I lowered the nose

906
00:28:22,934 --> 00:28:24,335
and lit the wick and

907
00:28:24,602 --> 00:28:26,571
I'm at one point two six.

908
00:28:26,571 --> 00:28:28,006
And I'm headed for Gia Lam

909
00:28:28,006 --> 00:28:29,040
Airfield cause I know what

910
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:29,874
I want to do.

911
00:28:30,375 --> 00:28:31,776
I got the gun armed,

912
00:28:32,177 --> 00:28:33,445
site’s all set

913
00:28:33,711 --> 00:28:35,346
and it was on the

914
00:28:35,346 --> 00:28:36,614
east side of Gia Lam,

915
00:28:36,614 --> 00:28:38,550
so I rolled over, pulled in,

916
00:28:38,550 --> 00:28:40,085
max power. I must have been

917
00:28:40,085 --> 00:28:42,287
one point two, one point three.

918
00:28:42,287 --> 00:28:43,888
And I'm gonna empty the gun. Now

919
00:28:43,888 --> 00:28:45,223
I know they said don't fire for

920
00:28:45,223 --> 00:28:46,458
600, but I figured, if I fired

921
00:28:46,458 --> 00:28:47,692
them all, what could happen.

922
00:28:49,060 --> 00:28:50,428
So I'm laying on the trigger,

923
00:28:50,428 --> 00:28:51,896
and it just, imagine this,

924
00:28:51,896 --> 00:28:53,398
full power, burner going

925
00:28:53,398 --> 00:28:54,899
everything's roaring, the guns

926
00:28:54,899 --> 00:28:56,734
barking out 100 rounds a second,

927
00:28:56,734 --> 00:28:58,636
and suddenly there is this

928
00:28:58,636 --> 00:29:00,939
absolutely enormous explosion.

929
00:29:01,439 --> 00:29:03,208
All the panel lights up, the

930
00:29:03,208 --> 00:29:05,043
nose pitches way up and hard

931
00:29:05,043 --> 00:29:05,777
left.

932
00:29:06,244 --> 00:29:07,278
And that was probably just me

933
00:29:07,278 --> 00:29:08,546
jerking on the stick.

934
00:29:09,247 --> 00:29:11,082
Unfortunately this is when I got

935
00:29:11,082 --> 00:29:12,450
on the radio and said I'm hit.

936
00:29:13,118 --> 00:29:14,452
And I shouldn't had said a

937
00:29:14,452 --> 00:29:14,986
thing

938
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:16,654
because now I'm

939
00:29:16,654 --> 00:29:18,123
coming around, I'm over Hanoi

940
00:29:18,123 --> 00:29:19,224
thinking, I've got a crippled

941
00:29:19,224 --> 00:29:19,724
bird,

942
00:29:20,325 --> 00:29:21,593
but the air turbine motor

943
00:29:22,093 --> 00:29:22,894
restarts.

944
00:29:23,394 --> 00:29:24,262
I'm going, wow.

945
00:29:24,729 --> 00:29:27,432
So, the generator restarts.

946
00:29:27,966 --> 00:29:29,501
Pretty soon everything's back

947
00:29:29,501 --> 00:29:30,969
on, I'm back in burner,

948
00:29:30,969 --> 00:29:32,137
lowered the nose, kicked it up

949
00:29:32,137 --> 00:29:33,338
to Mach 1 I’m headed out.

950
00:29:33,738 --> 00:29:34,839
And I get on the tanker,

951
00:29:34,839 --> 00:29:35,974
the other guys say,

952
00:29:35,974 --> 00:29:37,175
"what are you doing here?

953
00:29:37,342 --> 00:29:38,243
laughing

954
00:29:38,409 --> 00:29:39,244
I said I don't want

955
00:29:39,244 --> 00:29:39,944
to talk about it.

956
00:29:40,011 --> 00:29:41,079
laughing

957
00:29:41,346 --> 00:29:43,114
The Rolling Thunder campaign now

958
00:29:43,114 --> 00:29:45,650
in it's second year had reached

959
00:29:45,650 --> 00:29:46,784
a new phase.

960
00:29:47,085 --> 00:29:49,754
In 1966, with no hint of

961
00:29:49,754 --> 00:29:51,089
diplomatic progress,

962
00:29:51,089 --> 00:29:52,924
President Johnson began to take

963
00:29:52,924 --> 00:29:54,592
the gloves off. The first

964
00:29:54,592 --> 00:29:56,861
petroleum oil and lubrication

965
00:29:56,861 --> 00:29:58,596
storage site four miles

966
00:29:58,596 --> 00:30:00,098
from Hanoi was cleared to

967
00:30:00,098 --> 00:30:01,766
strike. Thud losses continued to

968
00:30:01,766 --> 00:30:03,434
mount to levels where

969
00:30:03,434 --> 00:30:05,336
pilots began to wonder if they

970
00:30:05,336 --> 00:30:06,671
were strapping into their

971
00:30:06,671 --> 00:30:07,505
cockpit

972
00:30:08,006 --> 00:30:09,274
or their coffin.

973
00:30:09,274 --> 00:30:11,442
Over 100 Thud Pilots would spend

974
00:30:11,442 --> 00:30:13,678
close to seven years in

975
00:30:14,112 --> 00:30:16,147
nocuous Vietnamese prisons.

976
00:30:16,147 --> 00:30:18,049
My name is Murphy Neil Jones.

977
00:30:18,049 --> 00:30:19,984
I'm retired Air Force Colonel.

978
00:30:19,984 --> 00:30:22,153
In 1966, I volunteered

979
00:30:22,153 --> 00:30:26,824
to go back TDY and finish up my

980
00:30:26,824 --> 00:30:28,026
100 missions,

981
00:30:28,860 --> 00:30:32,697
and on June 29th, 1966, I was

982
00:30:32,697 --> 00:30:35,500
one of the handful of us that

983
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:37,702
were selected to hit Hanoi for

984
00:30:37,702 --> 00:30:39,003
the first time and we had

985
00:30:39,003 --> 00:30:40,905
bombed all over North Vietnam

986
00:30:40,905 --> 00:30:42,507
for all those years, but

987
00:30:42,507 --> 00:30:43,675
on this particular day,

988
00:30:43,675 --> 00:30:45,543
President Johnson had personally

989
00:30:45,543 --> 00:30:48,012
approved an attack within the

990
00:30:48,012 --> 00:30:50,048
30 mile radius of Hanoi, and

991
00:30:50,048 --> 00:30:51,549
our target that day was the

992
00:30:51,549 --> 00:30:52,584
Hanoi POL.

993
00:30:52,584 --> 00:30:54,752
There were 24 F-105s taking part

994
00:30:54,752 --> 00:30:56,254
in this raid. I happened to be

995
00:30:56,254 --> 00:30:58,556
in the last flight, flying the

996
00:30:58,556 --> 00:31:00,358
number two position that day and

997
00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:01,025
we were carrying eight

998
00:31:01,025 --> 00:31:02,560
750 pound bombs.

999
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,662
When we crossed into

1000
00:31:04,662 --> 00:31:06,664
North Vietnam from Laos in the

1001
00:31:06,664 --> 00:31:08,900
last 50 miles in, it was nothing

1002
00:31:08,900 --> 00:31:10,835
but anti aircraft fire and

1003
00:31:10,835 --> 00:31:12,570
suddenly I took a direct hit

1004
00:31:12,570 --> 00:31:14,205
just in front of the cockpit.

1005
00:31:14,205 --> 00:31:15,707
I was in a slight right bank and

1006
00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:17,942
the round hit just under my feet

1007
00:31:17,942 --> 00:31:20,044
coming up into the cockpit.

1008
00:31:20,044 --> 00:31:21,446
The whole bottom of the airplane

1009
00:31:21,446 --> 00:31:23,081
disappeared and I squeezed the

1010
00:31:23,081 --> 00:31:24,082
triggers and went through the

1011
00:31:24,082 --> 00:31:25,283
canopy, parachute opened.

1012
00:31:25,617 --> 00:31:26,618
I never swung.

1013
00:31:26,618 --> 00:31:28,720
I hit the ground and about 100

1014
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:30,421
yards away were about 30

1015
00:31:30,421 --> 00:31:31,623
North Vietnamese soldiers with

1016
00:31:31,623 --> 00:31:33,591
AK-47s running toward me.

1017
00:31:33,758 --> 00:31:36,761
Pull my trusty 45 automatic that

1018
00:31:36,761 --> 00:31:38,529
I had on my right hip and

1019
00:31:38,529 --> 00:31:39,631
looked down to my left side and

1020
00:31:39,631 --> 00:31:41,366
my arm was completely broken

1021
00:31:41,366 --> 00:31:42,700
about three inches below the

1022
00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:43,468
the shoulder.

1023
00:31:43,735 --> 00:31:45,803
Shoulder was dislocated and I

1024
00:31:45,803 --> 00:31:48,039
cocked it leveled down on him

1025
00:31:48,039 --> 00:31:49,874
and when I did that, they all

1026
00:31:49,874 --> 00:31:51,709
dropped on the ground and level

1027
00:31:51,709 --> 00:31:53,578
their AKs towards me

1028
00:31:53,778 --> 00:31:54,712
and I guess at that point I

1029
00:31:54,712 --> 00:31:56,147
decided that I wasn't John Wayne

1030
00:31:56,281 --> 00:31:57,915
Raised my hand over my head of

1031
00:31:57,915 --> 00:31:58,549
course couldn't raise

1032
00:31:58,549 --> 00:31:59,284
the left one.

1033
00:31:59,450 --> 00:32:00,618
One of the other soldiers came

1034
00:32:00,618 --> 00:32:01,886
running up and grabbed the

1035
00:32:01,886 --> 00:32:03,154
left arm and he put it in a

1036
00:32:03,154 --> 00:32:03,755
hammerlock.

1037
00:32:03,788 --> 00:32:04,989
I'm a big guy and I was in

1038
00:32:04,989 --> 00:32:06,324
a lot better shape back in those

1039
00:32:06,324 --> 00:32:08,159
days, having played football,

1040
00:32:08,159 --> 00:32:09,994
played center and linebacker

1041
00:32:10,295 --> 00:32:11,129
at Tulane.

1042
00:32:11,296 --> 00:32:12,997
And I hit this guy harder than

1043
00:32:12,997 --> 00:32:14,899
I've ever hit anybody in my life

1044
00:32:14,899 --> 00:32:16,834
and I shattered his face.

1045
00:32:16,968 --> 00:32:18,469
They put a rope around my neck.

1046
00:32:18,469 --> 00:32:19,504
They stripped me of all my

1047
00:32:19,504 --> 00:32:20,972
clothes, left me standing in a

1048
00:32:20,972 --> 00:32:22,840
pair of white under shorts and a

1049
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:24,309
white tee shirt. Nobody spoke

1050
00:32:24,309 --> 00:32:24,776
English.

1051
00:32:25,176 --> 00:32:25,843
As it turned out,

1052
00:32:25,843 --> 00:32:27,412
I had six broken vertebra,

1053
00:32:27,412 --> 00:32:29,013
both my ACLs and my knees

1054
00:32:29,013 --> 00:32:30,248
were knees were torn,

1055
00:32:30,248 --> 00:32:31,482
shrapnel on both legs,

1056
00:32:31,482 --> 00:32:32,517
dislocated shoulder with a

1057
00:32:32,517 --> 00:32:33,318
broken arm

1058
00:32:33,318 --> 00:32:34,819
and lots of cuts and bruises.

1059
00:32:35,153 --> 00:32:36,321
That time I said,

1060
00:32:36,321 --> 00:32:37,922
"I'm badly injured." He said

1061
00:32:37,922 --> 00:32:39,324
later, "What is your name?"

1062
00:32:39,324 --> 00:32:40,491
I gave that to him.

1063
00:32:41,159 --> 00:32:42,460
He said, "What is your rank?"

1064
00:32:42,827 --> 00:32:44,095
I said, "Captain."

1065
00:32:44,762 --> 00:32:45,797
Then he said, "What bases did

1066
00:32:45,797 --> 00:32:46,664
you take off from?"

1067
00:32:46,864 --> 00:32:48,199
I said, "I can't tell you that.

1068
00:32:48,433 --> 00:32:49,801
I can only give you my name,

1069
00:32:49,801 --> 00:32:50,802
rank, serial number, date of

1070
00:32:50,802 --> 00:32:51,336
birth"

1071
00:32:51,502 --> 00:32:52,704
And they grabbed the broken arm

1072
00:32:52,770 --> 00:32:53,971
dragged me out in the middle

1073
00:32:53,971 --> 00:32:55,540
of the floor and when

1074
00:32:55,540 --> 00:32:57,008
they did that, they least

1075
00:32:57,008 --> 00:32:58,543
relocated the shoulder

1076
00:32:58,543 --> 00:33:00,178
put the arm in a hammerlock,

1077
00:33:00,178 --> 00:33:01,212
tied my ankles

1078
00:33:01,346 --> 00:33:02,880
tightly with ropes,

1079
00:33:03,147 --> 00:33:04,549
put my arms behind my back

1080
00:33:04,549 --> 00:33:05,717
tied the wrists very tight

1081
00:33:05,883 --> 00:33:06,517
with ropes.

1082
00:33:06,818 --> 00:33:08,319
Then pull the elbows together

1083
00:33:08,319 --> 00:33:10,688
and tied at the elbows till

1084
00:33:10,688 --> 00:33:11,856
the elbows till touching

1085
00:33:12,523 --> 00:33:14,292
and then they put another rope

1086
00:33:14,292 --> 00:33:15,693
but from the ankles up to the

1087
00:33:15,693 --> 00:33:17,628
rope that was around the elbows

1088
00:33:17,829 --> 00:33:19,230
and pull me up backwards,

1089
00:33:19,964 --> 00:33:21,699
and they started kicking

1090
00:33:21,699 --> 00:33:22,300
and beating.

1091
00:33:23,634 --> 00:33:24,569
This went on,

1092
00:33:24,736 --> 00:33:26,537
I'm guessing two or three hours.

1093
00:33:27,038 --> 00:33:28,573
They untied my arms,

1094
00:33:28,973 --> 00:33:30,375
led me outside with a rope

1095
00:33:30,375 --> 00:33:31,075
around my neck

1096
00:33:31,642 --> 00:33:32,910
made me kneel on

1097
00:33:32,910 --> 00:33:33,878
the ground.

1098
00:33:34,579 --> 00:33:36,047
One of the soldiers walked up

1099
00:33:36,047 --> 00:33:38,182
behind me and he stuck his rifle

1100
00:33:38,182 --> 00:33:38,883
to the back of our head,

1101
00:33:39,050 --> 00:33:40,318
stood there a couple seconds

1102
00:33:40,318 --> 00:33:41,486
and pulled the trigger

1103
00:33:41,486 --> 00:33:42,553
on the empty chamber,

1104
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:44,155
now what do you think when

1105
00:33:44,155 --> 00:33:45,490
you think you're going to die?

1106
00:33:45,490 --> 00:33:46,357
I really didn't care

1107
00:33:46,357 --> 00:33:47,325
at that point.

1108
00:33:47,825 --> 00:33:49,160
I was hurting so bad.

1109
00:33:49,227 --> 00:33:51,062
This is over about five hours

1110
00:33:51,396 --> 00:33:52,730
And then I said, "You know

1111
00:33:52,930 --> 00:33:53,331
yeah

1112
00:33:53,698 --> 00:33:54,766
they're not going to kill me?"

1113
00:33:55,500 --> 00:33:56,934
But when I heard the click,

1114
00:33:57,001 --> 00:33:58,536
the funniest thought went in my

1115
00:33:59,170 --> 00:34:01,172
went through my mind. I said,

1116
00:34:01,406 --> 00:34:02,940
"damn, that's a slow bullet."

1117
00:34:03,541 --> 00:34:04,942
I didn't know whether I was dead

1118
00:34:04,942 --> 00:34:06,010
or just waiting for

1119
00:34:06,010 --> 00:34:07,412
something to to feel.

1120
00:34:08,179 --> 00:34:09,847
And then three photographers

1121
00:34:09,847 --> 00:34:10,615
came out of the building,

1122
00:34:10,615 --> 00:34:11,716
took some pictures and

1123
00:34:11,716 --> 00:34:13,184
movies of me there,

1124
00:34:13,251 --> 00:34:14,719
took me back inside afterwards

1125
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:16,587
retied the arms, the same way,

1126
00:34:16,587 --> 00:34:19,791
retied or put a blindfold on me

1127
00:34:19,791 --> 00:34:21,192
this time they swung me

1128
00:34:21,192 --> 00:34:22,927
up into the back of the truck.

1129
00:34:22,927 --> 00:34:24,429
I really hurt when I came down

1130
00:34:24,429 --> 00:34:25,596
on the broken arm

1131
00:34:25,897 --> 00:34:27,265
and we will take about an hour

1132
00:34:27,265 --> 00:34:29,901
ride through part of Hanoi that

1133
00:34:29,901 --> 00:34:31,869
was filled with a Vietnamese

1134
00:34:31,869 --> 00:34:32,603
that lived there,

1135
00:34:33,037 --> 00:34:34,539
throwing bricks, rocks, whatever

1136
00:34:34,539 --> 00:34:36,040
they could. We ended up at the

1137
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:37,308
International House where

1138
00:34:37,308 --> 00:34:38,576
they're having this huge press

1139
00:34:38,576 --> 00:34:39,811
conference. They kept me out in

1140
00:34:39,811 --> 00:34:42,113
kind of a court yard, and

1141
00:34:42,580 --> 00:34:44,549
I hadn't had anything to drink

1142
00:34:45,116 --> 00:34:47,084
since I had been shot down

1143
00:34:47,084 --> 00:34:48,219
and I was thirsty, and I said,

1144
00:34:48,219 --> 00:34:49,620
"I need some water, and he

1145
00:34:49,620 --> 00:34:50,721
said "later." And I said,

1146
00:34:50,721 --> 00:34:51,556
"I'm not going anywhere until I

1147
00:34:51,556 --> 00:34:52,256
get some water."

1148
00:34:52,657 --> 00:34:53,658
Well, I ended up getting

1149
00:34:53,658 --> 00:34:55,560
a large glass of water with ice

1150
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:55,993
in it,

1151
00:34:56,461 --> 00:34:58,796
which I drank and that would be

1152
00:34:58,796 --> 00:35:00,665
the last water for two days,

1153
00:35:00,798 --> 00:35:02,967
and then they took me in.

1154
00:35:03,601 --> 00:35:05,570
My thoughts were, don't

1155
00:35:05,570 --> 00:35:06,838
embarrass my country.

1156
00:35:06,971 --> 00:35:08,439
I felt that I had already failed

1157
00:35:08,439 --> 00:35:10,475
by giving them any information

1158
00:35:10,475 --> 00:35:12,844
whatsoever and all it was was

1159
00:35:12,844 --> 00:35:15,746
name, rank and so forth, but

1160
00:35:15,980 --> 00:35:19,150
I just felt like I had let my

1161
00:35:19,150 --> 00:35:20,651
country down and I wasn't gonna

1162
00:35:20,651 --> 00:35:22,353
do it in front of these cameras.

1163
00:35:22,487 --> 00:35:23,955
So, I walked in, stood up as

1164
00:35:23,955 --> 00:35:25,690
straight as I could and saluted,

1165
00:35:25,690 --> 00:35:27,191
and I guess this film was later

1166
00:35:27,191 --> 00:35:29,193
used and our jungle survival

1167
00:35:29,193 --> 00:35:30,661
school in the Philippines

1168
00:35:31,262 --> 00:35:32,163
and they were,

1169
00:35:33,364 --> 00:35:34,832
people that saw it, were told

1170
00:35:34,832 --> 00:35:36,133
as they see this is the way

1171
00:35:36,133 --> 00:35:37,635
you should conduct yourself even

1172
00:35:37,635 --> 00:35:39,103
the Vietnamese appreciate

1173
00:35:39,103 --> 00:35:39,871
military bearing.

1174
00:35:40,037 --> 00:35:41,305
Well, that wasn't true

1175
00:35:41,305 --> 00:35:42,206
because I had the devil

1176
00:35:42,206 --> 00:35:43,808
beat out of me that night and

1177
00:35:43,808 --> 00:35:45,109
for the next 10 days

1178
00:35:45,209 --> 00:35:46,310
at the Hanoi Hilton.

1179
00:35:46,511 --> 00:35:48,045
On the ninth day,

1180
00:35:48,312 --> 00:35:49,280
I really broke.

1181
00:35:49,380 --> 00:35:50,181
I gave up

1182
00:35:50,515 --> 00:35:51,015
totally

1183
00:35:51,215 --> 00:35:51,716
physically,

1184
00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:52,817
spiritually,

1185
00:35:53,017 --> 00:35:53,684
mentally

1186
00:35:54,552 --> 00:35:57,321
because I finally signed the

1187
00:35:57,321 --> 00:35:58,623
confession they put it in front

1188
00:35:58,623 --> 00:35:58,956
of me.

1189
00:35:59,190 --> 00:36:00,224
I still remember it

1190
00:36:00,224 --> 00:36:01,225
word for word.

1191
00:36:01,492 --> 00:36:02,793
I condemn the United States

1192
00:36:02,793 --> 00:36:03,661
government for its

1193
00:36:03,661 --> 00:36:04,896
aggressive war against the

1194
00:36:04,896 --> 00:36:06,731
Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

1195
00:36:06,731 --> 00:36:07,865
Two, I've encroached

1196
00:36:07,865 --> 00:36:09,300
upon the airspace of the

1197
00:36:09,300 --> 00:36:11,302
Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

1198
00:36:11,536 --> 00:36:13,237
Three, I'm a war criminal,

1199
00:36:13,838 --> 00:36:15,673
and four I have received

1200
00:36:15,673 --> 00:36:16,741
humane and lenient

1201
00:36:16,741 --> 00:36:17,408
treatment from the

1202
00:36:17,408 --> 00:36:18,976
Vietnamese people in government.

1203
00:36:18,976 --> 00:36:19,977
I signed that.

1204
00:36:20,978 --> 00:36:22,680
They put me in a cell in the

1205
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:24,015
Hanoi Hilton in a little section

1206
00:36:24,015 --> 00:36:25,917
we call heartbreak hotel.

1207
00:36:26,050 --> 00:36:27,485
I was in cell four,

1208
00:36:27,718 --> 00:36:29,520
90 inches by 90 inches,

1209
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:30,688
two concrete bunks,

1210
00:36:31,355 --> 00:36:33,157
leg irons embedded in the bunks.

1211
00:36:34,559 --> 00:36:36,327
My right leg had become badly

1212
00:36:36,327 --> 00:36:37,929
infected from the shrapnel.

1213
00:36:38,162 --> 00:36:39,330
No medical attention.

1214
00:36:39,530 --> 00:36:41,232
Maggots were starting to form on

1215
00:36:41,232 --> 00:36:42,934
it and was turning black and on

1216
00:36:42,934 --> 00:36:45,603
that ninth day, a female guard

1217
00:36:45,603 --> 00:36:46,370
came in

1218
00:36:46,938 --> 00:36:48,239
and she looked at the leg

1219
00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:49,874
and she pull something off.

1220
00:36:50,608 --> 00:36:51,676
Stuff shot out of it.

1221
00:36:52,410 --> 00:36:54,178
She screamed and left, came back

1222
00:36:54,178 --> 00:36:55,179
with the interrogator,

1223
00:36:55,580 --> 00:36:56,914
and they talked with me said,

1224
00:36:56,914 --> 00:36:58,249
"Your leg is very bad we must

1225
00:36:58,249 --> 00:36:58,783
cut it off,"

1226
00:36:59,083 --> 00:37:00,184
and I said, "No, you're not

1227
00:37:00,184 --> 00:37:01,886
cut my leg off. I'd rather die."

1228
00:37:01,886 --> 00:37:03,421
So, Neil Jones gave up and I

1229
00:37:03,421 --> 00:37:04,288
wanted to die.

1230
00:37:04,288 --> 00:37:05,890
That night. They put a guy in

1231
00:37:05,890 --> 00:37:07,892
the cell next to me in cell 3

1232
00:37:08,125 --> 00:37:09,727
No sooner had the guard

1233
00:37:09,727 --> 00:37:11,028
left when the voice came out,

1234
00:37:11,028 --> 00:37:12,463
"Where is Neil Jones?"

1235
00:37:12,463 --> 00:37:14,098
And I tell you what, just

1236
00:37:14,098 --> 00:37:15,733
hearing my name by another

1237
00:37:15,733 --> 00:37:17,435
American, I must have bounced

1238
00:37:17,435 --> 00:37:18,936
the foot off that bunk and I

1239
00:37:18,936 --> 00:37:20,071
said "Right here, who's that?"

1240
00:37:20,071 --> 00:37:21,238
And the voice came back said,

1241
00:37:21,238 --> 00:37:22,239
"Neal, this is Dave Hatcher."

1242
00:37:22,707 --> 00:37:23,908
And Dave Hatcher was a good

1243
00:37:23,908 --> 00:37:26,310
friend, a captain, F-105 pilot.

1244
00:37:26,611 --> 00:37:28,412
Dave was shot down, oh, at least

1245
00:37:28,412 --> 00:37:30,281
30 days before I was, and we

1246
00:37:30,281 --> 00:37:31,649
didn't know what had happened to

1247
00:37:31,649 --> 00:37:32,984
him, whether he was alive or

1248
00:37:32,984 --> 00:37:34,218
dead. And I said, "My God, Dave,

1249
00:37:34,218 --> 00:37:35,219
you don't know how good it is to

1250
00:37:35,219 --> 00:37:36,220
hear your voice. How did you

1251
00:37:36,220 --> 00:37:37,488
know I was here?"

1252
00:37:37,655 --> 00:37:38,322
He said,

1253
00:37:38,322 --> 00:37:39,991
"Well, I was in a camp near here

1254
00:37:39,991 --> 00:37:41,225
called the zoo

1255
00:37:41,826 --> 00:37:42,660
and we have loud

1256
00:37:42,660 --> 00:37:43,894
speakers in each cell

1257
00:37:44,762 --> 00:37:45,730
and every morning and every

1258
00:37:45,730 --> 00:37:46,664
night they play the

1259
00:37:46,664 --> 00:37:48,265
voice of Vietnam or

1260
00:37:48,265 --> 00:37:50,334
Hanoi Hannah, as we call it.

1261
00:37:51,268 --> 00:37:52,737
It was the 30 minute propaganda

1262
00:37:52,737 --> 00:37:54,472
broadcasts in English aimed to

1263
00:37:54,472 --> 00:37:56,774
the soldiers in South Vietnam."

1264
00:37:57,008 --> 00:37:57,908
He said, "The same day you

1265
00:37:57,908 --> 00:37:58,809
were shot down,

1266
00:37:58,809 --> 00:38:00,678
they announced it that night."

1267
00:38:01,345 --> 00:38:02,813
So, at least I knew my family

1268
00:38:02,813 --> 00:38:03,581
knew I was alive.

1269
00:38:04,115 --> 00:38:05,750
I asked Dave how he was,

1270
00:38:05,750 --> 00:38:07,351
and he said he was fine.

1271
00:38:08,185 --> 00:38:09,687
And then he asked me how I was,

1272
00:38:10,154 --> 00:38:11,922
and I said, "Dave I think

1273
00:38:11,922 --> 00:38:12,790
I'm going to die."

1274
00:38:13,090 --> 00:38:14,258
He said, "There's only one thing

1275
00:38:14,258 --> 00:38:15,426
to do and that's to pray a lot.

1276
00:38:15,593 --> 00:38:16,827
I pray all the time."

1277
00:38:16,961 --> 00:38:18,162
Well, I prayed that night,

1278
00:38:18,162 --> 00:38:20,998
not for why me God, but

1279
00:38:20,998 --> 00:38:22,133
give me the strength to

1280
00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:23,834
to do what I have to do, and I

1281
00:38:23,834 --> 00:38:25,002
finally slept a little that

1282
00:38:25,002 --> 00:38:25,770
night,

1283
00:38:26,303 --> 00:38:27,471
and I woke up the next day

1284
00:38:27,471 --> 00:38:28,305
and I knew I was going

1285
00:38:28,305 --> 00:38:29,140
to get out of there

1286
00:38:29,974 --> 00:38:31,676
and never gave up after that.

1287
00:38:32,209 --> 00:38:34,145
I found out four years

1288
00:38:34,145 --> 00:38:36,047
later that Dave had just been

1289
00:38:36,047 --> 00:38:38,015
tortured when he told me that.

1290
00:38:38,015 --> 00:38:39,984
He happened to be in the large

1291
00:38:39,984 --> 00:38:41,352
group that was paraded

1292
00:38:41,352 --> 00:38:43,688
through Hanoi and the crowd got

1293
00:38:43,688 --> 00:38:45,723
out of hand and a lot of guys

1294
00:38:45,723 --> 00:38:48,659
were beaten in that, but my raid

1295
00:38:48,659 --> 00:38:50,661
had precipitated the other

1296
00:38:50,661 --> 00:38:52,029
march, but he'd never said

1297
00:38:52,029 --> 00:38:54,465
anything to him, but I had

1298
00:38:54,465 --> 00:38:56,701
the opportunity to tell Dave

1299
00:38:56,701 --> 00:38:59,704
thanks in Washington DC at the

1300
00:38:59,704 --> 00:39:00,471
White House.

1301
00:39:00,838 --> 00:39:01,906
He had his daughter

1302
00:39:02,506 --> 00:39:03,374
and I told her

1303
00:39:04,241 --> 00:39:05,476
how her Dad had

1304
00:39:05,476 --> 00:39:06,377
saved my life that night.

1305
00:39:06,711 --> 00:39:09,180
But I go back and I look at

1306
00:39:09,914 --> 00:39:11,582
the guys that I flew with

1307
00:39:12,049 --> 00:39:12,883
the guys that I was

1308
00:39:12,883 --> 00:39:13,751
in prison with

1309
00:39:13,918 --> 00:39:15,519
a bunch of band of brothers

1310
00:39:15,986 --> 00:39:17,655
He who shares his blood with me

1311
00:39:17,655 --> 00:39:19,523
shall forever be my brother

1312
00:39:19,657 --> 00:39:20,658
They’re the best friends

1313
00:39:20,658 --> 00:39:21,826
I've ever had.

1314
00:39:22,026 --> 00:39:23,427
One thing I learned,

1315
00:39:25,730 --> 00:39:27,164
one of my dearest friends in my

1316
00:39:27,164 --> 00:39:27,598
whole life

1317
00:39:28,599 --> 00:39:30,167
is a guy named Vic Vizcarra.

1318
00:39:31,335 --> 00:39:32,770
Vic and I checked out in the

1319
00:39:32,770 --> 00:39:33,437
Thud together,

1320
00:39:34,071 --> 00:39:36,173
were in Japan, same squadron,

1321
00:39:36,741 --> 00:39:38,209
flew combat together

1322
00:39:39,610 --> 00:39:41,545
and he escorted my wife

1323
00:39:41,545 --> 00:39:43,547
and two young kids back to the

1324
00:39:43,547 --> 00:39:44,281
United States

1325
00:39:45,549 --> 00:39:46,917
and I never forgot

1326
00:39:48,285 --> 00:39:49,220
forgot that

1327
00:39:50,287 --> 00:39:51,122
appreciate it more

1328
00:39:51,122 --> 00:39:52,389
than anybody knows

1329
00:39:54,625 --> 00:39:56,527
but a band of brothers.

1330
00:40:00,397 --> 00:40:01,699
Jet noise...

1331
00:40:01,866 --> 00:40:02,967
For Thud pilots,

1332
00:40:03,267 --> 00:40:04,602
flying missions over

1333
00:40:04,602 --> 00:40:06,403
North Vietnam came down to

1334
00:40:06,403 --> 00:40:08,038
beating the odds.

1335
00:40:08,806 --> 00:40:10,875
Logging the combat missions

1336
00:40:11,142 --> 00:40:12,610
was the easy part.

1337
00:40:12,643 --> 00:40:13,444
radio & combat sounds

1338
00:40:13,477 --> 00:40:15,379
Thud pilots either survived

1339
00:40:15,379 --> 00:40:16,881
or got shot down.

1340
00:40:17,481 --> 00:40:18,716
It was the being brought

1341
00:40:18,716 --> 00:40:19,884
down part where it

1342
00:40:19,884 --> 00:40:22,419
became the roll of the dice.

1343
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:24,922
They would either be killed,

1344
00:40:25,456 --> 00:40:26,157
captured

1345
00:40:26,423 --> 00:40:27,458
or rescued.

1346
00:40:28,159 --> 00:40:30,161
They were betting on the latter.

1347
00:40:30,394 --> 00:40:32,830
Well, I'm Denny Jarvey went

1348
00:40:32,830 --> 00:40:34,932
through training at Nellis

1349
00:40:35,299 --> 00:40:37,168
and prior to that, I had been

1350
00:40:37,168 --> 00:40:40,738
flying the F-101B in Charleston

1351
00:40:41,472 --> 00:40:43,007
chasing Russian bears that were

1352
00:40:43,007 --> 00:40:44,108
going down to Cuba,

1353
00:40:44,408 --> 00:40:44,909
laughing

1354
00:40:45,309 --> 00:40:46,911
and prior to that I flew the

1355
00:40:46,911 --> 00:40:49,980
F-102. So, when I transitioned

1356
00:40:49,980 --> 00:40:51,615
in the F-105,

1357
00:40:52,449 --> 00:40:53,617
I already knew

1358
00:40:53,617 --> 00:40:55,286
I could fly the airplane, that

1359
00:40:55,286 --> 00:40:56,253
was not an issue.

1360
00:40:56,253 --> 00:40:57,121
It was learning how to

1361
00:40:57,121 --> 00:40:57,922
fight with it. That's a whole

1362
00:40:57,922 --> 00:40:59,523
nother story.

1363
00:41:00,257 --> 00:41:04,495
The F-105 was really well suited

1364
00:41:04,495 --> 00:41:06,263
for the mission that we had

1365
00:41:06,263 --> 00:41:07,798
in the Hanoi area

1366
00:41:07,798 --> 00:41:09,867
that we could carry very heavy

1367
00:41:09,867 --> 00:41:11,035
bomb load.

1368
00:41:12,203 --> 00:41:15,539
It could take a really beating

1369
00:41:15,539 --> 00:41:16,874
and still bring it back.

1370
00:41:17,141 --> 00:41:18,142
I was lucky.

1371
00:41:18,876 --> 00:41:20,177
I didn't have a scratch.

1372
00:41:20,611 --> 00:41:22,780
I never, ever, I didn't have

1373
00:41:22,780 --> 00:41:23,380
a hole in the airplane.

1374
00:41:23,380 --> 00:41:24,181
Nothing.

1375
00:41:24,181 --> 00:41:26,016
Not even scratched paint.

1376
00:41:26,650 --> 00:41:27,551
Not True for the guys

1377
00:41:27,551 --> 00:41:29,153
I was flying with.

1378
00:41:29,553 --> 00:41:31,689
The Thud was terrific for this

1379
00:41:31,689 --> 00:41:33,524
particular mission.

1380
00:41:33,858 --> 00:41:35,392
It was fast.

1381
00:41:37,061 --> 00:41:38,629
Matter of fact, there's a fellow

1382
00:41:38,629 --> 00:41:41,465
named Byers that had been hit by

1383
00:41:41,465 --> 00:41:42,700
a MiG-21

1384
00:41:43,234 --> 00:41:45,035
and Atoll that

1385
00:41:46,136 --> 00:41:47,137
hit him

1386
00:41:47,137 --> 00:41:49,540
was still stuck in the fuselage

1387
00:41:50,140 --> 00:41:52,009
of the aft end of the airplane

1388
00:41:52,009 --> 00:41:54,812
just underneath the rudder, and

1389
00:41:54,812 --> 00:41:57,147
with this great big gaping hole,

1390
00:41:57,147 --> 00:41:58,182
and there's pictures that are

1391
00:41:58,182 --> 00:42:01,151
around of people standing,

1392
00:42:01,986 --> 00:42:03,821
well, the Thud’s a pretty big

1393
00:42:03,821 --> 00:42:04,688
airplane, you’ve gotta be up

1394
00:42:04,688 --> 00:42:05,856
on a ladder to be able to get

1395
00:42:05,856 --> 00:42:08,092
your body up into the wing, but

1396
00:42:08,092 --> 00:42:09,660
with huge holes,

1397
00:42:09,927 --> 00:42:12,229
and it brought you home.

1398
00:42:12,363 --> 00:42:13,597
I happened to be

1399
00:42:15,432 --> 00:42:16,533
at Korat

1400
00:42:16,734 --> 00:42:18,669
and we learned that

1401
00:42:18,669 --> 00:42:20,504
President Johnson was coming

1402
00:42:20,838 --> 00:42:21,405
to town.

1403
00:42:22,006 --> 00:42:24,341
Well, it is a big deal,

1404
00:42:24,608 --> 00:42:27,044
you know, and so they

1405
00:42:27,511 --> 00:42:28,279
kicked everybody

1406
00:42:28,279 --> 00:42:29,046
out of the club.

1407
00:42:29,580 --> 00:42:31,415
So I had my scotch in hand, and

1408
00:42:31,415 --> 00:42:33,284
General Momyer looked on the bar

1409
00:42:33,284 --> 00:42:35,419
and he pointed at me and said,

1410
00:42:35,419 --> 00:42:37,454
"You, you big guy get over there

1411
00:42:37,454 --> 00:42:39,790
and you tell the President what

1412
00:42:39,790 --> 00:42:40,724
you just did."

1413
00:42:41,025 --> 00:42:42,459
Well, it turned out it happened

1414
00:42:42,459 --> 00:42:44,628
to be the mission right after

1415
00:42:44,628 --> 00:42:46,730
the Dormer Bridge raid.

1416
00:42:46,730 --> 00:42:47,798
So, I told him about that

1417
00:42:47,798 --> 00:42:49,633
and I happened to be the last

1418
00:42:49,633 --> 00:42:51,368
guy that rolled in on the target

1419
00:42:52,102 --> 00:42:54,905
on that particular sortie and

1420
00:42:55,706 --> 00:42:58,475
it was an active day, but

1421
00:42:58,475 --> 00:43:00,244
when I looked down at the

1422
00:43:00,244 --> 00:43:01,812
bridge, I could already see

1423
00:43:01,812 --> 00:43:03,247
several of the spans were

1424
00:43:03,247 --> 00:43:04,281
already in the water.

1425
00:43:04,281 --> 00:43:05,983
So it turned out to be

1426
00:43:06,417 --> 00:43:07,551
quite an event.

1427
00:43:07,952 --> 00:43:09,787
Thuds continued to be shot down

1428
00:43:09,787 --> 00:43:12,156
as the war escalated with no end

1429
00:43:12,156 --> 00:43:12,923
in sight, and

1430
00:43:12,923 --> 00:43:14,658
to add insult to injury,

1431
00:43:15,092 --> 00:43:16,961
a new war had emerged

1432
00:43:17,828 --> 00:43:19,897
and it wasn't in Vietnam.

1433
00:43:20,297 --> 00:43:22,266
Americans back home suddenly

1434
00:43:22,266 --> 00:43:24,234
began to side with the enemy and

1435
00:43:24,234 --> 00:43:25,336
began to protest.

1436
00:43:25,502 --> 00:43:27,004
Pilots, risking their lives were

1437
00:43:27,004 --> 00:43:29,239
suddenly being labeled as

1438
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:30,474
child killers.

1439
00:43:30,474 --> 00:43:31,942
But for the pilots,

1440
00:43:32,309 --> 00:43:33,777
the war went on.

1441
00:43:33,944 --> 00:43:35,512
I flew another 20 missions and

1442
00:43:35,512 --> 00:43:37,514
on the 14th September

1443
00:43:37,815 --> 00:43:39,116
we were going up to hit

1444
00:43:39,116 --> 00:43:40,017
a railroad bridge

1445
00:43:41,185 --> 00:43:42,353
north of Hanoi.

1446
00:43:42,853 --> 00:43:44,355
Interestingly enough, there was

1447
00:43:44,355 --> 00:43:45,756
also a MiG base

1448
00:43:45,756 --> 00:43:47,124
right near the bridge.

1449
00:43:47,124 --> 00:43:48,759
I was number four in the flight.

1450
00:43:48,759 --> 00:43:51,328
We raced along a low altitude,

1451
00:43:51,328 --> 00:43:52,796
actually came right over the top

1452
00:43:52,796 --> 00:43:54,765
of Hanoi that day

1453
00:43:54,765 --> 00:43:55,933
at low altitude.

1454
00:43:55,933 --> 00:43:56,967
About three surface to air

1455
00:43:56,967 --> 00:43:58,302
missiles came through the flight

1456
00:43:58,302 --> 00:43:59,837
That scared the crap out of me.

1457
00:43:59,837 --> 00:44:02,006
So, I broke one way and I

1458
00:44:02,006 --> 00:44:03,440
guess the rest of the flight

1459
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:04,508
went the other way.

1460
00:44:04,508 --> 00:44:06,210
So I rolled in and, I dropped

1461
00:44:06,210 --> 00:44:09,046
eight, 750 pound bombs and as I

1462
00:44:09,046 --> 00:44:10,848
pulled off, I actually saw them

1463
00:44:10,848 --> 00:44:12,816
hit the bridge luckily enough,

1464
00:44:12,816 --> 00:44:14,351
and I watched the span that

1465
00:44:14,351 --> 00:44:15,686
dropped into the river.

1466
00:44:15,686 --> 00:44:17,354
So, I said, "Man, that's great",

1467
00:44:17,821 --> 00:44:19,289
and I called, I said, "Four is

1468
00:44:19,289 --> 00:44:21,191
off" and the flight lead says,

1469
00:44:21,191 --> 00:44:22,292
"You're where?".

1470
00:44:22,292 --> 00:44:23,660
I said, "Four is off". He said,

1471
00:44:23,660 --> 00:44:25,396
"Well, we're 20 miles away.

1472
00:44:25,396 --> 00:44:26,830
We'll come back and get you,"

1473
00:44:26,830 --> 00:44:28,532
and just about that time there

1474
00:44:28,532 --> 00:44:29,800
was a MiG-17

1475
00:44:30,734 --> 00:44:32,503
probably 1500 feet from me,

1476
00:44:33,237 --> 00:44:34,405
and it looked like he was

1477
00:44:34,405 --> 00:44:35,372
shooting at me.

1478
00:44:35,639 --> 00:44:37,474
So....he was here.

1479
00:44:37,474 --> 00:44:39,843
I'm here, he's here, about to

1480
00:44:39,843 --> 00:44:41,478
shoot my watch off,

1481
00:44:41,745 --> 00:44:44,048
and I remember the guys in

1482
00:44:44,048 --> 00:44:45,249
training told me about this

1483
00:44:45,249 --> 00:44:47,151
maneuver that we never did.

1484
00:44:47,418 --> 00:44:48,752
It was called a High G roll

1485
00:44:48,752 --> 00:44:50,554
underneath, and I said, "Well

1486
00:44:50,554 --> 00:44:51,588
this might be the

1487
00:44:51,588 --> 00:44:52,656
time to try this."

1488
00:44:52,823 --> 00:44:54,691
Well I did that and now I’m

1489
00:44:54,691 --> 00:44:55,826
pointed straight down,

1490
00:44:55,826 --> 00:44:56,760
no airspeed

1491
00:44:57,828 --> 00:44:59,830
in about maybe 4,000 feet above

1492
00:44:59,830 --> 00:45:00,330
the ground.

1493
00:45:00,564 --> 00:45:02,599
So, now I light the afterburner,

1494
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:04,735
and I probably pulled out at

1495
00:45:04,735 --> 00:45:06,036
about 500 feet. When I got

1496
00:45:06,036 --> 00:45:07,204
enough speed going,

1497
00:45:07,538 --> 00:45:08,872
and I decided it was time to

1498
00:45:09,740 --> 00:45:11,008
leave the afterburner in and get

1499
00:45:11,008 --> 00:45:12,076
the hell out of Dodge.

1500
00:45:12,209 --> 00:45:13,410
So, I turned east

1501
00:45:14,111 --> 00:45:15,679
because we're gonna go out over

1502
00:45:15,679 --> 00:45:17,948
the Gulf of Tonkin and then come

1503
00:45:17,948 --> 00:45:18,882
back. So they just said, "Head

1504
00:45:18,882 --> 00:45:20,751
for the coast, we'll rejoin out

1505
00:45:20,751 --> 00:45:22,119
over the water." So, now I'm a

1506
00:45:22,119 --> 00:45:23,353
singleton running along, and

1507
00:45:24,555 --> 00:45:25,556
we were actually,

1508
00:45:26,290 --> 00:45:27,624
I thought it was further south.

1509
00:45:27,624 --> 00:45:28,592
We were about 20 miles

1510
00:45:28,592 --> 00:45:29,927
south of China. At least that's

1511
00:45:29,927 --> 00:45:31,695
where I was. Shortly thereafter

1512
00:45:31,695 --> 00:45:32,896
I saw it, you know,

1513
00:45:33,297 --> 00:45:34,264
as I'm heading for the

1514
00:45:34,264 --> 00:45:35,199
coast, going about

1515
00:45:35,766 --> 00:45:36,700
five-fifty

1516
00:45:37,434 --> 00:45:39,603
and not in afterburner, and I

1517
00:45:39,603 --> 00:45:41,405
saw this little glint of a

1518
00:45:41,905 --> 00:45:42,539
spark or something.

1519
00:45:42,539 --> 00:45:43,373
And I looked over

1520
00:45:43,774 --> 00:45:45,943
and here comes a MiG-21.

1521
00:45:47,111 --> 00:45:47,878
So, I said, "Well, I'll give

1522
00:45:47,878 --> 00:45:48,645
him a turn".

1523
00:45:49,079 --> 00:45:50,314
I turned a little bit and I said

1524
00:45:50,581 --> 00:45:52,282
"This is not gonna work out well

1525
00:45:52,282 --> 00:45:53,817
at all", and I could just see

1526
00:45:53,817 --> 00:45:54,785
the coast

1527
00:45:55,452 --> 00:45:56,220
out in front of me.

1528
00:45:56,386 --> 00:45:57,387
And I knew that MiG wasn't

1529
00:45:57,387 --> 00:45:58,088
with me cause there's

1530
00:45:58,088 --> 00:45:59,323
no way he could hang with me.

1531
00:45:59,957 --> 00:46:01,391
So, I came out of afterburner,

1532
00:46:01,558 --> 00:46:02,826
and started to climb

1533
00:46:03,260 --> 00:46:05,562
and as I crested the ridge line

1534
00:46:06,597 --> 00:46:07,798
all hell broke loose.

1535
00:46:07,798 --> 00:46:09,967
I mean I've watched part of my

1536
00:46:09,967 --> 00:46:10,667
wing come off

1537
00:46:10,767 --> 00:46:12,402
fire light came on again and as

1538
00:46:12,402 --> 00:46:13,904
I was told later by the guys

1539
00:46:13,904 --> 00:46:15,005
the in flight, I didn’t hear

1540
00:46:15,005 --> 00:46:15,939
this because I think I was

1541
00:46:15,939 --> 00:46:17,407
breathing so hard and

1542
00:46:17,407 --> 00:46:18,142
I was scared.

1543
00:46:18,509 --> 00:46:19,910
totally scared at this point

1544
00:46:21,011 --> 00:46:22,579
because I'd been here before and

1545
00:46:22,579 --> 00:46:23,447
I'm going not again

1546
00:46:23,580 --> 00:46:24,314
and then I just

1547
00:46:24,481 --> 00:46:25,582
crossed the waterline

1548
00:46:26,450 --> 00:46:27,985
and about 500 feet

1549
00:46:27,985 --> 00:46:29,253
I said, "It's time

1550
00:46:29,253 --> 00:46:30,487
to get out of this thing."

1551
00:46:30,654 --> 00:46:31,622
Did the normal ejection

1552
00:46:31,622 --> 00:46:33,157
the canopy didn't come off.

1553
00:46:33,624 --> 00:46:34,525
So, I just

1554
00:46:35,092 --> 00:46:36,627
squeezed the ejection triggers

1555
00:46:36,927 --> 00:46:38,462
and went through the canopy

1556
00:46:38,629 --> 00:46:39,696
and I remember tumbling

1557
00:46:40,197 --> 00:46:41,265
very, very violently,

1558
00:46:41,431 --> 00:46:42,766
and then I hit the water. I have

1559
00:46:42,766 --> 00:46:43,667
no idea

1560
00:46:44,701 --> 00:46:45,202
what happened

1561
00:46:45,202 --> 00:46:47,271
and the flight lead said

1562
00:46:47,271 --> 00:46:48,705
he went in with the airplane.

1563
00:46:48,839 --> 00:46:49,840
So they actually started

1564
00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:50,841
heading for the tanker

1565
00:46:51,041 --> 00:46:52,543
and I went down in the water.

1566
00:46:52,543 --> 00:46:53,343
I was all tied up in

1567
00:46:53,343 --> 00:46:54,211
the parachute.

1568
00:46:55,712 --> 00:46:57,347
Fortunately I carried a knife on

1569
00:46:57,347 --> 00:46:58,182
my left side. I got that knife

1570
00:46:58,182 --> 00:47:00,350
and I started cutting away.

1571
00:47:00,517 --> 00:47:01,718
So, I started sawing away and I

1572
00:47:01,718 --> 00:47:02,986
remember I looked up, it was

1573
00:47:03,654 --> 00:47:04,988
late afternoon and I could,

1574
00:47:04,988 --> 00:47:07,024
I kind of looked up and I

1575
00:47:07,024 --> 00:47:09,560
said, "Wow, I'm gonna drown

1576
00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:11,228
what a crappy way to go."

1577
00:47:11,528 --> 00:47:12,829
Finally got to where I could

1578
00:47:12,829 --> 00:47:14,031
get to one water wing.

1579
00:47:14,031 --> 00:47:15,399
I opened I deployed it

1580
00:47:15,399 --> 00:47:16,800
and that was enough to bring

1581
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:18,202
me back up to the surface.

1582
00:47:18,902 --> 00:47:20,337
So, I got the other one and then

1583
00:47:20,337 --> 00:47:21,405
I cut my way out of

1584
00:47:21,405 --> 00:47:22,072
the parachute.

1585
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:24,975
They said that from when the

1586
00:47:24,975 --> 00:47:26,543
airplane hit little over a

1587
00:47:26,543 --> 00:47:28,545
minute then he heard the

1588
00:47:28,545 --> 00:47:29,346
distress beacon

1589
00:47:30,180 --> 00:47:31,014
come on. So they figured

1590
00:47:31,014 --> 00:47:32,382
I was in underwater

1591
00:47:32,382 --> 00:47:33,150
for about a minute.

1592
00:47:33,350 --> 00:47:34,918
Got into my life raft, which I

1593
00:47:34,918 --> 00:47:36,753
still had and pulled up my

1594
00:47:36,753 --> 00:47:38,755
trusty radio, but at

1595
00:47:38,755 --> 00:47:40,057
that point then I carried

1596
00:47:40,190 --> 00:47:40,924
two radios

1597
00:47:41,091 --> 00:47:42,526
instead of just the normal one.

1598
00:47:42,726 --> 00:47:44,428
Call my flight lead and told

1599
00:47:44,428 --> 00:47:46,930
them I'm alive and I'm in my

1600
00:47:46,930 --> 00:47:48,932
life raft and come get me

1601
00:47:48,932 --> 00:47:50,701
and he said, "We gotta go to the

1602
00:47:50,701 --> 00:47:53,403
tanker and we'll get the rescue

1603
00:47:53,403 --> 00:47:54,271
forces coming."

1604
00:47:54,271 --> 00:47:55,839
Well, when they said forces, I

1605
00:47:55,839 --> 00:47:57,574
thought it'd be an Armada like

1606
00:47:57,574 --> 00:47:58,742
I saw the first time.

1607
00:47:59,176 --> 00:48:00,911
Well, it turned out the

1608
00:48:00,911 --> 00:48:03,180
rescue Armada was gonna consist

1609
00:48:03,180 --> 00:48:05,215
of one Navy helicopter

1610
00:48:05,682 --> 00:48:08,385
and two Navy A-1s because we

1611
00:48:08,385 --> 00:48:09,886
were so far north, it turns out

1612
00:48:09,886 --> 00:48:12,022
I was, I had managed to bail out

1613
00:48:12,022 --> 00:48:13,890
in a major shipping lane that

1614
00:48:13,890 --> 00:48:15,359
they ferried supplies from

1615
00:48:15,359 --> 00:48:17,728
China down to North Vietnam

1616
00:48:17,728 --> 00:48:19,529
So the islands were

1617
00:48:19,529 --> 00:48:20,631
heavily defended.

1618
00:48:20,631 --> 00:48:22,232
There were guns everywhere

1619
00:48:22,566 --> 00:48:24,568
and I guess they thought I had

1620
00:48:24,568 --> 00:48:25,469
gone in with the airplane

1621
00:48:25,469 --> 00:48:26,603
because not much went on for

1622
00:48:26,603 --> 00:48:28,538
about the first 45 minutes

1623
00:48:28,538 --> 00:48:28,972
to an hour

1624
00:48:29,072 --> 00:48:29,940
All of a sudden

1625
00:48:30,407 --> 00:48:31,041
I started

1626
00:48:31,708 --> 00:48:32,876
hearing gunfire

1627
00:48:33,577 --> 00:48:35,212
and I'm going, oh oh, maybe

1628
00:48:35,212 --> 00:48:37,080
they know I'm here and now

1629
00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:38,915
I see boats starting to come

1630
00:48:38,915 --> 00:48:40,217
and I'm going this is not gonna

1631
00:48:40,217 --> 00:48:41,385
to be a good day for me.

1632
00:48:41,485 --> 00:48:43,320
It's a long haul from here to

1633
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,155
prison and I really didn’t want

1634
00:48:45,155 --> 00:48:46,123
to play that game.

1635
00:48:46,123 --> 00:48:46,957
A little bit later.

1636
00:48:46,957 --> 00:48:48,258
I hear a lot of gunfire.

1637
00:48:49,092 --> 00:48:50,727
And my flight lead said

1638
00:48:50,727 --> 00:48:52,329
that the rescue forces are

1639
00:48:52,329 --> 00:48:53,764
trying to get in the Navy

1640
00:48:53,764 --> 00:48:55,666
helicopter and I learned this

1641
00:48:55,666 --> 00:48:56,967
later when I met the guy who

1642
00:48:56,967 --> 00:48:58,268
flew the helicopter and one of

1643
00:48:58,268 --> 00:48:59,269
the A-1 pilots.

1644
00:48:59,569 --> 00:49:01,271
They tried three different

1645
00:49:01,271 --> 00:49:02,973
routes to get in to get me,

1646
00:49:03,573 --> 00:49:04,741
and that was when I started

1647
00:49:04,741 --> 00:49:06,476
hearing a lot of gunfire and

1648
00:49:06,476 --> 00:49:07,611
they had to turn around each

1649
00:49:07,611 --> 00:49:10,013
time because of the

1650
00:49:10,013 --> 00:49:11,848
severity of the gunfire and in

1651
00:49:11,848 --> 00:49:14,084
fact the helicopter crew took a

1652
00:49:14,084 --> 00:49:15,819
vote to see if they wanted to

1653
00:49:15,819 --> 00:49:16,586
try it again.

1654
00:49:16,687 --> 00:49:17,754
Well, they did. They found

1655
00:49:17,754 --> 00:49:18,488
another way in.

1656
00:49:18,955 --> 00:49:21,258
I’m exhausted, you know, the

1657
00:49:21,258 --> 00:49:23,427
adrenaline and the excitement

1658
00:49:23,427 --> 00:49:24,695
and maybe I'm going to get

1659
00:49:24,695 --> 00:49:27,264
outta here and of course

1660
00:49:27,531 --> 00:49:29,099
I’m looking. I said there's two

1661
00:49:29,099 --> 00:49:30,167
A-1s and that's it.

1662
00:49:30,867 --> 00:49:32,536
And this chopper and everybody's

1663
00:49:32,536 --> 00:49:34,171
getting a crap shot out of them.

1664
00:49:34,871 --> 00:49:37,140
So, here we go the helicopter.

1665
00:49:37,140 --> 00:49:38,542
I'm in the hoists underneath,

1666
00:49:38,542 --> 00:49:39,543
they're bringing me up

1667
00:49:40,344 --> 00:49:41,945
and the two A-1s

1668
00:49:42,346 --> 00:49:42,679
are

1669
00:49:44,181 --> 00:49:45,282
flying around out in front

1670
00:49:45,282 --> 00:49:45,849
of us

1671
00:49:45,949 --> 00:49:47,184
strafing beaches as we go

1672
00:49:47,184 --> 00:49:47,851
along because they're getting

1673
00:49:47,851 --> 00:49:49,353
shot at the whole time.

1674
00:49:51,054 --> 00:49:52,189
So they get me about,

1675
00:49:52,823 --> 00:49:54,191
it’s kind of like the first time

1676
00:49:54,191 --> 00:49:55,392
about 40 feet from the

1677
00:49:55,392 --> 00:49:57,127
helicopter, from the door

1678
00:49:57,794 --> 00:49:59,529
and the hoist breaks.

1679
00:50:00,130 --> 00:50:01,164
So now,

1680
00:50:01,698 --> 00:50:02,699
we’re getting out of there

1681
00:50:03,300 --> 00:50:04,468
they’re getting shot at and

1682
00:50:04,468 --> 00:50:05,836
I'm swinging around underneath

1683
00:50:05,836 --> 00:50:07,704
the helicopter going, "Oh man,

1684
00:50:07,704 --> 00:50:08,872
this is gonna be a long trip."

1685
00:50:08,872 --> 00:50:10,307
When they finally figured out

1686
00:50:10,307 --> 00:50:11,141
how to get me up.

1687
00:50:11,508 --> 00:50:12,209
So, they get me up

1688
00:50:12,576 --> 00:50:13,910
into the helicopter.

1689
00:50:13,910 --> 00:50:15,045
Now it's the same deal.

1690
00:50:15,412 --> 00:50:16,213
I want to go hug

1691
00:50:16,213 --> 00:50:17,347
and kiss everybody.

1692
00:50:17,514 --> 00:50:18,348
and say thanks.

1693
00:50:18,648 --> 00:50:19,349
They're busy.

1694
00:50:19,349 --> 00:50:20,317
They had two guns in

1695
00:50:20,584 --> 00:50:21,885
one on each side of the

1696
00:50:21,885 --> 00:50:22,753
helicopter.

1697
00:50:22,753 --> 00:50:24,187
and they're blazing away

1698
00:50:24,187 --> 00:50:25,389
with these machine guns and

1699
00:50:25,389 --> 00:50:26,923
I want to hug them.

1700
00:50:26,923 --> 00:50:27,891
So, they actually let me

1701
00:50:27,891 --> 00:50:28,759
shoot one of the guns

1702
00:50:28,759 --> 00:50:29,526
for a second,

1703
00:50:30,060 --> 00:50:31,027
and then they

1704
00:50:31,027 --> 00:50:32,195
finally said that's enough of

1705
00:50:32,195 --> 00:50:33,096
that and they strap me

1706
00:50:33,096 --> 00:50:34,064
to the floor

1707
00:50:34,598 --> 00:50:36,767
to get me out of the way.

1708
00:50:37,033 --> 00:50:38,201
So, I was saved

1709
00:50:38,268 --> 00:50:39,770
and they too have booze

1710
00:50:39,770 --> 00:50:40,570
on the helicopter,

1711
00:50:40,670 --> 00:50:41,571
so they gave me a couple of

1712
00:50:41,571 --> 00:50:43,540
miniatures to calm me down.

1713
00:50:43,540 --> 00:50:44,941
Then I got to thank everybody

1714
00:50:45,208 --> 00:50:45,575
And then now

1715
00:50:46,042 --> 00:50:47,444
now the adrenaline’s gone.

1716
00:50:47,444 --> 00:50:49,079
I'm exhausted, which was

1717
00:50:49,346 --> 00:50:51,014
which was really, really great.

1718
00:50:55,719 --> 00:50:57,554
Hollywood has always portrayed

1719
00:50:57,554 --> 00:50:59,389
fighter pilots as fearless,

1720
00:50:59,389 --> 00:51:01,024
steel cold men with

1721
00:51:01,024 --> 00:51:04,127
a fixation for flying women and

1722
00:51:04,127 --> 00:51:06,630
booze in no particular order,

1723
00:51:07,764 --> 00:51:09,966
but in actuality

1724
00:51:09,966 --> 00:51:11,635
they've just been Americans with

1725
00:51:11,635 --> 00:51:14,070
a deep love of country and

1726
00:51:14,070 --> 00:51:16,139
diligence to unsheathe the sword

1727
00:51:16,139 --> 00:51:17,240
of freedom

1728
00:51:17,474 --> 00:51:19,309
kept sharp by their willingness

1729
00:51:19,309 --> 00:51:20,710
to live on its edge.

1730
00:51:21,311 --> 00:51:22,913
Karl Richter knew he would be a

1731
00:51:22,913 --> 00:51:25,415
fighter pilot at a very young

1732
00:51:25,982 --> 00:51:27,918
age by 18 months old, he was

1733
00:51:27,918 --> 00:51:29,453
already climbing a ladder to

1734
00:51:29,453 --> 00:51:31,154
the top of their barn

1735
00:51:31,655 --> 00:51:33,323
to join his dad on the roof.

1736
00:51:33,623 --> 00:51:35,258
His infatuation with heights

1737
00:51:35,258 --> 00:51:37,294
persisted, and his family

1738
00:51:37,294 --> 00:51:38,595
would spot him at the top of the

1739
00:51:38,595 --> 00:51:40,163
trees and the windmill on

1740
00:51:40,163 --> 00:51:41,164
their property.

1741
00:51:41,398 --> 00:51:42,766
By age 18,

1742
00:51:42,933 --> 00:51:44,401
he was already a pilot.

1743
00:51:44,668 --> 00:51:46,236
Was living his dream at

1744
00:51:46,236 --> 00:51:48,104
the U.S. Air Force Academy.

1745
00:51:48,472 --> 00:51:50,574
By the time he was 22,

1746
00:51:50,907 --> 00:51:52,642
he was flying the Thud.

1747
00:51:53,009 --> 00:51:54,277
Didn't take long for him

1748
00:51:54,277 --> 00:51:56,179
to make military history.

1749
00:51:56,480 --> 00:51:57,614
By 23,

1750
00:51:58,281 --> 00:51:59,783
he'd become the youngest pilot,

1751
00:51:59,783 --> 00:52:01,651
in the U.S Air Force to shoot

1752
00:52:01,651 --> 00:52:02,786
down a MiG.

1753
00:52:03,019 --> 00:52:04,154
UHF pilot radio transmissions

1754
00:52:04,521 --> 00:52:06,623
As operation Rolling Thunder

1755
00:52:06,623 --> 00:52:07,924
intensified and dragged

1756
00:52:07,924 --> 00:52:09,192
on well past its

1757
00:52:09,192 --> 00:52:11,161
initial eight week plan,

1758
00:52:11,628 --> 00:52:13,330
More Thud pilots were needed.

1759
00:52:13,830 --> 00:52:15,332
A short temporary duty

1760
00:52:15,332 --> 00:52:17,100
cycling of pilots from Thud

1761
00:52:17,100 --> 00:52:19,035
squadrons based in Japan and the

1762
00:52:19,035 --> 00:52:21,671
U.S. to Thailand wasn't working.

1763
00:52:22,038 --> 00:52:23,874
Military orders, we're now going

1764
00:52:23,874 --> 00:52:25,208
to have to be permanently

1765
00:52:25,208 --> 00:52:27,310
assigned to pilots to complete

1766
00:52:27,310 --> 00:52:29,312
100 combat missions

1767
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:32,282
one counter...one for the month

1768
00:52:32,282 --> 00:52:34,184
ninety-nine hard ones to go

1769
00:52:35,819 --> 00:52:37,988
Extraordinary times require

1770
00:52:37,988 --> 00:52:39,489
extraordinary gallantry and

1771
00:52:39,489 --> 00:52:40,156
faith.

1772
00:52:40,790 --> 00:52:42,125
A faith not only in

1773
00:52:42,125 --> 00:52:43,527
country and family,

1774
00:52:44,561 --> 00:52:45,962
but a power greater than

1775
00:52:45,962 --> 00:52:47,531
themselves with a

1776
00:52:47,898 --> 00:52:48,865
here I am,

1777
00:52:49,232 --> 00:52:50,734
send me conviction

1778
00:52:52,402 --> 00:52:54,638
Men like Karl Richter.

1779
00:52:55,338 --> 00:52:56,339
How are you gonna explain to

1780
00:52:56,339 --> 00:52:57,374
the wife that,

1781
00:52:57,707 --> 00:52:59,409
you put in for concurrent tour

1782
00:52:59,409 --> 00:53:00,343
you know, you going to take

1783
00:53:00,343 --> 00:53:01,311
flying over her?

1784
00:53:01,411 --> 00:53:02,379
Yeah, it wouldn't happen

1785
00:53:03,079 --> 00:53:03,813
Yeah, that's why

1786
00:53:03,813 --> 00:53:04,414
I'm sticking around.

1787
00:53:04,548 --> 00:53:06,016
You know that's why I guess.

1788
00:53:06,416 --> 00:53:07,717
The flying is good

1789
00:53:08,385 --> 00:53:09,152
and it’s

1790
00:53:09,553 --> 00:53:10,320
it's the kind of deal

1791
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:12,222
like everybody says, yeah

1792
00:53:12,222 --> 00:53:12,923
that I'm waving the flag,

1793
00:53:12,923 --> 00:53:14,157
but I'm not. At the same time,

1794
00:53:14,157 --> 00:53:16,393
you know, where are going to

1795
00:53:16,993 --> 00:53:17,861
where are you going to stop at?

1796
00:53:17,861 --> 00:53:18,862
You know

1797
00:53:18,862 --> 00:53:20,430
where is...where's communism?

1798
00:53:20,430 --> 00:53:21,064
You going to wait until there're

1799
00:53:21,064 --> 00:53:21,731
in the

1800
00:53:22,732 --> 00:53:23,166
Philippines?

1801
00:53:23,567 --> 00:53:24,267
Or in Australia or

1802
00:53:24,267 --> 00:53:26,036
San Fransisco or the

1803
00:53:26,369 --> 00:53:27,170
Hawaiian Islands?

1804
00:53:27,337 --> 00:53:28,104
You know.

1805
00:53:28,505 --> 00:53:29,573
Do we stop it here or wait untl

1806
00:53:29,573 --> 00:53:31,174
somewhere later on?

1807
00:53:31,942 --> 00:53:32,609
I don't think most the

1808
00:53:32,609 --> 00:53:34,010
people think about that.

1809
00:53:34,377 --> 00:53:36,012
By the age of 24,

1810
00:53:36,246 --> 00:53:38,114
he’d already completed his 100

1811
00:53:38,114 --> 00:53:39,549
combat missions.

1812
00:53:39,749 --> 00:53:41,184
He volunteered to stay for

1813
00:53:41,184 --> 00:53:42,452
another hundred.

1814
00:53:43,053 --> 00:53:44,754
His request was approved.

1815
00:53:44,754 --> 00:53:46,423
When I went to Korat.

1816
00:53:46,423 --> 00:53:47,724
Karl was in the same squadron

1817
00:53:47,724 --> 00:53:48,592
that I was in the

1818
00:53:48,592 --> 00:53:50,760
421st Tactical Fighter Squadron

1819
00:53:51,027 --> 00:53:53,863
and so I got to fly with him for

1820
00:53:53,863 --> 00:53:55,465
about six months while we were

1821
00:53:55,465 --> 00:53:57,534
there, and of course he went on

1822
00:53:57,534 --> 00:53:59,970
and finished a 100, then went on

1823
00:53:59,970 --> 00:54:02,472
to try, try to do another 100.

1824
00:54:02,472 --> 00:54:04,808
I mean he was fearless, totally

1825
00:54:04,808 --> 00:54:07,644
fearless, and he was a

1826
00:54:07,644 --> 00:54:08,612
dedicated American.

1827
00:54:08,612 --> 00:54:10,080
I mean he really believed in

1828
00:54:10,080 --> 00:54:10,947
what he was doing.

1829
00:54:11,247 --> 00:54:12,082
He could fly the airplane

1830
00:54:12,082 --> 00:54:13,316
really well

1831
00:54:13,483 --> 00:54:14,751
and he was just a

1832
00:54:14,751 --> 00:54:16,252
fun, good guy to be with.

1833
00:54:16,453 --> 00:54:18,054
Karl Richter had survived the

1834
00:54:18,054 --> 00:54:19,756
thuds worst year on record

1835
00:54:20,123 --> 00:54:21,224
and he dared to look death

1836
00:54:21,224 --> 00:54:22,292
in the face to do it

1837
00:54:22,292 --> 00:54:23,760
all over again.

1838
00:54:24,761 --> 00:54:26,830
On his 198th mission

1839
00:54:26,830 --> 00:54:28,465
over North Vietnam

1840
00:54:28,598 --> 00:54:31,234
while bombing a bridge,

1841
00:54:31,234 --> 00:54:32,602
Lieutenant Richter's Thud was

1842
00:54:32,602 --> 00:54:33,903
was shot down.

1843
00:54:34,904 --> 00:54:36,406
Battled damaged by

1844
00:54:36,406 --> 00:54:37,407
anti-aircraft fire.

1845
00:54:38,108 --> 00:54:39,776
He ejected over a sharp

1846
00:54:39,776 --> 00:54:40,844
karst terrain.

1847
00:54:41,077 --> 00:54:42,479
His wingman observed

1848
00:54:42,479 --> 00:54:44,114
a good chute and ordered in the

1849
00:54:44,114 --> 00:54:46,316
combat search and rescue team.

1850
00:54:46,416 --> 00:54:48,018
Near death from multiple

1851
00:54:48,018 --> 00:54:49,686
injuries sustained due

1852
00:54:49,686 --> 00:54:51,788
to the studied karst formation,

1853
00:54:52,022 --> 00:54:53,757
they recovered and extracted

1854
00:54:53,757 --> 00:54:55,625
him from North Vietnam.

1855
00:54:55,825 --> 00:54:56,960
Karl Richter,

1856
00:54:57,427 --> 00:54:59,095
the young man who proudly

1857
00:54:59,095 --> 00:55:00,797
stood and lived the essence of

1858
00:55:01,364 --> 00:55:02,766
here I am,

1859
00:55:03,099 --> 00:55:04,467
send me.

1860
00:55:05,101 --> 00:55:08,605
Died on July 28th, 1967

1861
00:55:08,838 --> 00:55:11,174
aboard the rescue helicopter.

1862
00:55:27,490 --> 00:55:28,858
An American hero and

1863
00:55:28,858 --> 00:55:30,360
World War Two Ace

1864
00:55:30,360 --> 00:55:32,162
was about to change everything.

1865
00:55:33,563 --> 00:55:35,298
Colonel Robin Olds

1866
00:55:35,732 --> 00:55:37,200
had had enough

1867
00:55:37,901 --> 00:55:40,036
and as a gesture of defiance,

1868
00:55:40,036 --> 00:55:42,305
began to flaunt a non-regulation

1869
00:55:42,305 --> 00:55:44,541
mustache to the leaders in his

1870
00:55:44,541 --> 00:55:45,975
chain of command.

1871
00:55:46,342 --> 00:55:47,577
Like him,

1872
00:55:47,977 --> 00:55:49,179
other fighter pilots

1873
00:55:49,179 --> 00:55:50,480
began to sport

1874
00:55:50,547 --> 00:55:52,515
the bulletproof mustaches

1875
00:55:52,882 --> 00:55:54,551
as their secret middle finger

1876
00:55:54,551 --> 00:55:56,319
to the policymakers.

1877
00:55:56,920 --> 00:55:57,987
After all,

1878
00:55:58,521 --> 00:55:59,556
men were dying

1879
00:56:00,490 --> 00:56:01,858
and the targeting orders

1880
00:56:01,858 --> 00:56:03,326
were so insane,

1881
00:56:03,860 --> 00:56:05,261
they began to question why

1882
00:56:05,261 --> 00:56:07,330
they were even there.

1883
00:56:08,665 --> 00:56:11,401
Considered the best combat con

1884
00:56:11,568 --> 00:56:12,602
in the history of

1885
00:56:12,602 --> 00:56:14,370
modern air warfare,

1886
00:56:15,105 --> 00:56:16,940
Colonel Robin Olds'

1887
00:56:16,940 --> 00:56:18,842
Operation Bolo

1888
00:56:18,875 --> 00:56:19,843
turned the tide on

1889
00:56:19,843 --> 00:56:21,377
the MiG threat.

1890
00:56:21,911 --> 00:56:24,447
Disguised as bomb laden Thuds

1891
00:56:24,581 --> 00:56:26,916
using F-105 strike routes,

1892
00:56:26,916 --> 00:56:29,786
flight profiles and callsigns,

1893
00:56:30,687 --> 00:56:32,956
Colonel Olds lured MiG 21s

1894
00:56:32,956 --> 00:56:34,624
right into the fangs of his

1895
00:56:34,624 --> 00:56:36,059
F-4 Wolf Pack

1896
00:56:37,227 --> 00:56:38,228
He and his men were

1897
00:56:38,228 --> 00:56:39,095
ready to fight

1898
00:56:39,763 --> 00:56:40,964
and fight they did.

1899
00:56:41,931 --> 00:56:43,767
Close to half of Vietnam's

1900
00:56:43,767 --> 00:56:45,935
MiG 21s were demolished.

1901
00:56:46,469 --> 00:56:48,404
North Vietnam immediately put a

1902
00:56:48,404 --> 00:56:50,206
price on Robin Olds' head

1903
00:56:50,774 --> 00:56:52,375
and grounded their Air Force

1904
00:56:52,375 --> 00:56:54,778
for months to devise new tactics

1905
00:56:56,279 --> 00:56:57,647
The commander-in-chief

1906
00:56:57,647 --> 00:56:59,282
personally asked Robin Olds

1907
00:56:59,282 --> 00:57:00,416
what should be done

1908
00:57:00,416 --> 00:57:01,317
about Vietnam.

1909
00:57:01,818 --> 00:57:03,086
He didn't sugar coat it.

1910
00:57:03,553 --> 00:57:04,554
Good Lord...you got the best

1911
00:57:04,554 --> 00:57:05,421
armed services you've

1912
00:57:05,421 --> 00:57:06,422
ever fielded.

1913
00:57:06,923 --> 00:57:08,124
Why don't you use them?

1914
00:57:08,224 --> 00:57:09,392
one way to stop

1915
00:57:09,392 --> 00:57:09,959
the darn thing.

1916
00:57:09,959 --> 00:57:11,294
It's very simple

1917
00:57:12,162 --> 00:57:13,062
from my own humble

1918
00:57:13,062 --> 00:57:14,097
point of view,

1919
00:57:14,731 --> 00:57:15,765
win it.

1920
00:57:17,133 --> 00:57:18,067
That's easy.

1921
00:57:18,234 --> 00:57:18,835
What we're doing is

1922
00:57:18,835 --> 00:57:20,103
the hard way

1923
00:57:20,603 --> 00:57:21,437
and the worst way of all

1924
00:57:21,437 --> 00:57:22,138
is to get out

1925
00:57:22,138 --> 00:57:23,673
once you got your foot in it.

1926
00:57:25,008 --> 00:57:26,976
LBJ was startled.

1927
00:57:27,343 --> 00:57:29,012
The American fighting spirited

1928
00:57:29,012 --> 00:57:31,748
had bypassed Washington shackles

1929
00:57:31,748 --> 00:57:33,583
in dealing with the air menace,

1930
00:57:34,317 --> 00:57:35,451
and now it was onto

1931
00:57:35,451 --> 00:57:36,619
the SAM threat.

1932
00:57:36,753 --> 00:57:38,288
My name is Ben Fuller.

1933
00:57:38,288 --> 00:57:40,356
I retired from the Air Force

1934
00:57:40,356 --> 00:57:41,991
in 1977

1935
00:57:42,091 --> 00:57:43,326
as a full colonel.

1936
00:57:43,326 --> 00:57:44,861
I had been flying the F-105 for

1937
00:57:44,861 --> 00:57:46,162
quite a while.

1938
00:57:46,296 --> 00:57:47,864
Primary mission, of course in

1939
00:57:47,864 --> 00:57:49,199
Europe was a

1940
00:57:49,199 --> 00:57:51,634
tactical nuclear delivery of an

1941
00:57:51,634 --> 00:57:52,836
atomic weapon against

1942
00:57:52,836 --> 00:57:54,537
the Soviet Bloc Nations.

1943
00:57:54,537 --> 00:57:56,539
I spent a little over, I guess

1944
00:57:56,539 --> 00:57:58,374
two and a half years of that

1945
00:57:58,374 --> 00:58:00,777
tour when all of a sudden

1946
00:58:01,811 --> 00:58:03,847
the war in North Vietnam got

1947
00:58:03,847 --> 00:58:05,648
hotter and they started pulling

1948
00:58:05,648 --> 00:58:08,017
all of the F-105s out of Europe

1949
00:58:08,017 --> 00:58:09,652
and sending them over to a

1950
00:58:10,186 --> 00:58:11,955
to bases in Thailand.

1951
00:58:11,955 --> 00:58:14,457
I, somewhere around December

1952
00:58:14,457 --> 00:58:17,393
1966, I received orders

1953
00:58:17,560 --> 00:58:18,161
to go

1954
00:58:18,895 --> 00:58:19,495
to ah

1955
00:58:20,029 --> 00:58:21,331
Takhli Thailand

1956
00:58:21,397 --> 00:58:23,032
as a Wild Weasel pilot.

1957
00:58:23,032 --> 00:58:24,200
Nobody knew what a

1958
00:58:24,200 --> 00:58:25,335
Wild Weasel was.

1959
00:58:25,335 --> 00:58:26,536
We thought everybody

1960
00:58:26,536 --> 00:58:27,403
was the same.

1961
00:58:27,403 --> 00:58:29,572
We just were fighter pilots.

1962
00:58:30,306 --> 00:58:31,708
And so, we went up to

1963
00:58:31,708 --> 00:58:32,642
Wing Headquarters

1964
00:58:32,642 --> 00:58:35,545
to read the secret orders and

1965
00:58:35,545 --> 00:58:37,680
see what the definition of

1966
00:58:37,680 --> 00:58:38,548
Weasel was

1967
00:58:39,082 --> 00:58:41,317
and it says it that they were

1968
00:58:41,317 --> 00:58:42,819
aircraft that were equipped with

1969
00:58:42,819 --> 00:58:44,888
special electronic equipment

1970
00:58:45,722 --> 00:58:47,991
to seek out and destroy

1971
00:58:48,324 --> 00:58:50,693
surface to air missile sites

1972
00:58:51,027 --> 00:58:52,862
by trolling for them.

1973
00:58:53,096 --> 00:58:54,731
And I said, "what the hell is

1974
00:58:54,731 --> 00:58:56,366
trolling for a SAM?"

1975
00:58:57,100 --> 00:58:58,401
And they said, "That's where

1976
00:58:58,401 --> 00:58:59,569
you fly around and hope they'll

1977
00:58:59,569 --> 00:59:00,570
shoot at you

1978
00:59:01,070 --> 00:59:01,938
and that way you'll know

1979
00:59:01,938 --> 00:59:02,906
where they are.

1980
00:59:03,006 --> 00:59:04,841
I've got my PCS orders to

1981
00:59:04,841 --> 00:59:06,676
Nellis first for a

1982
00:59:07,076 --> 00:59:08,678
twelve sortie

1983
00:59:09,045 --> 00:59:10,179
training flight

1984
00:59:10,880 --> 00:59:13,249
and where we married up with our

1985
00:59:13,249 --> 00:59:14,951
electronic warfare officer

1986
00:59:15,551 --> 00:59:17,186
to fondly be called

1987
00:59:17,253 --> 00:59:18,254
a Bear

1988
00:59:18,421 --> 00:59:19,022
later on

1989
00:59:19,522 --> 00:59:20,556
A trained bear.

1990
00:59:20,924 --> 00:59:22,358
I'm Stan Goldstein. At the time

1991
00:59:22,358 --> 00:59:24,460
I became a Wild Weasel I was a

1992
00:59:24,460 --> 00:59:26,863
major and I got to fly in the

1993
00:59:26,863 --> 00:59:28,531
105 and become a Wild Weasel.

1994
00:59:28,531 --> 00:59:29,365
The best thing that ever

1995
00:59:29,365 --> 00:59:30,867
happened to me.

1996
00:59:30,867 --> 00:59:32,869
The key to flying Wild Weasel

1997
00:59:32,869 --> 00:59:34,037
missions is to have

1998
00:59:34,037 --> 00:59:36,039
good crew coordination.

1999
00:59:36,406 --> 00:59:37,941
And of course the question is

2000
00:59:37,941 --> 00:59:39,409
how do you figure out who you're

2001
00:59:39,409 --> 00:59:40,810
gonna crew up with?

2002
00:59:40,944 --> 00:59:42,812
Well, the marriage dance

2003
00:59:42,812 --> 00:59:44,580
is quite interesting.

2004
00:59:44,580 --> 00:59:46,316
They finally figured out to

2005
00:59:46,316 --> 00:59:46,983
leave it up to

2006
00:59:46,983 --> 00:59:48,484
the crews themselves.

2007
00:59:48,618 --> 00:59:49,619
So there were some

2008
00:59:49,752 --> 00:59:50,553
I think eight

2009
00:59:50,620 --> 00:59:52,822
eight pilots and eight EWOs,

2010
00:59:52,822 --> 00:59:54,290
backseaters, GIBs, Bears,

2011
00:59:54,290 --> 00:59:55,758
whatever you want to call us.

2012
00:59:56,059 --> 00:59:57,560
And we all meet up in Vegas

2013
00:59:57,560 --> 01:00:00,396
and of course there

2014
01:00:00,396 --> 01:00:01,664
several hours at the bar

2015
01:00:01,664 --> 01:00:03,166
where the big determination

2016
01:00:03,166 --> 01:00:03,833
is made.

2017
01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:05,601
That was quite an experience

2018
01:00:05,601 --> 01:00:07,270
because most of the Bears

2019
01:00:07,270 --> 01:00:08,104
had come from

2020
01:00:08,938 --> 01:00:09,272
SAC

2021
01:00:09,505 --> 01:00:10,473
Strategic Air Command

2022
01:00:10,473 --> 01:00:12,175
where they flew in the middle of

2023
01:00:12,175 --> 01:00:13,343
a bomber somewhere

2024
01:00:13,843 --> 01:00:15,278
and were lucky if they had

2025
01:00:15,278 --> 01:00:16,679
a small window to look out of

2026
01:00:16,679 --> 01:00:18,648
So when we got our bears in

2027
01:00:18,648 --> 01:00:19,816
there for the first mission

2028
01:00:19,816 --> 01:00:21,417
or two, it was mostly getting

2029
01:00:21,417 --> 01:00:23,486
them used to what it was like

2030
01:00:23,486 --> 01:00:25,421
flying upside down and doing

2031
01:00:25,421 --> 01:00:27,323
rolls and everything with a

2032
01:00:27,323 --> 01:00:28,424
total plexiglass

2033
01:00:29,192 --> 01:00:30,693
window to look out of

2034
01:00:31,160 --> 01:00:32,528
and...to...

2035
01:00:32,996 --> 01:00:34,030
to concentrate on

2036
01:00:34,030 --> 01:00:35,164
what they were supposed to be

2037
01:00:35,164 --> 01:00:36,532
concentrating on and that was

2038
01:00:36,532 --> 01:00:37,467
the black boxes that

2039
01:00:37,467 --> 01:00:38,668
were in the back seat.

2040
01:00:38,835 --> 01:00:40,603
As my first time wearing a

2041
01:00:40,603 --> 01:00:43,673
G-suit, I had flown in B-57s

2042
01:00:43,673 --> 01:00:45,174
before so I had some

2043
01:00:45,174 --> 01:00:46,943
experience. I also had jet time

2044
01:00:46,943 --> 01:00:49,612
in the front and back of B-66s

2045
01:00:49,612 --> 01:00:51,214
which I'm glad I avoided

2046
01:00:51,981 --> 01:00:53,349
by getting into the Thuds.

2047
01:00:53,850 --> 01:00:55,518
We go through Weasel school.

2048
01:00:55,518 --> 01:00:56,986
We learn how to

2049
01:00:57,820 --> 01:00:58,721
drop bombs.

2050
01:00:59,522 --> 01:01:00,857
We learn how to maneuver,

2051
01:01:00,857 --> 01:01:02,725
how to recognize the signals.

2052
01:01:03,059 --> 01:01:04,961
The Wild Weasel aircraft

2053
01:01:04,961 --> 01:01:05,661
were developed

2054
01:01:06,629 --> 01:01:08,498
because of a high threat from

2055
01:01:08,498 --> 01:01:09,899
surface to air missiles.

2056
01:01:09,899 --> 01:01:12,335
that were plaguing the 105s

2057
01:01:12,335 --> 01:01:14,303
and other aircraft over

2058
01:01:14,303 --> 01:01:15,538
North Vietnam.

2059
01:01:15,738 --> 01:01:17,573
I used to try to describe this

2060
01:01:17,573 --> 01:01:18,908
pretty much as

2061
01:01:19,242 --> 01:01:20,343
how this all worked

2062
01:01:20,843 --> 01:01:22,345
like the people who carry

2063
01:01:23,046 --> 01:01:24,213
fuzz busters in their

2064
01:01:24,213 --> 01:01:26,482
automobiles to detect where the

2065
01:01:26,482 --> 01:01:28,017
highway patrol

2066
01:01:28,017 --> 01:01:28,985
is up ahead

2067
01:01:30,053 --> 01:01:31,020
trying to determine your

2068
01:01:31,320 --> 01:01:32,588
air speed or

2069
01:01:32,889 --> 01:01:34,190
your speed of your car.

2070
01:01:34,490 --> 01:01:36,993
And it emits a signal

2071
01:01:37,260 --> 01:01:38,428
and then the fuzz buster

2072
01:01:38,428 --> 01:01:38,995
in the car

2073
01:01:38,995 --> 01:01:40,263
picked up the signal

2074
01:01:40,496 --> 01:01:41,697
and that way you knew

2075
01:01:41,697 --> 01:01:42,899
that you had a threat.

2076
01:01:43,166 --> 01:01:45,201
It was the same idea with the

2077
01:01:45,368 --> 01:01:46,235
Wild Weasels.

2078
01:01:47,537 --> 01:01:48,704
We picked up a various

2079
01:01:49,172 --> 01:01:50,073
number of threats which

2080
01:01:50,073 --> 01:01:51,607
a Bear can explain

2081
01:01:51,607 --> 01:01:52,775
to you much better,

2082
01:01:53,209 --> 01:01:55,011
but mainly the threat

2083
01:01:55,011 --> 01:01:57,513
we were looking for was the SA-2

2084
01:01:57,713 --> 01:01:58,748
Surface to Air Missile.

2085
01:01:58,748 --> 01:02:00,116
Got this patch here,

2086
01:02:00,249 --> 01:02:01,551
Wild Weasel patch.

2087
01:02:01,551 --> 01:02:03,519
It says, YGBSM.

2088
01:02:04,053 --> 01:02:05,755
Jack Donovan who is one

2089
01:02:05,755 --> 01:02:06,722
of the Weasels on

2090
01:02:06,722 --> 01:02:08,791
Wild Weasel 1 - the F100s.

2091
01:02:08,791 --> 01:02:10,293
And he and Gary Willard

2092
01:02:10,293 --> 01:02:11,694
as some of you may know,

2093
01:02:12,528 --> 01:02:14,030
great Thud pilot,

2094
01:02:14,030 --> 01:02:15,631
great Hun pilot.

2095
01:02:15,798 --> 01:02:17,233
Anyway, they go to a

2096
01:02:17,233 --> 01:02:19,602
secret place out in Long Beach

2097
01:02:19,735 --> 01:02:20,403
and they go into the

2098
01:02:20,403 --> 01:02:21,737
North American hanger

2099
01:02:21,971 --> 01:02:23,072
and the Secretary of

2100
01:02:23,072 --> 01:02:24,040
the Air Force is sitting

2101
01:02:24,040 --> 01:02:25,708
on the side smoking a pipe

2102
01:02:25,875 --> 01:02:27,276
with his arms crossed.

2103
01:02:27,410 --> 01:02:29,045
And they explain to

2104
01:02:30,379 --> 01:02:31,981
everybody what the mission of

2105
01:02:31,981 --> 01:02:33,549
the Wild Weasels is going to be.

2106
01:02:34,417 --> 01:02:35,985
And then, Donovan tries to

2107
01:02:35,985 --> 01:02:37,053
summarize this.

2108
01:02:37,420 --> 01:02:38,588
"Let me get this straight.

2109
01:02:38,588 --> 01:02:39,956
You’re gonna put me in the back

2110
01:02:39,956 --> 01:02:41,724
seat with some crazy ass fighter

2111
01:02:41,724 --> 01:02:43,059
pilot and you want me

2112
01:02:43,059 --> 01:02:44,660
to patrol and be a target for

2113
01:02:44,660 --> 01:02:46,629
SAMs? You gotta be shitting me."

2114
01:02:46,796 --> 01:02:48,131
So, YGBSM

2115
01:02:48,131 --> 01:02:49,665
has become the motto

2116
01:02:49,732 --> 01:02:51,934
of the Wild Weasels and one

2117
01:02:51,934 --> 01:02:53,102
we try to live up to.

2118
01:02:53,102 --> 01:02:54,971
And it's on all our gear.

2119
01:02:54,971 --> 01:02:56,405
I was leading a flight.

2120
01:02:56,639 --> 01:02:57,673
It was Carbine flight.

2121
01:02:57,773 --> 01:02:59,909
I was Carbine 1. Carbine 2,

2122
01:02:59,909 --> 01:03:01,144
another Weasel pilot,

2123
01:03:01,144 --> 01:03:02,678
Joe Ritter, and his back seater,

2124
01:03:02,678 --> 01:03:04,280
McGuken, John McGuken.

2125
01:03:04,280 --> 01:03:06,682
Number three was Leo Thorsness

2126
01:03:06,682 --> 01:03:08,084
and Harry Johnson.

2127
01:03:08,084 --> 01:03:09,018
Carbine 4,

2128
01:03:09,018 --> 01:03:10,319
was Lieutenant Bob Abbott.

2129
01:03:10,319 --> 01:03:11,654
We were approximately

2130
01:03:12,288 --> 01:03:14,290
30 miles so as

2131
01:03:14,457 --> 01:03:16,092
routine for the Weasel Flight

2132
01:03:16,092 --> 01:03:16,993
to be out front

2133
01:03:17,527 --> 01:03:18,661
of the strike force

2134
01:03:18,661 --> 01:03:20,429
and there were twelve other

2135
01:03:20,429 --> 01:03:21,697
F105's behind us.

2136
01:03:22,298 --> 01:03:23,299
Off to my right,

2137
01:03:23,466 --> 01:03:24,467
Leo Thorsness

2138
01:03:24,467 --> 01:03:26,169
in number three was just

2139
01:03:26,169 --> 01:03:27,203
almost a beam me off

2140
01:03:27,203 --> 01:03:28,671
to the right side.

2141
01:03:29,338 --> 01:03:30,806
I caught his

2142
01:03:31,374 --> 01:03:33,109
plane exploding.

2143
01:03:33,776 --> 01:03:34,777
And It was

2144
01:03:34,877 --> 01:03:37,180
almost totally engulfed in fire.

2145
01:03:37,780 --> 01:03:40,983
And my of course reaction is,

2146
01:03:41,117 --> 01:03:42,118
"Get out, get out!"

2147
01:03:42,118 --> 01:03:43,352
I'm screaming like

2148
01:03:43,653 --> 01:03:44,854
duh...you know.

2149
01:03:45,188 --> 01:03:46,389
I'm sure he knows that

2150
01:03:46,389 --> 01:03:47,690
he's got a problem.

2151
01:03:48,024 --> 01:03:49,559
And he did call,

2152
01:03:49,559 --> 01:03:50,726
"Mayday, mayday, mayday

2153
01:03:52,028 --> 01:03:53,296
This is Carbine 3"

2154
01:03:53,496 --> 01:03:55,698
And he immediately ejected.

2155
01:03:57,233 --> 01:03:58,467
We saw parachutes from

2156
01:03:58,467 --> 01:03:59,135
both people.

2157
01:03:59,669 --> 01:04:01,370
And Leo, bless his sole,

2158
01:04:01,370 --> 01:04:03,072
he was my mentor over there,

2159
01:04:03,072 --> 01:04:05,007
heard their beepers.

2160
01:04:06,309 --> 01:04:07,043
So right after

2161
01:04:07,043 --> 01:04:08,211
those transmissions,

2162
01:04:08,344 --> 01:04:10,580
I'm calling a channel change

2163
01:04:10,580 --> 01:04:12,982
and I can't raise number four.

2164
01:04:14,183 --> 01:04:14,884
And

2165
01:04:15,251 --> 01:04:15,985
we

2166
01:04:16,219 --> 01:04:17,086
assume and then,

2167
01:04:17,086 --> 01:04:18,888
number 2 comes back and

2168
01:04:18,888 --> 01:04:20,356
advises me that he thinks

2169
01:04:20,356 --> 01:04:22,325
that he saw number 4

2170
01:04:22,592 --> 01:04:23,526
hit also

2171
01:04:23,759 --> 01:04:25,394
just within seconds of Leo.

2172
01:04:25,528 --> 01:04:27,496
We're talking in the aircraft

2173
01:04:27,496 --> 01:04:29,565
between us, what did this?

2174
01:04:29,932 --> 01:04:30,766
Nobody had said

2175
01:04:30,766 --> 01:04:32,268
anything about MiGs.

2176
01:04:33,169 --> 01:04:34,670
We knew it could have been

2177
01:04:34,670 --> 01:04:36,172
anti-aircraft fire, but we

2178
01:04:36,172 --> 01:04:38,274
weren't over places that

2179
01:04:38,274 --> 01:04:39,008
would have a lot of

2180
01:04:39,008 --> 01:04:39,875
anti-aircraft,

2181
01:04:40,376 --> 01:04:41,244
so we didn't know

2182
01:04:41,444 --> 01:04:43,112
what had hit them at this time

2183
01:04:43,379 --> 01:04:44,780
So all of the sudden in

2184
01:04:44,780 --> 01:04:45,715
the middle of this,

2185
01:04:46,249 --> 01:04:47,083
Tomahawk,

2186
01:04:47,283 --> 01:04:48,618
who is flying top cover

2187
01:04:48,618 --> 01:04:50,686
up there and relaying messages,

2188
01:04:51,187 --> 01:04:52,288
he gets hit.

2189
01:04:52,455 --> 01:04:54,624
Tomahawk 4 is shotdown by

2190
01:04:54,624 --> 01:04:55,791
another MiG.

2191
01:04:57,093 --> 01:04:59,428
And number 3 is hit by either

2192
01:04:59,428 --> 01:05:01,964
his explosion or a

2193
01:05:01,964 --> 01:05:02,798
separate missile they

2194
01:05:02,798 --> 01:05:04,066
don’t know which.

2195
01:05:04,233 --> 01:05:06,769
But, Tomahawk 3, Al Linski, he

2196
01:05:07,270 --> 01:05:08,871
managed to keep his

2197
01:05:08,871 --> 01:05:09,372
plane together

2198
01:05:09,939 --> 01:05:11,540
and make it back

2199
01:05:11,540 --> 01:05:13,609
to emergency landing at

2200
01:05:13,609 --> 01:05:14,944
Udorn Air Force Base

2201
01:05:14,944 --> 01:05:15,778
in Thailand.

2202
01:05:15,911 --> 01:05:17,747
Captain Joe Abbott was the

2203
01:05:18,281 --> 01:05:19,749
was the Tomahawk 4

2204
01:05:19,882 --> 01:05:21,384
who was also shot down.

2205
01:05:21,550 --> 01:05:23,052
And nothing is going

2206
01:05:23,419 --> 01:05:24,387
the way we want it to go

2207
01:05:24,387 --> 01:05:26,222
at this point in time.

2208
01:05:26,656 --> 01:05:27,990
We've got you know

2209
01:05:27,990 --> 01:05:30,326
another guy on the ground.

2210
01:05:30,660 --> 01:05:32,762
And a lot of MiGs in the area

2211
01:05:32,762 --> 01:05:34,096
and things are beginning to

2212
01:05:34,096 --> 01:05:35,097
look pretty grim.

2213
01:05:35,097 --> 01:05:35,798
But then the next

2214
01:05:35,798 --> 01:05:37,400
thing we know is

2215
01:05:37,466 --> 01:05:39,735
the lead chopper is aborting.

2216
01:05:39,735 --> 01:05:41,937
He's had hydraulic problems.

2217
01:05:41,937 --> 01:05:43,973
So chopper number 2 aborts

2218
01:05:43,973 --> 01:05:46,075
with him as is their procedure

2219
01:05:46,075 --> 01:05:48,778
according to their protocols.

2220
01:05:49,512 --> 01:05:52,014
So now, Crown says we’re just

2221
01:05:52,014 --> 01:05:53,449
gonna have to call everything

2222
01:05:53,449 --> 01:05:56,452
off and come back tomorrow,

2223
01:05:57,186 --> 01:05:58,954
and so

2224
01:05:59,955 --> 01:06:00,956
we all gathered up

2225
01:06:00,956 --> 01:06:01,957
and went home.

2226
01:06:02,758 --> 01:06:04,293
And the last thing I remember

2227
01:06:04,293 --> 01:06:06,195
from the ground was Leo

2228
01:06:06,195 --> 01:06:07,029
on the radio

2229
01:06:07,196 --> 01:06:08,097
survival radios

2230
01:06:08,097 --> 01:06:09,865
saying get me out of here.

2231
01:06:10,533 --> 01:06:12,034
And so all the way home

2232
01:06:12,034 --> 01:06:13,669
I had a lot of tears.

2233
01:06:13,669 --> 01:06:14,870
And I that was a four hour

2234
01:06:14,870 --> 01:06:16,605
and fifteen minute mission

2235
01:06:16,605 --> 01:06:18,474
that accomplished nothing.

2236
01:06:19,442 --> 01:06:21,043
And that was the worst

2237
01:06:21,043 --> 01:06:23,479
mission of my one hundred.

2238
01:06:23,479 --> 01:06:24,847
And I'm glad I didn't have to

2239
01:06:24,847 --> 01:06:26,882
repeat it again.

2240
01:06:40,463 --> 01:06:42,064
Thud combat operations

2241
01:06:42,064 --> 01:06:43,632
out of Thailand

2242
01:06:44,300 --> 01:06:46,302
developed an unspoken bond

2243
01:06:46,302 --> 01:06:48,904
among the officers who flew them

2244
01:06:49,071 --> 01:06:50,206
and the non-commissioned

2245
01:06:50,206 --> 01:06:52,141
officers and enlistees who

2246
01:06:52,141 --> 01:06:53,342
maintained them.

2247
01:06:53,409 --> 01:06:54,577
Their one goal?

2248
01:06:54,744 --> 01:06:56,379
Put bombs on target.

2249
01:06:56,746 --> 01:06:58,414
For each Thud pilot assigned to

2250
01:06:58,414 --> 01:07:00,916
the squadron had an F-105 with

2251
01:07:00,916 --> 01:07:02,685
his name on it during his tour.

2252
01:07:03,152 --> 01:07:04,754
It was in name only.

2253
01:07:05,154 --> 01:07:06,856
He would fly whatever Thud that

2254
01:07:06,856 --> 01:07:07,923
he was scheduled for

2255
01:07:07,923 --> 01:07:08,991
on that day.

2256
01:07:10,259 --> 01:07:11,394
For Thud Crew Chiefs

2257
01:07:11,394 --> 01:07:12,194
and their team

2258
01:07:12,194 --> 01:07:13,396
on the other hand,

2259
01:07:14,163 --> 01:07:15,331
it was a true relationship

2260
01:07:15,331 --> 01:07:17,066
between man and machine.

2261
01:07:17,733 --> 01:07:19,101
Their assigned aircraft became

2262
01:07:19,101 --> 01:07:21,570
their child that they would care

2263
01:07:21,570 --> 01:07:22,738
for and nurture.

2264
01:07:22,905 --> 01:07:23,839
In actuality,

2265
01:07:24,673 --> 01:07:26,509
Crew Chiefs only let the pilots

2266
01:07:26,509 --> 01:07:29,111
borrow "his" personal aircraft.

2267
01:07:29,111 --> 01:07:30,880
My name is Jeff Puras.

2268
01:07:30,880 --> 01:07:32,681
I arrived in Korat Thailand

2269
01:07:32,681 --> 01:07:36,118
in May 1967 and I was assigned

2270
01:07:36,118 --> 01:07:37,453
to a Wild Weasel aircraft.

2271
01:07:37,453 --> 01:07:39,054
Life on the flight line was day

2272
01:07:39,054 --> 01:07:41,023
after day of almost exactly the

2273
01:07:41,023 --> 01:07:41,791
same routine.

2274
01:07:42,591 --> 01:07:43,726
launch, recovery,

2275
01:07:44,727 --> 01:07:45,394
count them when they

2276
01:07:45,394 --> 01:07:46,028
were coming back.

2277
01:07:46,362 --> 01:07:47,062
There's a gap.

2278
01:07:47,930 --> 01:07:48,764
The Weasels

2279
01:07:49,098 --> 01:07:50,132
The Weasels seem to be

2280
01:07:50,132 --> 01:07:51,200
stragglers because they were

2281
01:07:51,200 --> 01:07:52,301
first in, last out.

2282
01:07:52,868 --> 01:07:54,203
They would be

2283
01:07:55,204 --> 01:07:56,472
It's always nervous time.

2284
01:07:56,472 --> 01:07:57,640
You see the strike force

2285
01:07:57,640 --> 01:07:58,474
you know come back

2286
01:07:58,774 --> 01:07:59,141
there's one

2287
01:07:59,275 --> 01:07:59,642
there's one

2288
01:07:59,642 --> 01:08:00,242
watch them land.

2289
01:08:00,543 --> 01:08:01,977
And then you wouldn’t see yours

2290
01:08:01,977 --> 01:08:03,379
then oh, there it is.

2291
01:08:03,379 --> 01:08:04,313
You'd be relieved.

2292
01:08:04,613 --> 01:08:05,281
And ugh,

2293
01:08:05,448 --> 01:08:06,549
I went up the front ladder

2294
01:08:06,549 --> 01:08:07,616
and who's ever helping me

2295
01:08:07,616 --> 01:08:08,617
do the back seater.

2296
01:08:08,918 --> 01:08:09,585
And...

2297
01:08:10,319 --> 01:08:11,320
his hands were shaking so bad

2298
01:08:11,320 --> 01:08:11,954
he couldn't hook

2299
01:08:11,954 --> 01:08:13,322
his harness up.

2300
01:08:13,756 --> 01:08:16,425
And...ugh...he...and

2301
01:08:16,425 --> 01:08:18,761
I just watched and said

2302
01:08:18,761 --> 01:08:20,296
relax sir, I'll get it for ya.

2303
01:08:20,496 --> 01:08:21,497
So I helped him with his

2304
01:08:21,730 --> 01:08:22,631
with his straps and stuff.

2305
01:08:22,631 --> 01:08:24,467
And I wondered what in the heck

2306
01:08:24,467 --> 01:08:26,602
were they tasked with that day?

2307
01:08:26,669 --> 01:08:28,938
My name is Larry Henlsey.

2308
01:08:28,938 --> 01:08:32,007
I was a Crew Chief on the F-105

2309
01:08:32,475 --> 01:08:34,243
at Takhli, Thailand

2310
01:08:34,243 --> 01:08:36,779
in the year 1967.

2311
01:08:38,981 --> 01:08:39,982
It was always

2312
01:08:40,816 --> 01:08:42,284
a sad deal to see

2313
01:08:42,284 --> 01:08:43,853
three airplanes in the sky

2314
01:08:43,853 --> 01:08:45,421
coming back as opposed to the

2315
01:08:45,421 --> 01:08:47,323
four that took off and

2316
01:08:47,656 --> 01:08:49,358
one of those days,

2317
01:08:49,859 --> 01:08:52,495
my plane that I had launched

2318
01:08:53,295 --> 01:08:54,630
didn't return.

2319
01:08:54,930 --> 01:08:56,265
and they didn't tell us

2320
01:08:56,265 --> 01:08:57,833
much about what happened

2321
01:08:57,833 --> 01:08:59,969
other than they just came and

2322
01:08:59,969 --> 01:09:01,637
got the forms binder

2323
01:09:01,637 --> 01:09:02,471
for the airplane

2324
01:09:02,471 --> 01:09:03,839
that the plane was lost

2325
01:09:03,839 --> 01:09:06,775
and the pilot didn't survive.

2326
01:09:06,775 --> 01:09:08,711
He was lost as well.

2327
01:09:09,445 --> 01:09:11,514
And I think they recovered his

2328
01:09:11,514 --> 01:09:13,382
remains sometime in the '80s

2329
01:09:13,382 --> 01:09:14,483
and finally got to

2330
01:09:14,483 --> 01:09:16,552
return them back to his family.

2331
01:09:16,552 --> 01:09:17,786
I couldn't have made any

2332
01:09:17,786 --> 01:09:18,988
difference other than making

2333
01:09:18,988 --> 01:09:20,222
sure the best airplane in the

2334
01:09:20,222 --> 01:09:21,490
world leaves.

2335
01:09:21,857 --> 01:09:23,225
Make sure it's perfect.

2336
01:09:23,325 --> 01:09:24,226
But, it was,

2337
01:09:24,627 --> 01:09:25,294
I was sick for three,

2338
01:09:25,294 --> 01:09:26,562
I was just sick

2339
01:09:26,829 --> 01:09:28,230
sick when it happened.

2340
01:09:28,564 --> 01:09:29,899
It's just more than,

2341
01:09:30,299 --> 01:09:30,833
it's almost more than

2342
01:09:30,833 --> 01:09:31,367
you can bear.

2343
01:09:31,534 --> 01:09:32,301
Some of the Crew Chiefs

2344
01:09:32,301 --> 01:09:33,035
had horrible problems

2345
01:09:33,669 --> 01:09:35,170
after a shoot down of their

2346
01:09:35,170 --> 01:09:36,872
plane and it happened a lot.

2347
01:09:37,039 --> 01:09:38,507
Something that

2348
01:09:40,309 --> 01:09:41,744
you...just...it’s

2349
01:09:41,744 --> 01:09:43,846
a hard thing to deal with

2350
01:09:43,846 --> 01:09:45,748
when you lose the

2351
01:09:45,748 --> 01:09:47,349
plane, but you lose the man that

2352
01:09:47,349 --> 01:09:48,584
you had just strapped

2353
01:09:48,684 --> 01:09:50,519
in that airplane.

2354
01:09:50,653 --> 01:09:51,186
And...

2355
01:09:52,221 --> 01:09:54,256
that was a proud time when

2356
01:09:54,256 --> 01:09:56,859
you taxied that airplane out and

2357
01:09:56,859 --> 01:09:59,094
gave that pilot a salute

2358
01:09:59,728 --> 01:10:01,196
And you were one of the last

2359
01:10:01,196 --> 01:10:02,598
ones that talked to him on the

2360
01:10:02,598 --> 01:10:04,533
ground because you were hooked

2361
01:10:04,533 --> 01:10:06,001
up with a headset.

2362
01:10:06,869 --> 01:10:08,337
And you tell him you'll

2363
01:10:08,337 --> 01:10:10,039
see him when he gets back and

2364
01:10:10,839 --> 01:10:13,175
he didn't return.

2365
01:10:15,077 --> 01:10:16,412
For Thud Crew Chief, he was the

2366
01:10:16,412 --> 01:10:17,746
one responsible for the air

2367
01:10:17,746 --> 01:10:19,181
worthiness

2368
01:10:19,248 --> 01:10:21,951
servicing, launch and recovery

2369
01:10:21,951 --> 01:10:22,885
of this incredible

2370
01:10:22,885 --> 01:10:23,752
piece of metal.

2371
01:10:24,086 --> 01:10:25,621
F-105 availability

2372
01:10:25,621 --> 01:10:27,189
in Southeast Asia was the

2373
01:10:27,189 --> 01:10:28,757
highest for the entire

2374
01:10:28,757 --> 01:10:29,858
Thud fleet,

2375
01:10:30,559 --> 01:10:32,428
a testament to the dedication

2376
01:10:33,228 --> 01:10:34,863
and hard work of the maintenance

2377
01:10:34,863 --> 01:10:36,198
core of Crew Chiefs,

2378
01:10:36,865 --> 01:10:37,800
Line Chiefs

2379
01:10:38,267 --> 01:10:39,535
and behind the flight line

2380
01:10:39,535 --> 01:10:40,869
maintenance shops.

2381
01:10:41,637 --> 01:10:43,439
A multitude of maintenance

2382
01:10:43,439 --> 01:10:44,206
specialists in

2383
01:10:44,406 --> 01:10:45,307
engines,

2384
01:10:45,741 --> 01:10:46,642
hydraulics,

2385
01:10:46,909 --> 01:10:47,810
avionics

2386
01:10:48,377 --> 01:10:49,979
and electronics supported the

2387
01:10:49,979 --> 01:10:50,813
Crew Chief

2388
01:10:51,947 --> 01:10:53,248
along with the armors and

2389
01:10:53,248 --> 01:10:54,917
munitions personnel

2390
01:10:54,917 --> 01:10:55,884
who assembled,

2391
01:10:56,051 --> 01:10:57,386
delivered and loaded

2392
01:10:57,386 --> 01:10:58,621
the weapons.

2393
01:10:59,321 --> 01:11:00,255
It was an all out

2394
01:11:00,255 --> 01:11:02,124
team effort to get that Thud to

2395
01:11:02,124 --> 01:11:04,126
complete it's assigned mission.

2396
01:11:04,259 --> 01:11:05,628
Outside of maintenance,

2397
01:11:05,928 --> 01:11:07,296
there were other organizations

2398
01:11:07,963 --> 01:11:08,998
supplies,

2399
01:11:09,131 --> 01:11:10,165
transportation,

2400
01:11:10,499 --> 01:11:11,567
security.

2401
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:13,268
Took a lot get the pointy end

2402
01:11:13,268 --> 01:11:14,670
of the spear to the target.

2403
01:11:14,970 --> 01:11:16,338
As losses mounted,

2404
01:11:16,672 --> 01:11:18,307
a painful personal bond

2405
01:11:18,307 --> 01:11:19,508
between maintainers

2406
01:11:19,508 --> 01:11:21,176
and pilots developed.

2407
01:11:21,243 --> 01:11:22,611
Crew Chiefs had to live with the

2408
01:11:22,611 --> 01:11:24,013
fact that their face

2409
01:11:24,513 --> 01:11:26,015
only inches away from the

2410
01:11:26,015 --> 01:11:27,082
pilot's during the

2411
01:11:27,082 --> 01:11:28,417
strap-in process

2412
01:11:28,917 --> 01:11:30,786
had the potential to be the last

2413
01:11:31,020 --> 01:11:32,588
close human experience

2414
01:11:32,588 --> 01:11:33,489
for that pilot.

2415
01:11:33,756 --> 01:11:35,591
Their emphatic thumbs up

2416
01:11:35,791 --> 01:11:37,626
signaled to the Thud pilots

2417
01:11:37,960 --> 01:11:39,495
that everything was okay

2418
01:11:39,662 --> 01:11:41,263
and his Thud was ready to fight.

2419
01:11:41,497 --> 01:11:42,831
Gathering at the edge of

2420
01:11:42,831 --> 01:11:44,500
the ramp facing the runway,

2421
01:11:44,800 --> 01:11:46,302
the maintainers would watch

2422
01:11:46,302 --> 01:11:47,836
their aircraft take off

2423
01:11:48,037 --> 01:11:49,672
nudging the man next to him

2424
01:11:49,972 --> 01:11:50,773
when he'd spot it

2425
01:11:50,773 --> 01:11:51,640
take to the air

2426
01:11:52,007 --> 01:11:53,475
They would prepare their spots

2427
01:11:53,475 --> 01:11:54,610
for recovery

2428
01:11:54,943 --> 01:11:56,478
optimistically expecting their

2429
01:11:56,478 --> 01:11:58,347
aircraft to return.

2430
01:11:58,881 --> 01:11:59,782
Sadly,

2431
01:11:59,982 --> 01:12:01,950
some would not.

2432
01:12:03,652 --> 01:12:04,687
I'm Vic Vizcarra

2433
01:12:05,054 --> 01:12:06,522
and I flew the Thud

2434
01:12:06,689 --> 01:12:08,891
and did three combat tours

2435
01:12:09,124 --> 01:12:10,392
to Southeast Asia.

2436
01:12:10,492 --> 01:12:12,861
On six November, 1966,

2437
01:12:13,228 --> 01:12:14,897
I was flying in a two ship

2438
01:12:15,497 --> 01:12:16,865
Iron Hand mission.

2439
01:12:17,366 --> 01:12:18,233
We were searching for

2440
01:12:18,233 --> 01:12:19,668
three new suspected

2441
01:12:20,002 --> 01:12:20,736
SAM sites

2442
01:12:20,903 --> 01:12:22,004
above the DMZ.

2443
01:12:22,304 --> 01:12:23,005
While searching for

2444
01:12:23,005 --> 01:12:23,806
these targets,

2445
01:12:23,872 --> 01:12:25,574
I started having engine problems

2446
01:12:26,141 --> 01:12:27,376
which I thought I could save the

2447
01:12:27,376 --> 01:12:29,344
aircraft and nurse it back home.

2448
01:12:30,045 --> 01:12:30,879
The further we got

2449
01:12:30,879 --> 01:12:31,814
into the flight,

2450
01:12:32,081 --> 01:12:33,549
the more serious my situation

2451
01:12:33,549 --> 01:12:35,684
got where I was no longer able

2452
01:12:35,684 --> 01:12:37,152
to maintain air speed

2453
01:12:37,152 --> 01:12:38,320
or altitude.

2454
01:12:38,654 --> 01:12:39,722
And I informed

2455
01:12:39,922 --> 01:12:40,923
Clipper 1

2456
01:12:41,256 --> 01:12:42,524
that I was having to eject.

2457
01:12:43,225 --> 01:12:44,927
Okay...Clipper 2's got his

2458
01:12:44,927 --> 01:12:45,928
lanyard hooked up, I must get

2459
01:12:45,928 --> 01:12:46,528
out of this thing

2460
01:12:46,528 --> 01:12:47,596
I've got no airspeed

2461
01:12:47,596 --> 01:12:48,697
left at all hardly

2462
01:12:48,697 --> 01:12:49,431
Roger Clipper 2....

2463
01:12:50,232 --> 01:12:52,034
The seat did a huge somersault

2464
01:12:52,034 --> 01:12:53,836
where I could see my feet above

2465
01:12:53,836 --> 01:12:55,070
the blue sky

2466
01:12:55,370 --> 01:12:56,605
and came back around.

2467
01:12:56,739 --> 01:12:58,774
The parachute ride down

2468
01:12:59,074 --> 01:12:59,775
was very

2469
01:12:59,942 --> 01:13:00,676
serene,

2470
01:13:01,009 --> 01:13:01,777
peaceful,

2471
01:13:02,444 --> 01:13:03,078
very quiet.

2472
01:13:03,078 --> 01:13:04,947
Looked down and saw I was going

2473
01:13:04,947 --> 01:13:06,615
to land in very dense jungle

2474
01:13:07,416 --> 01:13:08,550
so I prepared for that.

2475
01:13:09,051 --> 01:13:10,119
Once on the ground,

2476
01:13:10,219 --> 01:13:11,587
I established contact with

2477
01:13:11,587 --> 01:13:12,588
Clipper lead

2478
01:13:13,055 --> 01:13:14,556
who informed me that

2479
01:13:15,290 --> 01:13:16,291
search and rescue assets

2480
01:13:16,291 --> 01:13:17,259
were on their way.

2481
01:13:17,359 --> 01:13:18,761
And he instructed me to

2482
01:13:19,294 --> 01:13:20,129
go off the air

2483
01:13:20,129 --> 01:13:21,263
and save the battery.

2484
01:13:21,363 --> 01:13:22,197
May Day, May Day,

2485
01:13:22,197 --> 01:13:22,798
May Day

2486
01:13:22,798 --> 01:13:23,632
Crown, do you read?

2487
01:13:23,866 --> 01:13:25,467
I’ll show Vic this tape here

2488
01:13:28,237 --> 01:13:29,371
when we get back

2489
01:13:30,873 --> 01:13:32,775
My name is Bob Cooper.

2490
01:13:33,041 --> 01:13:34,076
Late in the afternoon,

2491
01:13:34,076 --> 01:13:35,477
we were launched

2492
01:13:35,778 --> 01:13:37,412
on my birthday

2493
01:13:37,746 --> 01:13:39,414
We heard from Red Crown

2494
01:13:39,414 --> 01:13:42,251
that a 105 pilot had

2495
01:13:42,618 --> 01:13:43,819
punched out

2496
01:13:44,553 --> 01:13:46,255
due to compressor failure

2497
01:13:46,255 --> 01:13:46,822
I think.

2498
01:13:46,822 --> 01:13:48,891
That's all we knew.

2499
01:13:49,424 --> 01:13:51,160
My boss on Halsey,

2500
01:13:51,160 --> 01:13:52,895
Captain Le Bourgeois said,

2501
01:13:53,295 --> 01:13:55,230
"hold in that position",

2502
01:13:56,064 --> 01:13:58,133
because I was just off coast.

2503
01:13:58,767 --> 01:14:00,936
Red Crown then said that no,

2504
01:14:02,437 --> 01:14:03,438
the Air Force couldn't get

2505
01:14:03,438 --> 01:14:05,641
there before sundown.

2506
01:14:06,642 --> 01:14:08,811
Send that poor little H-2

2507
01:14:10,145 --> 01:14:10,913
in after him,

2508
01:14:11,313 --> 01:14:12,981
so, in we went.

2509
01:14:13,315 --> 01:14:14,950
I went to look for a place

2510
01:14:14,950 --> 01:14:16,451
to hide meanwhile

2511
01:14:16,752 --> 01:14:17,986
and found a cave in which

2512
01:14:17,986 --> 01:14:18,987
I entered.

2513
01:14:18,987 --> 01:14:19,688
It was the first time

2514
01:14:19,688 --> 01:14:20,856
I thought of the family.

2515
01:14:22,124 --> 01:14:24,126
My boys were only

2516
01:14:24,626 --> 01:14:26,028
six and five at the time.

2517
01:14:26,195 --> 01:14:27,796
I was sure that if I did not get

2518
01:14:27,796 --> 01:14:29,131
rescued they'd at least still

2519
01:14:29,131 --> 01:14:30,699
be able to remember me,

2520
01:14:31,166 --> 01:14:32,100
but I was concerned.

2521
01:14:32,100 --> 01:14:34,002
I had a daughter that was

2522
01:14:34,436 --> 01:14:36,004
less than a year old and she

2523
01:14:36,004 --> 01:14:37,139
would never know me if I didn't

2524
01:14:37,139 --> 01:14:38,140
get rescued,

2525
01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:40,142
so I said a little prayer.

2526
01:14:40,475 --> 01:14:41,176
And...

2527
01:14:41,510 --> 01:14:43,145
As I finished my prayer,

2528
01:14:43,779 --> 01:14:44,479
I heard

2529
01:14:44,680 --> 01:14:45,614
the aircraft returning

2530
01:14:45,614 --> 01:14:46,548
into the area.

2531
01:14:46,715 --> 01:14:48,150
I went back out

2532
01:14:48,550 --> 01:14:49,551
from the cave.

2533
01:14:49,885 --> 01:14:51,019
and made contact.

2534
01:14:51,119 --> 01:14:51,987
And...

2535
01:14:52,387 --> 01:14:53,288
it was the

2536
01:14:53,622 --> 01:14:55,490
The Sandy rescue

2537
01:14:56,291 --> 01:14:57,192
that was trying to make contact

2538
01:14:57,192 --> 01:14:58,060
with me.

2539
01:14:58,794 --> 01:15:00,362
I have to give it to those guys.

2540
01:15:00,362 --> 01:15:01,964
They have big brass ones.

2541
01:15:01,964 --> 01:15:03,398
While I was in the cave,

2542
01:15:03,999 --> 01:15:05,300
the weather conditions had

2543
01:15:05,300 --> 01:15:07,069
changed abruptly from when

2544
01:15:07,069 --> 01:15:07,703
I bailed out

2545
01:15:08,170 --> 01:15:09,037
and now

2546
01:15:09,204 --> 01:15:11,039
we had a huge overcast

2547
01:15:11,573 --> 01:15:13,242
with one sucker hole.

2548
01:15:13,742 --> 01:15:15,644
And hear, Sandy Lead,

2549
01:15:15,978 --> 01:15:17,246
tell his wingman he says,

2550
01:15:17,379 --> 01:15:19,248
"I think I can spiral down

2551
01:15:19,748 --> 01:15:20,816
through that hole and get

2552
01:15:20,916 --> 01:15:21,917
beneath the stuff."

2553
01:15:22,417 --> 01:15:23,852
And here I'm looking at

2554
01:15:23,852 --> 01:15:25,721
these karst mountains,

2555
01:15:26,021 --> 01:15:27,222
the tops of them disappearing

2556
01:15:27,222 --> 01:15:28,390
into the clouds

2557
01:15:28,690 --> 01:15:29,892
That took guts for him

2558
01:15:29,892 --> 01:15:30,425
to do that.

2559
01:15:30,525 --> 01:15:32,361
He flew directly over me

2560
01:15:32,661 --> 01:15:33,862
and I got all excited

2561
01:15:33,862 --> 01:15:34,997
and I informed him he

2562
01:15:34,997 --> 01:15:36,231
had just flown over me.

2563
01:15:36,598 --> 01:15:38,033
He did not acknowledge

2564
01:15:38,333 --> 01:15:40,102
or rock his wings or anything.

2565
01:15:40,335 --> 01:15:41,370
Later on, in reading the

2566
01:15:41,370 --> 01:15:43,505
transcripts from the command

2567
01:15:43,505 --> 01:15:45,340
post of this rescue,

2568
01:15:45,707 --> 01:15:47,075
I found out that he actually

2569
01:15:47,075 --> 01:15:48,010
did hear me,

2570
01:15:48,277 --> 01:15:49,111
but he was smart and

2571
01:15:49,111 --> 01:15:50,245
he's playing the game.

2572
01:15:50,245 --> 01:15:51,013
Making sure,

2573
01:15:51,213 --> 01:15:51,914
he didn't want to give my

2574
01:15:51,914 --> 01:15:53,015
location away in case

2575
01:15:53,015 --> 01:15:54,182
there were bad guys

2576
01:15:54,182 --> 01:15:55,017
around the area.

2577
01:15:55,117 --> 01:15:58,453
You could see in the distance

2578
01:15:58,453 --> 01:16:03,191
where the coastal plain started

2579
01:16:03,191 --> 01:16:04,059
to rise.

2580
01:16:04,559 --> 01:16:05,427
At about

2581
01:16:05,527 --> 01:16:07,963
2,000 feet, the cloud deck

2582
01:16:07,963 --> 01:16:09,898
started and it was solid.

2583
01:16:10,432 --> 01:16:12,601
So we climbed up to about

2584
01:16:13,302 --> 01:16:15,237
8,000...I think

2585
01:16:15,604 --> 01:16:16,738
We usually went in pretty

2586
01:16:16,738 --> 01:16:17,606
high anyway,

2587
01:16:17,773 --> 01:16:18,774
keeps you out of

2588
01:16:18,774 --> 01:16:19,574
the ground fire

2589
01:16:19,574 --> 01:16:20,943
...small arms fire,

2590
01:16:21,410 --> 01:16:22,077
because they love

2591
01:16:22,077 --> 01:16:23,578
to shoot at people.

2592
01:16:24,279 --> 01:16:26,114
Anyway, we got above it.

2593
01:16:26,581 --> 01:16:27,416
We joined up with

2594
01:16:27,416 --> 01:16:28,884
those two Sandys.

2595
01:16:29,618 --> 01:16:31,787
One of them had managed to get

2596
01:16:31,787 --> 01:16:33,088
below the clouds

2597
01:16:33,488 --> 01:16:34,923
which was amazing.

2598
01:16:35,724 --> 01:16:37,259
And he was,

2599
01:16:37,926 --> 01:16:38,927
must have been having

2600
01:16:39,561 --> 01:16:40,262
some

2601
01:16:41,129 --> 01:16:42,564
difficulty maneuvering

2602
01:16:42,564 --> 01:16:43,598
in those valleys

2603
01:16:43,598 --> 01:16:44,800
because all the peaks were

2604
01:16:44,800 --> 01:16:46,101
shrouded in clouds.

2605
01:16:46,468 --> 01:16:47,769
He said, "there's a hole,

2606
01:16:47,769 --> 01:16:48,904
I'm coming up".

2607
01:16:49,271 --> 01:16:50,272
Sure enough, there was

2608
01:16:50,272 --> 01:16:50,939
a hole there.

2609
01:16:51,306 --> 01:16:52,507
I could see all the way to

2610
01:16:52,507 --> 01:16:54,409
the jungle canopy.

2611
01:16:54,509 --> 01:16:55,477
Couldn't see the ground.

2612
01:16:56,345 --> 01:16:57,179
He came up,

2613
01:16:57,646 --> 01:16:58,480
I went down.

2614
01:16:59,114 --> 01:17:00,515
Got under the clouds in a

2615
01:17:00,515 --> 01:17:02,451
valley running North and South

2616
01:17:03,085 --> 01:17:04,086
Nothing was in it.

2617
01:17:04,252 --> 01:17:04,853
I...

2618
01:17:05,253 --> 01:17:06,755
was so disappointed

2619
01:17:06,755 --> 01:17:08,156
I couldn't stand it by then.

2620
01:17:08,156 --> 01:17:09,758
We searched up and down there.

2621
01:17:09,758 --> 01:17:11,360
The Sandys were talking

2622
01:17:11,526 --> 01:17:12,094
to Vic.

2623
01:17:12,327 --> 01:17:13,595
I couldn't hear Vic.

2624
01:17:13,795 --> 01:17:15,464
I could hear them.

2625
01:17:16,798 --> 01:17:17,866
One of them said,

2626
01:17:18,100 --> 01:17:19,301
"I think I'm on top

2627
01:17:19,301 --> 01:17:20,802
of you right now."

2628
01:17:20,869 --> 01:17:23,138
I switched my radio to ADF

2629
01:17:24,539 --> 01:17:25,941
and got a lock on him.

2630
01:17:26,942 --> 01:17:28,276
I went to the East

2631
01:17:28,477 --> 01:17:29,811
over a low ridge

2632
01:17:30,112 --> 01:17:32,381
As soon as I crossed that

2633
01:17:32,381 --> 01:17:34,349
I saw a hazy red smoke.

2634
01:17:34,549 --> 01:17:36,151
Aha...the right valley

2635
01:17:36,885 --> 01:17:37,853
At last.

2636
01:17:39,454 --> 01:17:41,723
We went up and down that

2637
01:17:41,723 --> 01:17:42,858
side of the valley

2638
01:17:42,858 --> 01:17:43,959
for quite awhile,

2639
01:17:44,159 --> 01:17:45,994
but then we came across

2640
01:17:46,962 --> 01:17:47,963
the wreckage.

2641
01:17:49,131 --> 01:17:50,899
And shortly after that,

2642
01:17:50,899 --> 01:17:53,135
we saw the chute.

2643
01:17:54,302 --> 01:17:56,538
Then, I got talking to Vic.

2644
01:17:56,905 --> 01:17:58,040
He said he's about,

2645
01:17:58,206 --> 01:18:00,509
I don't know, 100, 200 yards

2646
01:18:01,810 --> 01:18:03,078
one way or the other

2647
01:18:03,078 --> 01:18:03,979
of the chute.

2648
01:18:03,979 --> 01:18:06,314
North I think.

2649
01:18:06,581 --> 01:18:09,684
So we slowed down and

2650
01:18:09,684 --> 01:18:11,186
he talked us right over

2651
01:18:11,186 --> 01:18:11,553
the top.

2652
01:18:11,820 --> 01:18:14,389
Never did see him, ever.

2653
01:18:14,556 --> 01:18:15,724
These guys were good.

2654
01:18:15,724 --> 01:18:16,324
I couldn't believe it.

2655
01:18:16,324 --> 01:18:17,492
When they dropped

2656
01:18:17,492 --> 01:18:19,094
the tree penetrator through

2657
01:18:19,094 --> 01:18:19,928
the trees,

2658
01:18:20,328 --> 01:18:21,763
I only had to take one step

2659
01:18:21,863 --> 01:18:22,664
to reach it.

2660
01:18:22,731 --> 01:18:24,166
I folded down the blades,

2661
01:18:24,266 --> 01:18:25,167
jumped on it.

2662
01:18:25,367 --> 01:18:26,568
Now the only thing left to do

2663
01:18:26,568 --> 01:18:28,236
was to secure the

2664
01:18:28,236 --> 01:18:29,704
safety line around.

2665
01:18:29,838 --> 01:18:31,573
I couldn't hook it up.

2666
01:18:31,740 --> 01:18:32,741
Anyway, we sent the

2667
01:18:32,741 --> 01:18:34,009
penetrator down

2668
01:18:34,709 --> 01:18:36,745
and waited and waited

2669
01:18:37,179 --> 01:18:38,513
and waited.

2670
01:18:38,613 --> 01:18:40,615
And I was running out of fuel

2671
01:18:40,615 --> 01:18:42,717
and I said come on.

2672
01:18:45,020 --> 01:18:45,921
Finally, I switched the

2673
01:18:45,921 --> 01:18:47,355
loud hailer

2674
01:18:48,557 --> 01:18:50,025
and I think he heard me.

2675
01:18:50,959 --> 01:18:51,726
Said, you've got to

2676
01:18:51,726 --> 01:18:52,894
get on that seat

2677
01:18:53,395 --> 01:18:54,062
because I'm running

2678
01:18:54,062 --> 01:18:55,530
out of gas.

2679
01:18:56,531 --> 01:18:57,532
Next thing I hear through

2680
01:18:57,532 --> 01:18:58,900
this megaphone is,

2681
01:18:59,101 --> 01:19:00,602
"Hurry up, let us know when we

2682
01:19:00,602 --> 01:19:01,403
can pull you up.

2683
01:19:01,403 --> 01:19:02,604
We're low on fuel."

2684
01:19:02,971 --> 01:19:04,206
That made me even more nervous

2685
01:19:04,206 --> 01:19:05,440
and I tried harder

2686
01:19:05,807 --> 01:19:07,209
without any success.

2687
01:19:07,542 --> 01:19:09,244
So finally out of desperation,

2688
01:19:09,244 --> 01:19:09,878
I didn't want them

2689
01:19:09,878 --> 01:19:10,979
leaving without me,

2690
01:19:11,279 --> 01:19:12,881
so I finally out of desperation

2691
01:19:13,215 --> 01:19:14,216
on the radio said,

2692
01:19:14,583 --> 01:19:15,617
I was gonna say,

2693
01:19:15,717 --> 01:19:16,751
okay, I'm ready.

2694
01:19:17,052 --> 01:19:18,120
As soon as they heard

2695
01:19:18,120 --> 01:19:19,054
okay,

2696
01:19:19,287 --> 01:19:20,222
they jerked me up

2697
01:19:20,222 --> 01:19:21,223
which made me lose the

2698
01:19:21,223 --> 01:19:22,624
grip on my radio. I lost it.

2699
01:19:22,624 --> 01:19:23,592
Dropped it in there.

2700
01:19:23,758 --> 01:19:24,926
But the good news is now I at

2701
01:19:24,926 --> 01:19:26,094
least had two hands to hold on

2702
01:19:26,094 --> 01:19:27,162
to the cable.

2703
01:19:27,162 --> 01:19:28,997
Shortly after that, the crewman

2704
01:19:28,997 --> 01:19:30,832
that was running the hoist,

2705
01:19:30,832 --> 01:19:32,767
Meyer I think his name was

2706
01:19:33,969 --> 01:19:35,604
said, I think I got him.

2707
01:19:36,138 --> 01:19:37,506
And sure enough, he started

2708
01:19:37,506 --> 01:19:38,406
reeling the cable in.

2709
01:19:38,406 --> 01:19:40,442
We were really in a high hover,

2710
01:19:40,442 --> 01:19:43,512
about 180 feet. That's big time.

2711
01:19:44,346 --> 01:19:46,281
And...

2712
01:19:46,481 --> 01:19:47,749
shortly after that,

2713
01:19:47,749 --> 01:19:48,783
he said, "We do, we do

2714
01:19:48,783 --> 01:19:49,518
we have him, we have him"

2715
01:19:49,518 --> 01:19:50,652
And I looked down and there

2716
01:19:50,652 --> 01:19:51,987
hugging that post baby.

2717
01:19:52,821 --> 01:19:53,855
And I took off.

2718
01:19:53,989 --> 01:19:55,190
I started climb up.

2719
01:19:55,190 --> 01:19:56,358
We didn't get the guy until

2720
01:19:56,358 --> 01:19:57,659
we were in the middle

2721
01:19:57,659 --> 01:19:59,427
of the clouds.

2722
01:20:00,262 --> 01:20:02,097
I had to get out of there.

2723
01:20:02,931 --> 01:20:03,832
They pulled me up

2724
01:20:04,166 --> 01:20:05,100
through the trees.

2725
01:20:06,668 --> 01:20:07,936
They had to use my shoulder

2726
01:20:07,936 --> 01:20:09,171
as a battering ram to get

2727
01:20:09,171 --> 01:20:11,039
through this one branch.

2728
01:20:11,439 --> 01:20:12,374
But finally,

2729
01:20:12,641 --> 01:20:14,009
I felt somebody grab the

2730
01:20:14,676 --> 01:20:16,044
nap of my collar and pulled

2731
01:20:16,044 --> 01:20:17,045
me into this chopper

2732
01:20:17,812 --> 01:20:18,680
as it tilted down

2733
01:20:18,680 --> 01:20:19,614
and it sped away

2734
01:20:22,050 --> 01:20:24,186
I checked my tacan.

2735
01:20:25,120 --> 01:20:26,288
I knew Da Nang was

2736
01:20:27,055 --> 01:20:27,822
impossible.

2737
01:20:27,822 --> 01:20:31,293
I could not get near Da Nang.

2738
01:20:31,826 --> 01:20:33,028
Nakhon Phanom was also

2739
01:20:33,028 --> 01:20:34,229
too far away.

2740
01:20:35,130 --> 01:20:36,231
And that's where I'd

2741
01:20:36,231 --> 01:20:37,999
always intended to go if we

2742
01:20:37,999 --> 01:20:39,834
managed to get out,

2743
01:20:40,302 --> 01:20:41,703
but it was too far away.

2744
01:20:42,537 --> 01:20:44,372
One of the Sandys just gave me

2745
01:20:44,372 --> 01:20:46,408
a head bearing and distance to

2746
01:20:46,408 --> 01:20:48,577
Halsey and be darn it was about

2747
01:20:48,577 --> 01:20:49,878
50 miles away.

2748
01:20:49,878 --> 01:20:50,979
I'm Curtis Venable,

2749
01:20:50,979 --> 01:20:53,715
I was a Senior Rescue Crewman

2750
01:20:53,715 --> 01:20:55,717
on Helicopter Combat Support

2751
01:20:55,717 --> 01:20:57,052
Squadron One.

2752
01:20:57,419 --> 01:20:59,588
Captain Le Bourgeois called me

2753
01:20:59,588 --> 01:21:01,156
to the bridge and he told me

2754
01:21:02,190 --> 01:21:03,992
he wanted to know what the

2755
01:21:04,426 --> 01:21:06,895
fuel load was for my helicopter.

2756
01:21:06,895 --> 01:21:07,596
And I told him.

2757
01:21:08,163 --> 01:21:09,164
And then I found out

2758
01:21:09,164 --> 01:21:10,865
where the helicopter was at.

2759
01:21:11,766 --> 01:21:13,535
I decided at that point

2760
01:21:13,535 --> 01:21:15,003
that they weren't getting back

2761
01:21:16,171 --> 01:21:16,838
So...

2762
01:21:17,105 --> 01:21:18,173
that's what I told him.

2763
01:21:22,510 --> 01:21:24,246
And he went full blast.

2764
01:21:24,879 --> 01:21:26,748
He went full bores online

2765
01:21:27,449 --> 01:21:28,450
and we run about

2766
01:21:28,450 --> 01:21:30,085
45 minutes down stream.

2767
01:21:30,919 --> 01:21:32,921
I later was told that

2768
01:21:33,388 --> 01:21:35,257
we were doing 42 knots.

2769
01:21:35,924 --> 01:21:37,125
Captain Le Bourgeois,

2770
01:21:37,192 --> 01:21:38,693
God bless him,

2771
01:21:39,194 --> 01:21:41,796
he turned that ship South

2772
01:21:42,631 --> 01:21:43,265
flank speed

2773
01:21:43,265 --> 01:21:44,633
all the way down that coast.

2774
01:21:44,899 --> 01:21:46,901
And he was right off the coast

2775
01:21:46,901 --> 01:21:48,136
about 20 miles

2776
01:21:48,803 --> 01:21:50,472
by the time we got there...but

2777
01:21:51,740 --> 01:21:52,874
but that's where I went.

2778
01:21:53,475 --> 01:21:54,609
I wasn't sure I was gonna

2779
01:21:54,609 --> 01:21:55,777
get there,

2780
01:21:56,077 --> 01:21:56,978
but I knew if I could

2781
01:21:56,978 --> 01:21:58,446
get to the water,

2782
01:21:58,780 --> 01:22:01,750
we'd had a good chance of

2783
01:22:01,750 --> 01:22:02,817
getting picked up.

2784
01:22:03,251 --> 01:22:04,719
I couldn't go down in

2785
01:22:04,719 --> 01:22:06,888
North Vietnam.

2786
01:22:06,888 --> 01:22:09,157
That never crossed my mind

2787
01:22:09,157 --> 01:22:10,625
Or Laos for that matter

2788
01:22:10,959 --> 01:22:12,827
that wasn't a whole lot better

2789
01:22:13,261 --> 01:22:14,763
That's why I like, go to

2790
01:22:14,763 --> 01:22:15,330
the water.

2791
01:22:15,497 --> 01:22:16,231
You know...Navy.

2792
01:22:16,298 --> 01:22:17,399
What else can you do?

2793
01:22:17,399 --> 01:22:18,833
Got to head for the water and

2794
01:22:20,068 --> 01:22:21,436
that's what we did.

2795
01:22:21,770 --> 01:22:23,171
In the chopper it was so noisy

2796
01:22:23,171 --> 01:22:24,339
we could not talk to each other.

2797
01:22:24,339 --> 01:22:25,240
But this young

2798
01:22:25,307 --> 01:22:26,641
looking gunner

2799
01:22:26,641 --> 01:22:28,310
kept on looking over at me

2800
01:22:28,310 --> 01:22:29,477
and kept on giving me

2801
01:22:29,477 --> 01:22:31,146
the old thumbs up sign.

2802
01:22:31,146 --> 01:22:32,580
I acknowledged back

2803
01:22:33,014 --> 01:22:34,282
so I was feeling really good

2804
01:22:34,282 --> 01:22:35,617
that everything's fine.

2805
01:22:35,950 --> 01:22:37,152
Pretty soon,

2806
01:22:37,652 --> 01:22:39,120
he hands me a

2807
01:22:39,421 --> 01:22:40,422
Mae West

2808
01:22:40,955 --> 01:22:42,190
to put on. I think I’m heading

2809
01:22:42,190 --> 01:22:43,958
West towards Nakhon Phanom

2810
01:22:43,958 --> 01:22:45,126
where the rescue

2811
01:22:45,860 --> 01:22:47,195
Air Force rescue units

2812
01:22:47,195 --> 01:22:47,996
came from.

2813
01:22:48,263 --> 01:22:50,031
So I need a life vest

2814
01:22:50,031 --> 01:22:52,000
just to cross the Mekong River?

2815
01:22:52,500 --> 01:22:53,835
But then, he opens up the

2816
01:22:53,835 --> 01:22:55,437
door and starts dumping

2817
01:22:55,437 --> 01:22:55,937
things out.

2818
01:22:56,104 --> 01:22:56,805
The machine gun,

2819
01:22:56,805 --> 01:22:58,006
all the ammo cans.

2820
01:22:58,340 --> 01:22:59,374
I'm thinking to myself

2821
01:22:59,374 --> 01:23:00,842
what the heck's going on?

2822
01:23:00,842 --> 01:23:01,876
And then I remember their

2823
01:23:01,876 --> 01:23:03,044
dramatic call,

2824
01:23:03,345 --> 01:23:04,713
hurry up let us know

2825
01:23:04,713 --> 01:23:06,281
when we can pull you up,

2826
01:23:06,281 --> 01:23:07,782
we're low on on fuel.

2827
01:23:08,216 --> 01:23:09,784
Started a slow,

2828
01:23:10,018 --> 01:23:11,886
a low powered descent

2829
01:23:12,487 --> 01:23:13,955
just to keep some

2830
01:23:14,022 --> 01:23:15,490
fuel in the tank.

2831
01:23:16,358 --> 01:23:17,459
And we managed to get

2832
01:23:17,459 --> 01:23:18,560
to the water.

2833
01:23:18,693 --> 01:23:20,195
A friend of mine was flying an

2834
01:23:20,195 --> 01:23:21,696
H-3 off the coast

2835
01:23:21,896 --> 01:23:23,031
Apparently someone had

2836
01:23:23,031 --> 01:23:23,832
stationed him there

2837
01:23:23,832 --> 01:23:24,666
and I don't know which

2838
01:23:24,666 --> 01:23:26,568
carrier he was from,

2839
01:23:27,502 --> 01:23:28,803
but...

2840
01:23:30,038 --> 01:23:31,339
I knew we were home free at that

2841
01:23:31,339 --> 01:23:32,507
point even if I had to

2842
01:23:32,507 --> 01:23:34,075
go in the water.

2843
01:23:35,043 --> 01:23:36,711
But the thing kept flying.

2844
01:23:37,178 --> 01:23:37,912
Not a hiccup.

2845
01:23:37,912 --> 01:23:39,247
I couldn't believe.

2846
01:23:39,848 --> 01:23:41,015
The H-2 has a two

2847
01:23:41,015 --> 01:23:43,318
hour endurance capacity.

2848
01:23:43,585 --> 01:23:44,886
I was two and half hours

2849
01:23:44,886 --> 01:23:46,755
at that point.

2850
01:23:46,888 --> 01:23:48,857
I said, keep going as

2851
01:23:48,857 --> 01:23:50,258
long as it will fly.

2852
01:23:50,258 --> 01:23:51,826
And sure enough

2853
01:23:51,826 --> 01:23:54,429
by golly, I got to Halsey,

2854
01:23:54,429 --> 01:23:56,231
put it down and

2855
01:23:56,531 --> 01:23:57,999
the picture was taken.

2856
01:23:57,999 --> 01:24:01,035
laughing

2857
01:24:01,102 --> 01:24:03,104
Surprise...surprise.

2858
01:24:03,671 --> 01:24:05,840
When the helicopter landed

2859
01:24:05,840 --> 01:24:07,409
aboard, I did the refueling

2860
01:24:07,409 --> 01:24:10,011
myself and we had about

2861
01:24:10,011 --> 01:24:11,513
five gallons of usable fuel

2862
01:24:11,513 --> 01:24:13,047
on board. We almost lost it.

2863
01:24:13,047 --> 01:24:15,784
And there's an iconic photograph

2864
01:24:15,784 --> 01:24:17,218
of me with big bug eyes.

2865
01:24:17,719 --> 01:24:19,354
And everybody that sees it says

2866
01:24:19,387 --> 01:24:21,222
man, you must have been scared.

2867
01:24:21,389 --> 01:24:22,257
I really wasn't.

2868
01:24:22,390 --> 01:24:23,425
I was shocked.

2869
01:24:23,758 --> 01:24:24,893
I was shocked to find out

2870
01:24:24,893 --> 01:24:25,960
I was on a ship.

2871
01:24:26,694 --> 01:24:27,762
Of course the joke in

2872
01:24:27,762 --> 01:24:28,930
the family is that this

2873
01:24:28,930 --> 01:24:30,632
was the most expensive Navy

2874
01:24:30,632 --> 01:24:32,400
rescue ever and that I had to

2875
01:24:32,400 --> 01:24:33,268
give them my first

2876
01:24:33,268 --> 01:24:34,636
and second born because

2877
01:24:34,636 --> 01:24:36,905
both sons went into Navy Air.

2878
01:24:39,307 --> 01:24:41,075
On October 31st,

2879
01:24:41,576 --> 01:24:42,877
1968,

2880
01:24:43,778 --> 01:24:45,113
one of the most controversial

2881
01:24:45,113 --> 01:24:47,215
military campaigns in

2882
01:24:47,215 --> 01:24:49,150
United States history

2883
01:24:49,384 --> 01:24:50,819
came to a halt.

2884
01:24:51,753 --> 01:24:53,555
There was no fan fare or

2885
01:24:53,755 --> 01:24:55,423
or ticker tape parades.

2886
01:24:55,890 --> 01:24:57,592
Thud pilots would go on

2887
01:24:57,592 --> 01:24:59,928
to fight an unwinnable war

2888
01:25:00,295 --> 01:25:02,096
run by politicians for

2889
01:25:02,096 --> 01:25:03,331
another five years.

2890
01:25:03,565 --> 01:25:04,966
Senior officials in the

2891
01:25:04,966 --> 01:25:06,468
Johnson Administration

2892
01:25:06,835 --> 01:25:09,170
facilitated more Thuds being

2893
01:25:09,170 --> 01:25:11,306
shot down than any enemy gunner,

2894
01:25:11,573 --> 01:25:14,142
MiG pilot or SAM site operator.

2895
01:25:15,009 --> 01:25:16,778
One of the greatest casualties

2896
01:25:16,778 --> 01:25:18,513
of the air war in Vietnam was

2897
01:25:18,513 --> 01:25:20,281
loss of trust of the

2898
01:25:20,281 --> 01:25:21,783
US government by the

2899
01:25:21,783 --> 01:25:23,651
very men defending it.

2900
01:25:24,652 --> 01:25:26,588
Thud pilots are a testament to

2901
01:25:26,588 --> 01:25:28,857
extraordinary heroism,

2902
01:25:29,457 --> 01:25:30,658
determination

2903
01:25:31,025 --> 01:25:32,861
and sacrifice of men willing to

2904
01:25:32,861 --> 01:25:34,696
serve their country at whatever

2905
01:25:34,696 --> 01:25:35,497
cost.

2906
01:25:35,797 --> 01:25:37,265
Too many of their names are

2907
01:25:37,265 --> 01:25:39,267
forever inscribed on a

2908
01:25:39,267 --> 01:25:41,870
polished black granite wall,

2909
01:25:41,870 --> 01:25:43,204
resting solemnly at the

2910
01:25:43,204 --> 01:25:45,006
nation’s capital.

2911
01:25:45,006 --> 01:25:46,341
The long list of the

2912
01:25:46,341 --> 01:25:51,012
58,286 names of America's

2913
01:25:51,012 --> 01:25:53,515
best etched in the order they

2914
01:25:53,515 --> 01:25:55,016
were taken from us

2915
01:25:55,383 --> 01:25:58,019
honors them and silently serves

2916
01:25:58,019 --> 01:26:00,688
as a deafening reminder.

2917
01:26:01,155 --> 01:26:03,825
50 years after Rolling Thunder,

2918
01:26:04,158 --> 01:26:06,828
these names set in stone

2919
01:26:07,395 --> 01:26:09,364
serve as a warning.

2920
01:26:10,231 --> 01:26:12,233
A warning to the political class

2921
01:26:12,233 --> 01:26:13,334
who order America's

2922
01:26:13,334 --> 01:26:14,369
sons and daughters

2923
01:26:14,369 --> 01:26:16,671
in to harms way.

2924
01:26:16,871 --> 01:26:18,673
Disfunctional strategies with no

2925
01:26:18,673 --> 01:26:20,008
intention of winning

2926
01:26:20,008 --> 01:26:21,709
will not stand.

2927
01:26:22,477 --> 01:26:24,546
Never again.