Hello there and greetings. My name is Steve Tucker. Extended my military service was five years. My MOS, or Military Occupational Specialty, was 7562, U.S. Marine Corps, uh, Naval Aviator, flying CH 46 helicopters in the Vietnam War. My final rank upon discharge was Captain.
This slide is the title of my presentation, VO 67 The Ghost Squadron. It’s a story of men so brave yet so unknown, it’s too amazing to go untold for over 55 years. My aim is to give of it. Greater access to more patriots and their families and friends about
These courageous men and their great adventure during the Vietnam War. It’s a fairly long tale, so you might want to take it in chunks. I’ve broken it mercifully into three parts, so you won’t have to put up with my bland, gravelly voice for long periods of time.
The reason I chose to research and organize this presentation is because I served in support of the Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968. I wanted to know who else did. As I’ve learned through time, so many other units were there to conform to what President LBJ wanted, Lyndon Baines Johnson.
That was, do whatever it took to defend Khe Sanh. He did not want the U. S. military to repeat the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu by the communists, Viet Minh, in 1954. In fact, he informed his staff in late 1967 that, I don’t want no damn Dien Bien Phu.
This battle and the one being fought at Khe Sanh in late January 1968, which had many striking similarities, but also unanswered questions. Many of which go unanswered till this day. What Johnson did want was to use that whatever assets the U. S. military had to win the battle, period.
That meant all of our military services would be compelled to save the base that was under attack by some 30 to 40, 000 hardcore North Vietnamese soldiers versus 6, 000 Marines and other service specialists. So I found an irresistible story of a squadron of men who were ready to
Volunteer and accomplish not only a difficult mission at Khe Sanh, but also an impossible greater mission. Doing both in complete anonymity. Spent a lot of time attempting to acquire and authenticate this story. And only presented it as a tribute to these brave men. Who are the essence of bravery for a country.
Who asked for help in ridding the country. Of an attempted communist overthrow of their democratic ideals. And these men volunteered without knowing the danger of the mission. By the way, all the opinions rendered are mine alone. Sadly for the president, the war in Vietnam was to take his measure. And finally his presidency.
Up to that time, Johnson had gotten nearly everything he wanted during his career in the Senate and as President. He refused to adhere to advice that said no to his plans. This image typifies what was known as the Johnson Treatment. He was a master at this type of intimidation, as displayed by Senator
Theodore Greene of Rhode Island. At 6 3, Johnson towers over Greene, angrily staring and invading his space. The Senator… Uncomfortably leans back and clenches his hands against the table, almost mounting it, awaiting the onslaught. Here in the Oval Office, the President is crowding Senator Richard
Russell of Georgia, who repeatedly warned LBJ of greater involvement in Vietnam, but to no avail. This particular image Johnson was berating Russell for sounding soft on the war and the media, giving our European allies the wrong impression about our commitment. Newspaper columnist Mary McGrory Described LBJ’s persuasive bullying
Tactics as, and I quote, an incredible potent mixture of persuasion, badgering, flattery, threats, reminders of past favors and future advantages, end quote. Washington Post editor Ben Bradley recalled feeling that, quote, a St. Bernard had licked your face for an hour and had pawed you all over. Future presidential candidate Hugh McHumphrey discovered as,
Described it as a tidal wave. This image shows the president and his advisors. It is Map Room, looking and planning the next move on the diorama mock up of the Khe Sanh Combat Base. This slide shows President Lyndon Maynes Johnson overcoming the Oval Office of
The White House, by news of yet another failing strategy in the Vietnam War. His magic touch began to desert him as he tried to navigate around responsibility for failures in judgment. Likewise, his bullying did him no good with his enemies on the right as well as the left.
You could say the bull was cornered and about to go down. Before getting into the meat of the Ghost Squadron story, and if I might, I’d like to talk a little bit more about the similarities of those two battles, those being Dien Bien Phu and Khe Sanh.
The reasons for them, and how America ultimately got into the mess of Vietnam and most of Southeast Asia. It also emphasizes the reason and need for an AVA 067 and its ultimate missions. In May 1953, French General Henri Navarre, pictured here, was installed
As the commander of all French forces in Indochina in the midst of a war with the Viet Minh force, who were fighting against French rule, and this battle was going badly. There’s two objectives at the root of their actions during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
Number one was the French troops aimed to situate a base in a location detrimental to the Vietnamese forces, the French controlled valley of Dien Bien Phu. would compromise the Viet Minh supply lines in Deleuze and prevent the rebellion from expanding. The French military, number two, also aimed to provoke the Viet
Minh into an open mass conventional attack and then destroy them with greater firepower and better weapons. Only one problem, French greatly underestimated their Vietnamese enemy. Does this sound just a little bit like the Battle of Khe Sanh strategy and mistaken assumptions? French also wanted a negotiated peace successful with its strategy.
Then it could force the Viet Minh to agree. And then finally, they would regain control of their country. November 1953, the French began dropping 15, 000 paratroopers into the Dien Bien Phu valley near the Laotian border. The sizable force was stretched thin, defending the 40 mile perimeter around an existing airfield.
They were vastly outnumbered. The Viet Minh had 50, 000 men in arms. The French were unaware, and as usual, underestimated both the general in charge and the Viet Minh’s army capabilities and weapons at their disposal. Well, this is what happened to the airstrip.
On the night of March 13th, 1954, the enemy, after four months of intense build up, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu began, when its artillery attacked the French perimeter and outposts. Subsequently, the Viet Minh big guns attacked the whole of the French
Garrison along the border of Laos, all night and into the next day. Soon the airstrip was also destroyed, ending resupply of almost everything essential and medical evacuation of wounded and dying men. Reinforcements also had to drop in on the end of the parachute. So did all the supplies.
Overall, the French lost 62 aircraft, damaged a further 167 aircraft during the battle. Losing use of the airstrip was a significant turning point in the battle. The French were now at a considerable disadvantage and took a greater number of casualties, which could not be adequately treated or medevaced.
This slide shows the destroyed airstrip and planes, the Viet Minh, attacking en masse, the fortress and trenches of the French. Obviously, with the great needs of the French at this time, some of the aircraft needed to attempt to land to try to medevace some of the most severely wounded.
This plane was set on final approach and crashed nose down. This poor guy didn’t make his landing unscathed. For the few aircraft that did successfully land, the routine was to keep taxiing and stop for pickup of wounded for only a few seconds at a time, just
Like everyone had to do at Khe Sanh. This incoming airplane to attempt a medical evacuation is hit by Viet Minh 3, 000 feet and is on fire. Its fate is unknown. I know you all have a series of questions. Uh, maybe these are some of them. What was the layout of the battlefield?
Where did the Viet Minh get their big artillery? And who was the general leading the attack on the French? You Vietnam vets and people that used to read the newspaper in the 60s will love this part. This map shows the position of the battle. It does not show much detail.
Most resupply flights originated in Hanoi, Haiphong, or even as far away down south as Pleiku. Didn’t I say the French found a valley to settle in to confront the Viet Minh? Well, the Viet Minh chose the mountains surrounding the valley to resist and destroy the French.
I know this is more Khe Sanh Bien Phu similarity. I’ll have a lot more to say about Laos where the Ghost Squadron did most of their flying and mission. Later in this presentation, the big guns the Viet Minh had came as a gift,
But from whom from the Soviet Union in China Of course Soviets were all over giving the Western non communist nation’s trouble These close relationships were to last some 21 years Till the end of the war we vets fought in known to the
Vietnamese as a second Indochina war up to 1975 Soviet and Chinese tech squads were even involved in helping the Viet Minh move the artillery up the mountains and with Installation some good friends. Eh, here the men are pulling And one of them up a slope with ropes.
Another shot of the Viet Minh rolling what looks to be a brand new howitzer to its destination in the mountains. After the Korean War, Chinese kept, restored, and used all of the ones that we left. The Viet Minh’s Russian and Chinese allies were generous with their gifts.
This is a partial lineup of guns more than able to crush the French down the hill. This 37mm anti aircraft piece was very capable of shooting down an aircraft flying over at 15, 000 feet. Until March 13th, the French had no idea what kind of weapons the
Viet Minh possessed, or even knew the enemy was on the high ground surrounding their positions. The Viet Minh general planning the attack waited four months, building up his forces and support before the devastating attack. on the French positions. This slide shows some of, just some of the, uh, anti aircraft
Weapons that were used against them. These happened to be Chinese made. Seems everyone wanted to get the art into the act of throwing the French colonists off the continent. I don’t believe any of these with wheels were self propelled, but were mobile if towed or pushed into position.
Either way, all were deadly to the French aircraft and parachutists. No one on the ground out in the open was safe from the 51 caliber 14. 2 millimeter. Machine guns, of which the Viet Minh had many. These 17. 5mm or 68 caliber anti aircraft guns were deadly to lower flying French aircraft,
And Foreign Legion let parachute us. As you can see, the Viet Minh were well stocked. By the way, most of these weapons were still around, and used to kill Arvin troops, Americans, and our allies beginning in the early 1960s. Finally, who was that general in charge of this Viet Minh rebellion
Against their French masters? No one other than General Vo Nguyen Chiap. This was his training battle for Khe Sanh 14 years later. America in the valley, the enemy on the mountains surrounding, ground resupply became impossible, runways became unusable and unsafe for landing, the
Attacking force rained fire continuously down on their enemy, constant ground assaults on their fortress, resupply and medical evaluation was limited to paratroops and small incursion of almost suicidal medevac missions. Similarities could go on forever except for the end results. Here this little general is. Directing the battle through high powered binoculars.
Speaking of ground assaults, this image was a daily routine after the shooting started. The French were up against it. A ground assault on one of the outposts at Dien Bien Phu. Attack and retreat, attack and retreat. Then open up with overwhelming artillery fire. Keep harassing the enemy, keep him off balance.
Keep wounding him. Keep this bleeding of the colonials going. Prior to March 13th, how were the Viet Minh able to move millions of pieces and tons of supply quietly through the jungles and trails up to the tops of the mountains? You won’t believe it, but it was bicycles.
These bikes acted like beasts of burden for the Viet Minh. We will have a lot more to say about bikes and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. This is another picture of Viet Minh bikes on the roll, moving tons of goods to their attacking forces.
While the French were dying due to a lack of medical supplies, infection, and plain old filth, Viet Minh had a huge backlog of medical supplies thanks to the bicycle. Nothing new to the communists and the French knew. There was some resupply carried to their enemy by bikes, but no one
Had any idea to the extent to which their enemy was moving product. This is just a quick picture of a Viet Minh hospital near the battle. By April 22nd, Jaff’s forces had captured 90 percent of the French perimeter. The end came on May 7th, as the last shred of French resistance crumbled,
And as the triumphant Vietnamese soldiers stood atop the conquered French headquarters, waving the red and yellow. Viet Minh flag in victory. This image is of an original Viet Minh flag. Could he be the one flown by the kid on May 7th standing up on the French garrison?
Pricey to say the least, but the real thing. This one’s from a dealer that deals in such things. Note the star’s points are rounded, soon to become more pointier. Pointier? Just more useless info from Tucker. Sorry. The 57 day battle ended with a complete rout of the French, adding to the
More than 16, 000 killed in action. 58, 000 wounded in action from an army that had grown to about 190, 000 over the 10 years of fighting. Both sides paid a high price in this short closing battle. Vietnam had lost an estimated 100, 000 killed in action and 300, 000 wounded
In action for the entirety of the war. The Vietnam are not deterred by the casualties with losing Dien Bien Phu alone. After all, in their minds it was worth the carnage. Also after all, they had unified a country. Maybe. In this slide, we see a portion of the almost 11, 000 French captured
Prisoners, taken by the Viet Minh. Sadly, of this number, only 3, 300 were eventually repatriated back home to France. The rest suffered a horrible death in captivity, usually by beatings, starvation, or disease. This is another image of the horror that was to be the epitome of the First Indochina War.
That 7, 900 French prisoners. How was the U. S. drawn into the Vietnam War, or as the Vietnamese call it, the Second Indochina War? I vacillated for a long time about including this image before deciding to include it in this presentation. A person that completely believes the old saying that a picture
Is worth a thousand words. I think for the adults watching, it’s important to see the lengths the godless communists would go to. Torture and starve, French prisoners, soldiers, or any POWs. that they had defeated in combat. Unfortunately, many U. S. men would experience this medieval type of confinement,
Starting up again ten years later. To me, this image is considered R rated. At the end of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the banishment of the French from Vietnam, actually thrown off the continent, it’s time for the Geneva Conferences of 1954.
There, it was decided that Vietnam would be divided or partitioned, the 17th parallel into North and South Vietnam. Until 1956, when, quote, democratic elections would be held under international supervision. These agreements became known as the Geneva Accords. All parties involved agreed to this.
Even Ho Chi Minh, who had strong support in the North, which was more populated than the South, and he was thus confident he would win an election to unite and thus run the whole country. He’s really smiling in these two photos, isn’t he? Not for long.
America would have the last laugh, or so it seemed at the time. But for the U. S., which, in the spirit of the Cold War, feared seeing communism spread in a domino effect throughout Asia. This slide shows how sure Ho Chi Minh was that there would be an election in 56.
He would be the odds on favorite to win. But the 1956 vote never happened. No other proposed votes ever happened either. Our fate was sealed. Through various machinations and political intrigue in America’s government, we slowly slipped down the slope. to war in Vietnam.
If you don’t believe me, ask all those people that read the newspapers way back then. Just google a gulf of Tonkin resolutions. Enough of my monologue about the similarities. Trust me, there are more. And on to the story of EO 67 and the Ghost Squadron. A great, great story.
This is a presentation that we gave live, three times to different veterans groups. It’s a story a few people know and even now, so the vets found it interesting. I say we because I co presented this story with a 33 year career naval officer who was an expert on this particular airplane.
I asked him if he would be interested and he was delighted. So was I, as I knew nothing about the P 2. His name is Captain Bob Oles, U. S. Navy retired. He spent all of his 33 years on active duty, which is an admirable thing at that.
One half is an aviator, the other board ships. Qualifications in P 2 aircraft are impeccable. I could have never done this presentation justice without him. Bob accrued 2, 814 pilot hours, 886 hours as special crew, which is navigating, manning other crew positions, etc.
For a total of exactly 3, 700 hours of flight time in P 2s. 2, 325 hours were spent as a… Uh, PPC, Plane Control Commander. His career flight time was 6, 222 hours, 900 of which were actual instrument time. From 1956 to 1962, including a short period of flight training of
Course, Bob spent time in a squad, four squadrons, flying in six of eight versions of the P 2 Neptune. Bob also knew one of the key figures in this story and asked him, after all of these years, to write us a letter describing an event in which
He was involved, as an eyewitness to the combat action that took place. Likewise, Captain Olds, with all of his time in the naval aviation, had never heard of Osborne 67. But first, a short history of the Reversible Neptune, and all of its various forms it took on. The
P 2 aircraft was a Navy patrol plane designed for ocean surveillance and submarine hunting. The plane’s first flight was four months prior to the end of World War II. This picture is at the Lockheed Burbank plant, where 1181 were produced over a 15 year period.
In the first 10 years, they came up with 7 distinct and improved models. By the way, the P 2 is larger in every way than the WWII B 17 bomber. Note the then, new, super constellation in the background under construction. Today, this airport is known as Burbank Bob Hope Airport,
Still in Burbank, California. On this P 2V1 Truculent Turtle, lucky to fix a streamlined nose and set this amazing record that still stands. for reciprocating engine aircraft. This P 2 V 1 started with six 50 caliber machine guns in the nose, with two each in the tail, and the dorsal turret.
Shortly the nose and tails were up gunned, 20mm cannon. The III model was thought to be an aircraft used to address America’s need for a carrier capable nuclear bomber. This picture shows a Jet Assisted Takeoff, or JATO, with the P 2 barely
Missing the carrier island, with the starboard wingtip, too close a fit. Although over 200 simulated carrier landings were made ashore. Actual carry landings were deemed too dangerous and unfeasible. By the way, the P 2 is a big airplane. The nuclear delivery concept was to depart the carrier, fly to the target, drop and
Run, then fly to a friendly country’s airbase or return to the aircraft carrier, and ditch in the water alongside the ship. The aircraft had to be lifted aboard with a crane prior to takeoff. Fortunately, newer airplanes took over the task, and the P 2 never had to ditch or ask a favor.
The 5 model had significantly more anti submarine warfare, or ASW, capability. The nose turret allowed strafing of a surfaced or near surfacing submarine without radical maneuvering of the airplane. Subs were diesel powered then, needing to snorkel or surface running to charge the batteries. The new searchlight on the aircraft’s starboard wing was amazing.
The 70 million candle power you could see miles ahead, even a periscope, was visible at a great distance. The only problem, the Navy learned the hard way, was at such a low altitude, the pilot flying the aircraft tended to follow the searchlight beam down and fly into the ocean.
For this reason, the pilot flying would go on to his instruments prior to turning on the light and fly that way until the light went off, never even gazing at this light itself. This is the last of the P 2 models. A quantum leaf in power, speed, maximum weight, bomb bay
Load, and cockpit visibility. The arrow is pointing to the… New turbojet engines generating an additional 3, 395 horsepower. This model would be transitioned to 12 OP 2Es, which would ultimately become VO 67’s aircraft. Here are some of the changes made from the Lockheed P 2V 7 to VO 67’s OP 2E.
This shows the more extensive modifications made, uh, on the P 2V 7 to make it into an OP 2E. For enhanced survivability, self sealing fuel tanks and engine fire extinguishing systems installed. You’re flying in the jungle, so it’s painted flat jungle green. All anti sub gear was removed, including the search radar with
The large dome and the MAD gear, the big stinger tail off the 7. Wingtip tanks removed. Extensive armament plating installed in the bombardier’s nose section. Cockpit, flight deck, aft gunner stations. Two underwing SUU 11 six barrel miniguns. Even a chaff dispenser and was added aft. and upgraded the Loran radar.
Manned M60 machine guns at each aft side. Threat detection and terrain clearance radar was added. World War II Norden bombsight in the nose for accuracy. And finally, this is the World War II Norden bombsight in the observer nose of an OP 2E. That’s enough of the techie airplane nerd talk.
Now it’s time to unfold the story about Vehicle 067, their weapons, and their Air Force facts. This newly created squadron with 12 heavily modified aircraft was officially designated Osbron 67, or Observation Squadron 67. More about their top secret missions later.
On 15 November 67, the last three OP 2Es arrived at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, also known as Naked Fanny, or most often NKP. You can see the close proximity to the targets they would be locating. The Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Khe Sanh Combat Base.
Both just a short hop away from NKP. They were close to the war with a safe heaven in Thailand. Also notice the greater distance from Korat to the trail and Kaeson for the Bat Cats of the 554th Reconnaissance Squadron of EC 121s. There were thirsty birds too. Also more about them later.
By the way, the Marine Corps base at Kaeson was set at a crossroads close to the main trail. It was considered for a while to act as a blocking force to sever the trail at that very entry point. However, once the attacks began on the base, That thinking, thinking quickly disappeared.
The Marines and friends were in a fight for their very existence. I’m displaying a second map of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, as the previous image showed a simplified version of it. The trail looked more like this, arteries like minuscule veins coursing blood through a body.
Even this map doesn’t show the trail’s vastness. Small red square shows only the most northern core of South Vietnam. It runs the full length of Cambodia to the southern tip of Vietnam. Also, this is in 1967. The war would last eight more years, and the trail grew exponentially daily.
It ended up consisting of trails, footpaths, tracks, roads, and waterways, totaling approximately… 10, 000 miles, 9, 940 miles to be exact. Throughout the countries of North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, all joining existing trails to infiltrate ultimately into South Vietnam. Thailand remained neutral to the U. S. Air Force that patrolled the main arteries.
They discovered every day new veins of transport being built right before their eyes. U. S. Air Force called on VO 67 with their brand new OP 2Es to help them shut down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The image on the left is an illustration of the tenacity of our enemy.
Yesterday, this bridge, on the trail, failed. By the next morning, after a night’s work, the communists were back in business. Ad infinitum. This is an image of the VO 67 flight line at NKP Thailand. This image shows five of the squadron’s full array of 12 aircraft.
First three plane flight left NAS, or Naval Air Station, Alameda, California on 6 November, 67. Final three aircraft landed at NKP on 15 November. The VO 67 pilots began flying almost immediately. With Air Force facts, this is a great story. The history of VO 67 was short lived, to say the least.
It was to be formed by 15 November, 66, operational by 15 February, 67. It was finally decommissioned on July 1st, 1968. It lasted for a mere 500 days. Here’s an OP 2E firing up one of its reciprocating engines. No one had any idea what Navy patrol planes were doing in Laos.
Painted green, no less. Some comic that saw the airplanes at NKP asked, What’s the Navy gonna do? Hunt for subs in the Mekong? Ho Chi Minh Trail ran north and south down the length of Laos and Cambodia. Both were judged neutral countries prior and during the Vietnam War.
Treaty was signed in 1962 by the warring forces declaring its neutrality. The Communists, North Vietnamese Army, agreed to leave Laos and Cambodia, retreat back to North Vietnam. South Vietnamese Army and its American military allies, us, were also forbidden from entering neutral countries. Communists never left.
In fact, they only increased their presence from 1954 until the end of the war in 1975. North Vietnamese continually strengthened and even armed the trail. America and its allies could attack the enemy from the air over Laos, but not one foot soldier. was to enter the country.
Secretly, we had spooks that did, but that’s another story for another day. The Ho Chi Minh Trail became an expressway for the communists to bring thousands of troops and tons of munitions south to attack us, and South Vietnam from across the fence, as it was called in Laos and Cambodia.
A great number of feet were used to infiltrate the trail south into Laos and Cambodia. These poor wretches were called porters and were basically slaves to the regime in communist North Vietnam. In many cases, the porters would carry twice their weight for the journey.
Once completing their rigorous trip, they returned north for another load. Propaganda commissars kept them always moving forward. To say they were coerced into believers in their cause would be a severe understatement. You probably know North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap was forced to fight an asymmetrical war against the prince, usually using ambushes
Demoralize And deplete the French army. He rarely fought them in a conventional military, on military way with a battlefield winner or loser, but instead used surprised guerrilla tactics and swift retreats to fight the war, except in the battles of DNB and Fu and Cason. He continued this strategy throughout the war.
This might be repetitious, and I’m apologize, but I can’t overemphasize the importance of the bike in all ops plans. The general chose to bypass easily targeted roads in favor of small inconspicuous trails, uh, throughout the war. In 1953 54, he moved thousands of tons of materiel into the hills ringing the
Valley of Dien Bien Phu using Peugeot bicycles sold to the Vietnamese by their French colonial overlords and thereby flipped the free market on its head. He also used bike to come down the Ho Chi Minh Trail as well and, well, for Khe Sanh, the battle there. and throughout the war.
Although a bicycle by itself can carry little more than half its rider’s weight in cargo safely, it can become a true beast of burden when pushed. The Vietnamese transformed pedestrian Peugeots into Ge Do’s, or pack bikes, or Ngo Thep, a steel horse. Wheels were reinforced, the frame buttressed, the handlebars extended, and
Cargo racks added everywhere possible. A Vietnamese pack bike could transport 400 plus pounds of cargo or more. After a decade of refinement, the steel horse packed bikes. On the Ho Chi Minh Trail, it could now carry twice as much, nearly 1, 000 pounds. The heaviest pack bikes required two porters to push them.
In total, there were over 200, 000 bike porters. VO 67 Mission Because of the persistent and around the clock movement of North Vietnamese Army troops and materiel down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, especially in the fall of 1966, as mentioned above, VO 67, an unusual
Navy observation squadron flying old but newly refurbished P 2 aircraft, was tasked With planning acoustic and seismic sensors over and near the trail. Osborne 67 would be assigned targets where to drop these sensors. Primarily truck movements. In the air over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. This was anything but observation.
It was a joke. A 67 logo. In its logo, merely stood for the year it became operational. President Lyndon Johnson’s Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara refused to stop the flow of war materials into communist North Vietnam by mining their harbors as advocated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He also declined to bomb the staging areas in the north where the loads of munitions and supplies began their journey south. He was afraid. He was afraid of wounding one civilian, but not the sacrificing of U. S. military by the thousands caused by the use of those weapons and supplies.
Then on 29th of February, 1968, he abruptly retired. In the passage of time, he was a failure by anyone’s account, later even his own. Meanwhile, the war he had mismanaged botched, raged on. McNamara and LBJ lied whenever it suited their purposes. To the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Dual Houses of Congress.
The troops, and finally to the people, would like to commend a recent 2015 book to you by Hamilton Gregory, titled McNamara’s Folly, the use of low IQ troops in the Vietnam War, shows the depths of evil that these two men conspired to the unnecessary deaths they caused.
In pursuit of victory in a war they planned to manage, or on an election, but a war never to win. By this stage of the war, the North Vietnamese army had heavily fortified the Ho Chi Minh Trail with highly mobile 23mm, 37mm, and radar controlled 57mm guns.
Some spots along the trail there were even SA 2 guideline surface to air Soviet missiles, or SAMs. The NVA needed the trail open, so they laboriously defended it. American aircraft attacking the trail were no match for the big guns, the 35 foot long telephone pole, sized SAMs.
Someone had to create a plan to stop the intrusion, while saving as many lives and aircraft as possible. The 067 Squadron would pioneer and play a colossal role. Don’t forget the bikes. Notice the handle with care and glass stencils on the wood crate.
Looks like not everything came from China or the Soviet Union to support North Vietnam during the war. No matter, it all came down the trail, or one of its many arteries. This is the end of Part 1. You haven’t seen much action yet, but believe me, the story gets better,
And the action gets very terrific. Keep on listening if you can. In this rare photo of abandoned bikes taken in Cambodia. It appears that an aircraft, usually a FAC, just flew over at a low altitude and everyone didi maud, Vietnamese for moved or quickly retreated, away from the
Trail to avoid getting pounded by a U. S. airstrike. Looks to me like there was a troop, bike convoy, or of a return trip north of the porters who had just completed their mission, pulling cargo to the south. This cargo looks like nothing more than bedrolls.
Either case, it was possible to do this maneuver. As there were communist facilities every 35 to 40 miles on the trail for them to use. Even first aid or hospitals and caves were available. After all, truck stops were there as well. All would somehow be cared for. Enter VO 67.
Their mission would be called Igloo White. Mission that VO 67 was the first in which to participate. Its mission was to reduce and eventually eradicate the enemy vermin. Coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I say vermin because they seem to multiply and be everywhere all at once, like rats. The U.
S. 67 would attempt to accomplish our goal. Eradication of all the traffic on the trail. The U. S. 67’s mission was to be top secret. Remember McNamara was afraid the Chinese or Soviets might enter the war. If it looked at all like we might enter Laos and in time, even win the war.
For the crews of VO 67, no records or orders were kept. Nothing. Medals or ribbons were not awarded. Even though the men didn’t know what they were volunteering for. The crews were sworn to secrecy for 30 years. Some even thought for life. This would be typical of a successful igloo white mission
As related to by a translator. I quote, The first sound heard by this censor. It’s that of a single truck parked with its engine running. It can be heard for several minutes, during which time the only other sound one can make out is distant artillery. Then a voice can be heard shouting excitedly.
First truck is now moving and others are starting. Some drivers are using their horns. Suddenly there’s an unmistakable sound of a jet, of a jet zeroing in, followed by a quick series of explosions. The jet pulling away, except for the sound of a few of the surviving trucks,
Which are getting more and more distant. There’s a relative quiet for a few moments. Then comes the loud pocket a pocket a of anti aircraft fire. Now I will describe to you the other weapon that VO 67 dropped not
Only on Khe Sanh, but also on great stretches of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This was the Air Delivered Seismic Intrusion Detector. The ADSIN sends earth motion to detect people and vehicles. It resembled a spike buoy, except it was smaller and lighter, 31 inches long, 25 pounds.
It’s the most widely used sensor in the program. These are so sensitive, almost any movement was detected. Once detected, you know what happened. Data was relayed to the C 121, then Task Force Alpha, and finally dispatched to the FACS, an attack aircraft to destroy the trucks, etc.
Again, all of this evaluation should take place within seconds, minutes. If the attack was to be successful and the enemy destroyed… Before he could move on. When the ADCID is deployed, an action against the enemy is necessary. It ultimately initiates the process of the FAC taking over the battlefield
And control of the attacking aircraft. This is another view of ADCIDs from the inside of the aircraft while airborne. The smooth object to the upper right appears to be an ACCU buoy. Bombs away! Sometimes imaginations run amok in the think tanks of weapon inventors.
This blob is called the dog dupe transmitter, aka the turd CID. Only problem was there were no dogs in South Vietnam, Laos, or on the trail. One should appear out of nowhere, it was killed and eaten, instantly. Dogs were food to the residents of Indochina, till I found out the
Truth about dogs in Southeast Asia. CIA took some credit for this conception. To try to save Fae Sae, then peddled the myth, it was actually a tiger Cid. There were plenty of them in Southeast Asia, but not near the trail. They were up in the cooler foothills, highlands, and mountains
Where food was more plentiful. Anyway, it didn’t fool the enemy. Another image of the turdcid as an x ray of what’s inside. Go on the damn that’s interesting website and see the written description of this sensor. They actually contend it was patterned after tiger droppings and effective.
This made them liars on both counts. When someone from the North Vietnamese Army found ad cids or sensors of any kind, they moved them away from their positions. Didn’t matter. Once deployed, the Air Force techs in Thailand knew its initial location. Where it was moved to, and adjusted the ensuing. Attack aircraft accordingly.
This is a perfect landing. Upright, stuck in the ground, antenna deployed, and sufficiently camouflaged. Almost invisible to the eye. Certainly not as good as a perfect landing. But if it’s far enough off the beaten path, to go undiscovered, just might feed back some useful data.
Today in Laos, some think of the ADSAT as a decorative item. The large planter on the right is the remains of an ejected auxiliary fuel tank casing. The Laotians split lengthwise the aux fuel tanks. And now use many of them, casings, for small fishing canoes. Like these.
Some are up to 20 feet long. VO 67 needed a northern bombsight to drop the ADCIDS. For them to be accurate, ADCIDS needed to be dropped from 2, 500 feet or higher. The VO 67 crews needed help in making accurate drops.
Someone in charge thought about World War II bombardiers and the northern bombsight. Rock Island Arsenal, the maker, recalled retired World War II technicians to overhaul 12 old bombsights. Retired Air Force Norden instructor found a battered World War II training film at
The Smithsonian Institution and used it to train VO 67’s relief pilots to become bombardiers using the Norden system. That instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Brown, even deployed with the squadron to continue the new bombardiers training. And guess what? They worked. This image is an archival picture taken through the bombsite lens of a World
War II bomber somewhere over France. This is another view through the eyepiece. This Norton is residing at the Hall of Heroes in Costa Mesa, California. So, how did VO 67 learn the finer points of flying their missions? Acquiring targets. And how to avoid anti aircraft fire? Well, from the U. S.
Air Force Forward Air Controllers, or the acronym FAC, flying in tiny, unarmed airplanes. Note, barely visible. Marking rocket on its way to mark a target for fixed wing attack jets. If you look closely, you’ll see the exhaust trail from its motor.
By the time the Vietnam War ended for America in 1973, the U. S. and its allies had dropped about six times as many tons of bombs as had been dropped in the entirety of World War II. It would be fair to assert most of this tonnage had been directed by forward air controllers.
Because of their precision and accuracy, they were responsible for saving thousands of military as well as civilian lives. Likewise, for their meticulous, methodical ways of working, they were the most suitable teachers possible. for the pilots of VO 67. 23rd TASS, capital T A S S, or Tactical Air Support Squadron Flight Line, NKP.
By the time VO 67 got to Naked Fanny, 23rd would have O 2s in lieu of the O 1 Bird Dogs they’d been flying before. They would support all VO 67 operations into Laos, but not at Kaeson. The 20th TASS would support them there, as they were only 20 miles
From the base and in Vietnam. Note the OV 10s in the background and one in the hangar. 23rd TAS didn’t have use of any OV 10s while supporting VO 67. One reason was because the OV 10 couldn’t fly at night yet, as their cockpits gave up so much interior console light.
It became an easy target in the black skies over Laos. The Air Force finally fixed that design flaw. This patch from the 23rd TAS has an interesting story. Shortly after being activated, the unit was to be involved in an operation. The 23rd got to name.
Early on, Lieutenant Colonel Bob Johnson was in command of the 23rd and suggested the name of his dog Cricket. It stuck, and it became known as Operation Cricket. They also adopted Cricket as their call sign. On April 29, 1966, pilot John Taylor contacted Disney Studios.
He told the story and asked if the designers at Disney would make up a patch, including Jiminy Cricket. As you can see, they did exactly what was wanted and charged John 1 for the creation. With a marking rocket attached to his umbrella and pointing down at the enemy on the ground.
Jiminy was a success. They later changed their call sign to Nail, but never relinquished their love of this patch. Besides, the price was right. So much danger involved, why did men choose to be facts? Varied reasons, but foremost in their minds was to lead in controlling
Airstrikes, without lots of interference as second guessing, by second rate senior staff officers stationed hundreds of miles behind the fighting. They were weary of the rules of engagement and the myopic interpretation of them. Especially in Laos, where there were no friendlies below to be risking fratricide or civilian deaths.
Most were loath to many of the military orders of uniformity, haircuts, dress, saluting. Pointless dangerous orders even rank. In other words, after flying for 10 hours daily, don’t tell me to shine my boots or get a haircut. Many wanted to be fairly judged on performance and results by their peers, regardless of rank.
Not a fitness report by someone never having participated the type of flying they were involved with. The possibility of facing death daily they preferred a more relaxed environment or not flying missions. They wanted to make a real difference in winning the war on their terms, not for those in Washington, D. C.
Like VO 67, 23rd TAS was a top heavy squadron. It was also mostly voluntary. The experience of most TAS members exceeded… That of normal Air Force squadrons. It was quite a mishmash of aviators, but in the end, it was the best and brightest we had. Most of them had an attitude.
Ex fighter pilots, some even from B 52s and etc., transports, had to get extensive training and have been flying in combat for at least six months before assignment to a TAS. Being a FAC was difficult, technical, demanding, dangerous work. It’s a pusher pore and a decent civilian airplane.
Prop in front counter rotates with the one in the rear, making maneuverability and landing more seamless. I’m trying to control an aircraft with an engine on each wing. If you lose an engine, there’s no torque effect on the attitude of the aircraft. The problem is the noise it creates.
The rear engine is awash in the propeller turbulence of the front, and makes a shrieking sound when flying. Not ideal for quiet reconnaissance, eh? You ever heard of the 0 1 Bird Dog? Or the Cessna 172 at low altitude. You might find it noisy as well.
This one set up quite a high pitched noise. To the enemy, the excess noise was to his advantage. POTUS said it created quite a racket inside too. Still, comfort, power and speed wise, it’s considered a big upgrade over the 01. By the way, don’t count on flying very long on the 02.
If you lose the rear engine, you are eventually coming down. It’s marketed a lot differently. The O2 AB has many nicknames. The Duck, Mixed Master, Push Pull, Cessna Suck Blow, and the BS Bomber, which was nicknamed after the O2 B psychological warfare variant. It’s a modified civilian Cessna 337.
The Air Force ordered 350 of them. First O2s in country were sent to the 20th TAS at Dong Ha. In support of the siege at Kaeson, combat base providing a more substantial aircraft to deal with the improvements in the enemy’s weapons, the O2 outperformed
Everything at double the rate of the O1 bird dog it replaced, filled a void while waiting for the OV 10s. As I said, Cessna never claimed in its marketing ads it would fly on one engine, but implied so. They implied it was a friendly twin, and not so, but wouldn’t
Fly alone on either engine. They neglected to market it as, it will continue to fly on one engine, but not if the rear engine is fail. These are the O2 Skymax for specs. About the time of VO 67’s arrival on the scene, the North Vietnamese
Army began night operations on the trail because the U. S. Air Force was devastating their movements during the daytime flying. This is a blacked out night fighter look, 23rd TAS adopted. They flew nightly, looking for targets VO 67 might use in the morning for sensor dropping, away from anti aircraft weapons.
Pilots of VO 67 planned their own missions according to the 23rd TASS data collected the night before their missions. They even created a corresponding patch. Colonel Butler flew 240 missions as a cricket, later nail call sign, and O 1s and O 2s in the skies over North Vietnam and Laos.
His combat decorations include the Silver Star. Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with 16 Oak Leaf Clusters. He wrote an outstanding book about his exploits as a FAC, called A Certain Brotherhood. While at the Air Force War College, he wrote the book length
Report called Crickets on a Steel Tiger, The Interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, 1966 68. It earned the Air Force Historical Foundation’s 1980 Award for the Best Aerospace Report of Major Historical Interest. Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Class of 1963.
He still resides in Colorado Springs, where he established the Pikes Peak Riders Conference in 1993. These are the words of Colonel Butler, past pilot with the 23rd TAS, with regards to VO 67, and I quote, This is offered in the spirit of great
Admiration I had for Navy men of VO 67, who came to NKP in the fall of 1967 to risk their lives over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the service of our country. The initial concept was Eagle White, which called for OP 2 Neptunes to airdrop sets
Of electronic sensors along the major roads into areas suspected of concealed truck parks, transshipment areas. The required accuracy, when coupled with formidable anti aircraft, uh, point of defenses in Steel Tiger, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, made the slow OP 2Es an ill fated choice.
In retrospect, one of the biggest mistakes made during Operation Cricket was not forcing FAC expertise into the very basic framework of the… framework of the Igloo White project. Unfortunately, this costly project was initiated without a serious attempt to incorporate the first hand knowledge of the men who, as a group,
Had patrolled the area for targets nearly every day for two years. Captain Sharp, the commander of VO 67, quickly settled the speculation by inviting the crickets to get a get acquainted party for the members of both squadrons. Later in the evening, some of the Navy pilots said that VO
67 expected to take losses. As high as 60 70%. We found it difficult to believe that anyone was pessimistic enough to expect losses of that magnitude. However, they told us their mission required them to fly their Neptunes at altitudes of less than 500 feet above the trail.
Fax wondered if any of the VO 67 aircraft would survive the igloo quite at all. Forget the 60 70 percent casualties. To the FACs, 100 percent losses was a possibility. The Department of Defense, or the DoD, ordered BO 67 operational as soon as possible.
Since the Ho Chi Minh Trail had a reputation for not being kind to rookies, BO 67 crews needed all the help 23rd TAS could provide. Starting immediately, NAGDV officers filled every spare seat on FAC missions during the daytime so the FACs could share their unique expertise as rapidly as possible.
It was VO 67’s job to immediately implement the first electronic battlefield, at great loss and duty to the mission. They did. At this point in the presentation, now that you’ve heard about the basic mission of the crews and pilots of Navy VO 67, and the close working relationships
They were developing with 23rd TAS, I’d like you to take a moment, just for you, to just close your eyes and picture yourself getting up in the morning, having a good breakfast, then hearing a briefing about the day’s missions. That is, where the target was.
Where the anti aircraft guns were supposedly located, at least where they were located last night. How to get in and out of your runs to the target, without getting shot down. And re emphasis on the procedures, taken in case your aircraft was
Hit, downed, and combat search and rescue would need to be called. Then walk out to your airplane and strap yourself into her. Next, push up the throttles and finally remember you had a 60 70 percent chance of not returning home safely from today’s missions. Lousy odds, eh?
Now open your eyes and remember what these extraordinarily courageous men did as a daily recurrence. Was heroic to fly into the volume of fire that they had to weather was unbelievable. As one pilot remembers, and I quote at 500 feet, it was like all the small
Arms and heavy machine gun and aircraft fire was shooting into a funnel. And then all of that was hitting the airplane with us in it. End quote. Pretty sobering, wouldn’t you say? So 23rd task began training V VO 67 pilots and crew and how to fly,
As they call it, the hard air over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. As Keer Butler said, and I quote. Soon after their arrival, V 067 CO Captain Wally Sharp threw a big party for their FACS squadron at the NKP Officers Club. It was love at first sight.
That night, very close and lasting friendships developed between the pilots. The camaraderie could not have been stronger. Captain Wally Sharp, CO of V 067, became fast friends with Lieutenant Colonel John Palaster, Commanding Officer of 23rd TAS. Lieutenant Palaster was so respected by all of the V 067 pilots.
And officers that when he was promoted to full colonel at NKP, the VO 67 officers threw him a special party. They made him an honorary naval aviator and gave him a set of Navy wings. Even threw a Navy wedding down party for him. A what kind of party?
A wedding down party is a wild ceremony for newly promoted officers observed in the Navy Coast Guard Marines. It was a great deal of alcohol consumed. Historically, isn’t everything in the Navy historical? Involved with tossing the newly promoted officer into the sea in his dress uniform. The ocean is unavailable or fatally cold.
A bucket of seawater may be substituted, preferably with a live fish. Inside throwing a fellow officer into the ocean or we down symbolically represents the new officer’s departure from the friends he formally shared rank with are lots of rowdy toasts and speeches given, highlighting their
Appreciation of the promotion officer’s, good friendship and his many faults. The more embarrassed, the better ceremony needs to be paid for by the newly promoted officer. It’s customary for the officer to spend the difference between his pay at the old rank. And it’s pay at the new rank at the bar tab.
Captain Sharp was having none of this. Wally Sharp picked up the tab this night. As you can see, this isn’t the toughest of initiations anymore. It’s not Old Navy. Marines do it the old way, at least, for the booze, rotty toast. The more embarrassing the better, plus the fish in the water.
VO 67 pilots began flying combat missions almost immediately with the 23rd FACS. In their O2 to learn spotting, noting of targets, altitudes to fly, how to do jinking, which is never keeping the wings level but to keep the nose jumping, dives to the target, terrain masking, and numerous heading
Changes on their way to the target to take in dropping the sensors. FACS flew night and day marking and charting anti aircraft locations for VO 67 pilots to avoid the next day, always teaching them about the hard air. In fact, two facts from 23rd TAS help rescue seven VO 67 crewmen with a
Full Jolly Green after being hit by an aircraft fire and bailing out in Laos. I’ll read for you the first person account of this dramatic rescue later. This is what I mean by a full Jolly Green. This is an Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force, acronym CSAR,
Which consisted of four A1H Skyraider Sandys, two HA 3E Jolly Green Giants. and one HC 130P Combat King, which is a command and control aircraft on site. This particular CSAR unit, also stationed at Nakhon Phanon, knew and hung out with Tavs, all very close friends.
Mutual respect was everywhere among the many covert squadrons at NKP. This is a stylized art version. of the HH3E Jolly Green. For your information, Combat Search and Rescue saved 4, 120 lives, many of them downed pilots in the North during the Vietnam War, costing 71 rescuers and 45 aircraft.
They were always available and courageous. They were awarded two Medals of Honor, 38 Air Force Cross Medals, and multiple Distinguished Flying Crosses or DFCs. Their motto still is, as is the Coast Guard’s, These things we do, that others may live. This image is of the 20th Special Operations Squadron, or the 20th S.
O. S. Jolly Greens at N. K. P. They had an apt call sign, Pony Express. I’m assuming the four pictured here are topped up and ready to go at the moment’s notice. Look behind them and you’ll notice some of the small Q. U.
292Bs we saw above as a replacement for the huge E. C. 121 Bat Cats. War Strange Associations at N. K. P. all mutually focused on the goals of search and rescue. And simultaneous destruction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
This is the flight line for the A 1 Sky Raiders of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron, SOS, at NKP Thailand, also known as the Fireflies. As you can see, the armors are loading the ordnance on perhaps four A 1Hs. Air Force kept many of these planes on a hot pad, locked and loaded.
Take off within minutes to lead any rescue attempt by the Jolly Greens. Just look under the wings to see who’s ready to go, or almost ready to go. Note the arrows of these. Maintenance crews and armors worked on these A1s 24 7 to keep
Them ready for any escort or rescue mission in Southeast Asia. This is how they’re on station time as replacement. Strike aircraft were always available and almost always inexhaustible. This would be Khe Sanh’s Ronoan Base, also one of the most dangerous places on Earth.
Note what looks like either an air burst or an incoming round of the base at the lower right of the picture. Shortly after their FAC training and were fairly proficient in their mission, VO 67’s mission changed. January 20th, 1968 and ten days prior to the countrywide Tet
Offensive in South Vietnam, Marine Combat Base at Khe Sanh came under heavy attack by 30 to 40, 000 North Vietnamese Army troops and artillery. All of the artillery was shooting from Laos, 8 miles away. However, the NVA troops had dug zigzag trenches right up to the marine perimeter.
VO 67 was handed off to the 20th Task, based a few miles west of Khe Sanh at Dong Ha. In coordination with the 20th, VO 67 began dropping sensors around the perimeter of the base and the surrounding hills. The 6, 000 surrounded marines, who were fearful of being overrun,
Were badly in need of help. Every reconnaissance patrol they sent out was cut to pieces by the overwhelming presence of the enemy. The base needed intelligence to know what was happening with the North Vietnamese Army. Enter VO 67. I’ve inserted this map again to show the relative distances to
Khe Sanh, to NKP, and the trail. North Vietnamese Army poured down the Ho Chi Minh Trail and into the Khe Sanh Valley. The NVA were the target to find and drop sensors on. The OP 2E supporting Khe Sanh carried cameras that filmed where the acubuoys were located. And SIDS were dropped.
Photo interpretations with radio direction finding, gave the exact location of the sensors and allowed the Marines to pinpoint enemy troop positions and movement. Even the Marines at Khe Sanh didn’t recognize they were Navy planes. They certainly didn’t understand what they were doing.
One marine radio transmission was, look out, come one of those big green planes right on the deck. Again, this image in the next four are just samples of many pictures taken by VO 67. They’re in a high debt resolution for the time and show detail of the basin,
Especially of its perimeter at the bottom. Edge. Many of the sensors were dropped just outside the perimeter. This is a runway with various destroyed aircraft littering the sides. This is an even better picture of their perimeter running from top to bottom on the left side.
By now the Marines are most often living with the rats underground in bunkers. See the perimeter in the upper right hand corner and across the bottom of the picture. Seismic and acoustic sensors dropped by VO 67 around the base and Khe Sanh area during the siege gave the Marine artillery their most accurate
Target intelligence possible. The O 67 dropped them this close. In fact, senior Marine officers believe their casualties would have been double without the sensors. Also, the Marines said the sensors produced 40 percent of the targeting opportunities surrounding the base and hills for airstrikes and artillery. Some job, huh?
This picture depicts the turnaround end of the runway. Notice the remains of a destroyed C 130 on the left side of the runway. It was hit taxiing after landing, burned, and was drug off to the side of the runway. This is Triple Jungle Canopy where sensors were dropped.
Beside the main Ho Chi Minh Trail, there were unlimited roads and paths, something like veins in your arm. These were so extensive the Air Force in Igloo White would never find. Thus catalogued the many routes into Laos that enabled the enemy to mount attacks into South Vietnam.
How did the FACs have any idea how to find targets for VO 67? Number one, individual FACs flew over the same areas of the trail daily, 24 7 if necessary, looking for changes. Number 2. Look for tracks. Tracks. On the ground, dust settled on foliage.
Roiled water in streams, plus rows of fresh vegetables near water. Number 3. The envy dressed as civilians, even as monks or women with children. 4. Any visible changes from the day before. North Vietnamese Army were masters at camouflage. Haystacks. Should an aircraft fly over these troops, they would merely pull their weapon
Into their chest, follow their knees. The deception was complete. However, if the fact observed, no one would cut hay. Then they might give these a low buzz to investigate. These are NVA tanks found on the trail heading south and destroyed due to BO 67 laid sensors. Their sound and movement gave them away.
In this truck camp, the enemy had no idea his movement and even voice transmissions were picked up and translated due to the sensors at this NVA, North Vietnamese Army, truck park. Interpreters in Thailand were quick to decipher their movements and order an attack.
At any one time there were 3, trucks on the trail. United States Air Force reported truck kills tripled after VO 67 began implanting the sensors. As an aside, many of the skittish truck drivers that got tired of the U. S. attacks on them, or just tired of the mission in general, might
Wander away in an attempt to escape. If they should exhibit any inclination to act on their fears, Their communist overlords chained them to their seats and steering wheels to induce them to comply with the mission. The political arm of the party was ruthless.
There were hundreds of Soviet cannon brought south on the trail into Laos to bombard the Khe Sanh combat base and protect the trail. Even SAMs made the trip south for trail protection. Can you imagine the party at the naked FANEO club if the O 67’s
Sensors led to taking out a target like an SA 2 guided missile? Well, sometimes they even did. And you spot the Soviet SA 2 missile technicians with their blonde hair? Ha! Well, folks, this is the end of Part 2.
If you can stand my raspy voice much longer, you’re in store for a great story. It gets really hairy after this. Why? A lot was learned about being a FAC in the Korean War. Barred radar controlled anti aircraft guns was to be avoided at all costs. Same as in Vietnam and Laos.
However, not only was the terrain and climate completely different, so were the shooters. Small contingent of 3 5 NVA, or be it Kong, can bring down a small aircraft like this and surely a helicopter, not in rare cases a jet fighter.
When any of these were close to the ground, even a large OP 2E, their weapons were much more accurate and packed a bigger wallop than the old Chi Com weapons of the 50s. Plus the North Koreans and Chinese didn’t move in small units. They were a rabble with very little foliage to conceal
Themselves from the FAC. Everything a FAC did was at low altitudes, close to the ground, such as marking a target, bomb damage assessment, remarking the target for additional passes by attack aircraft if necessary, and doing their level best to avoid a mid
Air collision with the attack aircraft they were directing to the target. So they took to painting the top of their wing to call attention to their presence. Low, slow, and close to the ground were the key phrases involved in this profession. They called this painting Self preservation.
You’re on the mountainous terrain, smoke, bad weather, and darkness. A normally demanding mission became even more exciting. No two missions were ever alike. This FACSO2 has marked the target, and an attack aircraft is rolling in hot to destroy the target. FAC always made attacking aircraft verbally acknowledge having visual contact
With him prior to being cleared in hot. This 23rd Task Pilot is marking a target along the trail using his dash mounted sight. Sensors were dropped, contact was made, and the FAC got his orders to initiate an attack. Then the fireworks began. Note the small white dots in the clearing, the left arrow.
Trucks! This is where the marking rocket is headed, the right arrow. First of all, this is one of my favorite pictures in the entire presentation. What a dramatic shot of an O2. Anyway, for your information, the 23rd test alone lost 27 pilots. Killed in action, missing in action.
During the Vietnam War, casualty rate of the five task units was one of the highest of the war. The weather. The weather could be as deadly to the FAC and the pilots of VO 67 as the enemy was. The haze combined with low ceilings, clouds, and smoke covered the ridges.
Flying the trail was especially hazardous in Laos because of the medieval form of agriculture they used known as slash and burn. This background shows just how overwhelming the smoke haze was. This weather made the hills and karsts, which were towering limestone mountains. In Laos, almost invisible.
Flying under visual flight rules, or VFR, even in the daytime, was often nearly impossible. During the planting season, the major cities of Laos and Cambodia are buried in a smog because of this ancient but still current farming method. The haze is so widespread it can be readily observed from outer space via satellite.
Notice the weather in the small images of the O 1 Bird Dog and H 34 helicopter, barely visible, at the bottom of the screen taxing to the runway, at landing site 20A Laos. This is CIA territory. This satellite is from 2019, uh, shows an image of the results of
Slash and burn method of farming that is still in vogue today. Third world countries are slow to modernize methods due to many factors. Seeing as how most of the Southeast Asian countries are agrarian, their farmers primitive farming methods are ignored so as not to disenfranchise or condemn them
To the rank of servitude in the cities. Thus the people of the modern, more civilized cities in Myanmar, or Burma, such as Rangoon, or in Laos, cities such as Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and in Cambodia, cities such as Angkor Phnom Penh, and Thailand in general, live in a very smoky, smoggy environment.
For a variety of reasons in some parts of the world, progress moves more slowly than in others. A Fak became victims of the haze that we talked about in the Slides previous. This crash took place at 10 o’clock in the morning.
Likewise, VO 67 also lost one of its aircraft and crew, crew number two, in the morning, about 150 feet below a 4, 583 foot mountain high ridgeline. However, some believed enemy fire most likely was the cause. In this case, everyone knew the very well known rule of flight by
This fact was undoubtedly broken. Never fly beneath an overcast. and you can’t see the tops of the mountains. Rear information, 70 percent of Laos is mountains. This is about crew number 2. On January 11th, 1968, the V 067 Executive Officer, or EXO, Commander
Del Olsen, was on an Akiburi drop mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 9. 57am, radio contact with his aircraft was lost. The FAC working the mission had also lost visual contact with the OP 2E. Two other V 067 aircraft were working the trail that morning as well.
They tried to re establish radio contact with Crew 2, one of the OP 2Es, one of the overcasts, and spent three hours searching the area. There were some karst outcroppings in the area, but it was mostly dense jungle. Flying alongside Olsen on that morning of 11 January was Navy Commander Adams
Alexander, who also headed a VO 67 crew. Alexander had just finished his run dropping sensors and climbed up above the clouds. Alexander heard Olsen tell… Uh, his fac, and I quote, I’m going down through this hole, in the clouds, end quote. That was Olsen’s last radio transmission.
Alexander considered Olsen a skilled pilot, and believed he was one of those that believes that he was shot down. The base of the overcast was above the highest terrain in the area, so Alexander’s aircraft was able to fly down beneath the clouds, and search the whole area.
Jungle was so dense in most places that a plane crashing into it would not leave a discernible entry point. Crash would, could not be seen from the air. No trace of the Crew 2 aircraft was found by the searching VO 67 aircraft.
This Sandy is from the 602nd Special Operations Squadron or SOS at NKP. The double T on the tail is a dead giveaway as well as a naked fanny painted on the engine cowling. It’s a nice open cockpit, uh, image. 602nd were known to and close friends of VO 67 pilots and crew.
January 23rd an Air Force AD 1 Sandy located a suspected crash site. On 25 January in O2, from 23rd TAS photographed the site. Photo interpretation determined that the wreckage was that of crew number 2’s aircraft. A cockpit was burrowed into the mountain.
Section of the fuselage landed below on a 9 foot wide ledge. The landing gear was on another ledge, 200 feet below the first, and the tail an additional 400 feet down on a third ledge. The bodies of Crew 2 were never recovered. Well, almost never.
In 1993, the first recovery mission was attempted by the Joint Task Force, Full Accounting, Office, and Olson’s son David, who was 7 when his father disappeared, received his father’s dog tags. But the site was deemed too dangerous to proceed with recovery. There were the poisonous snakes, falling rocks, and a 35 degree
Mountain slope to deal with. The B067 family refused to take no for an answer. The group mounted a campaign that resulted in President Clinton, congressional representatives, and military officials. Getting a barrage of letters saying, I quote, It’s time to bring these men home, end quote.
The government responded and Army Brigadier General Harry Axon flew over the crash site in 1999. And after an assessment, team’s findings concluded the risks to recover were manageable. The Joint Task Force said ropes and ascenders had to be used to reach ledges across which the plane wreckage had spilled.
Because of its remoteness and inaccessibility, this term in the site had not been disturbed. With a specialized team that included recovery experts from the Central Identification Lab and Army Mountaineering Soldiers, Task Force went back to Folong Mountain in Laos. I quote, it was incredible, said Army Lieutenant Colonel Franklin
Childress, part of the Joint Task Force. I quote, as you were flying up there, it was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. End quote. A thousand foot waterfall spilled below the wreckage site. At the site itself, he spotted a fire extinguisher here, a gauge there. Minigun jutting from a rock pile.
He said you couldn’t tell it was fuselage. It’s more like a wreckage field. Identification of each crewman was confirmed and their remains brought home in 2001. Commander Olsen was buried in the service officiated by his now over 60 year old son at Arlington National Cemetery.
This image is of Crew 2’s OP 2E plus crew names. Oops! A better time for Crew 2. Well, sort of better as it looks from the listing to Port Airplane and Nervous Crewman someone either towed or taxied there. OP 2E off the taxiway and onto the soft ground.
A brand new Neptune, no less. 37 days later, on February 17th, 1968, Commander Glenn Hayden and his crew five were dropping acubuoys over the trail in Laos. He had two F 4 Phantom escorts out of Da TAS FAC mission coordinator. After coming off his first target run, Commander Hayden reported that they
Had been hit by small arms fire in the starboard wing, but were continuing on with their second assigned target run. During the second run, the fighter escort rated to the OP two E that his starboard engine was on fire. Commander Hayden acknowledged that he was aborting the mission and
Heading home the two F fours climbed up through the overcast with the intention of joining the OP two E on top, escorting him back to the base last transmission they heard from crew. Five was we’re beat up pretty bad and the F fours dropped back below
The overcast and found the burning wreckage of Commander Hayden’s aircraft. No parachutes were seen or emergency beepers heard. There was no attempt at recovery as the crash site was so scattered and eradicated it was considered unsurvivable. No hope of recovery was thought possible.
Next I’d like to cover the details about the third crash, that’s Crew 7, the combat search and rescue, plus the first person account of the shoot down. Ten days later, VO 67 suffered its third combat loss. On February 27th, Commander Paul Melius, OP2, was shot down while implanting sensors in Laos.
The aircraft was flying at 5, 000 feet above the jungle tops. There weren’t any 57mm radar controlled guns reported to be in the area of his drop, but if it wasn’t that, it had to be the best 37mm gun crew in the world. This is a single barreled 37mm shown here.
No flak was spotted before the aircraft was hit, so it almost had to be a direct hit. On the first salvo, one crewman was killed instantly. He was hit in the converted bomber deer nose, where the new emergency bailout was also located.
Thus, the men all had to egress by jumping over the wing, as it went right through the airplane’s fuselage and out the back of the aircraft. The Neptune immediately filled with acrid smoke and fumes. Commander Melius ordered his crew to bail out.
He remained at the controls of the stricken OP 2E until the remaining seven crewmen had bailed out. As Colonel Jimmy Butler said, the third loss of a Neptune Was on 27th of February and triggered one of the largest res air rescue efforts of the Vietnam War,
Captain Samuel Weaver, A 23rd task fac and in oh two was directing the deployment of sensors along Route 9 1 2. When the anti-aircraft fire struck Command Commander MIUs Aircraft, Neptune turned east and almost immediately parachute blossomed beneath the disabled airplane. Moments later, the OP two crashed Captain Weaver kept track
Of the number of parachutes. and the landing places of each Navy crewman. Immediately, a call went out to search and rescue. Meanwhile, Captain Weaver was joined by two other NALs, Captain Phil Maywald and Captain Joe Smith. Jolly Greens and Sandys scrambled from alert pads at NKP, Udorn in Thailand,
And from Da Nang in South Vietnam as the rescue force converged on the crash site. A military artist on board a Jolly Green likened it to a swarm of buzzing hornets. Later, he dramatically captured the story of fliers maneuvering their
O 1s, O 2s, HH 3s, HH 53s over the possibly downed Bo 67 airmen. The facts vectored the combat search and rescue birds to all seven of the Navy crewmen, who were pulled to safely during the five hour rescue. Rescues like this one showed the level of commitment the U. S.
Military has for the unwritten order of no one left behind. The artist continued, and I quote, Never in the history of warfare have more people been. Dedicated and risks to such a principle to save a single life. Not the biggest rescue mission during the war, but there were
Approximately 20 aircraft on site, zipping around like schoolboys on skateboards, barely missing one another. This is a busy time, this day, for the combat search and rescue units. 13 aircraft are pictured here, in the case of downed VO 67’s Crew 7.
In this artist’s rendering, there were at least two full rescue asset units. This is exactly the way the scene must have looked during the rescue of VO 67 Crew 7. As you can see in this military art piece, the combat search and rescue teams were swarming when the plane crashed, billowing black smoke.
Note the trail below. Melius was initially in radio contact with rescue helos on the day of the crash. The next day, only his radio beacon was heard, and the rescue mission was aborted due to heavy enemy gunfire. His status was changed from missing in action, MIA, to killed in action,
KIA, ten years after the crash. Look closely and note the men being hoisted up into the holes of the Jollies. Likewise, the 23rd TAS, O2s, would have conducted the show. The gas station, or the HC 130P Combat King, is at high altitude waiting to tank up the Jolly Greens as necessary.
You can observe him in the upper left corner of this slide. All seven survivors were rescued that day by the 37th Air Rescue. Recovery, Squadron A R R S, Jolly Green Giants. This is the very anxious look of a Jolly Green pilot quickly stealing a look over
His shoulder while pulling into a hover, listening for guidance from his flight engineer and while attempting to fight and recover one of the downed airmen. Talk about a harrowing job. I’m about to read the first person account from Commander Melius co pilot.
He was a friend of Bob Oles, who I introduced at the beginning of this presentation and cooperated with me on this, and I quote, quote, My name is Barney Walsh, and yes, I did bail out of a burning OP 2 No. 7 in February of 1968.
I was on the ground in Laos for about four hours until Jolly Greens picked me up amid sporadic single shot small arms fire. That indicated to me that we were off the main trail network where they would have had heavy weapons.
The lift was the ride of my life as the helo was winching me up through the jungle while getting the hell out of there at maximum speed. They’d already picked up another crewmate. My OP 2E got hit by an aircraft fire.
On a run down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, dropping accu buoys that were supposed to hang up in the trees and provide intel on a mover coming down the trail, or trucks. There were two altitudes for the drop, low or treetop, and 5, 000 feet.
We were on a 5, 000 foot run when we were hit by an aircraft in the hydraulic lines that created a fire and did smoke that made it hard to breathe. The fire emanated from the nose tunnel, so we went over the wing. Beaming out the after hatch.
I landed at the base of a sharp mountain ridge about 200 feet above the tree groin. I used a PRC 25 radio, which is an infantry ground radio, and called the Jolly Greens. Seven out of nine of us made it. One was killed aboard, and the PPC, or patrol plane commander, who got
A Navy cross for holding the bird together, was MIA, missing in action. We had a senior PC plane commander in each airplane, and a co pilot. It was a young guy that was a PC fresh from the VP, which is Navy Fixed Wing Patrol Community. That would be me.
Three planes stored in Futima, Japan as war reserves were brought in country as we lost birds. No one got out of the first two we lost, so as soon as we were hit, the plane commander called bailout and we went out.
I could see the plane in a ball of fire as it went down in the air. So we lost 18 men in the first two aircraft lost. And to an airplane. In searching around, attempting to find pictures of the facts that, that
Presided over this particular rescue, I found a picture of Captain Phil Maywald. I was unable to find a picture of Major Sam Weaver, but Maywald has a story to Google about. That is his being awarded the Air Force Cross Medal. Anyway, Commander Melius was seen to bail out, but never located
And listed as missing in action. He was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1 July, 1972, and on April 26, 1978, he was officially pronounced Presumed and killed in action, and later was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross Medal for his heroism.
Paul Lloyd Melius was born 11 February 1928, the youngest of four children, in Denver, Iowa, a small rural community. He and 15 other members of his senior class graduated from Reedland High School in 1946. In April of 1946, just weeks before graduation, Paul received his Selective Service Notification.
And reported for his pre induction physical exam. By 21 May 1946, the 18 year old son of C. H. and Christina Melias was in boot camp at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. In March of 1948, he was honorably discharged from the Navy.
His enlisted naval experiences and naval aviation community had only enhanced his lifelong intrigue with aircraft and his desire to fly. Knowing the route to a Navy cockpit began with a college degree. He enrolled at Iowa Teachers College, now University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls.
Paul continued to serve in the Naval Reserve throughout his time in college. 1950, after attaining a two year degree, he applied for and was accepted into the Naval Aviation Cadet, or NAVCAD, program. And on August 1950, he was back on active duty at the Naval Air Station Pensacola,
Florida, attending the pre flight course. He successfully completed this course on 16 December 1950 and was sent to advanced training. N. A. S. Corpus Christi, Texas. On December 16, 1951, Cadet Melius was awarded his Naval Aviator’s Wings of Gold. On December 21st, 1951, he took the oath of office at Anson U. S.
Navy Reserve with a naval designator of 1325. On December 30th, he married his high school sweetheart, also class valedictorian, Darlene Meyerhoff, who sent to fly Aircraft Early Warning, or AEW, at Lockheed’s C 121s, remember that airplane? At N. A. S. Patuxent River.
In 1956 he began flying P 2s, after serving in various anti submarine squadrons, four to be exact, various naval command schools, and some shipboard time, he volunteered in 1967 for duty in the newly established Observation Squadron 67, VO 67. The new unit flew heavily converted P 2 aircraft, heavily armored, and fitted
With advanced land detection systems for ground reconnaissance missions. By now, Commander Melius and his new squadron were soon drawn that recon was not to be the mission. for BO 67. Now I’ll read his Navy Cross Medal Citation, which reads as follows. President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the
Navy Cross posthumously to Captain, then Commander, Paul Lloyd Melius, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism on 27 February 1968 as an aircraft commander in Observation Squadron 62 67, BO 67. During a combat mission in Southeast Asia, Captain Melius’s aircraft received multiple hits from a 37mm aircraft artillery fire during a
Run over of the assigned target. Immediately, the aircraft burst into flames. Several members of the crew received injuries and dense smoke and fumes filled the fuselage. Remaining at the controls to ensure stable flight, Captain Melius ordered his crew members to bail out.
As a result of his action, seven of his nine crewmen were rescued within three hours of bailout. Rescue flights, however, were unable to locate Captain Melius. His heroic efforts and inspiring devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Captain Melius family added on to a memorial stone and plaque at Harlington Cemetery in Bremer County, Iowa, next to where his parents are laid to rest. This is a close up of his plaque. To this day, his remains have never been found and returned.
In 1996, the Aegis class guided missile destroyer Melius DDG 69 was commissioned in his honor. Ship’s mottos. Others before myself reflected the courage that promoted this selfless act of heroism. Captain Melius’s daughter Annette became the sponsor, and later christened the ship named in honor of her father.
After these losses of the increasingly hostile anti aircraft environment, the Navy restricted the OP 2Es to a minimum delivery altitude of 5, 000 feet above ground level. Navy crews flew sensor missions until 25th of June, 1968. However, in May, Air Force crews began flying specially modified F 4s. U. S.
Air Force believed the F 4 was a much more survivable aircraft for the delivery missions. The departure of the Neptunes from NKP closed out a particularly valiant part of the story of V 067 and the 23rd TASS. Well, friends, this next section is why I chose to make a presentation about
These most remarkable and brave men. This is called the fellow warrior recognition. This image shows wounded and sadly killed Marines. From a patrol outside the perimeter at Kaeson, being medevacked by a CH 46 helicopter. Recognition came from the thankful Marines and all the other services present at Kaeson, and the surrounding hills.
Many wrote letters, memoirs, even books, praising and thanking the men of VO 67 for their very lives. Able to stay within the perimeter of the base without risking life and limb on patrol, due to the accurate data derived from the sensors, saved an unknown number of Marines.
Sensors also vastly improve all strike, flight, and artillery targeting. The men on the hill surrounding Khe Sanh, which is yet another story, felt especially vulnerable to being destroyed, but fortunate. Nightly, the North Vietnamese attempted to overrun their positions for over 100 days.
But thanks to VO 67 and its sensor drops, artillery, fixed wing aircraft, and even B 52 attacks came often and protected them with great accuracy. There’s no better recognition than from fellow warriors and brothers in arms, who continue to this day giving their utmost thanks. To the men of Osbrond, 67.
This is Navy Chaplain Ray Stube holding services on Hill 881 South. One of the surviving chaplains at Khe Sanh, he wrote a letter to a member of the VO 67 crew that said, Indeed, were it not for those of you that inserted
These sensors, I probably wouldn’t be writing you this letter, or been able to talk to you when you called. You and those of your unit quite literally saved our lives. Ray Stube co authored a book about Khe Sanh entitled Valley of Decision, an excellent book.
Chaplain Stube spent over 100 days on Hill 881 South under the guns of 000 North Vietnamese Army troops. This section gives me great pride to announce the awards to VO 67. Many medals were awarded to members of VO 67 that came to them 30 to 40 years after their service.
In 1998, VO 67’s mission and existence was officially declassified. Prior to their formation on November 15, 1966, military planners had predicted 70 percent fatalities for the crews. The men of VO 67 never knew about this shocking prediction prior to volunteering, but learned accidentally through their training.
However, due to the pilots outstanding airmanship and the early FAC training, three aircraft and 20 crew were lost. This does not give one any pleasure to report or minimize their sacrifices. But should be perceived as a great miracle over the planner’s grim forecasts.
The fire directed at these airplanes during their missions was overwhelming. Especially significant for, awards were for Valor. One Navy Cross, eight Distinguished Flying Crosses, twenty seven Purple Hearts, twenty posthumously, and the Presidential Unit Citation. The Presidential Unit Citation is reserved for the most valorous combat units.
Far fewer of them were awarded during the Vietnam War than Medals of Honor. A unit receiving this citation is the equivalent of every person in that unit receiving a Navy Cross, the Navy’s second highest award under the Medal of Honor. The PUC was eventually awarded to VO 67 in 2007.
By now known as the Ghost Squadron, received no official recognition for its support of Khe Sanh for over 40 years. In 2005, the United States Marine Corps awarded all the crews of VO 67 the Silver Combat Air Crew Wings for their valor over the combat base in support of them.
Just a quick moment to talk about these. U. S. Marine Corps Air Crew Wings. They’re the only air crew wings in the United States military that must be earned in combat. A person needs 20 combat mission points to get the wings. Still can’t wear them. They can possess, but not wear.
The wings can’t be worn until all three stars are mounted at the top of the wings. Like the wings, a star represents the engagement of an enemy aircraft, vessel, or fortified position. In other words, if your aircraft gets fired at while a flight, crewman, you receive a mission point.
20 for the wings, 10 for each star. When all three stars are earned and mounted on the wings, only then can the compli completed wings be worn. The wings become a part of the crewman’s uniform and record. Having the wings are a great asset in promotion.
These wings are important enough to the Marine Corps for the recipient to be awarded in front of the entire squadron, maybe even the wing, by the commanding officer, maybe even a general. I’ve seen a general officer proudly wearing his air crew wings affixed to on his uniform.
They are a great source of pride for the wearer. He is set aside as special. On occasion, the completed wings are bestowed. By the Marine Corps, upon a crewman, crew, or unit of another branch of the U. S. military who has fought heroically in a combat aviation scenario.
This honor does not occur often. These recipients are regarded as extraordinary and outstanding. I can identify only two of these men. In the middle, wearing the black flight suit, is, uh, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel John Palaster. Uh, Commanding Officer of 23rd TASS, holding up his tie, Xingaobir.
And on the far right is his good friend, Navy Commander Paul Melius. The other three are VO 67 pilots, but none is Navy Captain Wally Sharpe. This monument is part of a memorial park set at Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Located at Hurlbrook Field, it was erected by U. S.
Air Force Special Operations Command, paid for by VO 67’s association. Eglin Air Force Base was where VO 67 crews took much of their training. This plaque tells the whole story of the squadron about their mission flown under the operational control of the United States Air Force.
Note the Cessna 02 FAC airplane in the background. An enlargement of the plaque follows. The enlargement. This, a better slide of the Cessna 02 Super Skymaster FAC airplane behind the monument, was also part of the salute to VO 67 and the UNHRDA, symbiotic cooperation between the services.
Both Navy VO 67 and Air Force 23rd TAS shared a very mutually beneficial relationship. Further in the background can be seen the tail and partial fuselage of the ubiquitous. O 1E Bird Dog, FAC aircraft. Initial FAC bird used in, uh, Southeast Asia throughout the Vietnam War.
This then is the aftermath, or literature, the epilogue. As mentioned above, the actual Navy squadron designation for the squadron was Observation Squadron 67. The Navy assured the men it would be good for their career to volunteer to join this squadron. So all the men volunteered to join Osborne 67 without ever knowing
Anything about its mission. Everything was top secret, and reporting was usually done directly to the Secretary of Defense, sometimes even reaching the White House. After the squadron dissolved, as well as the crews moving to other assignments, the men took to calling themselves the Ghost Squadron, because they felt forgotten and betrayed.
They were participants in a secret war, that neither the United States or North Vietnam would acknowledge was being waged, next door to Vietnam. They created their own squadron patch. As for their careers in the Navy, The men said being in V 067 failed to help them at all.
In fact, most believe it hurt their promotion and career opportunities because no one in the Navy had ever heard of it. There was no paper trail. So those few who had knowledge that V 067 existed had plausible deniability of its existence. Any pay records, etc., that there were, were destroyed.
And the men and their story were pretty much destroyed as well. Years later, one crewman remarked, I’ve talked about it recently with my wife of 19 years. And she said, I don’t believe you. That pretty much sums up the story of the squadron that never was. This is the end of the story.
As for all of you that put up with my amateur, crude attempts to inform you of this great story, I thank you and hope you will remember these men for their courage and for always being faithful to the mission and each other. Anyway, please wait for an acknowledgement slide to come.
I would like to thank those who aided in the creation and compilation of this presentation and those that made this story possible. First and foremost, Captain Robert B. Olds, United States Navy, retired for the gift of his expertise in agreeing to help and present this great story with me, as well as
Being so generous with his time and knowledge concerning the P 2V aircraft. He was also resourceful in providing the key piece of evidence concerning the crash and subsequent rescue of seven members of Crew 7 by obtaining a letter from his friend Barney Walsh.
As I mentioned earlier, I could never have done this incredible story justice without Bob’s help. Second, my executive producer, Mr. Ryan Kusner. Genius videographer who organized my words and slides to a powerful video and exceeded all my expectations with this final product.
Ryan’s guidance, editing, and nudging me to rewrite certain parts of this story made it into the finished product as I had imagined it to be. Third, many more lives would have been lost had 23rd TAS not taught VO 67 about
Flying the hard air over the trail, as well as the meat grinder that was Kason. He’s been surely saved many lives of VO 67. I plan to present an extensive story of facts. In Vietnam and the future. Fourth, a salute and Semper Fi. Extraordinarily brave men of the Ghost Squadron who persevered against
Overwhelming odds in an attempt to defeat a determined, underestimated enemy. All done in complete anonymity. They were thrust into an impossible mission, yet went aloft in their 23 year old craft daily in their attempts to complete their missions. All of this while saving thousands of lives in the process.
In the end, they were forgotten and their valor diminished. They were leaving Southern California almost three years ago. Following grandchildren of the great state of Texas, I was affiliated with this finest group of veterans representing all of our military branches of service.
I’m also representing the 58, 563 men and women who gave their lives on behalf of the people of South Vietnam. Don’t forget most served because their country called them, and they answered the call. More enlisted than being drafted. This does not include the over 300, 000 more wounded in action, both mentally
And physically, with many of them still suffering as victims of that time. As you can see on the banner, our mission at the Freedom Committee of Orange County is to pass. The torch of liberty on to the future generations through living history. We were their living history.
After 50 years of feeling the rejection of our return from that war, I joined the Freedom Committee because of their mission. The founder of the committee thought it important for our junior high, high school, and college students to hear from people who have actually lived these veteran stories of service.
Who doesn’t like first person reporting on heroism in defense of freedom? To fulfill this mission is to get as many men and women, veterans, trained to go into school classrooms with our personal messages from World War II to the current, current global wars on terror.
God knows there’s no room currently in the students curriculum to hear about any of these great patriotic endeavors. So I credit this group of veterans for training me, inspiring me to tell stories of heroism and sacrifice to as many of us that have never heard them.
The only things I miss, not living in California, are my veterans friends in the Freedom Committee, My school visits, and of course, their insightful students, they shared with me. For credibility’s sake, I think it’s important to show that I did actually
Fly some marine aircraft during my tour in Vietnam, as a marine naval aviator. In other words, I was there. Here I’m sitting on the fuel cell pontine. pontoon of a CH 46D helicopter. This picture was taken on one of my days off. Upon arriving in country February 7th, 1968, our flying time was
Four days interspersed with nights flying, then one day off. As time passed, our schedules got more demanding, with more days flying, fewer days off. Drawdown of troops and helicopter squadrons had begun by mid 1968, and continued till 1973, when America left Vietnam. The last man out slammed the door.
I’m not really meaning to be self serving or needing more attention, but I’m recommending another even larger presentation to you, three hours and thirty five minutes, that thus far has had very good reviews, same gravelly voice and the like. But if you enjoyed the Ghost Squadron, I’m sure you will enjoy this one.
This tale dovetails directly into the one you’ve just watched about V 067. I know this hill story is mainly about Marines, but even if you’re in the Navy, I think you’ll enjoy it. For example, I did mention Navy Seabees, Ha ha ha. It’s another story, this one about Hill 881 South, situated near
The Khe Sanh Combat Base, and my squadron, who is the primary resupply and minivac asset to the hill. There are many other interesting smaller stories within the main title story. All centering on the salvation of the huge battle that raged in the Kaeson Valley and its hills.
Hopefully you will give that one a go as well.
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