DIRTY SECRETS of VIETNAM: The Aces of Southeast Asia

A day may seem to have no beginning or end, it becomes a 25 hour day that blends into the previous one and must follow a man with a gun, if he is a reasonable man, a man with a purpose. the extent of your understanding of your purpose goes far beyond your line of sight you know the big picture you understand that attempts to intimidate by force must be resisted by force before intimidation becomes an international way of life and He and the thousands like him, fighting and sweating on the ground for the spearheads of our Department of Defense, also know this.

Total effort, a concentrated effort to help the men on the ground achieve their purpose and their mission in the field and in the jungle. Close air support helps clear the way for the man on the ground reinforcements support those men during the long hours of daylight and the longer hours of darkness support them with b52s against concentrations of troops and supplies do not hit the enemy opportunity to rest they support them with tactical fighter-bombers to maintain the pressure and help destroy Thanks to our enemy's ability and desire to attack with hundreds of thousands of tons by airlift, supplies arrive, but there are other lines of supplies flowing in the opposite direction along the Hoi Min trail, which descends from the north through mountain passes and under the cover of green jungles along the flank of South Asia the coast of North and South Vietnam takes the shape of an elongated demilitarized zone between the two countries along the 17th parallel in the sea was established by a solemn treaty to the north is China to the west are Laos Cambodia Thailand Burma India and Pakistan descending from the north men oil machines the tools of war are fed along the trails of the hoochi men to reinforce the aggression in the south they move at night along narrow paths through mountain passes and paths hidden by trucks of jungle foliage and coolies loaded by tens of thousands usually during the day they remain hidden in the jungle to venture again at dusk that Lifeline must be cut off when it is repaired as always it must be cut off again every gallon of fuel every gun bullet even every ration of rice destroyed north of the 17th parallel can mean the life of a man on the ground south of the 17th the military calls it interdiction that is the mission of those who fly north to support the men on the ground by strangling the supply rooms The pilots have always been combat men, but to courage and audacity Today we must add the great technical skill and self-discipline required by their sophisticated weapons, but weapons no more effective than the men who fly them or those who keep them flying.

For example, fighter jets are maintained with a dedication that results in flight hours at a rate three times greater than normal line usage. The crews understand how much it depends on them day after day of 2 hours normally. The Spar is a very decent guy, but now it's been hours. From the pre-flight details, you can't help but hope that one of the other planes will show up with a minor hydraulic leak or a slashed tire. Sometimes that happens, but not today, four supersonic bursts of power in the open ocean of air ready to play their part in the overall coordinated effort there are other flights in the sky the F4 CS is en route at the same moment the large helicopters known lovingly as Jolly greens are en route with A1 e as a protective escort their goal is to stay as close to the target area as possible so that if a pilot and one of the attack aircraft have to hit the parachute they can move to pick it up if there is ground enemy, shoot those A1s and dive to hold the enemy's heads.

The guys in the KC 135 tankers have been waiting to refuel the tactical fighter-bombers and head to their targets. Those KC 135s will still be in orbit in case any of the guys run out of fuel on the way home. Most people will ask pilots the same question. over and over again, aren't you afraid? the answer is always more or less the same sure we are afraid until we close the hatch we are some kind of operation we are our own radar operator Navigator radioman and Bombadier entering the target, we have to take evasive measures, then it appears, dives, drop the bombs and get out of there, you look at your fuel, going over in your mind what the intelligence guys will want to know about the results on the target.

Target ground defenses. All the details may scare you when you start, but then you just don't have time. The results are positive: the cockpit is a pilot's office. The management of that office must be as precise and efficient as the complex instruments with which it is equipped on a flight. of many flights and there is no combat pilot who knows it every bullet every gallon of oil every mortar stopped north of that 17th parallel can mean the life of a man 10 men 100 men south of that paril 63 83-1 about Rog I'm arriving from the

southeast

. I have you inside now.

I only have a temperature, think about 3:00 ahead behind. You know, you're still the target from position about 11 1200 about 1 M over there. Go ahead and mark it and I You're right about where that smoke is coming from right now. Well, to the east, during military action in Vietnam, a squadron of fighter aircraft has been called in to closely support a shipping company held up by enemy fire from an abandoned village. Guided by the small observation plane near the green battlefields of Vietnam, the Marine air attack on the T Viet Kong strongpoint has been interrupted by the precise application of air power, a vital part of this unusual war in which political, economic and psychological factors demand With as much concern as the military, now the men of the first marines of the Lima Company can advance thanks to the skillful use of an aircraft superbly adapted to support the rifleman in the ground combat, the all-weather f4b fighter, the Phantom.

Empty racks show hundreds of pounds of destruction have been delivered to the enemy now condol 83 is heading home this is the flight leader Lieutenant Colonel AW Odon the flight is part of marine squadron bmfa 323 colonel odonnell is captain dang 323s home port is a major US base every day this The Tactical Air Support Center launches and recovers hundreds of combat sorties. Two powerful jet engines with afterburners can get the 1110 fully loaded into the air in less than 3,000 feet. Testing completed in tactical environments has shown that the F-110 is fully compatible with the entire arsenal. of the current oldest nuclear and non-nuclear tactical weapons of more than a dozen world records for speed and time to climb, the aircraft has flown at more than 1,600 mph and climbed to 65,000 feet in less than 3 minutes, the 110 is aerial refueling and has both an extremely versatile nuclear and non-nuclear capability can deliver large payloads consisting of bombs, rockets and conventional bombs the 110 has the capacity to deliver more than twice the normal bomb load of the World War II Flying Fortress Shown here is the delivery of a partial load consisting of 13,750 PB demolition bonds.

The versatility of the command's frontline fighters is demonstrated in the following sequences as the wide variety of missions assigned to Tac the F unfold. -100 performs a 4-can napom drop against enemy positions tanks or both 2.75 rockets are fired against transport facilities and convoys when performing air-to-ground interdiction and close air support missions. Strafing is carried out with four 20mm cannons and dive bombing is launched against road networks, troop concentrations and critical supply areas. The super saber can deliver the gam 83 Bullpup, the latest tactical air-to-surface missile fired from approximately 18,000 feet away, the Bullpup is guided to its target by the pilot, who visually overlays the flare on the rear of the missile on the target and makes downward corrections to the right or left. the cockpit until the Bullpup reaches the target.

Such simplicity in guidance produces greater precision and reliability than has ever been experienced in air-to-surface missiles. The f104, another Century series fighter in TCH's inventory, the starf fighter can strafe enemy positions with its bul and 20mm cannon capable of firing 6,000 rounds per minute. A portion of the 104 weapons inventory is used against enemy concentrations and similar targets in the air superiority role. The F104 uses the Gar 8 Sidewinder against enemy aircraft. Here is a previously released high speed 5 inch. The rocket is hit and destroyed by the heat seeking to gar eight the f105 an Onan aircraft capable of simulating two speeds can carry weapons internally and externally this newly developed launch technique has resulted in improved accuracy the delay between drop and detonation Provides safe escape time for the aircraft and pilot, the 105th also attacks enemy targets by dive bombing.

The Thunder Chief is armed with the M61 20mm cannon that fires 100 shots at the target every second. The Nate bomb is also part of the 105th's weapons arsenal against reinforced bunkers and armor concentrations the 105th uses 2.75 rockets at maximum Advantage for air-to-air combat the f105 uses the gar 8 Sidewinder to ensure air superiority over the battlefield here a direct hit is noted on a simulated drone 2 Target in the N of condol plane 83 they prepare for a fast moving ground operation, they have to be ready for the next mission when it arrives, the white crews enter to receive information and the Squadron captain inspects the plane, yes, number two was hit, we believe he was on the first run. he thought he felt something was a hole in the left side of the stabilizer, the three gun firing position looked like U, 4.7mm automatic weapons, was there any pattern today?

Everyone was shooting at the same time. Reasonably, I shot on the first run, stopped to refuel. and repairs are completed quickly, the Phantoms soon return to Mission Readiness, it's usually 95° Plus on the daang flight line, but the mechanics are doing the best job they know how and they are all experts on the F4 BS empty racks. they go deadly air-to-ground missiles rocket PODS the Thousand Pounders they call iron bombs when these planes leave, they will carry a full load of problems for the vietcom on constant alert for maintenance and repair the mechanics in daang eat and sleep on the line flight officers currently work about 14 hours a day and even do a bit of moonlighting as extra work to reinforce the night guard of the planes they serve during the day around the wide perimeter of the airfield they set up posts enrolling patrols against infiltrations get Kon , you know, I got, you know, I got counters, hey, it's time, it rings, I guess it rings, Rick lost two, two, they didn't know where he was for a while and then they saw a long uh there and he said, okay, that's it . two and you just lost the radio.

I am going to be an instructor pilot at Williams Air Force Base t38, Arizona. I guess I'll get there and I'll be very cool and calm and all that and I'll walk in and all the students will nudge each other and when they find me I'll be their instructor and they'll fly with me and they'll nudge each other and say what did Lieutenant Rasmus do before? to come here and I will know that everything will be quiet, no one will know until finally there will be graduation and we will show up in a mess and there I will be with my air medals and my DFCS and my silver star and my Commendation Medal and my Vietnam service medal and all these things until the end and I walk in with a slight limp and they'll tell me tell me about it and I'm, oh, it was nothing, it was nothing, you know, but then for a week after every time I get on the plane , coming in, I stick my leg in and I'll gain a little bit and I'll say what it is, I'll say oh, it's just an old war wound 45 44 right 45 44 14 how's the mission going, well, yeah, well, get another one, how many are?

Well, it's 42 43 now, okay, Major Heights. A quest, a counter one for the month, finally made the board 99 hard to complete, no, I get 43 this afternoon. I have to put a mark on my head for the number 90. I already have one, so today you will get two. Hey? Yes, one more. I can do one more. You will be a red P. He has been here. about 6 months, an average of about 6 months for the tour of this wing, uh, although we are approximately 100 miles from any kind of civilization, morale here is high. I have noticed that the men know well what they are doing and why they are here.

If we still have to be here, I'll come right back and do whatever interests me, you come right back and make another problem, I bet I will, well, I feel like we have a reason to be here, as you read, common aggression in Asia, I feel that we didn't take some measures, enough here, we may be fighting in our backyard, let's enjoy some of the things I've been here for, like the lifestyleUnited States. I served in WWII in the Southwest Pacific and served during Korea, yes, I personally try to dissuade him. The man has flown 100 missions over North Vietnam to go home, get arrested and come back, yet I have a pilot here who just insisted on taking another one, he had it and he's here.

My name is uh, Lieutenant Rector, yeah, I want to go back down, how come you stayed here, you worked harder, you could have stayed here with me, yeah, mom wouldn't have had anything to do with it, yeah, okay , there is a deal. I know you're good at flying, you don't have all the little rules and regulations you have to put up with on the St Le we did two months ago, it's still a lot better on your back, but you know. I enjoy it and then it's kind of a deal where everyone says yes, waving a flag but I don't, but at the same time you know where you're going where you're going to stop it, you know where it is, where they are.

You're going to wait for her in the Philippines or Australia or San Francisco or Iowa. You know, just stop here or wait until somewhere later. I don't think most people think about that, they like me, you know what happens, you know , if they shoot at me, they would never catch me anyway, okay, this afternoon's mission is close air support and call sign support of Double Eagle condle 56-1 2 three and four crews in order O'Donnell and Kelly nored and lur hining and Johnson planes numbers 1 six n and 10 let's go over the load again birds number one and six are loaded with six naoms each Bird plus two or one mark four guns on each plane, the last two birds, nine and 10, they are loaded with 12 250 pounds plus four 2.75 legs 19 shots in each plane, okay, wait for the time trick that is approaching 1304 H, okay, we have one. minute to move our bombing targets, I think it can be divided very clearly into two phases: our interdiction program carried out in the southern part of North Vietnam in an attempt to deny enemy movement into South Vietnam and our targets strategic, so to speak, in the north. portion of North Vietnam in terms of attacking the main lines of communications, the Northeast and Northwest Railways, which comprise the two most important railways of North Vietnam, also po facilities and other military supply and storage areas located in the regions of the North Vietnamese Delta, this flight line at night is a pretty active place, actually more work is done at night than during the day because, the day, has completely dissipated with the launch and recovery of planes, I don't have much time for anything, of course, there is a change, there is a lot.

Uh bomb charge for the second one, around noon, but nothing like at night put it on a plane, it doesn't start working, you have to take it off and put it on another one. It's quite frustrating that they do it somehow. I don't. I know how, but they do it, we have a remarkable delivery rate here. I can't remember the last time I had a maintenance non-delivery. We always get really great work. In fact, sir, tomorrow's target is the yen. This railway is the largest railway in all of North Vietnam. Its function is to control all traffic entering from the Northeast Railway and the Northwest Railway to Hanoi.

It then controls all southbound traffic. It is located 5 nautical miles north of Hanoi. Its defenses include a There is a large concentration of AAA and there are 26 known Sam sites in the area. Rosco is brought here by a Kadina pilot who is temporarily assigned to the wing when the pilot was shot down in the north. Rasco became everyone's dog, the only dog ​​allowed at BAS. Now Rasa is a free agent and goes everywhere with a big heart, but a lot of guys, for example, don't feel good unless he's sitting in a commander's chair during the mission briefing.

They say if you sleep, it will be easy. Mission, if your ears perk up, watch out, we hear a lot about surface missiles called Sams or known as S2. This is an image of a sa2 site located in the immediate Hanoi area. A close up of this particular target would be Look at something like this very clearly, you can observe the presence of sa2 missiles and in this area we find the radar van which controls the firing of the missiles and also tracks the aircraft apart from providing guidance to the missile sa2 that our pilots constantly face during the flight. at North Vietnam with missile fire coupled with extremely heavy anti-aircraft weapons.

I more or less call it the dry throat mission. I usually leave the target tied. I'm just sucking on that water bottle. Dry dry throat. It's as scary as a mission I've ever been on, I think you try to max out on missions if you can get between a ridge between you and that radar site, they can't guide a missile to you, it's just when you go down The Delta in the Flatlands surrounding the city of Hanoi at 30m is a bear because it is flat and you have no protection and I don't know how true it is, but they say it is the most heavily defended place in the history of air warfare.

I've been there and I think the winds from the surface to 5,000 feet along the coast are going to blow about 25 knots from the northeast. I have a report of an aircraft just over the mountain, let's say this morning, around Mia. passed at 5,000 feet, had a 030 to 40 knot wind, everyone wear your FL belts today guys don't you have one that draws FL or oh that protects you, everyone wear your Flack magnet, how come no matter how much Are you in a hurry? I'm always the last guy you don't want to be nice to, there's no way H, there's no way you have those flags that you're going to tie between your wings or one yourself sir, now first of all We have the radio in our vest, which It is the most important element.

We have our second element, I would say they are the flares. The third is your weapon. They have their compass on the mirror to identify and find the direction. The most important at the time of rescue is the Beeper. I heard yours too yeah who did that how many bombs do we have oh yeah we must have 24 30 bombs us Who belongs to this 148 okay 148 don't kick my Pur okay I won't kick the first one hey we fall to the north yeah , oh, that of the road is a sound that can well as we fly and for the valley, following the trail of the valley to the Flying high in the valley, one thing that happened in the tanker that everyone remembers most that's where the adrenaline begins to pump the plane running fine, you reached the tanker and it accepted the gas, that means you are leaving, that is your last chance after everyone is full, you extend your head towards your The delivery point 8 82 is south of you , almost the second river.

I am 4500 lbs. I have two, two, 4 Z, here we get the red. I'm crossing the river now, uh, steel, uh, Red River, we're coming to FL Target. Look at it, there's a big batch of FL coming out of that side driving right, TR automatic in the Ste group. I have no contact, this is Le about 35 miles from our turn point, so okay, we'll start turning to left and we'll come here a little bit. a little bit of action right below me we're getting close to the turning point turning right now to your right heading that way he's going fine Detroit there's a guy going uh turning south Roger I'm going to stop okay I see it loud and clear Detroit we have n just below us just below us Roger, let's get it right.

I'm right on target right now. I have a 1 right in front of here, come here, Detroit, you're alone, right? I'm making up four, okay? We'll be back, let's go back Detroit, two strangers look 105 at 9:00, okay, this B ha got contact in the target area, get up about 10° and try to hit it well, let me see, line me up, okay, keep turning to the left is fine. now it's loud, all the hits, it's going to get loud here a minute, okay, I've got you at 11, 12:00 and 1:00 and one, lower it, lower it, okay, this is B, we just threw a pitch, lower it in which direction. now I'm going to CL, I'm going to look for the launch at 11:00 to get it down, the right man to get it down, we have a launch.

I see them leaving the platform at 12:00. I think we're fine for the moment at home. Looks good, okay, Detroit, let's get out of here towards the avalanche heading southwest. I'm going to 24 right on the deck we'll sing in the streets it's been fun and we'll tell all the stories of the mission and we'll take them all p number one there's no way the black look at me there's three of them they're us too shooting, okay, some, oh, there's another one out of the way, I've got another one, yeah, actually 51 51 now, look Also, we've had a lot of success here taking pilots from the ADC training command and as long as they go through one of tactical schools and one from the 105th School at the ATT Air Command in the United States and receive approximately 70 in The 105th do a good job here, we have some young people fresh out of training school, but most of our pilots have been in the Air Force 10 to 12 years or more and in fact we have some grandparents here who were the day.

On July 5, when I attacked and destroyed four Sam sites in a 25 minute mission and this happened because while escorting the attack flights, two Sam sites appeared in our path and we had to attack these guys to convert them. from the air to reach the target area, while in the target area another Sam site appeared threatening to attack hard and of course we attacked and caught him and then on the way back another Sam site appeared to block our exit from the area. Target area which was 15-20 miles north of Anoi and we only had one rocket canister and one 20mm cannon ammo left, but he fired two Sams at us and we managed to visually detect him and attach the rockets to him and the machine. take it out of commission, this was the best day I've ever had and I don't mind going through another one of those too much for an old man, so if I could, if I can make a deal to go south with uh, working 100 or F5 or A1 o gez, I don't care as long as it's close air support, if I can swing I'm GNA, just trying to go or maybe return to US TD to refresh and get down there if not.

I'll stay and fly an 01 or an A1. I'll see you in the north. Know? Did you ever think that maybe you wouldn't make it to 100? Oh no, yes, but I've been getting paid for 16 years, this is my job. but honestly, you know you wake up in the 90s and you have 10 left and you say, well, I'm going home real soon, so I have to tell these guys something, so you lie in bed at night and you think. of things to say and run, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, let's finish. I'm going to tell you something right now, this is my speech and I don't need any help.

By the way, I have 3 hours. prepared speech, get it, something I'm very proud to have in addition to working with all of you and your names here. I don't really need this frame with him but uh no, I remember them because those are the guys they remember, the guys he fought with.