And they did so with knives having little concept or knowledge of zippers, snaps or the technical difficulties associated with releasing parachute risers. Of those servicepeople, 2,382 were killed while serving aboard UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the ubiquitous "Huey." Contents [ hide] After each plane was completed, two pilots (Call signs Perky01 and Perky02) would take the plane up for a check flight. In that instant, I realized how I would die; they were going to slice my head off. There are plenty of other places to rant and vent. It was great to see you as our paths crossed as we travel the world. 9 of the losses were parked aircraft struck by rockets. The bomb release button was now hot! Joes epilogue sums it all up. Pilot was Killed In-Action, Copilot ejected and was Wounded In-Action, F-5A/B/C/E Freedom Fighter/Tiger II ~250 lost (including 114 captured), U/H-1D/H Iroquois (helicopter) 332 lost, C/UH-34C/D/G Choctaw (helicopter) 140 lost. From the back seat, I accomplished the fuel on-load at an altitude of 25,000 ft. having to use minimum afterburner on the left engine to stay in position due to the heavy load. Thank you again for your personal sacrifice and service to our country Sir. Although I was only a few thousand feet away, I hadnt been able to hear the explosion. The USAF also lost F-4C Phantom 64-0755. During the Vietnam War, thousands of U.S. aircraft were lost to antiaircraft artillery (AAA), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and fighter interceptors (MiG)s. The great majority of U.S. combat losses in all areas of Southeast Asia were to AAA. First of all, we only had three airplanes. Surprisingly, a young couple bandaged my head wounds. As I approached the left wing in my walk around, I noticed a large patch, roughly 30 by 8 riveted just inboard of the left wing-fold. How about that for a cool presence of mind? Hi, Joe. The aircraft banked sharply to the left, then to the right. [1], There were about 11,846 U.S helicopters that served in the Vietnam War. It was late November, the temperature was 40F, and all I had on were my underwear. USAF/ Air National Guard (Retired). Youd make a grand Socialist. I always enjoyed flying with you and sharing a beverage. To increase air support for the SEALORDS Operation in South Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the Navy "borrowed" twenty North American Aviation OV-10A Broncos from the United States Marine Corps. Thanks for your service and sacrifice! In order to avoid my radio falling into enemy hands where it could be used to lure American rescue teams into an ambush, I broke the antenna and tossed it. The Dash-1 (USAF How to Fly the F-4 book) technique to accomplish this feat was to have the control stick fully aft (T.O. Energy Management Clich or Exactitude? Ronald Fogleman was shot down in the I Corps area 200 miles (320 km) north of Bien Hoa while flying aircraft 56-3245. After licking their wounds, North Vietnamese pilots again began challenging American aviators in late April, but as the fighting intensified in May, it became apparent that they would not succeed. This is known as temporal distortion. I remember the 141 unloading POWs Welcome Home Sir. Life saver: Severely damaged in combat, this Douglas A-1E was flown by Maj. Bernard Fisher on March 10, 1966, when he rescued a fellow pilot shot down over South Vietnam. My brain raced to imagine all the possibilities: A snake pit? Thank you Sir for your service. Always amazed how well you remembered the tap code. By the time of the American involvement in Southeast Asia communism, by moderate estimates, around the globe had murdered 110 million people! Rescued Misty Pilots . North Vietnam lost 150 170 aircraft and helicopters. Shot down. s F-4 Phantoms, paint it with the Squadron 21 and 161's colors and mark the splitter plate with the names of the eight pilots. And the plane that carried them, a commercial jet . Yes, it is tainted with much uncertainty to which you allude. The time was 1151. Thanks for telling our story Joe. So, with that, you have to question the command and leadership, not the foot soldier. its from the How did you manage to climb aboard your jet and competently do your job in the face of what you already knew? Looking down toward my feet, I could see dozens of hands. Charles Barbin DeBellevue successfully shot down a North Vietnamese-flown Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 from their McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II. When naval aviator Porter Halyburton deployed for Vietnam, he left behind his young wife and five-day-old daughter, Dabney. Its a tough story to take. Sir, the airplane was in a SAM break two days ago. The pilot Lieutenant J. M. Krommenhoek is Missing in Action. The upper estimate puts it at nearly 260 million! If you think I should not be called a hero, tell them, not me. The prison at Hoa Lo was a miserable place. April 16, 1968 : C-130A 56-0480, c/n 3088, of the 35th Tactical Airlift Squadron, crash landed at Special Forces Camp Bunard, 80 kilometers north of Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. The plane was unveiled . Final loss: EC-47Q 43-48636 (361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron, 56th SOW) shot down in Laos on the night of 04/5 45 February 1973, killing all 8 crewmen. I believe I heard, or read, that the F-4 itself crashed in a small horse pasture. Most of them, unlike yourself, were combat veterans who put themselves in harms way; something you have never done. Osprey 2001, No. I am a UK resident but love all things aviation even the painful experiences suffered by many presented here by Joe also on behalf of Scotty. As a former volunteer at the NMUSAF and the son of a now deceased USAAF WWII combat vet, I have always known that our country and our armed forces have been blessed with seemingly ordinary, matter-of-fact guys who do extraordinary things. Just a wild guess but you just enjoy your freedoms while you let others do the fighting and take the risks. A C-47 was the very first USAF aircraft lost in the SEA conflict, C-47B 44-76330 (315th Air Division) on TDY at Vientiane, Laos which was shot down by the Pathet Lao on 23 March 1961 killing 7 of the 8 crewmen. The cockpit pressure vessel was intact; incredibly, it had not been penetrated despite a direct hit by a Soviet SA-2 missile traveling at over Mach 2 with a 400 lb., high-explosive warhead! It is awful that people make bad decisions for selfish reasons. Pavlovs Dog reaction to his Cmon Back, Chief, I got em spotted. (Im a Sioux Indian, Born on a Dakota Rez.) Since we were shot down well before reaching our target and also because most of the strike flights had declined to enter the target area due to decidedly unfavorable weather, my story had to deny the Vietnamese any foreknowledge of the real target. It was the determination of President Richard M. Nixon to mount Operation Linebacker II, sending B-52s to attack the capital city of Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong, forcing the communists back to the peace conference in Paris that resulted in the end of the Vietnam War and the release of the prisoners-of-war. Now, the frenzied noise was deafening. These were probably the local militia. I ask that you honor these costs and sacrifice, as I do. Ritchie's #463 with drag chute open Phantom F-4Ds flying over Vietnam General Characteristics Crew: 2 Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m) Wingspan: 38 ft 4.5 in (11.7 m) Height: 16 ft 6 in (5.0 m) Wing area: 530.0 ft (49.2 m) Airfoil: NACA 0006.4-64 root, NACA 0003-64 tip Empty weight: 30,328 lb (13,757 kg) Loaded weight: 41,500 lb (18,825 kg) And Ill always remember how you and Tom Nordberg stood up for me in Anchorage. If you do that, itll be your first time in harms way. With the helmet strap no longer in existence, my helmet flew off like a slingshot. Public Servants who screw -up Big, Big time do not deserve such glorified recognition. According to what looks like a reasonably well-sourced page on Wikipedia, a total of 3,032 aircraft were lost to hostile action during the Vietnam War (the actual total was considerably higher, as these numbers don't include Army rotary-wing aircraft), which means at least that many pilots were shot down (yes, some were shot down more than once, but they are way more than offset by the many aircraft that had two pilots). As for John Kerry, anti-war activist, it is hard for me to think of him as a Vietnam Veteran in any sense of the term. It was then that I could see a shapeless, black mass on the ground. I hope that this article and your word of mouth/teachings help other people stand up against stupidity and question the orders of those place in authority. 2013. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he values above his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of men better than himself.. Thank you for your service Joe. During the Vietnam War Monika Schwinn, a German nurse, was held captive for three and a half years - at one time the only woman prisoner at the "Hanoi Hilton".The following missionaries were POWs: Evelyn Anderson, captured and later burned to death in Kengkok, Laos, 1972.She is still listed as POW. Thanks for the compliment on my writing. I cannot express my admiration for you and others who went thru what you did. 1972: U.S. claimed 51 MiG-21s destroyed; North Vietnam claimed 53 US aircraft shot down by MiG-21s, including two B-52 Stratofortress bombers. But for many years I wondered about what premonitions he also might have had that were similar to those Id had when I awakened. 532 aircraft were lost in combat and 329 more to operational causes, resulting in the deaths of 401 naval aviators, with 64 airmen reported missing and 179 taken prisoner of war. Subconsciously I probably realized I was sitting alone in the back seat of a burning airplane. Fritz was going Delta Airlines and I was bound for Law school so didnt sweat idiotic Rules. The first and only fatal crash by an RAAF aircraft in Thailand. 4 of the combat losses were parked aircraft. A Shau Valley. In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes,[3] 5,607 helicopters[2] and 578 UAVs[1] ). Although thank you is not enough, I do thank you for your service. Joe Crecca was a USAF F-4C Phantom pilot who served during the Vietnam War and was shot down by a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) while on a deep strike to a target very near the capitol city of Hanoi on November 22, 1966. Just a wild guess but you just enjoy your freedoms while you let others do the fighting and take the risks. There were pictures in the Tulsa World of the damage one of the ejection seats did to a womans newly-remodeled bathroom. when the canopy rails are parallel to the ground, the nose is 10-12 degrees up. Date Enemy Aircraft Squardon Aircraft Weapon Carrier Service Rank Pilot RIO/NFO Note; 17 Jun 1965: MiG-17: VF-21: F-4B: AIM-7: CVA 41: USN: CDR: Louis Page : LT John C. Smith, Jr. . My father was lost in 64-0771 out of Cam Rahn 9/3/66. Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified. I was asked the same questions over and over in an attempt to trip me up. As for Mr. Fearn, Politics aside, we probably did back the wrong side. Remains of fighter pilot shot down in WWII identified. Having been a teenager in Vietnam years, I had a Vietnam map on my bedroom wall and marked bombing missions that Cronkite would report that night. Im an alumnus of the 480th TFS myself ( USAFE, 78-80) and wish you all the best . So glad that you made it back in one piece, and were able to continue flying. The other Marine brought a lit match to the cigarette hed placed in his mouth, and as soon as he did, ZING, a bullet went through the Marines helmet and skull. I remember their faces were not contorted with anger or hatred but rather with kind expressions of understanding almost bordering on a smile. Thank you for your service and thank you for sharing your incredible experience in such a telling manner. Here, then, is our take on the five deadliest fighter pilots in U.S. military history: Major Richard Bong, Army Air Forces Hometown: Superior, Wisconsin Aka: Bing-Bang Years of Service: 1941 to. 33 years 6 months after his loss. Muhammad Mahmood Alam was a Pakistani Air Force jet fighter pilot in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. I wondered what good it did to tell us there were guns, MiGs and SAMs everywhere. Takeoff in a heavily-loaded Phantom requires some explanation. Thank you for your sentiment. There was a terrifyingly loud and long explosion followed by staccato metal-to-metal sounds, probably of the J-79 turbine and compressor blades departing for parts unknown. I would spend the next six years and three months in five different prison camps around the city and countryside in North Vietnam; the farthest very near to the Chinese border. This is aviation commentary. All commenters here need to start this needed movement for due change. Good lives were wasted for what? Lost contact with you shortly after you were so kind to make comments at my FedEx retirement party. When my feet hit the floor with my elbows on my knees at bedside, a feeling of total despair came over me. Following the release of all the POWs we met President Nixon at the State Department in May, 1973. Fortunately, my background as a briefer and operations duty officer enabled me to tell my accusers that the base they spoke of was still 250 miles from Chu Lai, and the runway was not suitable for F4s. Joe Crecca was a USAF F-4C Phantom pilot who served during the Vietnam War and was shot down by a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) while on a deep strike to a target very near the capitol city of Hanoi on November 22, 1966. First loss: operational (non-combat), F-4C 64-0674 (45TH TFS, 15th TFW) which ran out of fuel after strike in SVN on 9 June 1965; first combat loss F-4C 64-0685 (45th TFS, 15th TFW) shot down Ta Chan, NW NVN on 20 June 1965. I was O.K. Barney. VMFA-115. By my count I was about the 335thPOW to walk up onto the stage to shake hands with the President. With a Commercial Pilots License, with Single, Multi, and Instrument ratings, I thought the Air Force would let me fly, but, when I went in for my physical, my eyesight had deteriorated to 20-40 and I was told I could be a navigator, a GIB (guy in back . What could I possibly say to the President of the United States that he hadnt already heard 334 times before? Pilots lost control in low clouds during a night flare mission. Call signs for each mission were based on time of day. And all of us should remember them every day because we are we enjoy the freedoms their sacrifice every, single day. Richard Armstrong. Our flight should never have been going into the target. An Air Force pilot and air commando who was shot down in 1970 during the Vietnam War will be buried at the Air Force Academy. I was a classmate with him in 64-C but the other flight. The door gunner Bobby Harris was KIA during the shoot down. Jeffrey Ethell and Alfred Price wrote a great book about this day called "One Day in a Long War, May 10, 1972, Air War, North Vietnam" that describes in detail events of that day. To you gentlemen; Brett, Tim, Wade, Gordon, Cliff, Neil, Andy and Jerry who responded to the reprint of my 2017 article, Shot Down Over North Vietnam, I thank you for your kind remarks and expressions of patriotism. On May 10, 1972, the USAF and Navy shot down 11 North Vietnam MiGs in the skies over North Vietnam at a cost of two USAF and two Navy F-4s shot down. It suddenly dawned on me that he would not surrender his place on the controllers list and lose the chance for his Silver Star! Mr. Crecca was a POW for the next six years and three months until his repatriation on February 18, 1973. (I would have loved to get into the left seat of a C-130, but if theyd assigned me to an O-2 Skymaster, that would have been fine too.). In the solitude of my tiny enclosure, staring unfocused at the floor, I said aloud, Todays the day, thinking this was the last day of my life. I was always in awe of you guys flying the Phantom in the opressive heat and conditions of S.E. Upon arrival at the Hoa Lo prison, I was placed in a dimly-lit room with light green, uneven walls. During this relatively minor ordeal, I asked permission of my guard, using sign language, for permission to relieve my bladder. We held a mass intelligence briefing at wing HQ. My ungraceful arrival didnt raise much dust. He didnt understand that we were mixed in a huge gaggle competing for time on target, lugging 10 X 500# bombs, 400 miles from base, with marginal weather, fuel hungry, not in sight with each other? I even remember glancing around the cockpit at the throttles and the control stick. I am unable to understand why I didnt feel dazed by all of the blows to the head Id received. Mccann and Capt. claimed to have shot down 215 planes. 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