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VA-15 (1967)
Our Second Vietnam Deployment April 30th, 2024
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But Possum had his
name tag on his flight suit
saying he was LCDR Jerry
Terrell and he happen to be
flying aircraft 305 with his
name on it (he was Rocket #5,
the 5th senior pilot in the
squadron) The folks at Turner AFB were not impressed! They let him call the squadron. Possum claims they kept him "spread eagled" and under guard near his airplane. But, I think it was more likely, they kept him in base ops once the squadron verified his story. |
![]() From
the Intrepid
1967 Cruise Book
|
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In the new CAG 10 squadron mix, we were scheduled to have 200 series aircraft numbers. The 200 series tail color is usually yellow. We decided that our version of yellow would be gold and we would paint our aircraft rudders gold with some black. We were now to be known in the air wing as the "Gold Tails" ! |
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Instead of the traditional Valion decal, we designed a Disneyish Lion in black with a gold background. |
![]() Commanding
Officer
|
![]() Executive
Officer
|
![]() LCDR
Paul McCarthy
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![]() LCDR
Ron Gibson
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![]() Lt
Steve Smith
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![]() Lt
Tony Isger
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![]() Ltjg
Keith Strickland
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![]() Ltjg
Ron Gerard
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Chief
Warrant Officer Pilkington- Avionics |
![]() The new
CO, Cdr Kelly Carr
and his wife Pat on
the right
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![]() The new
XO, Cdr Jim Snyder
and his wife Joanne
|
![]() LCDR
Possum Trrell and
his wife Sarah
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![]() LCDR
Moon Moreau talking
to Miller Detrick's
wife Connie
|
![]() Bob
Hamel and his wife
Lynn
|
![]() John
Newman and his first
wife
|
![]() New
guy Ltjg Ron Gerard on the
left
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![]() New
guy Ltjg Keith Strickland
and his wife Marce
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![]() New
guy Lt Steve Smith
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![]() AGM-45
Shrike missile
|
![]() Naval
Air Weapons Station
China Lake
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![]() S Band
Conical Scan Target
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On pages 227 and 228 of his book "Bloody Sixteen, Peter Fey expounds on the expertise of Lt Dave "Rock" Hodges of VA-164 as the CAG Sixteen Iron Hand expert. His description of Rock Hodges' talents accurately describes the knowledge and tactics hopefully used by anyone who had had the China Lake Shrike and EW training at China Lake. I would hope that the Navy routinely sent any pilot who would be in charge of Iron Hand mission planning to this training. |
![]() Starry
Night
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![]() St. Elmo's
Fire
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Our
Second Deployment
|
![]() Photo
from Intrepid's 1967 Cruise
Book
|
Instead of flying our aircraft on board Intrepid after they got underway, we flew our aircraft from Cecil Field to NAS Norfolk on May 9th to be loaded aboard the3 ship. After all the air wing aircraft were loaded on board, the ship got underway for our 38 day12,000 mile transit to Cubi Point in the Philippines. Intrepid left Norfolk May 11th, 1967 |
![]() Photo from
Intrepid's 1967 Cruise
Book
|
Shortly after getting onboard, we learned that the Intrepid had been awarded the CONAVAIRLANT Battle Efficiency Award for our 1966 deployment. VA-15 had been awarded a Meritorious Unit Citation for our participation in our first Vietnam deployment. |
![]() CAG
Burrows "Eatrthquake" and
his staff brought their
experience from the first
cruise with them for the
second deployment
|
![]() CAG's
plane with the gold tail
cap, rainbow rudder, our
VA-15 "Gold Tails" logo
and fancy fuel tanks
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LCDR Fred Hoerner CAG 10 LSO flew regularly with VA-15 as he did last cruise. His name was temporarily added to aircraft 205 (Possum's aircraft) shown here. The CAG 10 Operations Officer flew with "Brand X", VA-34 |
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On pages 144 and
145 his book "Bloody
Sixteen, Peter Fey describes
an exciting flight "Tooter"
had flying escort for a RF8
mission over Haiphong. The Sundowners flew a lot of TARCAP during 1966 as as the Coral Sea had F4 Phantoms so drew most, if not all, of the BARCAP MISSIONS. The Sundowners were the TARCAP for Intrepid's strike on the Phy Ly Railroad bridge on October 9th at the end of our last line period of our first Vietnam deployment. There is a good chance that "Tooter" flew on that mission. Fey also mentioned that "Tooter" was well known among pilots in CAG 16 for his antics on liberty. |
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![]() This is a
model of a VA 145
Spad. Ours had
had 400 numbers.
|
![]() Two VA
145 Spads
returning to the
ship with a VAW--121
E1B. It looks
like the ship is
getting ready to
launch a regular
cycle with the COD
on CAT 1 with A4s on
the port angle, the
relief E1B on the
port aft corner,
three VA-145 RESCAP
aircraft on
the starboard
side of the
landing area,
and a VAQ-33 AD5Q EW
Spad and a
fourth VA-145 Spad
aft of the island.
|
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The VFP 63 Det 11 Roadrunners based at NAS Miramar, California provided a photo reconnaissance capability with their three RF8 Crusaders. They were normally escorted by a section of our VF 111 Sundowner F8Cs on their missions. |
![]() A VFP-63
Det 11 RF8 (402)
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The VAQ 33 Nighthawks based at NAS Jacksonville, Florida provided an airborne electronic warfare capability with their AD5Q Spad aircraft. |
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The VAW 121 Bluetails based at NAS Norfolk, Virginia provided an airborne early warning and command and control capability with their E1B aircraft. |
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We didn't make any port visits during our 38 day 12,000 mile transit from Norfolk to Cubi Point. Intrepid and all the ships in our group got all our fuel and supplies by replenishing at sea like shown in the photo here. The ship made a few COD flights enroute to get our mail. We didn't have to get any weapons during the transit. But once online at Yankee Station, we were along side an AO every few days resupplying bombs, rockets, missiles, and gun ammo. |
![]() Take
note that during
this AOM, the only
officers paying
attention were new
guys Ron Gibson in
the front row and
Dave Moyer in the
back row. Shep was
reading a magazine,
Bob Cheyne was
asleep and Bob Hamel
was being Bob Hamel.
|
![]() We could smoke our cigars in the ready room in those days! |
![]() Miller Detrick on the flight deck with his deployment mustache wearing one of the variations of flight suits we used; a green medium cotton shirt and pants with a belt. |
![]() The
transit provided
plenty of
opportunities for JO
meetings on the flight
deck before the
evening movie.
|
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This is a modern map of the Suez Canal. In June of 1967, the Sinai Peninsula was part of Israel. So, as we sailed south from Port Said, we had Israel on the left and Egypt on the right. We did encounter protests on the Egyptian side of the canal where the protesters took off their sandals and held the soles of their shoes toward us; a mark of disrespect. We were lead through the northern part of the canal toward Great Bitter Lake by an Egyptian (Russian Made) Komar PT boat with it's two Styx surface to surface missiles clearly visible. They didn't train the missiles toward Intrepid. They couldn't as the Styx missile tubes are permanently mounted facing forward on the boat. I doubt if they had any fire control radars active. |
![]() Picture
from the Intrepid 1967
Cruise Book
|
This
is a Komar Boat.
Notice that the
Styx missile tubes
are facing
forward!
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![]() Cubi Point BOQ
|
![]() Cubi Point O'Club
|
![]() A group of
combat bound VALions in various
type of flight suits relaxing
outside officer's housing at Cubi.
|
Left to right:
Gene Atkinson, Moon Moreau, Miller
Detrick, the head of Ron Gerard over
Miller's left shoulder, XO, Cdr Jim
Snyder, Dave Parsons, CO, CDR Kelly
Carr, and me, Bo Smith over Cdr
Carr's left shoulder (I'm sure Moon didn't wear that orange flight suit on combat missions!) |
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Maybe
just enough time for a quick
trip outside the gate in
Olongapo to have dinner at
the Marmont Hotel. |
The
Marmont Hotel was
convenient, just outside the
gate, and had excellent
food. |
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The new guys might have had a quickie course in Jungle Escape and Survival Training (JEST)! |
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Front Row: Paul
"Black Mac" MacCarthy, Dixie
Culler, Gene "Sid" Atkinson,
Jerry "Possum" Terrell, Bob
Hamel, Keith Strickland,
Dave "Thorny" Thornhill,
Steve Smith, Miller Detrick Back Row: Bob "Cozy" Cole, Dick "Nolts" Nolte, Jerry Tuttle, Ron Gibson, Me, Cdr Kelly Carr (CO), Jim Snyder (XO), Tony Isger, Pete Schoeffel, Ron "Moon" Moreau, Dave "Pars" Parsons, and Ron Gerard |
![]() We set out
with the guys on this plaque
except LCDR Paul McCarthy who
joined us later on cruise.
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We had 14 A4Cs
fully equipped with ECM
equipment to conduct our
mission as the air wing 10
Iron Hand squadron as well
as for bombing missions. |
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I had over 100
missions from my first
Vietnam deployment from
Intrepid in 1966. I had received excellent training in electronic warfare and the Shrike missile. |
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Bo Smith, Moon
Moreau, and Possum Terrell |
![]() Yankee
Station was actually quite
a bit further north in
June 1967.
|
![]() Yankee Station was actually about 75 miles east offshore of Thanh Hoa (Route Package 4) when we were on station. The Navy flew missions from Yankee Station in Route Packages 2, 3, 4, and 6B and most of the strikes against Haiphong. The Navy flew some missions in Hanoi coordinated with USAF F-105 missions. The Air Force flew missions in Route Pages 1, 5, and 6A and the majority of the strikes against Hanoi. |
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![]() Haleaka
AE-25
|
![]() Assembling
MK 82s on the hangar deck.
Snakeye fins in the background. |
![]() Hoisting an old
non thermally coated
MK 111 Fat Bomb |
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We received bombs, rockets and other ordnance from ships like the Haleakala normally every three days while operating on Yankee Station. The bombs would arrive on the hangar deck and be stored or assembled and moved to the flight deck. Some bombs and rockets were temporarily stationed on the starboard side of the island and moved to the aircraft between cycles. |
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Captain Fair, CO of USS Intrepid sending a note to the North Vietnamese. The bomb he is signing is an old non thermally coated 1000# bomb from the Korean War or even possibly the World War II era. With three aircraft carriers flying major strikes at an accelerated pace into North Vietnam, the production of the new thermally coated Mark 80 series bombs fell behind our usage rate and we had to use some of the old non thermally coated bombs until the production rate caught up. |
![]() We will miss Captain
Fair !!
We JOs weren't so sure during the 66 cruise when we got to see him up close and personal on the bridge. "The pilot of 306 report to the bridge" Oh no, another tongue lashing from the Captain about a one wire or blown tire. He whipped us into shape and had a lot to do with establishing the professionalism of our air wing which would prove invaluable on the second Vietnam deployment. |
![]() Now it's Captain
McVey's turn!
He's been pretty quiet so far. But, perhaps that is because Captain Fair has handed him a well oiled professional ship and air wing. No one that I know of had been summoned to the bridge so far. But would change for me pretty soon! |
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Lee Cole was listed as Missing in Action (MIA). His remains were returned by the North Vietnamese On November 3rd, 1988 and identified on March 29th, 1989 at which time he was listed as Killed in Action (KIA). He wife, Billie Jo Cole was very active in the POW Wives Organization both locally in Jacksonville and nationally. |
![]() Lee was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on May 5th, 1989 |
![]() Billy Jo is buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside Lee. |
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D.D. Smith in his book "Above Average: Naval Aviation the Hard Way" describes how most pilots reacted to the combat loss of a fellow aviator. |
![]() This
combat
chart is from the collection of
the Intrepid Air and Space
Museum and is a gift from
the family of VALion Keith
Strickland
who passed away from cancer
after a long carrier with his
wife Marce in Saudi Arabia
flying ARMCO VIPs around. Marce
has remained active in VALion
events and attends VALion
reunions regularly with her
second husband Bob Kryter.
|
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![]() This
aircraft is actually carrying
a big Bullpup missile not a
Shrike!
|
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"Alpha Strike Vietnam" The Navy's Air War 1964 to 1973 Jeffrey L. Levinson |
![]() E Band
Fansong radar
|
![]() Fixed SAM
Site
|
![]() SA 2
Guidline Missiles
|
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LT P.C. Craig was shot down at Hai Duong on July 4th, 1967 His remains were returned by the North Vietnamese in 1985 He is burried in his hometwon of Oneida, NY P.C. Craig was unmaried |
![]() Do
you remember these great smiles
on last cruise.
PC's loss changed this! We were in a fight for our lives now. We all knew it but we would never talk about it. |
![]() Do
you remember this photo of the
100 trap celebration from last
cruise?
(PC on the left and Lee Cole on the right) Two of the eight pilots who were shot down the first two weeks of this line period! |
![]() This
combat
chart is from the collection
of the Intrepid Air and Space
Museum and is a
gift from the family of LCDR Keith Strickland |
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We put a lot of
bombs on target on that
mission! |
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Cutting the ceremonial cake with Captain McVey after my 200th Intrepid landing |
![]() It seems as if Bob
Hamel is always the SDO in
these pictures. Here he is
passing out some information
to the next flight: left to
right- Dixie Culler, Ron
Gerard, Ron Gibson, and Moon
Moreau.
|
Fortunately, we had a professional group of pilots and strong support from the ground officers, Chief Petty officers and sailors. The atmosphere in the ready room was always positive. We used humor as a way to keep up our spirits even though we had lost two of our pilots during the second line period. The junior officers had two objects of our practical jokes, both people who took themselves much too seriously: Frog Wigent, the CO of VA-34 and Frenchy LeBlanc, the XO of VSF-3 |
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We continued the tradition of the awarding The Blue Shoes Award to the officer who "had stepped on it the most" during the "End of the Line" parities or on stand down days. (about once a line period) The winner usually received it for some incident "on the beach" (on liberty during in port periods) or something related to the traditional competition for the award between the Senior Officers ("Heavies") and the "JO Mafia". No JOs ever got the award. But, it was very close on one occasion when Black Mac nominated John Newman. The "heavies" made a concerted effort to flip some of the JO vote. But Smeds turned the tables on Black Mac with a brilliant rebuttal speech which resulted in some of the "heavies" voting for Black Mac. I'll give you the "Rest of the Story" a bit later! |
![]() They arrived by
COD.
Captain McVey welcomed them aboard. |
![]() They performed on
the mess decks and visited
the sailors in their work
spaces
|
![]() Shep
Shepherd considers his
maintenance
plan for the evening while Miller Detrick and Dave Moyer discuss their exercise plans. |
![]() Left
to right: Miller
Detrick, Dave Parsons,
Dixie Culler, and Dave Parsons |
![]() Left
to right: Miller
Detrick, Tony Isger, and
Dave Parsons
|
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Our maintenance guys would take advantage of even a short opportunity to remove their shirts and take a break and relax on the flight deck. |
![]() The Nippon Aircraft Company was located on Atsugi Base. All we had lots of corrosion control work done on our aircraft there during our deployment. |
![]() NAS Atsugi
|
![]() NAS Atsugi is a
little northwest of
Yokohama.
Yokosuka Base is a little southeast of Yokohama. |
![]() Mt. Fuji is the
triangle located west
northwest of Yokohama on
the map on the left.
|
![]() I took the
Yokosuka/Sobu Line (in
dark blue)
|
I stayed at the Old Sanno Military Hotel in downtown Tokyo not far from the Imperial Palace. The Sanno was run by the military as a Field Grade Officer billeting facility. I was able to get a room as a Navy Lt. because I was a combat pilot between line periods. The Sanno was a western style hotel with a great bar and restaurant with affordable rates and prices. Western style hotels in Tokyo were expensive even in those days. I decided to call the American Embassy. I learned from the junior pilots in VF-143 on my 1st Class Midshipman cruise on the Constellation that if you wanted english speaking female companionship, the best thing to do was to call an embassy or consulate of an english speaking country (US, British, or Australian) in a foreign port. All you had to do was tell whoever answered the phone (if they were female) that there were some Navy carrier pilots in town who were looking for a fun time. The response was usually "how many of you are there and where do you want to meet". I called the American Embassy in Tokyo and talked to a young female and she set someone up and a time to meet at the Sanno Hotel Bar. |
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A destroyer from the Forrestal Battle group and a helo helping to fight the fire. The Forrestal limped into port at Subic Bay after the fire. She returned to the states for repairs and made a Mediterranean deployment in 1968. VA-15 was one of the squadrons in the air wing for that deployment. |
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Air Wing 16, the Oriskany air wing either did not believe in the effectiveness of their ECM equipment or were not comfortable with the reliability of the equipment. As a result, they chose to fly at an enroute altitude of 10,000 to 12,000 thousand feet to be able to get to low altitude as soon as possible to avoid the SAMs. This made them vulnerable to the 37mm/57mm AAA non radar controlled barrage fire. The Oriskany lost one third of their pilots and half of their aircraft during their summer of 1967 deployment from as combination of combat and operational losses. |
![]() USS
Oriskany (CV 34)
|
The Intrepid and Constellation airwings lost about 25 aircraft each during their Yankee Station deployments using the higher altitide tactics. The Oriskany airwing lost 40-50 aircraft during their deployment using the medium altitude enroute tactics. We did not lose any Iron Hand aircraft using our Iron Hand tactics. |
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This
reporter did OK
until he
reported that I
would roll in at
40,000 feet and
pulled out at
500 feet. Our
normal roll in
altitude in 1967
was between
15,000 to 18,000
feet. We
normally pulled
out by 4,000
feet if at all
possible. |
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It was
frustrating
bombing little
bridge targets
which the North
Vietnamese
simply built
temporary
floating bridges
they kept
alongside the
bank in the day
and then floated
across the canal
or small river
at night. They
didn't need
strong bridges
as most of their
supplies were
carried by
individual or in
ox carts. |
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A great source of information about the life of a A4 Skyhawk pilot onboard Intrepid during the 1967 deployment from the prospective of a junior officer is this book: "Tripple Sticks" by Bernard Fipp Bernie was a pilot in VA-34 in our sister A4 squadron, VA-34. His tale recounts such details as life in a junior officer bunkroom and attempts to cool their living space in the warm and muggy conditions of the summer in the Gulf of Tonkin among other subjects. |
![]() This
combat chart
is from the
collection of
the Intrepid
Air and Space
Museum and is
a gift from
the family of
LCDR Keith
Strickland
|
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Thorny
arrives on the
"Big Mother"
helo from USS Fox |
The
USS Fox added
their ship's
patch after
cleaning and
drying
Thorny's
flight suit. Bob Hamel is to the right |
Bob
Cole is
pictured above
Thorny's right
shoulder; Ron
Gibson over
his left. The squadron CO, Kelly Car is facing Thorny. |
![]() Thorny
is super happy
to be back
aboard
Intrepid !
Left to right: Bob Cole, Thorny, me, Keith Strickland. Pete Schoeffel is over my left shoulder. Photo is copied from Intrepid's 1967 Cruise Book |
![]() This
combat chart
is from the
collection of
the Intrepid
Air and Space
Museum
and is a gift
from the
family of
LCDR Keith Strickland |
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Ron
Gerard wet but
back on deck.
Bob Cheyne in his red flight deck shirt is over Ron's right shoulder. |
![]() This
combat chart
is from the
collection of
the Intrepid
Air and Space
Museum
and is a
gift from the family of LCDR Keith Strickland (I have highlighted key areas) |
![]() This
combat chart
is from the
collection of
the Intrepid
Air and Space
Museum
and is a gift
from the
family of
LCDR Keith Strickland |
I expect that we had three Iron Hand sections assigned to that strike; one to the west of Haiphong at site #99. My section's assignment was to eliminate the SAM threat from sites #137 and #228 to the southeast of Haiphong. I expended one AGN 45 Shrike on that mission. It was on that strike that I observed an SA 2 launch from one of the sites but it was command detonated over the site when I fired my Shrike "down the throat". It was exhilerating to watch that Guideline missile explode raining debris over the missile site below. The third section was probably assigned to the south of Haiphong at site #389. |
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![]() VFP-63
RF8
|
![]() A
photo
interpreter at
work
|
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![]() Barracks
Before
the Strike
|
![]() Barracks
After
the Strike
|
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Chu Lai was located in I Corps in South Vietmam just south of Da Nang and Hue. The Marines flew A4 Skyhawks there so they ha the maintenance capability to resolve the problem. |
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Port Wallut is well northeast of Haiphong on the east side of the Cam Pha peninsula. I expended a pod of Zuni rockets on the regular cycle flight (1.5 hours). I suppose the target might have been a boat or two in the Port Wallut harbor area. |
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Apparently, one of the photo interpreters must have discovered a hard target (a high priorty target qualifying for MK 83 1000# bombs) It was my last mission of the Second Line Period and my 160th mission. I don't remember what the target was that justified the Mk 83 1000# bombs. |
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Every once in awhile after the last aircraft has landed in a recovery, the Air Boss will call out to the flight deck crew to "Rig the barricade". The crew responds in a clockwork like performance to see if they can rig it properly in a faster time than during the last drill. After the barricade is rigged, the Air Boss will make a call like "Great job, bravo zulu 1 minute and 57 seconds". Or perhaps, "Airman Jones, what were you thinking of when you ....." |
![]() VSF-3 aircraft 110 making a gear up approach to a barricade landing. |
![]() A
barricade
landing
normally
causes
relatively
little
aircraft
damage.
In this case,
the centerline
drop tank and
both TERs have
impacted the
deck.
The airframe
damage to the
leading edge
of the tail
and wings is
usually
repairable in
a couple of
days.
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![]() Kadena AFB,
Naha, Okinawa
|
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![]() Atsugi BOQ
|
![]() Hotsi Bath
The water was very hot! |
![]() Hotsi Baths
always included a
message
and a manicure if you wanted one. |
![]() This time I
stayed at her
apartment
|
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I don't know whether we ever had four carriers on Yankee Station during this line period but it does represent the all out effort the Navy and Air Force made during this time frame. We did have three airwings from three carriers participate in Alpha Strikes to Hanoi, Phu Ly, Hai Duong, Haiphong, and the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The North Vietnamese countered with expending their SAMs freely and sending their MIGs almost to the coast on occasion. There were several engagements with MIGs including one which involved many MIGs and twelve A4s during one strike to the Hai Duong Railroad and Highway Bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong. |
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The Montagnar (AKA Degar, AKA People of the Mountain in French) are an indigenous people of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The Montagnar were well versed in the jungle environment (like the Negredo in the Phillipines). The Montagnar were trained by American special forces early in the war and were invaluable in our efforts against the Viet Cong and North Vietnam regulars. The Montagnar were especially helpful in the defeat of the North Vietnamese during the Tet Offensive in 1968. |
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I believe this DFC may have been in recognition of several Iron Hand missions flown between September 18th and September 26th where I expended 5 AGM-45 Shrikes and numerous Zuni rockets from LAU 10 pods against North Vietnamese SAM sites in the highly defended Route Pack 6B area. I consider it as a recognition that our SAM tactics were effective! |
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![]() I am not sure of the date of this mission. But I remember the important details. Thorny was flying CAG Burrow's wing again on a major strike in Route Pak 6B. The weather was very marginal. But CAG decided to descend below the overcast and continue to the target. Of course flying just below the overcast gave the gunners below a good idea of the fight's altitude (they had weather guessers too). So they could set the 37mm/57mm destruct altitude accurately which provided dense barrage fire at the strike aircraft altitude. Luckily, the strike group managed to get to the target OK. But, Thorny's aircraft took a direct hit to the cockpit on pull off. The shell went through the cockpit from the left side blowing the top of Thorny's ejection seat off and through the right side of the cockpit. The upper ejection seat actuator was gone so the seat could fire at any time. Thorny managed to get to the coast OK but could not hear anything but the roar of the wind through the cockpit. He successfully returned to the ship and landed safely without the ejection seat firing on landing. About as close as you can get! CAG Burrows apologized to Thorny after the flight for putting him in danger! |
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This is one
of my combat charts |
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Pete
was fortunate that North
Vietnamese army soldiers
got to him before the
local people had achance
to hurt him severely. |
The North Vietnamese transported Pete to the main prision in Hanoi for processing; The Heart Break, T Bird. |
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LCDR Pete Schoeffel, Operations Officer Attack Squadron Fifteen VALions Shot down October 4th,1967 POW October 1967- March, 1973 Commanding Officer of VA-82 (A7E Corsairs) 1974-1975 Retrired as a Captain US Navy on September 1st, 1982 |
![]() Destructor Mines had Snakeye fins which increased the amount of steel fragments over conical fins. |
![]() The
snakeye fins would
open up increasing
the angle of the
bomb at impact.
|
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On my way to
the catapult for
launch, I heard this
message in my headset;
"You shouldn't go on this mission today"! Was this a message from God? Does he know something that I should be afraid of? Should I down my aircraft and abort the mission? I've never considered aborting a mission before. I decided to go on the mission. If Jerry Tuttle found out that I downed a perfectly good aircraft, I'd be in big trouble. |
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![]() This MIG
17 Fresco is on
display at the
"Mighty 8th Air
Force" Museum just
off Interstate 95
near Savannah.
|
There were
two MIG 17s.
One was painted in a
cammoflage paint
scheme like this one
from the 8th Air
Force Meseum. The other one was in the original non painted aluminum scheme; probably a Russian aircraft and pilot or at least a newly arrived MIG. After my debrief with the Air Intelligence Officers in CVIC, they concluded that they were MIG 17 Frescos. I don't remember which MIG aircraft had the lead. |
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![]() This
was probably my
finest hour as a
combat pilot.
|
![]() I was awarded my second DFC with Combat V for this flight. I actually received the award on my next tour of duty as an Air Force Exchange F-105 Thunderchief instructor pilot. The Thud pilots were amazed that it wasn't a Silver Star as it would have been in the Air Force. Air Force awards were about one level higher than in the Navy. |
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I was called to the bridge to report to Captain McVey. The call came to the ready room. So, I went up to the bridge to see what he wanted to talk to me about. Maybe, he was going to congratulate me on getting my damaged aircraft back on deck safely. Nope! He wanted to tell me that he had received a message from an "Intelligence Agency" wanting to know if there was a pilot named Lt Bo Smith on the Intrepid. It seems that he (me) was spending some time with one of their female analysts in Tokyo. They just wanted to validate my identity. So much for Stephanie being a secretary with the Air Force at Yokota AFB. That was just a cover for her real job. She was an analyst for "The Agency"! |
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Some Congressman had arranged for fancy juice coolers in the back of each ready room; probably for all the Yankee Station carriers. During line operations, they had orange or lemon juice. But for the End of the Line Party, we added rum to orange and pineapple juice and vodka; sort of like a 'Cubi Special' As this was a pretty stressful line period, it required an appropriate level of stress relieving! |
![]() LCDR
"Black Mac"
McCarthy |
![]() The
Blue Shoes
Award |
As
soon as the
Third Line
Period was over, Black Mac began a campaign to garner enough votes to give the Blue Shoes Award to Ltjg "Smedly Gluck" John Newman (AKA "Smeds"). I forget what grievous event Black Mac was using to try to pin the award on Smeds but he was making headway in getting the votes. The night of the nomination (there was just one), it was conceivable that it might happen. Black Mac presented his case with a long winded speech laden with "fake" but believable data. All through the nomination, Smeds sat silently in his ready room chair with a writing pad apparently making notes. When Black Mac was finished, Smeds got out of his chair and ambled up to the front of the ready room note pad in hand. But, instead of notes, the note pad contained a complete one act play with the evil wolf, Black Mac, being an "evil doer" at the expence of innocent little red "Smedly Gluck". It was absolute genius which was met with a standing ovation followed by an almost unanimous vote for the "evil" Black Mac. |
![]() Ltjg John Newman "Smeds" Dartmouth '64 |
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The
resort was a
combination of
western and
Japanese. |
Playing
golf at the
resort with a
Japaneses
caddy. |
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![]() With
our second
Vietnam
deployment
complete, it
was time for
the Intrepid
to head east
toward Subic
Bay to get
ready for her
transit back
to the states.
Notice the
plane guard
destroyer
still in
position.
|
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Eleven VA-15 aircraft enroute to NAS Cubi Point. |
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Closeup of the eleven VA-15 aircraft enroute to Cubi Point clearly showing the "gold tails" ! |
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The Intrepid could have left Yankee Station and transited back to the states without coming into port at Subic Bay/Cubi Point. The ship could have refueled and taken on supplies at sea and then headed back. But that wasn't policy at the time. The air wing flew off from the Tonkin Gulf to Cubi Point and the ship followed coming in port a couple of days later. |
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The aircraft were then craned aboard for the transit back to the states. The ship probably refueled and loaded needed supplies on board before departing for the trip back. This picture was rom the 1966 deployment; note the 303 number! |
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The National Defense Service Medal | The Pistol Qualification Ribbon Expert | The Rifle Qualification Ribbon Expert |
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Left:
the Navy Unit
Commendation
Ribbon Center: The Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Right: the Vietnam Service Medal (one star for each deployment) |
![]() Navy Unit Commendation |
VA-15
was awarded
the very
prestigious
Navy Unit
Commendation (NUC)
(left) for the
1966 Vietnam
cruise. The NUC is equivalent to the Silver Star Medal for combat operations and the Legion of Merit for non combat operations |
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Meritorious
Unit
Commendation
|
VA-15
was awarded
the
Meritorious
Unit
Commendation
for our
performance on
Yankee Station
on the 1967
deployment.
The MUC is equivalent to the Bronze Star Medal. |
![]() Vietnam Cross of Gallantry |
The
Vietnam Cross
of Gallantry
was awarded to
specific
mostly army
units.
It can be worn
with a palm,
gold star,
silver star or
bracket.
My DD 214 says
that I am
authorized to
wear it with a
silver star.
Vietnam also awarded a Air Cross of Gallantry and a Navy Cross of Gallantry. For some reason, we were awarded a version intended for army units. Go figure! |
![]() Vietnam
Cross of
Gallantry
Unit Citation |
The Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Unit Citation is supposed to be an army award. It does not appear on my DD 214. But, I know that we were authorized to wear it after our second deployment. |
![]() Republic of Vietnam Service Ribbon |
The Republic of Vietnam Service Ribbon was awarded by the Republic of Vietnam to units which operated in the Vietnam operating area from 1960 through 1973. The new version of the ribbon has an end date of 73. |
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This is
a copy of one
of the two
Vietnam Cross
of Gallantry
certificates I
have in my
records. |
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The
Navy Cross was
the highest
award that was
possible. It is awarded for combat related missions. It is not worn with a combat "V" I do not know any carrier pilots who received the Navy Cross with the exception of Cdr Byron Compton who received one for the Walleye raid on the Hanoi thermal power plant. Some thought that the Midway bore the brunt of the toughest missions to the Hanoi area. They certainly lost the most aircraft. In my opinion, they lost the most aircraft due to poor tactics. I think most of the Navy Cross awards went to SEALS and the River Boat guys who fought face to face with the Vietcong in the Mekong Delta. |
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The
Silver Star is
awarded for
only combat
related
missions. It
is not worn
with a "V". It was the highest award given to anyone I know for a mission over North Vietnam. To the best of my knowledge, no one in VA-15 was awarded a Silver Star. Silver Stars were sometimes awarded to strike leaders who lead successful air wing strike packages to very high threat areas such as Hanoi. The VA-176 pilot who had the confirmed MIG kill in 1966 might have received one. I know of at least one helo pilot who received one for flyiing his helo in to North Vietnam to rescue a down pilot. His helo was severely damaged but they made it back to a destroyer. |
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The
Silver Star
was commonly
awarded to Air
Force pilots
who
experienced
"exciting
Flights" while
flying their
F-05 strike
aircraft,
F-105 Iron
Hand (Wild
Weasels), or
F4 Phantoms
into the Hanoi
target area. The Air Force awarded Silver Stars to pilots who flew missions similar to Navy pilots who received the Distinguished Flying Cross. |
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The DFC
can be awarded
for peacetime
or combat
related
situations. If
it awarded for
a combat
mission, it is
worn with a
"V". We had three DFCs awarded during the first cruise. Jerry Tuttle and Pete Schoeffel as bomber division leaders and Posssum Terrrell for leading the flak suppressors during the very successful strike on the Phu Ly Railroad yard on October 9th, 1966. However the second cruise provided lots of "opportunities to excel". As a result, most but not all of our pilots received at least one DFC fo the Operation Rolling Thunder North Vietnam nisions in 1967. |
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Most of
the JOs
received DFCs
on the final
cruise. There
were
opportunities
that required
the wingmen to
"take the
lead" on a
major strike
or as section
leaders on
very
successful the
Iron Hand
mission. There were a few JOs that didn't get a DFC, mostly due DFC aard d.nominations that were downgraded by someone up the chain of command. |
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The
individual Air
Medal can be
awarded for
exceptional
performance
during a
single flight
or for
meritorious
achievement in
aerial
flight.
If it awarded
for a combat
mission or
missions, it
is worn with a
"V". During the Vietnam era, in addition to single flight awards, "Strike Flight Air Medals" were awarded based on points accumulated during combat related missions. Aircrew received one point for a combat support mission and two points for a combat mission "over the beach". A Strike Flight Air Medal was awarded for each twenty points achieved. |
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During
the first
cruise, I flew
109 combat
missions and
was awarded 10
strike flight
air medals. After the second cruise I, I had accumulated enough points for 17 strike flight air medals and had 15 points to carry over to my third Vietnam deployment in 1972. In addition. I received two individual air medals for missions during the second cruise. One was for a mission that was submitted as a DFC but was downgraded somewhere in the chain of command. (I guess they knew what happened on the mission better than we did!) |
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The Navy Commendation medal is a mid-level decoration which is presented for sustained acts of bravery or meritorious service. If it awarded for a combat mission, it is worn with a "V". Additional NCMs are indicated by adding gold or silver stars to the ribbon. Each gold star indicates one additional NCM. A silver star indicate five additional NCMs. A mid-level medal medal means that it is intended for combat missions primarily for wingmen and possibly section leaders. While the division leaders (LCDRs) are usually put in for DFCs or individual air medals for particularly exciting missions, the best the wingman could normally expect was an NCM. I received one NCM at the end of our last line period on the first cruise. The mission lasted less than an hour and I expended a full bomb load in one pass probably as part of a major strike package, probably flying on Possum's wing. This was probably about the norm for us JOs the first cruise. |
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Things
were very
different the
second cruise.
Most of the
missions that
deployment
were flown
over North
Vietnam and
wingmen the
first cruise
became section
leaders the
second cruise. I received four more NCMs the second cruise and was written up for several DFCs and individual air medals. |
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The Navy Achievement Medal was intended to recognize the contributions of junior officers and enlisted personnel who were not eligible to receive higher awards. If it was awarded for a combat mission, it is worn with a "V". Additional NAMs are indicated by gold or silver stars to the ribbon. One gold star for each additional NAM. A silver star indicates five NAMs. |
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I received no NAMs the first cruise and two NAMs the second cruise. I think that that was about normal for a Lt on our second cruise. The JOs junior to me flying wing instead of as a section leader probably received more NAMs. |
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Top
Row- two
Distinguished
Flying Crosses
with Combat "V",
two Individual
Air Medals and
17 Strike Flight
Air Medals with
Combat "V", and
six Navy
Commendation
Medals with
Combat "V" 2nd Row- two Navy Achievement Medals with Combat "V", a Navy Unit Commendation, and a Meritorious Unit Commendation 3rd Row- a Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star Bottom Row- The Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Unit Citation, The Republic of Vietnam Service Medal, the Pistol Qualification Expert ribbon |
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![]() First
Line Period
Lee Cole (KIA)- June 20th, 1967 P.C. Craig (KIA)- July 4th, 1967 Third Line Period Pete Schoeffel (POW)- October4th, 1967 |
![]() There
was
a monument and
a tree
|
![]() dedicated
to
each pilot who
was KIA or a
POW.
|
![]() Pete
Schoeffel
|
![]() Lee
Cole
|
![]() P.C.
Craig's
new plaque
|
![]() Hero's
Walk
from the back
side with the
Vietnam
casualties on
the left
and the Desert Shield/Desert Storm casualties on the right The monument in the foreground holds the POW Memorial Plaque below |
![]() POW
Memorial
Plaque
|
![]() This
is a curent
photo of
Hero's Walk
(January,
2019)
|
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The
Intrepid was
moved to New
York City
where she has
a permanent home at a pier on the Hudson River. |