DIRTY SECRETS of VIETNAM: The Aces of Southeast Asia

but they can seem to have no beginning and no ending it becomes a 25 hour day that blends into the one that came before and the one that is to follow a man with a weapon is if he is a reasonable man a man with a purpose the range of his understanding of his purpose reaches far beyond his line of sight he knows the big picture he understands that attempts to intimidate by force must be resisted by force before intimidation becomes a way of international life and this he also knows he and the thousands like fighting and sweating on the ground by the spear heads of our Department of Defense total effort an effort concentrated to help the men on the ground to achieve their purpose and their mission above field and jungle close air support help clear the way for the man on the ground reinforcing support those men during the long hours of daylight and the longer hours of darkness caught them with b-52s against concentrations of troops and supplies give the enemy no chance to rest support them with tactical fighter bombers to keep up the pressure and help destroy our enemy's ability and desire to attack with hundreds of thousands of tons by airlift the supplies come through but there are other lines of supplies that flow the other way along the Ho Chi Minh Trail it winds down from the north through mountain passes and under the cover of green top jungles along the flank of southern Asia the coastline of North and South Vietnam takes the form of an elongated s a demilitarized zone between the two countries along the 17th parallel at the sea was established by solemn treaty to the north is china to the west are laos cambodia Thailand Burma India and Pakistan moving down from the north men oil machines the tools of war are fed along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to bolster the aggression in the south they move by night over the narrow roads through mountain passes and along trails hidden by the jungle foliage trucks and pack laden coolies by the tens of thousands usually by day they remain hidden in the jungle to venture out again at nightfall that lifeline must be severed when it is repaired as it always is it must be severed again every gallon of fuel every gun bullet even every ration of rice destroyed north parallel they mean the life of a man on the ground south of the 17th the military call it interdiction that is the mission of those who fly to the north support them on the ground by spoiling the surprise pilots have always been fighting men but the courage and daring today you have to add the great technical skill and self-discipline demanded by their sophisticated weapons but weapons no more effective than the men who fly them for those who keep them flying Jason Point combat aircraft are maintained with a dedication that results in flying hours at a rate three times normal usage the line crews understand how much depends on them day after 25 hour day normally the spare is a very decent fellow now he's been through the hours of pre-flight details he can't help but hope that one of the other aircraft will show up with a minor hydraulic leak or a cut tire sometimes that happens but not today or supersonic blasts of power in the open ocean of the air ready to play their part in the overall coordinated effort there are other flights in the sky the f4 seas are on route at the same moment in time the big choppers affectionately known as the Jolly greens are on their way with a1 ease for their protective escort their object is to stay as close as possible to the target area so that if a pilot and one of the attack planes has to hit the parachute then they can move in to pick him up if there's enemy ground fire those a1 ease dive in to keep the enemies heads down the boys in the kc-135 tankers have been waiting to refuel the tactical fighter bombers and route to their targets those kc-135s will keep orbiting in case any of the boys run short of fuel on the way home most people will ask pilots the same question over and over aren't you scared the answer is always pretty much the same sure we're scared until we button down the hatch we're a one-man sort of operation we're our own navigator radioman radar operator and Bombardier getting into the target we have to take evasive action then it's pop-up dive in drop the bombs and get the heck out of there you'll watch your fuel you go over in your mind what the intelligence boys will want to know about the results the target the ground offenses all the details it might be scared when you start but after that you just don't have the time results posit the cockpit is a pilot's office management of that office must be as precise and efficient as the complex instruments with which it is equipped one flight of many planets there isn't a combat pilot who doesn't know it every bullet every gallon of oil every more stark north of that 17th parallel can mean the life of one man ten men 100 men south of that parallel in the military action in Vietnam a squadron of fighter aircraft has been called on for a close support of a marine company held up by punishing enemy fire from an abandoned village guided by the small observation plane most evolved the green battlefields of Vietnam the marine air strike dives hard on strong point has been broken by the precise application of air power a vital part of this unusual war in which the political economic and psychological factors command as much consideration as the military now the men of Lima Company 1st Marines are able to move forward use of an aircraft superbly adapted to supporting the rifleman in ground combat the f4 be all-weather fighter the phantom and Iraq's show hundreds of pounds of destruction have been delivered to the enemy now found all 83 heads for home this is the flight leader lieutenant colonel aw Oh Donna the flight is part of marine squadron BMF a 323 Colonel O'Donnell is the skipper de neige 323 s homeport is a main American base every day this Center for tactical air support launches and retrieves hundreds of combat sorties two powerful jet engines with afterburners and get the polio that 110 airborne a less than 3,000 feet completed tests in the tactical environment have proved the f1 tend to become the entire arsenal of present tactical extremely versatile it can deliver large composite loads of napalm rockets and conventional bombs the 110 has the capacity to deliver more than twice the normal bomb load of the World War two Flying Fortress shown here is the delivery of a partial load composed of 13 750 pound demolition bombs the Bliss Attila T of the commands first line fighters is demonstrated in the following sequences as the wide variety of missions assigned attack unfold the f100 makes a fork and napalm drop against enemy positions tanks 2.75 Rockets have fired against transportation facilities and convoys in performing air-to-ground missions of interdiction and air support strafing runs are made with four twenty millimeter cannons and dive bombing sorties are flown against world networks troop concentrations and supply areas highly important the Super Sabre can deliver the GAM 83 bullpup the latest tactical air to surface missile fired from approximately 18,000 feet out the bullpup is guided to its target by the pilot who visually superimposes on the target the flare in the rear of the missile and he makes down right or left Corrections from the cockpit until the bullpup strikes the target such simplicity in baggies is producing greater accuracy and reliability than has ever been experienced in air-to-surface missiles the f-104 another of the century series fighters in the tank inventory the Starfighter can strafe enemy positions with its and 20 millimeter cannon capable firing 6,000 rounds per minute napalm are part of the 104 weapon inventory is used against enemy concentrations and similar targets in the air superiority role the f-104 employs the guard Sidewinder against enemy aircraft rocket is overtaken and destroyed by the heat-seeking party the f-105 a one-man airplane capable of mach 2 speeds and carry weapons internally and externally this recently developed delivery technique has resulted in improved accuracy the delay between drop and detonation provides a safe escape time for the aircraft and pilot Thunderchief is armed with the m60 120-millimeter cannon which pours 100 rounds into the target every second napalm is also a part of the 105 s weapon arsenal against reinforced bunkers and concentrations of armor point seven five rockets to maximum the net we're air-to-air combat the f-105 uses the GAR 8 Sidewinder ensure air superiority in the battlefield here a direct hit is scored on a mop to target throw back at the Nang the aircraft of kondal 83 become gear to a fast-moving ground upgrade they've got to be ready for the next mission whenever it comes white crews go in for debriefing and the squadron skipper inspects the aircraft they're reasonably out of the fire on the run three fold up refueling and repair are completed quickly the Phantom's are soon back to mission readiness it's usually 95 degrees plus on the denying flight line but their mechanics are doing as good a job as they know how and they're all experts on the empty racks of the f4 B's go deadly here to ground missiles pods of rockets the thousand pounders they call iron bombs when these aircraft go out they'll be carrying a full load of trouble with a Viacom unconstant alerts for maintenance and repair the mechanics of denying eat and sleep on the flight line they're currently working some 14 hours a day and they even do a little moonlighting on the side the extra job reinforcing the nighttime guard for the aircraft they service by day around the broad perimeter of the airfield they mount posts and roving patrols against infiltrating get on - they didn't know where he was from and then they saw a loan deal they're innocent all right that's a teeny just lost already I'm gonna be an instructor pilot where t-38s Williams Air Force Base Arizona I think I'll arrive there I know I'll be real quiet all that not go in and all the students will nudge each other and when I meet me and I'll be their instructor and they'll fly with me and they'll nudge each other and say what did lieutenants do before he came here you know you know it'll be all quiet no one will know until finally they'll be graduation and will show up in there in mess dress and there I'll be with my hair medals in my DFCS and my Silver Star and my commendation medal and my Vietnam Service Medal and all this stuff all the way across and I'll walk in with a slight win and then they'll say tell me about it oh it was nothing it was nothing you know with that for a week after every time I crawl in the airplane is like you know put my leg in and I'll rinse a little and I'll say what is it now it's like oh it's just an old war injury 45 44 right 45 44 14 you should go good hunt went well it's 4243 major Heights one mission one comma one for the months finally made the board 99 hard ones to go I'll get 43 second I gotta put a marker number 9 very good so you're gonna get 2 today huh one more I'll be able to make a baby more you be able to hold red he's been here about six months in averages about six months literature but swing even though we're roughly a hundred miles from any sort of civilization morale is high here I've noticed that the men know what they're doing and why they're here well if they're still have to be over here I'll come right back and the way you know you come right back and do another hitch you bet I will special in Asia take some minutes that were here enjoy some of the things I'm over here for such as the American Way of life I served in World War two in the southwest Pacific serve during Korea yes first we'll try to discourage it is put in a hundred mission go it all fit not to go home get arrested and come back however I have one pilot here that just insisted on taking another hundred and he's here his name is lieutenant Richter yeah I want to come back down how come you get to stay here I worked harder you could have stayed here with me yeah mommy wouldn't have any fun doing that yeah okay there's there's a deal you know you're the flying is good you don't have all a little net pecking rules and regulations you have to put up with it since we didn't two months ago that's still a lot better in his back turnout but I just can I enjoy him not any it's the kind of deal like everybody says yeah waving a flag but I'm not but at the same time you know where you gonna we're gonna stop it no where's where's Connie is are you gonna wait alert and the Philippines or in Australia or San Francisco or Des Moines Iowa you know you stop it here or wait till somewhere later on I don't think most people think about it they like me you know what what happens you know if if I get shot down to wean and it would give me anyway okay noon is a close air support support of still illegal callsign tundle 56 - one two three and four crews in order Donald Kelly NORAD masseur San Julian Johnson aircraft numbers one six nine and ten let's go through the loading again bird numbers one and six are loaded with six napalm each bird plus two or one marked for gun clawed each airplane last two birds nine and 10 are loaded with well two hundred fifty pounders plus four 2.75 19 shot claws on each aircraft ok stand by for time pack coming up on 1304 Hank ok I wanted to move out our bombing objectives I believe can be very distinctly divided into two phases our interdiction program conducted in the southern portion of North Vietnam in an attempt to deny movement of the enemy into South Vietnam and our strategic if you will objectives in the northern portion of North Vietnam in terms of attacking principle lines of communications the Northeast and the northwest railroads which comprise the two most major railroads in North Vietnam also bol installations and other military supply and storage areas located in the Delta regions of North Vietnam this flight at night is a pretty hectic place there's more work done at night actually than there's the daytime the daytime is is completely taken off with the launching recovering airplane it's time for anything else of course there's a turnaround there's a lot of bomb holding for the second going around noon but nothing like at night I'll put it on whatever plane it doesn't come up to me have to take it up and put on another one pretty frustrating they get it done somehow I don't know how what they do they we have a remarkable delivery right here I can't remember the last time I got a maintenance non-delivery well he's getting her they do a real bang-up job sir Tamar's target is the yen Bend railroad it's the largest railroad in all of North Vietnam this function is to control all the traffic coming in from the North East railroad in the North West Rail Road into Hanoi it then controls all practical South it's located five nautical mile north of Hanoi its defenses include a heavy concentration the Triple A and there are 26 known SAM sites in the area rosco has brought here by a pilot from Kadena who is temporarily assigned away when the pilot was shot down on the north Roscoe started became everybody's dog the only dog allowed on Bates now Roscoe's a free agent and goes everywhere sort of a [ __ ] with a big heart but lots of guys for instance don't feel right unless he's sitting there in a commander's chair during the mission briefing I say if he sleeps it's going to be an easy mission because ears perk up watch out we hear an awful lot about surface-to-air missiles they're called Sam's or referred to as SI toos this is a picture of an sa-2 site situated in the immediate Hanoi area a close-up of this particular target would look something like this very clearly you can observe the presence of sa-2 missiles and in this area we find the radar van which controls the firing of the missiles and also tracks the aircraft along with providing guidance to the sa-2 missile our pilots are constantly faced in flying into North Vietnam with missile firings along with extremely heavy anti-aircraft I kind of call it the drive throat mission myself usually I come outbound from the target and I'm just kind of sucking that water bottle dry dry throat it's about as scary of mission as I've ever been on I think it tries you to just about the maximum on the missions if you can get between a rigid to a unit radar site they can't guide a missile at you it's just when you get down in the Delta in the flatlands that 30-mile ring around the city of annoyance is a bear because it's flat you know protection I don't know how true it is stay it's the most heavily defended place in the history of warfare I've been here and I believe it wins there from the surface to 5,000 feet along the coast are gonna run about 25 knots out of the Northeast did have an aircraft report right over the mountain area this morning just about a McGee a pass at 5,000 feet he had a wind of 0 3 0 at 40 knots everybody wear your black belt today guys well that words it off cuz I wear your flack Mac you don't want to go green no way right no way you got those flags you're gonna tie between the wings now first of all we have our best is the radio which is the most important item they have our second item I would say is it flares the third is your weapon they have their compass in the mirror for singling and find direction most important one upon bailout has the beeper I hear yours too we did that moms we got all y'all [ __ ] them who belongs to this 11.8 next month for a don't kick my purse out okay now we'll take you first one thing I have to detected everybody remembers most that's where the adrenaline starts to pop the airplanes working all right you haven't anger it accepted the gas that means you're going that's that's your last name after if I get school [ __ ] then hit him do your drop-off point they need to itself a few just crossing the river now rabbit not even fortune okay because that'll make 120 south replate we got baked bread under straight under I'm here to drive major mr. Magoo there are three undershoot we've been very successful here in taking the pilots from sac ADC training - man as long as they go through one of the tactical schools while the 105 schools attack their command back in the States and receive a roughly 70 hours in the 105 they do the job we do have a few youngsters out of a training school but most of our pilots has been in the Air Force 10 to 12 years or longer and in fact we had some grandfathers here that was the fifth of July when I attacked and destroyed four SAM sites in one 25-minute mission and this came about because in escorting the strike flights to SAM sites came up on our way in we had to attack these boys to turn them off the air to get into the target area bought in the target area another Sam site came up threatening the strike force and of course we attacked and got him and then on the way back out another Sam site came up to block our exit out of the target area which was about 15 or 20 miles north of Hanoi and we only had one part of rockets and 20 millimeter cannon ammunition remaining but he fired two Sam's at us and we managed to acquire visually and put the Rockets on him and machine gun him out of commission this was the best day I've had and I don't care to go through another one of those a little too much for an old man so if I could if I can swing a deal to get down south with working 100 or f5s or a once or geez I don't care as long as it's a close air support if I can swing that I'm gonna just try to go or maybe back the state's TV wide up great down there if not I'll stick around and fly no one or an a.1 check you out right up north oh yeah but I've been drawing paper 16 years this is my job last again you know you get up in the 90s and you got hitting ago and you say well I'm going home pretty soon so I got to tell these guys something they go lay in bed at night you think of things to tell this is my speech instead about three hours of be prepared something I'm damn proud to have besides working with all you guys and your names here I don't really need this picture pray with because you remember the guys you fought with

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Views: 4,439,949

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Keywords: aviation, tactics, action, jungle

Id: -vKG6l2nnL0

Length: 44min 55sec (2695 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 08 2015