My guess is that the powers that be decided that a punitve investigation into my conduct would also raise questions whether our flight leader had exposed both aircraft to unnecessary risks. Joe- God Bless you & Scotty and all others that served like ya`ll ! I cannot express my admiration for you and others who went thru what you did. All told, the U.S. Air Force flew 5.25 million sorties over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, northern and southern Laos, and Cambodia, losing 2,251 aircraft: 1,737 to hostile action, and 514 in accidents. Then, I was pushed face down to the floor and blindfolded. Not sure which squadron he started with but he ended up assigned to the 366-tfw. Hull blown-up. Dogwood 3 had already arrived and was taking fuel through the KC-135s boom. Presently it dishonors over 50,000 dead and how many maimed and wounded? It is hard to imagine just surviving. God bless you Joe, hearing the story was very touching. I think of Scotty Wilson and many others every, single day. Looser! The first thing I looked at was the horizon and I could almost hear the words of The Vanquished as if they were spoken to me. Scotty hadnt regained consciousness. The political strategy of Rolling Thunder was absurd from the git-go. Flight lead replied, Dogwood 2, you have the lead. So that it is crystal clear to the reader, this means that two 1stLieutenants were leading a flight of Phantoms to a JCS target on the outskirts of Hanoi referred to as Bullseye by those of us who flew over the north. He summed up his experience in Vietnam as It was f****d. You guys are the best we have. This description of your combat experience and captivity is the first time Ive heard it and that only adds to my admiration for you, Joe. They were all well received. The four-foot stabilizing chute was severed, my lap belt was opened and the butt snapper straps straightened, booting me out of the seat while simultaneously pulling the ripcord that would deploy my parachute. . And they did so with knives having little concept or knowledge of zippers, snaps or the technical difficulties associated with releasing parachute risers. Col. Jack Broughton had stated in THUD RIDGE that a few days of bombing Hanoi set them back 6 months in ammo and people coming down the Ho Chi Minh trail which we were shelling every night with 8 inch artillery. 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. Thank you for your service! I learned Russian and some higher math. At this point I could only pray he would revive by the time he reached the ground. The author, during training on the F-4 Phantom. Joe, you are one incredible patriot and hero. Amazing story Mr.Crecca, I for one, am glad you are still here among us mere mortals, thank you for sharing your daunting experience, you sure went through hell for 6 years and yet had the courage to ask Nixon for another F-4 Black Hills just changed So. 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. Hes taking us direct to Bravo and right over Yen Bai! Without hesitation Scotty rolled smoothly to the left into a near 90 degree bank and applied right (top) rudder and held it for a few seconds while I looked for the SAM that was certainly coming for us. Some data to the soviets in Korea: The 324.IAD (Fighterdivision) 6738 missions. 83rd Arty 101ABN DIVARTY Im horrified to know how divided our country was in the late 60s/early 70s, and people like you did your duty, for all of us. You need four for effective mutual support; i.e., lookout coverage for all four in all quadrants. Every year on the 18th of December I start an eleven day ritual of emails to the Vietnam air warriors on the anniversary of the first night of Operation Linebacker II lest we forget the courage and sacrifices of all those who risked all from that first night until the 29th both tactical air and especially the B-52 crews. One of our F-4s was not delivered by maintenance. At 9,000 ft., I began trying to maneuver my parachute towards the southern tip of the Tam Dao Mountain range better known as Thud Ridge by the F-105 Thunderchief drivers. You also draw a conclusion that isnt at all clear-cut, which is why no one else has commented on it. Rest in Peace, dear Scotty. No need to bring up the sorties flown with 1/2 ordnance loads so the (Squadron, Group, Wing) would look good on paper. I flew Marine Corps F-4s out of Da Nang and Nam Pong, Thailand in 1972; unfortunately not much had changed in six years. All I was aware of was a short, sharp ringing sound and my white, silk parachute billowing above me. Thank you for sharing. Theyd blow up in midair, before they ever got to the runway. The Republic of Vietnam lost 1,018 aircraft and helicopters from January 1964 to September 1973. We had been taught to respect and trust the higher-ups that won WWII, Little could we conceive that the USMC and the USAF began the conflict with almost total ignorance of what was required for this exercise in power projection. We were to be a flight of four F-4C Phantoms. But I dont think they fixed it right. Million-dollar wound some would call it through the knee, with the bones barely nicked. I rest easy at night because of people like you. I later learned that this controller had served many months in Saigon. I taught math, physics, automotive theory and practice, and classical music in the Hanoi Hilton. Both Fire and Overheat lights were illuminated and all the amber and red indicators on the telelight panel by Scottys right knee were lit. But, knowing this might be my only chance to talk before the fun and games began anew, I concocted a mission scenario that I hoped would be accepted as truth. 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? The Air Force lost 1737, the Navy 530, the Marine Corps 463 and the Army lost 302 (fixed wing). Lonely feeling for a pilot over enemy territory. Lost contact with you shortly after you were so kind to make comments at my FedEx retirement party. From the refueling track exit over northern Thailand, our route took us over northern Laos and into North Vietnam. All commenters here need to start this needed movement for due change. So Scotty did the same check with a roll to the right with the same result. 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. He didnt shoot at anyone. More aircraft would be shot down and pilots killed or captured. It is a raising of toasts every night in remembrance for what they did. I admit now that, with the forebodings Id had earlier, I seriously thought about pulling the aerial refueling receptacle circuit breaker so it would not open, causing us to have to abort. It was the darkest moment of an amazing three weeks in Vietnam and I was quite happy to leave that place. Reading yours was dismal, doom and gloom. All of a sudden, they stood me up. 28 NOV 67. At this point, because of the unexpected turn, our formation was too bunched up; we were too close to each other to be able to provide mutual look-out support. Much aviation has occurred in the context of military service. Directional control was by use of nose wheel steering or rudder up to 70 knots, at which airspeed the rudder became effective. Did a Korea tour also when enlisted. Iwo Jima. He still had the baleful look of an owl about to gobble a mouse. It was -55F at 32,000 feet for over two hours and pressure breathing 100% Oxygen in a summer flight suit. The USMC focused almost entirely on close air support (yards, not miles) of their ground units and on point defense over an amphibious landing. At least thats what I hoped. I was an Air Traffic Controller at the Tulsa TRACON (tower and radar approach control) in January of 1981 when one of the check flights did not end well. The former fighter pilot, who was shot down over Vietnam in 1967, went on: (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.). Thank you again Sir and God bless. Hed slept in an air-conditioned hut. I was falling towards the Earth and still attached to my Martin-Baker (made in England) ejection seat below a four-foot drogue chute to stabilize my rapid descent. When my feet hit the floor with my elbows on my knees at bedside, a feeling of total despair came over me. Caribou A4-193 was destroyed by mortar fire while taxiing at That Son (near the Cambodian border) on 29 March 1970. 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. The door gunner Bobby Harris was KIA during the shoot down. Joined up and reported a suspected Truck Park near Finger Lakes since we had avoided calling in to Ask Permission and wait the usual half hour to allow the Russian Radar trainers time to get out courtesy of our GD State Dept. The U.S records showing 5,607 helicopter losses[2]. 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. I yelled on the intercom, Deep six check! Joe I want to start by thanking you profusely for attending and speaking at my brother Johns funeral 3 years ago. Btw, Uncle Walter was an anti-American, extreme lefty. Flight lead arrived and took his fuel after we were finished. Scottys arms seemed to be at his sides and head slumped forward. I thank you for what you did for us all, and I know it cost you. After that, I was blindfolded and transported two miles by motorcycle sidecar to another village and locked in a small building made of large stones. (Shaking head sadly) It seems theres always someone willing to take a conversation on an inappropriate tangent. Glad to see you made it home, I remember that in 1972, 3, 4 & 5 most of America was oblivious to the fact that there was still a war going on & had moved on. claimed to have shot down 215 planes. Your story sheds much light on what his experiences must have been like. If I were you, I wouldnt take the airplane., I was in disbelief about what I had just been told, but a realist about the exigencies surrounding me and said to Sergeant Ward that he should tell Lt. Wilson what he had just told me which he did. Scotty had ejected. You and Scotty are my heroes. I wish I could have expressed my thanks to your Elder Eagle for successfully completing his mission to spring me out of jail. Dulles International Needs a name change. First loss: Canberra A84-231 disappeared on 3 November 1970 on a night bombing mission in the northern 1st Corps Tactical Zone region of. 23 NOV 67. I did enjoy reading this and I am grateful for men like you. You have no skin in the game of life and freedom, do you! I will be reading your story to my young ones tonight. Id pulled the lower ejection handle and was away from my burning Phantom. Source for F-4 losses is Phantom with U.S. Marine Corps (Joe Baugher), others are unsourced, Production of a total of 380 Mohawks ended in December 1970. It must have occurred just before my own chute opened. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do & die.. Glad you made it back. If it means anything, I wanted to tell you that I have travelled extensively though Vietnam for both work and pleasure, and found that Vietnamese people hold no grudge whatsoever to those dark years, younger generations are full of optimism and only look forward for a better life. Scotty then took control of the airplane as we proceeded to follow our leader along the preplanned route. Peebles Curtis. We did not know if anyone survived! Lockhart is still alive, although. Had the great fortune of knowing 2 Navy POWs who were at the Hanoi Hilton one of which my wife served with in the Navy. Many times not all returned from their missions. American airmen shot down 196 MiGs137 by the Air Force, 59 by the Navy and the Marine Corpsand sustained 83 losses. all i can do is thank you so much for allowing common people like myself to be inspired . Scotty then said over the radio to the leader, Dogwood 2 has a good inertial. Pilots who have used the AN/ASN-46 nav system (Up to 7 NM per hour error) will know whats going on here. I was O.K. Hi, Joe. This fighter aircraft, flown by various pilots, was credited for 14 kills during the Vietnam War. R.I.P Scotty. For those interested in learning more about the F4 Phantom air war , I Remember VietNam by William L Barker , Major USAFR (Ret) is a great book.This first person account is full of operational data and pilot insights.All aviation enthusiasts will appreciate its nuances. [I was USAF SAC (enlisted) 62-66. Glad to hear you are on frequency. God Bless America; God Bless the USAF; God Bless the Pilots and God Bless the POWs! The plane was unveiled . Youre the best and always will be with me when I go flying. Knowing you were handled so badly by your bosses has to be a tough thing to take. 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. I was too busy inside the cockpit to see it happen but the other two Phantoms banked away sharply to assume the proper lateral spacing. Osprey 2001, No. Thanks for the compliment on my writing. He did what he had to do, did what he was asked to do by his country. When all the politics are done when hostilities have ceased those who represented their country should be honoured. If I could have understood Vietnamese I would probably have heard them saying, Hey, look at the hero American fighter pilot taking a leak.. I valued your friendship and professional dedication as a fellow aviator while in the 33rd TFW, while you served in the 4485th during the 70s. They performed as they were asked. AddThis Utility Frame. Jim Hestand the AC of the fateful flight gave the eulogy at Bobbys funeral! Its a tough story to take. I reached bingo, bingo minus 5, minus 10, minus 15, and reported to lead each time. Scotty preflighted the weapons: six-M117, 750 lb. Phew II! 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. At this moment the twin J-79 afterburners are briefly licking at the runway with two, huge, yellow-orange flames. Our flight should never have been going into the target. Don Ward, came up to me and said words that someone in operations never, ever hears from anybody in maintenance. Well written as you brought each of us along with you in the cockpit as your descriptives of that entire mission were intense. Yep. You were a great morale boost when we needed it the most. I confirmed this by dialing in Bravos coordinates and the needle pointed straight ahead. Its a real shame but they ruined a perfectly good pair of nearly new, highly-polished USAF flying boots with zippers; they cut right through the damn zippers! Our standard load was 12-500s or 7 Nape. I have the greatest respect and admiration for you and other Vietnam POWs for your courage and what you had to endure. Instead Ill thank & bless Mr. Crecca for being among those whom A. Solzhenitsyn-himself a survivor of Communist Russias gulags-called our first heros for successfully resisting an overwhelming enemy, alone, then returning with honor. You should be ashamed of yourself! I knew none of this before he died. The United States loses its first B-52 of the war. Announcing the 2023 Richard Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots, Flying in paradise: a vacation flight lesson in Maui, Accident report: losing control at 43,000 feet. Those bumps on the walls, in retrospect, were a poor mans acoustic treatment for trying to muffle the screams of Americans being tortured there. It is awful that people make bad decisions for selfish reasons. Never flew with a pilot in the USAF that was not a top notch professional. First of all, we only had three airplanes. 71-0305 (3rd TFS, 388th TFW) shot down in Cambodia on 4 May 1973 (1Lt T.L. Im thinking, How does anybody know how their INS is doing when they cant see the ground? We were at 25,000 feet above a solid, 10,000-foot undercast. I always get chills reading these stories. Were B-52 bombers used in Vietnam? The spot where I landed was probably a potato patch. What? A well? Thank you for your sentiments. SSGT Bobby Sacina, JoeThank you fot sharing your experience..We have had a few talks over beers in the past but you never told this storyYou are an American hero!! Page and Smith were with VF-21, and the aircraft modex was NE101. How did the Vietnam shot down the B-52? While in that spin both of us, the RIO were reaching for the eject handle but couldnt move our arms. Just recently back from the Academy F-4 Phantom ceremony. And the plane that carried them, a commercial jet . May God continue to bless you. I was always in awe of you guys flying the Phantom in the opressive heat and conditions of S.E. Scotty was probably hit by shrapnel from the missile. Scotty gave the Phantom back to me and then it was my turn. It is sad that we lost so much blood and treasure in that endeavor. The control stick was lazily wandering left and right; the throttles were all the way forward in the full afterburner position but there was no thrust coming from the J-79s. My mom, as she promised my father she would, visited my fathers grave at the National Cemetery in Grand Prairie on Saturday, left an American Flag, which, regardless of whether or not the boy scouts or other volunteers do, as they sometimes do and sometimes dont, shes done for the previous 10 Memorial Days. I hope to be delighted with more of your anecdotes. First loss: 560937 (476th TFS, 497th TFW) shot down by enemy ground fire during CAS mission near Tri Dao, Vietnam, on 29 June 1965, pilot Capt. Thank you again for your personal sacrifice and service to our country Sir. Maximum allowable gross takeoff weight in an F-4C was 58,000 lbs. This is aviation commentary. 1st Lieutenant Scotty Wilson, the best stick in [the squadron].. According to the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, a total of 11,846 helicopters were shot down or crashed during the war, resulting in nearly 5,000 American pilots and crew killed. We lost him in 2012. Notes. I was at a loss for words. John Stuart Mill Nobody else made a comment like yours because you are the only a-hole on here. Dogwood 4 was an MND, Maintenance Non Delivery, i.e., no airplane! To those who try to insert politics, I agree that it is in extremely poor taste to try to make this such a venue. Scotty gave me the airplane and I climbed out at 350 knots until it came time to find the tanker on the radar. And Ill always remember how you and Tom Nordberg stood up for me in Anchorage. When I was shot down I weighed 157 lbs. Scotty Wilson and I were classmates in Pilot Training at Willie Air Patch, Class 64-C, Raindance and Schatzi. Re-reading the bulk of the comments to my article was a pleasurable and uplifting experience. And all of us should remember them every day because we are we enjoy the freedoms their sacrifice every, single day. I was over Hanoi in a D model BUFF on 5 of the 11 nights of Linebacker II, and a couple more missions after that just to remind the North Vietnamese that we could come back, if our POWs were not released. 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. Wasnt much left for my remaining Six. I would have done the same thing. The Vietnam Years. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks nothing is worth war is much worse. I was the mouse. I hope some day that our government will find the courage to ask what happened to the missing pilots whose names or Escape and Evasion codes and authenticator numbers were photographed by U.S. satellites long after the war was overDavid Allinson(8888), Peter Matthes (GX2527), and Henry Serex (SEREX) to name a few. I served as Navy, lost friends both in country and after returning home with one still carried as MIA Army Helicopter Pilot. Section leader had one Dud flash by just as we started to Split S from Control Warning. 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) Hopefully you have not seen this magnificent video I recently came across, and for a man in love with flight like you proved, I hope it will bring back nothing but happy memories https://vimeo.com/199142621 . Asia [http://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569613/progress-in-vietnam/]. Thanks for the story, Joe. The intercom was intermittent. Our Motto YOU YELL, WE SHELL LIKE HELL, OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY. Very sadly, according to the DOD, 1,616 of our brothers are still missing in S.E. All we wanted to do was tell him we wanted the French out! After each plane was completed, two pilots (Call signs Perky01 and Perky02) would take the plane up for a check flight. 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. 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. Joe, Dog boned Six and direct hit, had to send some Russian Techs to the Beyond. Vietnam will eventually strive throughout S.E. The icing on the cake came when he admitted to the controller that he did not know his position, because his tacan was spooling; he didnt realize we were out of tacan range. of an F-4), or I could man a missile silo in North Dakota. Thank you for the heads-up on the article. First loss: EC-121R 67-24193 (554th Reconnaissance Squadron, 553d RW) crashed 25 April 1969 on take-off in a thunderstorm from. Soviet General Fesenko, the main Soviet adviser to the North Vietnamese Air Force in 1972, recorded 34 MiG-21s destroyed in 1972. My father was a Marine. Peering over Scottys shoulders into the front seat, I could see we were done for. The claimed flying aces of the Vietnam War, pilots who shot down five or more enemy aircraft, include 19 North Vietnamese pilots (six MiG-17 and 13 MiG-21 pilots),[1]:228 and five Americans. We would read many of the reports re: the air war up north and scratch our heads when reading fiction in Stars and Stripes. 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. Scotty Wilson had a beautiful wife and daughter whose lives were torn asunder as well. Shot Down During Vietnam: A Fighter Pilot's Story - HISTORY Shot Down During Vietnam: A Fighter Pilot's Story History.com Editors TV-14 2:42 In 1966, an American fighter pilot took off. Encountered SAMs Finger Lakes area. It was another scene of temporal distortion. Crash Location: Into Sea off southwest coast of Vietnam near Rach Gia and Ca Mau. Dinh . I then looked at myself to see if I was in one piece. So that the pilot does not have to be utilizing his attitude indicator for this, the canopy rails happen to be canted downward at just the correct angle making it possible to perform the takeoff maneuver using purely visual references, e.g. While the Vietnamese and Chinese have a long history of ethnic combat, the Chinese were happy to limit both Russian and American military influence in SE Asia, by replacing every bullet fired by North Vietnam. Fighting against such a cruel political regime didnt seem that bad an idea after all, did it? October 26, 1967: A-4E Skyhawk BuNo. But, I stuck to my story answering the same question in the same way each time. To do by his country by mortar Fire while taxiing at that Son ( near the Cambodian border on! Was tell him we wanted to do & die.. 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