Thank you for your sentiments. The next thing I knew, I was back on the wooden stool facing my interrogator. As a 110 F4 combat mission Vet, Id like to know. Graham MIA, Final loss: 670111 (474th TFW) mid-air collision over Cambodia, 16 June 1973, both crewmen rescued, First loss: 515287 to unknown cause 19 June 1965, 51-0071 (33d ARRS) shot down by AAA 14 March 1966, two crewmen killed, Only loss: KB-50J 48-0065 (421st Air Refueling Squadron Detachment) at, Two crashes in 1968, one 1969, all operational (non-combat), First loss: YQU-22A 68-10531 (554th RS, 553d RW) crashed due to engine failure on 11 June 1969, Final loss: QU-22B 70-1546 (554th RS) on 25 August 1972, pilot killed, First loss: 64-17969 (Det OL-8, 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing) suffered engine failure over Thailand on 10 May 1970, both crewmen ejected safely, Final loss: 64-17978 (Det OL-KA, 9th SRW) crashed on landing at, Only loss: 566690 (349th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 100th SRW) which crashed on 8 October 1966 near Bien Hoa, SVN, Maj. Leo J Stewart ejected and was rescued. First loss: Canberra A84-231 disappeared on 3 November 1970 on a night bombing mission in the northern 1st Corps Tactical Zone region of. Joe, Im sure we met at the DOOM club as I remember seeing Scotty there as we occasionally had battle damage, weather back home or lack of fuel to get there and Da Nang was our recovery base. The result was the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on 27JAN1973 and the release of 591 POWs. Section leader had one Dud flash by just as we started to Split S from Control Warning. Well, at least you tried. Despite the excellent sound-sealing qualities of my helmet, their jabbering was extremely loud and intense. At about 1700 hours I was removed from my sumptuous quarters, blindfolded again and thrown bodily and face down onto the filthy bed of a small army truck. Hope you sre enjoying the golden years. When Nixon ended the draft in early 73, having not yet been required to sign on the dotted line, I marched into the ROTC office, turned in my uniform, and that was it: my military obligation was over. when the canopy rails are parallel to the ground, the nose is 10-12 degrees up. In burner, diving out of 20, didnt take long to head toward So China Sea. Sad to hear that your Dad didnt tell you much about his missions. Joe Crecca would spend more than six years in various prison camps. Fast forward 12 hours. Scotty yelled, GET OUT! With the OUT still echoing in my ears there was a BOOM!, then the air noise of the jettisoned canopy. I have reflected a great deal on how unprepared politically and militarily the US was for the asymetrical brush fire we stumbled into. His unit was flying in support of South Vietnamese troops fighting in Laos. Following the release of all the POWs we met President Nixon at the State Department in May, 1973. October 26, 1967: A-4E Skyhawk BuNo. We knew radio chatter was recorded. Thank You for your service. Scotty hadnt regained consciousness. I was a flight engineer in the Air Force and National Guard. 12,000 helicopters There were pictures in the Tulsa World of the damage one of the ejection seats did to a womans newly-remodeled bathroom. Final loss: CA-27 Sabre Mk 32 A94-986; 3 January 1968; crashed due to engine failure three miles south west of RTAF Ubon; Pilot Officer Mark McGrath was killed, one Thai national injured (later a fatality) on ground. Joe, Many thanks for writing & publishing your story. Japan, who woulda thunk it? The 1850 John Stuart Mill quote and your comment that you posted above is powerful and right on. They fixed it. Scotty gave the Phantom back to me and then it was my turn. When Maj. "Jump" Myers' plane crashed in flames, there was no chance of rescue - yet Bernie Fisher defied the odds and brought him out alive. Asia [http://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569613/progress-in-vietnam/]. You softy, dont deserve the freedom which we veterans fought and died for! Only those who were there truly know! We were only two minutes from the target, descending through 14,000 ft. at a speed of 540 knots or about 650 miles per hour. 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. Sorry about your Dad. I looked back to my right. May God bless you, your family and all our vets. No one shot at him. 1:00 Jan. 6 will mark 50 years since former Newburgh resident Dave Middleton was shot down in Vietnam while piloting a Loach helicopter on a mission to which he wasn't originally assigned.. However, when your country calls, you have two choices, in 1965 you went, in 1969 you didnt. Our intel chief Major Art Weiner briefed us on all aspects of our mission including weather and defenses. God bless. God Bless you F-4 drivers! Final loss: EC-121R 67-21495 (554th RS) crashed on approach to Korat RTAFB on 6 September 1969, 4 of the 16 men were killed. 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. Just read this story about your mission over North Vietnam. The Army and USAF spent enormous efforts preparing to fight WWII over again in Europe (this time with nukes). 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. Top rudder pedal, however, broke us out at about 5 grand. 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. Hull blown-up. He didnt. I looked around me to see hundreds of people, mostly villagers, including old folks and children. I think of Scotty Wilson and many others every, single day. Fritz came in with the rest of his nape and sent a SAM across the tree line like a horizontal Roman candle. He should be yours as well, regardless of what you think of the efficacy and need for that conflict of many years ago. I fell into a restless, nightmarish and shivering cold sleep. God bless you Joe, hearing the story was very touching. bombs and eight Air-to-Air Missiles while I inspected the Phantom. For the briefest moment I contemplated that a right 60 degree turn would take me via the shortest route out of NVN. I am unable to understand why I didnt feel dazed by all of the blows to the head Id received. It was great to get back to the sweltering heat, I gotta tell ya. I taught math, physics, automotive theory and practice, and classical music in the Hanoi Hilton. 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!! Have not seen him since 1962. The former fighter pilot, who was shot down over Vietnam in 1967, went on: Our trip to Corregidor and visit to the USS Houston are two of my greatest memories. 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. We were to be a flight of four F-4C Phantoms. B/2/20 ARA #63-08597 A/C was shot down and after it hit exploded into flames. We would have to fight if not listened to. Overcome with his Ivy League false sense of academic Superiority, he stupidly turned them down, not even a crucial, critical, disastrous war saving meeting. By the time of the American involvement in Southeast Asia communism, by moderate estimates, around the globe had murdered 110 million people! 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. 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. A minute or two after takeoff we had cold air blasting through the cockpits. Day after day intel would ask us to listen up for Buick 4, or Chevy 4, or whoever Number 4 who had been shot down while lead worked on getting his Mig. Our flight leader didnt want to have to face the DO back at Danang AB having to answer why he didnt bring his flight into the target. Further, our leader was apparently unaware that the controller asked us to change squawk ONLY after we were some distance from the 100mm guns photographed around the Plain of Jars. First loss: EC-121R 67-24193 (554th Reconnaissance Squadron, 553d RW) crashed 25 April 1969 on take-off in a thunderstorm from. [1], There were about 11,846 U.S helicopters that served in the Vietnam War. I lost mine 5 years before I was released. There were no J-79s! P.463, Migs over North Vietnam: The Vietnam People's Air Force in Combat, 196575, Stackpole Military History, Crashed while attempting emergency landing, Phantom with U.S. Marine Corps (Joe Baugher), List of United States aerial victories of the Vietnam War, South Viet Nam Airforce VNAF Equipment. My father was at Danang in 67/68. He makes us tell a war story that we have heard. The soil was mercifully soft, loose and moist. Ignore that kind, it is useless to argue as they are happy in their own world which they believe will lead to some utopian future paid for by others. 31 DEC 71. I ask that you honor these costs and sacrifice, as I do. The Communistss claimed 19 B-52s shot down to date. I later learned that this controller had served many months in Saigon. 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 USAF also lost F-4C Phantom 64-0755. Osprey 2001, No. VMFA-115. You also draw a conclusion that isnt at all clear-cut, which is why no one else has commented on it. I flew the airplane to a point in space below the beautiful Stratotanker where I judged the contact position to be. 33 years 6 months after his loss. They did not want to lose their Skin in this deadly game while other Americans bravely went to war. The Air Force lost 1737, the Navy 530, the Marine Corps 463 and the Army lost 302 (fixed wing). GlobalSecurity, South Viet Nam Air Force VNAF Aircraft Deliveries. The White House approved a retaliatory air strike, but by the time it got there, the SAM batteries were long gone. Wasnt much left for my remaining Six. Source's information probably relates to the incident.. But that didnt keep the Triple Nickel (555th TFS) from calling themselves the Largest distributors of MiG parts in Southeast Asia. Not as of 05NOV66 they werent. | site designed by. Jim witnessed the other pilot CW2 Richard Bauman and crew chief Craig Dix being captured. No better tribute to a warrior and man then to be remembered by his fellow warriors 50+ years later. Do you know how good a F4 sounds from the darn dirt ?!? Notes. Joe- God Bless you & Scotty and all others that served like ya`ll ! Very sadly, according to the DOD, 1,616 of our brothers are still missing in S.E. Thanks for the compliment on my writing. You guys were working around the clock to keep the pressure on HCM. All my attention had been focused on escape and I had inadvertently bypassed the opportunity to use my emergency radio to make a distress, Mayday call. He did this all without missing a beat. Were B-52 bombers used in Vietnam? Messrs. Crecca and Wilson were asked by their nation to serve. [11], William A. Sayers writing in 2019 asserted that North Vietnam only had three aces in the war including Phm Thanh Ngn, with the other "aces" being creations of North Vietnamese propaganda that included claimed "kills" on days where no U.S. losses occurred, crediting VPAF pilots with kills that had actually been achieved by surface to air missile or antiaircraft artillery units and shootdowns of drones. I told him to head SE so I could spot him out of the circular traffic jam. 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. 2,197 of the losses were fixed-wing, and the remainder rotary-wing. A photograph of Lockhart shows him being paraded through the streets of Hanoi. 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