During the tour at NKP Thailand, I had opportunity to go TDY to Ubon Air base. Sorry you couldnt be there. Its a tough story to take. Thank you again for your personal sacrifice and service to our country Sir. U.S. Marine Corps aircraft lost in combat included 193 fixed-wing and 270 rotary-wing aircraft. Takeoff in a heavily-loaded Phantom requires some explanation. I live on Easy Street. He didnt. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do & die.. Youd make a grand Socialist. God Bless you, Joe. 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. If you are wondering how this is possible, I will reveal at the outset that it is not possible. You certainly are my Hero! Some data to the soviets in Korea: The 324.IAD (Fighterdivision) 6738 missions. Even Yale plans to re-name from a Slavery advocate. The terror I felt just moments before vanished. Top rudder pedal, however, broke us out at about 5 grand. It was another scene of temporal distortion. All I was aware of was a short, sharp ringing sound and my white, silk parachute billowing above me. Section leader had one Dud flash by just as we started to Split S from Control Warning. In fact all those who kept us in the air were. He told me to find him. Lt. Wilson and his family paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. lost 26 planes (written off) and 9 pilots (killed in combat) top scorer Yevgenij Pepeljayev with 109 mission, 38 dogfights and 19 shot down planes (15 kills are confirmed by american sources) 303. I confirmed this by dialing in Bravos coordinates and the needle pointed straight ahead. Our trip to Corregidor and visit to the USS Houston are two of my greatest memories. 28 NOV 67. The black, shapeless mass of Vietnamese peasants was all over me. He wasnt much of a story teller and I didnt think to ask him about his service until after he died. 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. At this moment the twin J-79 afterburners are briefly licking at the runway with two, huge, yellow-orange flames. I would not change a thing; glad I was able to serve. We knew radio chatter was recorded. Instead, dummy missiles had been placed at the site as a "flak trap.". Presently it dishonors over 50,000 dead and how many maimed and wounded? Black Hills just changed So. Lost contact with you shortly after you were so kind to make comments at my FedEx retirement party. | site designed by. Contact, followed by, Youre taking fuel, announced the boomer. Joe I want to start by thanking you profusely for attending and speaking at my brother Johns funeral 3 years ago. Yes, it is tainted with much uncertainty to which you allude. Well b fearn, you have a right to make your comment and your opinion, but I do not believe this is the time or place. There, I waited for about five hours, during which time it seemed that everyone in the village, save the oldest and youngest, came to visit the new arrival. They all worked too. I replied that I still had a positive lock to a radio nav-aid and if he could get us through the clouds I could get us to the target. Thus ended my first day as a POW in North Vietnam. Joe ( and Gus), Im honored to have met and flown with both of you with FEDEX. 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. I turned that down, and promptly got drafted into the USArmy 31 days later! of high-explosive surrounded by a thousand 1-inch diameter stainless steel balls inside the 6-foot long nose cone. And all of us should remember them every day because we are we enjoy the freedoms their sacrifice every, single day. [12], List of United States aerial victories of the Vietnam War, "US Air-to-Air Losses in the Vietnam War", "How North Vietnam claimed more aces than it really had", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Vietnam_War_flying_aces&oldid=1101889530, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 August 2022, at 09:45. . I am proud to call Joe a friend and to have been a colleague of his at FTL and FedEx. A year and a half after his plane was shot down over North Vietnam, Porter sat in a filthy cell shared with another American prisoner of war, and learned that he was supposedly dead. 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. I wanted to join you in 1969 after college graduation, but my eyes only qualified me as good enough for USAF navigator. 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. What was the first C-47 plane shot down in Vietnam? * These two pilots shared the credit for the shoot down of the MiG-17 and each were credited for . Your writing is superb and I wonder if you have considered writing a book about your experience in the USAF. Hap. The last known photo of F-4C 64-0755, the Phantom flown in this article. List of aircraft losses of the Vietnam War. God bless them! A total of 17 four-ship flights were to hit a vast complex of oil and munitions storage and NVN troops. May God continue to bless you, Joe. 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. I always enjoyed flying with you and sharing a beverage. . I always get chills reading these stories. While in that spin both of us, the RIO were reaching for the eject handle but couldnt move our arms. A photograph of Lockhart shows him being paraded through the streets of Hanoi. I imagined the instrument of death: a bullet, a knife, a shovel, hammer, pick, axe At that moment, I felt a long, cool piece of steel slide between my throat and my helmet strap. There are plenty of other places to rant and vent. It must have occurred just before my own chute opened. Of those servicepeople, 2,382 were killed while serving aboard UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the ubiquitous "Huey." Better than snakes or drowning in contaminated water, I thought briefly, before I was elevated again and dropped again. Although thank you is not enough, I do thank you for your service. My arms were tied behind my back with the elbows laced tightly together. The story of an immortal pilot who fought on biplanes against the Japanese in the 1930s in China, but also shot down American jets not only in the Korean but also in the Vietnam War. Mr. Crecca was a POW for the next six years and three months until his repatriation on February 18, 1973. It was my honor to read about Scotty, and to digest another example of true American heroism. 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. Fogleman became the only Super Sabre pilot ever rescued by riding out on a Cobra helicopter. Without any electronic gear onboard to warn us of active SAM sites, there was no way for us to know that at that very moment a Soviet-built SA-2 missile was streaking its way towards our Phantom from directly behind us, Dead 6 oclock, in fighter pilot lingo. First loss: 1964, final loss: 1967. Don Ward, came up to me and said words that someone in operations never, ever hears from anybody in maintenance. The baro switch was supposed to open my chute at 10,000 ft. Then we switched roles and Scotty flew while I coordinated the rendezvous. 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. Dickens rescued) Final loss: 70-0945 (354th TFW) shot down in Cambodia on 25 May 1973 (Capt Jeremiah Costello KIA) First loss: B-26B 44-35530 (Detachment 2A, 1st ACG) shot down in IV CTZ on the night of 4-5 November 1962, killing the 3 crew 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. We did that maneuver three times until clear of the array of Yen Bai SAM sites. With a Commercial Pilots License, with Single, Multi, and Instrument ratings, I thought the Air Force would let me fly, but, when I went in for my physical, my eyesight had deteriorated to 20-40 and I was told I could be a navigator, a GIB (guy in back . One of our F-4s was not delivered by maintenance. Scotty had ejected. Kos Media, LLC. I cried like a baby. 17 apr 1966: arab 511, an a-1h (buno 135398), lt (jg) william l. tromp, va-115, went down following a night attack on coastal targets, near approximately 1818'n, 10610'e. arab 506, his wingman,. Ha! How many f4 were shot down? He was crying. Scotty gave me the airplane and I climbed out at 350 knots until it came time to find the tanker on the radar. His remains were returned September 5th 2004 for burial. May God comfort those families who still wait and wonder.]. There were a total a 269 American and enemy aircraft shot down in air-to-air combat over Vietnam during the entire war201 in fights between the U.S. Air Force and North Vietnamese air force and just 68 in the U.S. Navy's air battles with the North Vietnamese. On 3 January 1969 Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) was commissioned at NAS North Island, California and after an intense period of training was transferred to Vietnam. I went down to about 125 in the winter of 1968. He summed up his experience in Vietnam as It was f****d. You guys are the best we have. Soviet General Fesenko, the main Soviet adviser to the North Vietnamese Air Force in 1972, recorded 34 MiG-21s destroyed in 1972. The Royal Australian Air Force also flew combat and airlift missions in South Vietnam, as did the Republic of Vietnam. 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 Stay up to date with the latest articles and selections from our archives. 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. Rest in Peace, dear Scotty. Yep. The lone horse jumped the fence and hadnt been seen. 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. 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. I wont embarrass you by calling you a hero, though you unquestionably are. Wasnt much left for my remaining Six. I lost all feeling in my arms very rapidly. Dak Harney Peak who did far less than Dulles. As for Mr. Fearn, Politics aside, we probably did back the wrong side. Then, I was pushed face down to the floor and blindfolded. Flight lead arrived and took his fuel after we were finished. There were no J-79s! Never flew with a pilot in the USAF that was not a top notch professional. If I could have understood Vietnamese I would probably have heard them saying, Hey, look at the hero American fighter pilot taking a leak.. First loss: operational (non-combat), F-4C 64-0674 (45TH TFS, 15th TFW) which ran out of fuel after strike in SVN on 9 June 1965; first combat loss F-4C 64-0685 (45th TFS, 15th TFW) shot down Ta Chan, NW NVN on 20 June 1965. Joe, Id pulled the lower ejection handle and was away from my burning Phantom. Thank you Sir. On Sept. 12, 1968, F-100D pilot Capt. Thanks, again, for your story many more years of good health & happiness to you. A Shau Valley. His first pass was- G D- Chief, 200 long. I was way back in trail, tree top, plenty of time to do 2 football fields short. In this MGTOW case, you had to have the stick in your lap before attaining 140 knots. I completely agree with everything Jim D. (below) writes. 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. Our TOT (Time Over Target) was scheduled for 1153. During the Vietnam War, thousands of U.S. aircraft were lost to antiaircraft artillery (AAA), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and fighter interceptors (MiG)s. The great majority of U.S. combat losses in all areas of Southeast Asia were to AAA. SMS D.R. 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!! I later learned that this controller had served many months in Saigon. SGT Sam Tenorio [G] 2 injured. 1LT ALDRICH ROBERT HENRY BNR 12/27/1971154013 HMM-165 WO1 ALEXANDER BARRY KENNETH KIA 09/22/196968-513/68-23 71 AHC CPT ALEXANDER DAVID LEE KIA 02/06/197170-20 67-18493178 ASHC I learned Russian and some higher math. I am most grateful for the hero status conferred upon me by the predominance of commenters. Sign up for our free email newsletter, packed with tips, tricks and news for pilots. God Bless you, Joe, and all those who flew and fought in Vietnam. Pair of scanning Navy A-6s. They were deeply felt. 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. 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 . 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. Only those who were there truly know! And they did so with knives having little concept or knowledge of zippers, snaps or the technical difficulties associated with releasing parachute risers. We attended the Colonels memorial service one week ago today. 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. On August 28, 1972, US Air Force Capt. He makes us tell a war story that we have heard. After that we had our individual flight briefings. Secondly, everybody else all the other strike flights, 15 of them, one after the other were calling, Outbound for weather meaning the target area was socked in and it would be just plain stupid to drop into the clouds where it would be hard to locate the target and easy to get nailed by a SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile). He didnt shoot at anyone. 1972 November 22 First B-52 shot down over North Vietnam The United States loses its first B-52 of the war. Thanks for your service, Sir. I then looked at myself to see if I was in one piece. by propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders of Attack Squadron 25 (VA-25). 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. There were pictures in the Tulsa World of the damage one of the ejection seats did to a womans newly-remodeled bathroom. The United States loses its first B-52 of the war. Cant really say I enjoyed reading your piece, although I could not stop reading. God Bless you F-4 drivers! It was people! I lost mine 5 years before I was released. The U.S records showing 5,607 helicopter losses[2]. me 500s. Final loss: C-7B 62-12584 (483d TAW) which crashed in SVN on 13 January 1971, all 4 crewmen survived. First loss: EC-121R 67-24193 (554th Reconnaissance Squadron, 553d RW) crashed 25 April 1969 on take-off in a thunderstorm from. 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. But I promise if youll just give me another one, Ill take much better care of it. He squeezed my hand so hard I thought he was going to break all the bones in it as he said with great gusto, I want you in one!, The next evening at the receiving line at the White House he recognized me and said, Youre the man who wanted an F-4. I said I was and he said, Youve got it!. This room was known, unaffectionately, by all who suffered there as the room with the green, bumpy walls. Seated on a small, wooden stool, the interrogation began in the usual way with, Name, rank, serial number and date of birth. When I refused to reply to any further questions except by repeating my name, rank, serial number and date of birth, my interrogating officer, in a most sinister way, and in a very convincing manner said, Crecca, you will die in Vietnam. In a matter of minutes I was bound with ropes. At least thats what I hoped. After licking their wounds, North Vietnamese pilots again began challenging American aviators in late April, but as the fighting intensified in May, it became apparent that they would not succeed. Barney. Always amazed how well you remembered the tap code. It was great to hear your story again. 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. Lt Cmdr Frederick P Crosby had been deployed on the Bon Homme Richard, an Essex-class aircraft carrier stationed off the Vietnam coast His planed crashed in 1965 in front of Pham Van Truong's. In the solitude of my tiny enclosure, staring unfocused at the floor, I said aloud, Todays the day, thinking this was the last day of my life. You softy, dont deserve the freedom which we veterans fought and died for! Steve Snyder's masterful book, Shot Down, does justice to the adventures of his father, pilot Howard Snyder, and the crew of the B-17 plane Susan Ruth. 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. 1850 Soviet General Fesenko, the main Soviet adviser to the North Vietnamese Air Force in 1972, recorded 34 MiG-21s destroyed in 1972. 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. He took off the next several days. Million-dollar wound some would call it through the knee, with the bones barely nicked. I recommend . In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes,[3] 5,607 helicopters[2] and 578 UAVs[1] ). 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. The cockpit pressure vessel was intact; incredibly, it had not been penetrated despite a direct hit by a Soviet SA-2 missile traveling at over Mach 2 with a 400 lb., high-explosive warhead! 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. We can only hope that the current and subsequent generations will take J.S. Number two is getting the shit shot out of him screaming on 272.7 and too late lead lights ABs as #2 blows up. I am also an Airforce veteran. I was always in awe of you guys flying the Phantom in the opressive heat and conditions of S.E. It is a raising of toasts every night in remembrance for what they did. 64 to 69. By 0900, my front-seater, 1stLt. Gordon Scotty Wilson and I were walking onto the north ramp to our weapons- and fuel-laden F-4C number 64-0755. Fritz came in with the rest of his nape and sent a SAM across the tree line like a horizontal Roman candle. Despite the excellent sound-sealing qualities of my helmet, their jabbering was extremely loud and intense. I was at a loss for words. Both Fire and Overheat lights were illuminated and all the amber and red indicators on the telelight panel by Scottys right knee were lit. I wondered what good it did to tell us there were guns, MiGs and SAMs everywhere. Just to the right of Scottys lifeless figure was the light-brown and white cloud characteristic of an SA-2 detonation! VS-41 at NAS North Island retained four of the borrowed Broncos to be used for training replacement pilots and maintenance personnel.
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