Vietnam Spring 2023

1966

TUNNEL RATS! OPERATION CRIMP,

AUSSIES AND AMERICANS BRAVED DEADLY UNDERGROUND MAZES

Paratrooper Rebellion

President Diem’s palace stormed by his own troops

Top Gun Dogfights

Fighter aces tangled over air and sea

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SPRING 2023

ON THE COVER

THE ENEMY BELOW THE EARTH

The Viet Cong created underground tunnel systems to ambush unsuspecting Australian and American soldiers. By William

6 Feedback

8 Intel New Memorial for Hmong Allies

14 Tactics

The VC “Hugging” Tactic

16 Arsenal M1911A1 .45 Automatic pistol

PARATROOPER REBELLION

President Ngo Dinh Diem was an inept leader. Elite South Vietnamese troops took action in 1960 to overthrow him.

18 Reflections

Last Miss America in Vietnam, G.I. Ingenuity

60 Media Digest

64 Hall of Valor

Major Peter Badcoe

“WE’RE

—See story, page 46

GONNA TAKE YOU HOME”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Operation Homecoming, a meticulously planned 1973 mission to bring American POWs back safely. By J. Keith Saliba

RELICS OF WAR

Photographer and adventurer Mark Watson documented shadows of war across the landscape while traveling the Ho Chi Minh Trail from Laos into Vietnam. By Zita Ballinger Fletcher

DAY OF DOGFIGHTS

A single day in the history of the Vietnam War stands out for its multiple fierce battles between ace fighter pilots.

“There’s a huge industry of recovering war scrap for money.”

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nicated with him over the radio frequently. We were always tuned to the tactical frequency of the unit we were supporting. We always knew the situation on the ground, and he told us directly where he wanted us to place our ordnance. Our gun runs exposed us to enemy fire, and we experienced many casualties ourselves. The Big Red One had many excellent battalion commanders who were easy to work for, but Dogface 6 had an ability to thank us and express his sincere appreciation in a way that made us always want to do more for him and his men. Dogface 6 deserves all the recognition he gets.

Turning Points

Nebraska

FEEDBACK

Regarding “The Day America Lost the War” [Winter 2023]: in about 1651 Father Alexandre de Rhodes, a Catholic missionary, developed Quoc Ngu, an alphabet using Roman characters and accent marks to convert more Vietnamese. Traditionally the Vietnamese used the Chinese writing system. France colonized “French Indochina” in the 19th century and reformed the local education system, imposing Quoc Ngu by decree early in the 20th century. We arrived in the mid-1950s trying to communicate with people utilizing a 17th-century version of French phonetic spelling! Examples are too numerous to mention. However, the mid-1960s prime minister’s name probably should have been spelled Win Cow Key but was spelled Nguyen Cao Ky. In the immortal words of Strother Martin, “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” How can anyone ascribe a date to this situation?

C. P. Hall, 1LT, Infantry, 3A3/506 101st ABN DIV (Air Mobile), 1969

Brookfield, Illinois

Regarding your article on the EB-66 [Winter 2023], you might have more accurately said the EB-66 was the Air Force’s only dedicated electronic warfare aircraft, but even that detracts from the Wild Weasels, although they did usually work in a hunter-killer formation. But the Air Force also had EC-130s, RC-135s, a few Constellations, the EC-47s out of ’Nam and later NKP, and even the infamous QU-22s. Other than that, good article. Aloha.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

I enjoyed reading the Hall of Valor feature about Gen. Richard Cavazos [Winter 2023]. I was a young warrant officer helicopter gunship pilot in Vietnam from June 1967 to June 1968 with the Rebels, the only organic helicopter gun platoon with the First Infantry Division whose primary mission was to support “troops in contact.” Cavazos was an LTC at that time. As commander of the 1/18th Infantry, we knew him as Dogface 6. We commu-

Your Winter 2023 issue was, as usual, stimulating and interesting. There was important new information on the death of a woman CIA agent (“CIA’s First Fallen”) and the enemy’s ingenious use of our Infantry’s radio traffic (“The Enemy Listened In”). “The Day America Lost the War” was so thought-provoking and thorough that I can’t begin to react to it all. The decisive event leading to the 1975 debacle may be the Supreme Court’s decision to allow publication of parts of the Pentagon Papers that Ellsberg stole to advance his “anti-war” agenda. Nixon feared that if information about his secret negotiations with communists “leaked,” negotiations would end and with them hopes for peace. Nixon’s paranoid response was to attempt to “plug leaks,” leading to Watergate and his resignation. Once he was gone, the communists had no fear, Saigon no support, and Indochina got 15 more years of warfare, genocide, poverty and oppression. A better question would be, “Who were the winners and losers in the Indochina Wars of 1940-90 and to what extent?” It’s amazing we did as well as we did. America and its leaders faced unprecedented and daunting problems, but America had reserves of hidden strength that the communists, and even we, did not understand. By 1980, our morale had recovered and we had the will to see the Cold War brought to a successful conclusion. In 1972, most of the world refused to stand by Saigon when it was attacked. In 2022, when Ukraine is attacked, most of the world supports the victim of aggression, not the aggressor. Thank you, keep up the good work. God Bless Vietnam and America.

Email your feedback on Vietnam magazine to Vietnam@historynet.com, subject line: Feedback. Please include city and state of residence.

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MEMORIAL TO REMEMBER AMERICA’S HMONG ALLIES

Anew memorial to honor the members of the Laotian Hmong community who fought and died for the U.S. in the Vietnam War is being planned for Westminster, Colo., a suburb of Denver. The National Lao-Hmong Memorial will commemorate the tens of thousands of ethnic Hmong in Laos recruited by the CIA who fought alongside the United States in its “Secret War” against communist North Vietnam from 19611975. The Hmong Special Guerrilla Group (SGU) first served as foot soldiers in the early 1960s as part of the U.S. effort to disrupt the flow of communist soldiers and arms along the Ho Chi Minh Trail into South Vietnam. In 1967, select SGU fighters trained under CIA guidance in Thailand as pilots on single-propeller T-28 fighter-bombers within the Royal Lao Air Force, flying as many as 10 missions a day and earning the respect of their American colleagues. Overall, more than 35,000 Hmong died in the war.

John O’Donnell of the National Lao-Hmong Memorial Foundation’s development office says the memorial is important to help educate Americans—and even today’s American Hmong community—of the sacrifices made by so many. “It can’t be understated…. [When] you bury 35,000 family, tribes-members, clan members—that needs to be acknowledged and that’s what we’re doing,” O’Donnell told Minnesota’s Fox9 News.

In 1975, the communists began exacting revenge on the Hmong, killing thousands trapped after the American withdrawal and sparking a Hmong exodus to refugee camps in Thailand— and a later global diaspora. Many settled in the United States, a country that nearly half a million ethnic Hmong now call home.

The National Lao-Hmong Memorial Foundation bought and restored a 1956 U.S. Navy T-28 in 2020 and has organized flight demonstrations

around the country to raise awareness and funds. The T-28, bedecked in the colors of the Hmong branch of the Royal Lao Air Force, will be placed in a position of honor at the center of the memorial, to be located in a park in Westminster, home to a significant Laotian Hmong community. Along with the thousands of Hmong soldiers and airmen who died in the Secret War, the memorial, designed by Ed Dwight, a Denver-based sculptor, aviator, and Vietnam veteran, will also pay tribute to the 727 Americans who fell in northern Laos. Anyone wishing to donate to the memorial can do so at the foundation’s website, nlhmf.org.

MIA Chinook Gunner Accounted For

On Oct. 26, 1971, U.S. Army Pfc. Thomas F. Green and nine others took off in a CH-47B Chinook helicopter, call sign Warrior 143, from Tuy Hoa, South Vietnam, on a supply mission to Cam Rahn Bay. The weather was expected to be bad en route, and the pilot was cautioned to stay in touch for weather updates.

Ninety minutes after Warrior 143 failed to arrive at its scheduled time in Cam Rahn, search and rescue was initiated. In the week that followed, debris and four bodies washed ashore near Nha Trang, directly along Warrior 143’s flight path. It was clear the Chinook has crashed into the South China Sea with the loss of all 10 on board.

Green, the Chinook’s door gunner, was not among the four bodies discovered. At the time of the accident, the 19-year-old from Ramona, California, was assigned to the 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group.

A possible crash site was discovered in 1974. After a number of unsuccessful salvage attempts over the decades, possible human remains were finally recovered in 2021. Using forensic and anthropological analyses, Green’s remains were positively identified a year later. Although the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency accounted for Green in August 2022, it only publicly announced its finding in January 2023 after having been able to fully brief the soldier’s family.

Green will be buried in his hometown of Ramona on Feb. 23, 2023.

SPRING ’67

The first day of The Monterey International Pop Festival opens with The Association, a Los Angeles-based musical group known for their intricate vocal harmonies. Fellow “Sunshine Pop” band The Mamas & the Papas—members John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Denny Doherty, shown above—close the three-day event on June 18. The festival launches Janis Joplin to stardom, and formally introduces Jimi Hendrix to America—who is welcomed onstage by Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones as the “most exciting performer [he had] ever heard.”

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (left) star in Bonnie and Clyde—with a distinct uptick in graphic violence, the film marks a shift in American cinema, influencing later directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and Quentin Tarantino.

McDonald’s Big Mac sandwich arrives after two previous launches had failed—during which it was referred to as the Blue Ribbon Burger and the Aristocrat. The successful launch began in Uniontown, Pa., and the burger became available nationally the following year. The memorable jingle “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” didn’t air until 1975 ...Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu are married at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The wedding is attended by a few select guests and was over in a mere eight minutes ...Muhammad Ali refuses draft induction and is arrested. Earlier he had scored poorly on a qualifying test—due to dyslexia— and was ineligible for the draft until 1967, when the Army lowered its entry standards. Ali was quoted as saying, “I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!” —Brian Walker

RELIC SPOTLIGHT

This bowl and spoon were among the few personal items that POWs taken captive by North Vietnam were allowed to keep. No forks or knives were given to the men. POWs were malnourished and deprived of food. The food they did receive was most often putrid and dirty. According to former POW Everett Alvarez, some examples of food served to prisoners included dead birds with feathers still on, chicken heads, animal hooves in drain water, and greens drawn from the river where locals disposed of wastewater. Needless to say, the POWs became ill, either vomiting from trying to eat the so-called food or from not eating it. Many POWs lost their lives as they were starved and subjected to torture.

Dear Mr. President,

On the occasion of the first assembly of the United Nations in London, I beg to congratulate you for the continuous and successful efforts your Government has been making to maintain Peace and Security all over the World.

As Peace is indivisible and as the Far East is being taken into especial consideration by your high Representative in China, General MARSHALL, I think it our duty to inform you on what is going on in our country and on what grave consequences for World Security the aggressive war inflicted upon us by the French may bring about.

WORDS FROM THE WAR

Many original official documents have been released to the public by the U.S. National Archives. Engaging with these documents firsthand allows us to see history unfiltered. The following is a Jan. 18, 1946, letter written by Ho Chi Minh to U.S. President Harry Truman.

As early as 1941, Vietnam has risen up against the Japanese fascists, and taken arms by the side of the Allies. After the Japanese surrendered to the Allies, a Provisional Government was set up to restore order and eradicate all fascist intentions in Vietnam. Supported by the whole nation, it carried out a democratic program, and succeeded in restoring order and discipline everywhere. Under very difficult circumstances, general elections for National Congress were organized and took place on January 6th 1946 throughout the land, including 9,000,000 electors of whom more than 90% went to the polls.

The French colonialists, on the contrary, surrendered to the Japanese as early as September 1941. For four years they wholeheartedly cooperated with the Japanese to fight against the Allies and to repress the Vietnamese population. On March 9th, 1945, five months before the Japanese were defeated, the French by a second surrender, lost all right and control over Indochina.

On September 23rd, 1945, while the New Vietnam Democratic Republic was making strenuous efforts to carry out her reconstruction program, the French launched a night attack on the

innocent population of Saigon, which was followed up by a systematically destructive and murderous warfare. Facts of looting, assassination of civilians, violence, indiscriminate bombing of non-strategical places by war planes, are reported everyday. Their intention is to invade the whole country and to reestablish their domination.

In the meanwhile, after the offer of interference voiced by Mr. VINCENT CARTER, Chairman of the Far-East Department, our people enthusiastically welcomed President TRUMAN’s address on October 28, 1945, in which he vigorously and concretely set forth the principles of self-determination and equality of status laid down in the Atlantic and San Francisco Charters.

Since that time, the French have tremendously increased their fighting forces. Millions of people will suffer, thousands will be killed and invaluable properties will be destroyed, unless the United States would step out to stop that bloodshed and unlawful aggression.

For this reason, on behalf of my people and Government, I respectfully request you to interfere for an immediate solution of the Vietnamese issue. The people of Vietnam earnestly hopes that the great American Republic would help us to conquer full independence and support us in our reconstruction work.

Thus, with the assistance of China and the United States, both in capital and technique, our Vietnam Republic will be able to bring her share in the building-up of World Peace and World Prosperity.

With respect, I am, dear President,

Yours truly,

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Dr. William M. Hammond, an influential historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, died Nov. 27, 2022, at age 79. Hammond’s official Army studies of the Vietnam War posited the view that rising casualty rates and poor execution of the war dimmed American public support for it, not exclusively negative media coverage—a view that rankled many in the military and political establishments. Born in California in 1943, Hammond earned a doctorate in history from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., in 1973 and joined the U.S. Army Center of Military History’s Vietnam branch in 1972. He produced several important reports during his 39-year tenure, eventually rising to chief of its General Histories Branch.

His two-volume study of Vietnam and the military’s relationship with the press, “Public Affairs: The Military and the Media,” published in 1989 and 1996, noted that increasingly negative coverage of the war mirrored declining public support but did not lead it. Some in the military and government worked to block the reports’ publications, citing the longstanding view that the media had sabotaged American backing of the war effort. While Hammond acknowledged the role the media played in publicizing polarizing events such as the My Lai massacre, he cited polls showing the increasing death rate as the principal cause of declining public support.

Staughton Lynd, left-wing lawyer, historian, and activist, whose controversial “fact-finding” trip to North Vietnam in 1965 propelled him into the public eye, died in Ohio on Nov. 17, 2022, five days shy of his 93rd birthday. A proud lifelong radical, Lynd graduated from Harvard University in 1951 before being drafted into the U.S. Army two years later. The pacifist and conscientious objector served as a noncombatant medic in Korea.

In the 1960s, Lynd became involved in the burgeoning civil rights and anti-war movements. He joined the history department faculty at Yale University in 1964 before serving in April 1965 as chair of the 200,000-strong “March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam,” organized by Tom Hayden’s Students for a Democratic Society. That fall, Lynd, Hayden, and Communist Party member Herbert Aptheker went to Hanoi on a 10-day trip to discuss the war with North Vietnamese officials. Upon his return, Lynd became a prominent visible voice for the anti-war movement. Denied tenure at Yale for his political activities, Lynd and his family moved to first Illinois and then Ohio, where he supported numerous leftwing grassroots causes.

Don Luce, an American aid worker and later journalist

in Vietnam whose anti-war sentiments and activities led some to say he was a primary cause of the loss of the war, died Nov. 17, 2022, in Niagara Falls, N.Y., at age 88. A Vermont native, Luce first lived in South Vietnam as a civilian aid worker in 1958, becoming fluent in Vietnamese and a strong advocate for its people. Initially a war supporter, he opposed the corrupt Ngo Dinh Diem government and came to believe that American intervention was hurting the Vietnamese. In 1970, he facilitated the visit of a congressional delegation and journalists to the South Vietnamese prison on Con Son, where he helped expose the existence of “tiger cages”—squalid and cramped cells where nearly 500 captured communist soldiers and political pris-

oners of the government were detained.

Luce was expelled from South Vietnam in 1971 but continued his activism, touring the United States in a minivan to speak against the war. The last U.S ambassador to South Vietnam, Graham Martin, told a Congressional subcommittee in 1976 that the collapse of the South Vietnamese government was primarily caused by the “multi-faceted activities of Mr. Don Luce.” After the war, Luce lived and worked in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Niagara Falls with his future husband in 1998.

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HOW COMMUNIST FORCES “HUGGED” U.S. UNITS IN BATTLE

Pitted against the combined arms capabilities of the U.S. military, the light infantry forces of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army developed a variety of tactics to minimize the destructive effects of American firepower. Staying close to or “hugging” American units in battle (also known as “grabbing or clinging to the enemy’s belt”), a tactic the Viet Minh employed in the First Indochina War, was arguably one of the most effective.

TACTICS

Gen. Nguyen Chi Thanh formalized the use of “hugging” tactics while serving as party secretary of the communist Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN) in 1965. Thanh, upon learning that a squad leader in a Viet Cong main-force regiment had shouted, “Grab the enemy’s belts to fight them,” while fighting the South Vietnamese, ordered all communist units to adopt the rallying cry as a slogan when fighting U.S. forces.

If their troops could move in quickly and engage at close range, Thanh and other communist leaders concluded, American commanders would not be able to call in air strikes or artillery fire without risking friendly casualties. “But in order to fight the Americans, you had to get close to them,” recalled one Viet Cong veteran. “You couldn’t fight them from a distance.” Close-quarters infantry fights between two otherwise evenly matched opponents thus offered the opportunity to win battles and kill Americans at an acceptable cost.

In a 1966 summary, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam acknowledged that “during attacks the NVA/VC used hugging tactics as a means of protecting themselves from Allied artillery and air strikes.” To counter this approach, some American units attempted to pull back from contact to allow for the delivery of close-in supporting fire. Senior Col. Hoang Cam witnessed the technique firsthand. Commanding the 9th Viet Cong Division at the time, Cam noted the Americans “usually tried to achieve separation between their forces and ours to provide a fire support zone in which their heavy fire support weapons could inflict casualties on their opponents.”

Lt. Col. George Shuffer’s 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry (1st Infantry Division) succeeded in doing exactly that at Ap Nha Mat in December 1965. As the lead elements of the battalion approached an enemy base camp north of the hamlet, a regiment from Cam’s 9th Viet Cong Division attacked the startled Americans. “The enemy, practicing his newly adopted ‘hugging tactics,’”

wrote Shuffer, “came out of his craftily fortified camp in force to meet us.” While his infantry unleashed a torrent of small-arms fire, keeping the Viet Cong back and preserving the space required to bring in supporting arms, Shuffer hammered the attackers with artillery, air strikes, and helicopter gunships. Later that afternoon, the Americans counterattacked and routed the enemy. Badly beaten, the Viet Cong withdrew, leaving some 300 dead behind. Shuffer suffered 39 killed.

More often than not, however, the enemy’s ability to “hug” U.S. units prevented the latter from leveraging all their available firepower. That failure to maintain tactical separation, for example, delayed the delivery of critical fire support at Landing Zone Albany in November 1965. Charging out of the grass and jungle surrounding the modest clearing, a composite battalion of the 66th NVA Regiment ambushed the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry (1st Cavalry Division Airmobile). Within minutes, a savage and close-quarters struggle—some of it hand-to-hand—engulfed the entire American column. An American fire support officer circling overhead in a helicopter recalled that he had artillery, gunships, and air support on hand to assist the embattled cavalrymen but “couldn’t do a damn thing” because of the intimate nature of the fighting. The cavalry battalion fought for over an hour before soldiers on the ground or in the air could bring any of that firepower to bear. When the battle finally ended, an estimated 151 Americans had been killed and 121 wounded—figures that added up to a casualty rate of nearly 70%. North Vietnamese losses, though almost certainly less than American estimates, were nevertheless significant.

Interestingly, Lt. Col. (later Maj. Gen.) George Smith Patton, son of the famed World War II commander, published an article in late 1965 highlighting the results of a questionnaire he had forwarded to dozens of American and Vietnamese servicemen, government officials, press, and other individuals who had either served in Vietnam or were in some way connected to the conflict. Patton inquired about the factors that motivated Viet Cong main-force soldiers and solicited comments on their “willingness to close with and destroy the enemy.” Addressing the question of close combat, one high-level American military adviser echoed an opinion shared by many of the respondents. “This willingness varies directly with the Viet Cong’s tactical chances of success,” the officer explained. “Viet Cong units will not normally close unless chances for success are in their favor.” V

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M1911A1 .45 CALIBER AUTOMATIC PISTOL

On July 18, 1966, Staff Sgt. John McGinty led the understrength 1st Platoon of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment against a regimental-sized North Vietnamese Army (NVA) force supported by mortar fire. The NVA hoped to overrun 3rd Battalion’s Landing Zone Crow to stop the battalion’s withdrawal following Phase I of Operation Hastings.

ARSENAL

It quickly became a chaotic, close-range fight. McGinty directed air strikes to within 50m of his position and called in final defensive artillery fire. He and 20 of his 32 Marines were wounded and his corpsman killed in the fighting. The enemy finally withdrew that evening. McGinty and his company commander, Capt. Robert J. Modrzejewski, received the Medal of Honor for their actions that day. Although air and artillery power turned the tide of battle, McGinty’s sidearm, the M1911A1, had delivered critical punching power during key moments in the hard fight.

Based on John Browning’s short-recoil operated, .38-caliber, self-loading (i.e. automatic) pistol of 1900, the M1911 gained its designation from the year the U.S. Army adopted it. Intended for closerange engagements in dense terrain, the Army ordered the caliber increased to .45 because the .38 round lacked the power to stop the assaults of Moro tribesmen during the Philippine-American War. It had a 7-round magazine in the grip. Many placed an eighth round in the firing chamber. Grip and manual safeties, sear disconnect, slide stop, and half-cock features were added in 1924 and this model was officially designated the M1911A1 in 1926. Approximately 7,028,690 have been produced to date, including the RIA M15 General Officer’s sidearms (1972-1981). There were only 1,004 GO model M15s ever produced. The M15 was a shortened version of the M1911A1. These were not newly produced but were all cut-down from carefully selected original M1911A1s, many from the National Match version. The M1911A1’s punching power is unchallenged, but its recoil necessitates training to fire accurately.

By 1969, the majority of M1911A1s were suffering from decades of heavy use. Congress ordered the Pentagon to choose a new standard military pistol. The Army selected the 9mm Beretta 92S1 in 1984. The M1911/1911A1 served as America’s basic military sidearm from 1911 to 1984. It remains so in the armed forces of over 40 nations today. More importantly, U.S. Special Operations Forces continue to use specialized versions of the venerated .45 to this day. V

Designation: M1911A1

Weight (loaded): 1.36kg/3lbs

Length (overall): 219mm/8.5”

Caliber: 0.45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol)

Barrel Length: 128mm/5.03”

Max. Rate of Fire: 25 rpm

Ammunition: 230 grain

Muzzle Velocity: 252mps/825fps

Effective Range: 25m/27.5yds

Max. Range: 150m/165yds

years at Ohio University, I joined Angel Flight, a women’s support group for the Air Force, and rose to the rank of [ROTC] Cadet Lt. Colonel. After being named Miss America, I approached pageant officials to adopt a platform for my year of service. I was motivated to support our military and suggested I lead a campaign among local and state Miss America participants to wear a pewter wristband inscribed with the name of a POW/MIA. I hoped media coverage would focus on supporting U.S. troops to counter the pervasive antiwar protests.

I discovered that my Miss America mission was as unpopular as the war. My appearances met with controversy, including: being burned in effigy, having objects thrown at me during parades, protests outside my hotel room, and death threats. I quickly learned that when you take a stand on an issue, you had better be prepared to defend it! I believe the Miss America title provided a platform to reinforce what is right and good about America and its people. The USO Tour was an opportunity to thank our troops for their service.

THE LAST MISS AMERICA IN VIETNAM REMEMBERING

AN EPIC JOURNEY

REFLECTIONS

I’ve always believed that “with time, all truth is revealed.” Fifty years have provided a time to remember, reflect, and reconsider my USO experiences touring Vietnam and Thailand for 21 days in August 1972. As Miss America 1972, I traveled the length and breadth of the United States, accumulating about 250,000 miles. When pageant officials invited me to headline a Miss America USO Tour to Southeast Asia, I enthusiastically accepted. Not only was this an opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream, but was also a significant way to conclude my year’s reign. My WWII Navy veteran father instilled in me the ideals of service and sacrifice. He once told me, “War forever changes you. Always honor and respect those who have served our country in the military!” I took dad’s words to heart. During my college

The Miss America Organization’s (MAO) director, George Cavalier, wrote and produced the show, “Something’s Coming On.” For the first time, MAO and USO decided to send two troupes: one to Vietnam and Thailand and another to Europe. We spent two weeks rehearsing and prerecording the show in New York City. We would perform live, but having the show’s music prerecorded meant we did not need live music. We could thus be transported by small aircraft or helicopters and reach remote areas where service members hadn’t seen American women in months. Our 21-day adventure began Aug. 6, 1972. I was joined by six 1971 state representatives: Miss Louisiana, Avis Ann Cochran; Miss Maine, Allyn Warner; Miss New Mexico, Michele Cornali; Miss South Carolina, Pam Inabinet; Miss Utah, Janis Gentry; Miss Virginia, Linda Jean Moyer, along with our traveling companion, Mrs. Irene Bryant. My mother flew in from Columbus, Ohio, to bid us farewell. Although visibly anxious about us traveling to a combat zone, she remained supportive and wished us well. As I departed, my mother handed me a travel diary and suggested I record each day’s activities. I recorded the locations visited, what we did, who we met, and my impressions.

Fifty years later, my journey began again when the travel diary emerged among other 1972 memorabilia. On Aug. 6, 2022, I transcribed what I wrote in my diary detailing Day 1: “‘en route’ New York City to San Francisco Interna-

tional Airport to Travis AFB to Elmendorf AFB (Anchorage, AK) to Tokyo, Japan, to Saigon, Vietnam.” Each day for 21 days, I sent the SE Asia Troupe ladies an email with that day’s diary transcription and pictures. Memories flooded back. They told me how that trip also impacted them for a lifetime—above all their visits to hospitals, mess halls, or lounges where we would “meet and greet” service members, sign autographs, take pictures, and listen to their stories and experiences.

One of the ladies recalled a difficult visit to the 95th Evac Hospital (China Beach), where we sat by the beds of wounded soldiers, many in critical condition. We held their hands, signed autographs, and tried to give them a glimmer of hope and a glimpse of home. One young soldier, a double amputee, told us he was to be married but didn’t know why his fiancée wanted to marry only half of a man! Recalling that visit, my colleague remarked, “I was so young and had never really traveled much. I remember thinking the fellows looked like just kids out of high school. I’ll never forget the look in their glazed eyes. It was as if their souls had been amputated!”

Reconnecting was a big part of this 50-year journey; making contact with the six troupe ladies was the priority. I also wanted to find service members who had been part of our support team and others we met. This sleuthing was no easy task. Making those connections was essential to verify my diary entries and help identify pictures. Finding our security officer, Lt. Joe Shogan, was a significant step. Joe revealed his assignment presented more risk than anticipated. He was concerned for our safety and questioned many locations on our itinerary. Joe’s instincts were realized Aug. 18 on a “Handshake Tour” near the Mekong Delta that included: Hau Nghia Province, Tan An (Long An Province), Ham Tam, Tay Ninh, Phu Cuong, and Xuan Loc, all of which had recently seen enemy action. No performances were scheduled in these very remote areas. There would simply be a “meet and greet” before we moved on. At our first stop in the Province of Hau Nghia, we were shown damage from a recent mortar attack and how the shrapnel tore through a colonel’s quarters and hit him. No one was there when we arrived in Tan An due to “contact” from “a major road being cut-off by the Viet Cong (VC).” Our next stop, Ham Tan, looked like a tropical paradise. Ironically, we were told that the surrounding mountains and dense jungle were favorite hiding places for the VC!

According to this transcript from my diary: “Off again, on our way to Xuan Loc. I was getting a bit sleepy, and the day seemed like it would never end. I closed my eyes to catch forty winks when suddenly our helicopter was diving down toward the water below! I was sitting in the gunner’s seat wearing headphones and heard something about a ‘Sammy?’ My first thought was that we had been hit and were going to crash. I offered a prayer to Jesus and a few ‘Hail Marys!’ It was strange, but for a brief moment, it crossed my mind, is this it? Will my legacy be the Miss America killed in Vietnam?…As the chopper stabilized and everyone regained their composure, I asked what had happened and was informed that the V.C. had launched a heat-seeking missile at our helicopter. Fortunately, our gunner saw the plume of smoke and immediately warned the pilot, who engaged in a diversionary maneuver. Once again, I am convinced about divine protection!”

We learned the importance of listening and following instructions, briefs, and orientations, especially when wearing helmets and flak jackets. While in the mountain area of Pleiku, there was a threat of incoming fire. I was washing my hair when suddenly my chaperone banged on the door and yelled for me to get out and get my gear on. In my zeal to follow orders, I climbed out of the shower dripping with water and suds, and hit the floor wearing my helmet and flak jacket, albeit nothing else!

Although we were based in Saigon, our tour took us near the DMZ to Phu Bai and Da Nang. In the Gulf of Tonkin we visited or entertained on the USS Midway, USS America, USS Hancock, and the destroyer Worden IV. In Vietnam, our tour took us to Gia Dinh, Corpus Christi Bay, Monkey Mountain, China Beach, Marble Mountains, Pleiku, Long Binh, Hau Nghia, Tan An, Ham Tan, Xuan Loc, Phu Cuong, Tay Ninh, Can Tho, Tan Son Nhut AB, and Saigon. On Aug. 25, we boarded a MAC (Military Airlift Command) flight en route to the USA via Clark AFB in the Philippines, Hawaii, Travis AFB, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, where a limo met us to transport the troupe back to Atlantic City, N.J. In two weeks, a new Miss America would be crowned, and we were to perform on the live broadcast for the pageant. According to my diary: “Thoughts swirl in my head as I contemplate the full ramifications of what these last 21-days represent. I must confess that what I experienced and witnessed on this tour differed from what I had expected. So many factors to consider, process, and interpret. It will be interesting to see how history handles the truths of the Vietnam War and this time in our American history!”

Before I went to Vietnam, I was naïve in believing the rhetoric and political spin that attempted to justify why we were there and what we hoped to accomplish. Being in Vietnam and Thailand opened my eyes. I experienced it firsthand and had been one-on-one with our military men and women, many of whom didn’t want to be there but fulfilled their duty. I heard the opinions of officers and high-ranking officials who debated if the war was “winnable.” I walked the streets of Saigon and

learned many Vietnamese considered it the “American War” and not the “Vietnam War,” while others shared their hopes that U.S. troop involvement would result in their country becoming “united, prosperous, and anti-communist.” It was a confusing and challenging time that ended with tragic and disappointing results in 1975 as an abrupt pull-out from Saigon occurred.

My experiences validated my father’s words about war changing people. For me, that change resulted in appreciation for the resiliency of the human spirit and a humble awareness of mortality. By retelling my story in this article and my forthcoming book, “The Last Miss America in Vietnam,” I hope to honor the brave men and women who served our country. Their commitment and sacrifices need to be dignified and remembered now and for future generations. God bless America!

G.I. Innovation at “Purple Heart Mountain”

I joined the Army on June 27, 1965, at age 17, two weeks after I graduated high school in Newport, Ky. I went through basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., and took AIT at Fort Dix, N.J., where I trained as heavy weapons infantry. I qualified with the M40 106mm jeep-mounted recoilless rifle, the M67 90mm recoilless rifle, and the 3.5-inch Bazooka rocket launcher.

I went through jump school at Fort Benning, Ga., and was sent to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. I went weekly to the captain’s office and asked to be sent to Vietnam, until finally I was called to his office and told that I would be going. I was first assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Wash. Once there I was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. My job was to be a gunner on the 106mm recoilless rifle.

We left in July 1966 for a 17-day trip on the USNS General Nelson M. Walker transport ship. After arriving in country, we spent about a month digging bunkers for our future base camp in the Pleiku area. Our first operation, Operation Seward, took place in the vicinity of Tuy Hoa. My 106mm recoilless rifle squad consisted of our squad leader, a Sgt. E5, a PFC driver, a Spec 4 assistant gunner, and myself, the gunner, then a Spec 4. Our first assignment was to guard engineers running a water purification plant on a river next to a bridge on Highway 1. Most of the area consisted of rice paddies. Over a mile away loomed a large mountain we soon named Purple Heart Mountain—our company had several soldiers killed on missions around that summit. In fact, one of my best friends was killed on Sept. 27, 1966.

Several weeks later, we were at the water purification site listening to the radio when we heard second platoon in a firefight. I looked through the scope on the 106 and could see Purple Heart Mountain. In the middle of the mountain, about two-thirds of the way up, I observed three Viet Cong coming out of a cave. The VC pulled a machine gun mounted on a wheeled cart, using this improvised device to shoot down at our soldiers while using the cave as a hiding place. When, eventually, helicopter gunships came and tried to take out the machine gun, the VC ran back into the cave only to

come back out after the helicopters left. Then jets were called; they also attempted to take out the machine gun, but the VC again hid inside the cave and came back out to fire at our soldiers after the jets left.

I told my squad sergeant I thought I could fire a 106 round into the cave. He got on the radio and I was given permission to try. The 106mm recoilless rifle is a flat-trajectory weapon and its main purpose is to engage tanks. In Vietnam, it was used to take out bunkers and even buildings. To fire a round into the cave, I had to elevate the recoilless rifle upward and fire the round in an arcing trajectory, more like an artillery piece. I could line the shot up perfectly vertically but had to guess horizontally. Once I had the shot lined up, we loaded a 35-pound white phosphorus round into the gun.

I fired the 106. Looking through the scope, I could see the round traveling in the air and watched it fly over the mountain. We reloaded another white phosphorous round. This time I cranked the gun down two clicks and fired the second round. I saw it fly through the air, and this time I saw it go directly in the cave. Observing for about 30 minutes, we saw that no one came out of the cave. A little while later, I saw soldiers from the second platoon on the mountain near the cave. The following day, I asked a guy from second platoon if they went into the cave and if I had taken out the VC machine gun crew. He said they could not go inside the cave due to the white phosphorous, but could smell the burnt hair and flesh. That was a very unusual way to use a 106 recoilless rifle, but it did the job.

In October we were moved to the jungles of the Central Highlands. Since there were no roads, I was assigned as a squad leader on the 81mm mortars. I did not like that job and soon volunteered to go out with the infantry as a forward observer for the mortars.

On Feb. 16, 1967, I was wounded while taking part in Operation Sam Houston in Kontum Province. After recovering from my wound, I taught basic trainees at Fort Knox. I was promoted to Staff Sgt. E6 while there. I served in the Army for three years. V

Jim Liles is a retired law enforcement officer who worked for the Covington Police Department in Kentucky for 27 years and spent four years running a four-county Drug Strike Force.

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THE ENEMY BELOW THE EARTH

THE “TUNNEL RATS” IN ACTION AT OPERATION CRIMP

The Viet Cong were well known for their devious jungle ambushes and cruelly ingenious booby traps. But one of the enemy’s deadliest—and stealthiest—techniques was to burrow in underground tunnels deep beneath the earth’s surface and launch attacks from the cover of dark and labyrinthine caverns. The Americans and their allies who took on the gruesome task of rooting out and defeating these hidden foes earned the humble but proud nickname of “tunnel rats.” Yet, in their first large-scale encounter with underground enemies at Cu Chi, the “tunnel rats” and their fellow soldiers were far from prepared for the horrifying dangers that lurked below them.

Operation Crimp, undertaken by U.S. and Australian forces in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, from Jan. 8-14, 1966, was the largest search and destroy action during the Vietnam War for its time. Maj. Gen. Jonathan O. Seaman, commander, 1st Infantry Division, was the overall allied leader. Combat units included 8,000 soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division, composed mainly of troops from the 1st Infantry Division’s 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 3rd Brigade. The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, operating as part of the 173rd, played a significant role in the operation. The mission, according to the After-Action Report written by Col. William D. Brodbeck, commander of 3rd Brigade, and staff member 2nd Lt. Leo J. Mercier, was to “strike at the very heart of the Viet Cong [VC] machine in Southern RVN [Republic of Vietnam], the notorious ‘Hobo Woods’ Region in Binh Duong Province, just West of the fabled ‘Iron Triangle’ believed to be the…headquarters of the Viet Cong Military Region 4” (within the area U.S. forces designated the III Corps Tactical Zone).

Unsuspecting U.S. and Australian forces would literally step onto a formidable tunnel network, which extended more than 150 miles from the outskirts of Saigon all the way to the Cambodian border. The communists

began digging these tunnels under the jungles of South Vietnam in the late 1940s while fighting the French. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, communist rebels used them to hide from the better equipped Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). They hollowed out hundreds of miles of subterranean passages throughout South Vietnam bit by bit and often by hand.

These tunnels were able to withstand most explosions—the soil contained clay and iron which created a cement-like binding agent. Young “volunteers” dug the tunnels in the monsoon season when the soil was soft. As soil dried, it remained stable without supports.

Communist soldiers used the underground caverns to house troops, store and transport supplies, and initiate surprise attacks. After launching savage attacks against U.S. and allied forces, these fighters would disappear at will into subterranean sanctuaries. Enemy troops spent most of their time underground in areas where heavy artillery shelling occurred. One U.S. report indicated that enemy tunnel systems contained “living quarters, kitchens, ordnance factories, hospitals, and bomb shelters. Some even had theaters and music halls.” The Cu Chi tunnels could house entire villages.

Operation Crimp’s search and destroy mission was one in a series of operations beginning after

the U.S. troop buildup in 1965. At first the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), commanded by Gen. William C. Westmoreland, followed a policy of building defensive positions around Saigon. Eventually the general convinced leaders in Washington to go on the offensive. He hoped search and destroy operations would force the enemy into conventional battles that would drain them of men and materiel.

Australia first sent advisers to Vietnam in 1963. In June 1965, they deployed 1,400 members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1/RAR), commanded by Lt. Col. Ivan “Lou” Brumfield. These forces, as well as New Zealand units, were placed under the operational control of U.S. Brig. Gen. Ellis W. Williamson of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The men of 1/RAR participated from the start in airmobile operations with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, using helicopters to ride into battle. They could quickly insert infantry and artillery wherever needed, while helicopters provided fire support, casualty evacuation, and resupply. The 1/RAR played a role in several operations in War Zone D, targeting communist bases in the so-called “Iron Triangle.” By Jan. 1, 1966, the Australians, now led by Lt. Col. Alex Preece, had become a respected part of the 173rd.

Plans called for Operation Crimp to begin on the heels of Operation Marauder with preparatory action to commence late on Jan. 7, 1966. The actual deployment of troops was to begin at 5:30 a.m. the following day. The Number 105 Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery was to provide artillery support. The engineers from No. 3 Field Troop, Royal Australian Engineers, and the M113 armored personnel carriers from the Prince of Wales’ Light Horse also provided support. Once artillery shelling and airstrikes ended, the 173rd was supposed to initiate an airmobile attack from both the north and west, while the 3rd Brigade sealed off the area to the south, in preparation for a sweep designed to force enemy combatants to flee east toward the Saigon River where they would be annihilated. The Aussies were to hold the brigade’s northern flank.

Subsequent historical reports stated that Crimp was intended to be “controlled by the 1st Infantry Division, which employed the 3rd Brigade to the south of the 173rd Brigade AO [area of operations]. Actions to be conducted within the 173rd AO were left to the discretion of Brig. Gen. Williamson to best accomplish the mission of driving into the ‘Ho Bo’ Woods region to destroy the headquarters of Military Region Four.”

Only hours before the attack, the 1/RAR’s Operations Officer, Maj. John Essex-Clarke, effected an aerial reconnaissance over their landing area. Observing a lack of ground cover, he speculated there might be an extensive VC defense position nearby. Commanders opted to land at a less exposed location. If they had decided to go ahead with their original plan, the Australian troops would have landed right on top of a hidden enemy position. The commander of the No. 3 Field Troop forces, Capt. (later Col.) Alexander Hugh “Sandy” MacGregor, later declared that the “decision almost cer-

tainly saved hundreds of Australian lives.”

Hidden in this dense jungle area of the Ho Bo Woods was the headquarters of the enemy’s Fourth Military Region directing hostile activities in and around Saigon. Throughout the planning stages, intelligence from allied moles, enemy prisoners, and aerial reconnaissance indicated that this vital enemy epicenter was somewhere within a 12-square-mile area of jungle and marshland. The communist base had four entrances, each protected by VC Regional Force troops. Planners believed that two VC Main Force battalions (5,000 men) were also in the region, made up of the C306 Local Force Company, 3rd Quyet Thang Battalion, and 7th Cu Chi Battalion. Yet the planners had no idea what ghastly surprises awaited their troops below ground.

Nothing seemed “off” at first as the battle began as intended. Concentrated artillery fire was followed by tactical air assets dropping napalm to defoliate the attack zone. The U.S. Air Force then flew B-52 Arc Light airstrikes which “caused considerable damage” to enemy defenses. Airmobile forces struck around 9:30 a.m. Col. Brodbeck’s 3rd Brigade landed on the northern, western, and southern ends of the battle area. Two more battalions landed southwest. The remainder arrived overland as part of a convoy. Some blocked the south end of the Ho Bo Woods. Others swept the area to their front. Enemy snipers and small units targeted these forces.

Along the northern perimeter, Australian troops disembarked at Landing Zone March about two miles south and west of the American

If they had decided to go ahead with their original plan, troops would have landed right on top of a hidden enemy position.

Deadly Underground Mazes

troops. The Aussies fought a

through a grisly maze of bunkers, punji stakes, and booby traps to reach their position. The VC had seeded the entire area with tripwires attached to artillery shells and grenades rigged in the undergrowth or hanging from tree branches. In addition to these hellish circumstances, the Australians were also misidentified by a U.S. helicopter that fired on them. Fortunately, they contacted the Americans and were able to avert total disaster.

The enemy fired from a nearby tree line as D Company, 1/RAR, commanded by Maj. Ian Fisher, approached the clearing that was originally supposed to have been their landing area. Six men of the 12th Platoon were wounded, including their commander Lt. James Bourke. Two medics attending the wounded were killed. Col. Preece ordered his remaining companies to circle the flanks of D Company to block the enemy and take up their planned position. They were also fired on. The enemy popped up from behind trees, ditches…and what proved to be hidden tunnel entrances.

Preece soon came to a terrifying realization—the Australians had stumbled onto a massive enemy defensive position located primarily underground. Sure enough, Maj. Ian McFarlane’s B Company soon pinpointed an underground enemy hospital. The subterranean nest was complete with medical supplies, rudimentary transfusion equipment, and important military documents. But the Australians had not touched on the true extent of

the underground labyrinth yet. Worse was yet to come.

The U.S. 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade was inserted at LZ April around noon, while the 2nd Battalion put down at LZ May at 2:30 p.m. With the deployment going as planned, the brigades marched eastward and converged at what operatives believed was the location of the communists’ Military Region Four headquarters. Despite an exhaustive search, they failed to find much of value. Leaders speculated that the enemy had fled in the face of the initial allied advance. As it turned out, the 7th Cu Chi Battalion had withdrawn north and the 3rd Quyet Thang Battalion to the east. To the south, the 3rd Infantry Brigade moved slowly as the enemy staged numerous hitand-run ambushes to distract the Americans from their secret underground mazes.

Nightfall approached. Concerned about an ambush, Preece drew his units into a tight perim-

Underground

eter. Soon, the Australians detected movement along C Company’s perimeter. A squad of VC was trying to infiltrate their position. At first, sentries thought it was one of their own patrols, and as a result Australian machine gunners did not open fire until the last second. One infiltrator was killed and the others fled. Similar events continued throughout the night. Undetected communist forces seemingly sprang up out of nowhere and appeared to vanish into thin air after withdrawing.

It soon became obvious to the Australians that these enemies were lurking below ground. Preece reasoned the entire area was honeycombed with tunnels, which the VC were using for rapid movement and concealment. Brodbeck and Preece concluded that the Australians were located in the very midst of the enemy forces. Several minor firefights erupted the next morning—but 1/RAR decided not to use their machine guns to avoid revealing their positions in the dark or hitting friendly troops. They resorted to throwing grenades forward of the perimeter.

Searches of the tunnels began on Jan. 9. The aim was to destroy enemy stashes and soldiers and to demolish as many tunnels as possible. A stalwart group of soldiers known as “tunnel rats” would crawl through the caverns to eliminate enemy combatants and destroy their safe havens. The soldiers assigned to search the Cu Chi tunnels described them

as “eerie and dark” and having a “black echo.” Many of these secret passageways were accessible only via claustrophobic crawlspaces protected by booby traps.

While Australian teams were originally called “ferrets,” eventually anyone brave or crazy enough to perform such duties became a “tunnel rat.” These resilient men entered the tunnels through extremely tight openings. Equipped with pistols, grenades, and flashlights, they crept into cave areas where few, even if they had been able to fit inside, would dare to go. Out of necessity, the tunnel rats tended to be smaller and thinner men with nerves of steel. Once inside the main passageways, they would often plant explosives to destroy the tunnels—suffocating the Viet Cong and sealing them inside their pitch-dark

The Americans and the Australians took different approaches to “tunnel rat” work. Based on tactics derived from World War II, Americans of-

ten either sealed, blew up, or poured smoke, tear gas, or napalm into the tunnels to render them unusable. The Australians instead tended to have their military engineers search and map the tunnel complexes they located.

Capt. MacGregor led the Australian sappers of the No. 3 Field Troop in systematically exploring and clearing the tunnels in their area. They employed telephone lines and compasses to traverse the subterranean passages. The tangled web of tunnels was replete with command, control, and communications nodes as well as medical and living facilities. The enemy sited weapons in larger spaces connecting the tunnels on opposite sides to destroy intruders with crossfire. Some tunnels were 500 yards long. The passageways formed mazes with several ancillary tunnels jutting off from the main passageways. In some places, the shafts were one, two, and even three levels deep. One report described the tunnel network “as so extensive they could house 5,000 men, some of whom lived underground, on and off, for as many as six months at a time.” On seeing the tunnels, one U.S. soldier said they were like “the New York subway.”

Over the next few days, Australians seized 59 crew-served weapons, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, 100 fragmentation grenades, one 57mm recoilless rifle, explosives, clothing, and medical supplies. They reported 11 VC killed. Night engagements continued as the enemy sought to avoid a set piece battle. Five more communists were killed just outside their perimeter. Americans supported by Australians from the Prince of Wales’ Light Horse engaged numerous enemy units, at one point confronting a sizeable enemy force in trenches to their front. Afterward, they found 16 bodies and evidence of 60 more killed. For his courage and daring, MacGregor later received the Military Cross.

As the 3rd Brigade explored one tunnel complex, they engaged in a fight marked by intense hand-to-hand combat. According to Patricia Sullivan’s

2008 Washington Post article on the campaign, Lt. Col. Robert Haldane, commander of the 28th Infantry’s battalion in this action, rushed an enemy position while under heavy fire armed only with a pistol in order to give first aid to a number of wounded soldiers. His bravery inspired his men not only to save their companions but to accomplish their objective. Haldane later received the Silver Star.

On Jan. 11, soon after the 3rd Brigade resumed their advance, Stewart Green, a lean 130-pound sergeant of the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, inadvertently sat down on a nail. Not only did this cause a nasty shock and painful wound, but the nail actually proved to be the opening to a trap door leading into an enemy tunnel. Smarting from his wound, Green volunteered to crawl through the opening to get underground and investigate. He and a squad equipped with flashlights, pistols, and a field telephone crept down nearly a mile into the network of caverns. Eventually they came upon an underground dispensary with 30 Viet Cong inside. A firefight ensued below the earth. Some of the startled enemy scurried out of an escape hatch. Others fired on the intruders. Wearing gas masks, the Americans hurled teargas grenades at the enemy and began fighting their way back to the tunnel entrance in what must have been a truly hellish underground engagement.

At one point, Green heroically crawled back to save a comrade. Once he had him in tow, both

Eventually they came upon an underground dispensary with 30 Viet Cong inside. A firefight ensued below the earth.

clawed their way out of the tunnel. When Green reported what happened to his superiors, they decided to use a smoke machine to blow smoke into the tunnel system. The ploy worked. The rising smoke exposed several tunnel entrances, various underground levels, and several bunkers. The Americans were stunned by the vast expanse of the network.

Top: A soldier inspects the remnants of a VC underground campfire in 1967. Below: A “tunnel rat” is hoisted from a VC tunnel to safety by his comrades in 1967. Men who chose to serve as “tunnel rats” endured unimaginable dangers.

Tragedy struck on the afternoon of the 12th. An Australian engineer became wedged in a trap door between two underground rooms. Although they tried desperately, his comrades could not pry him loose. He suffocated to death from a combination of tear gas and carbon monoxide when he removed his respirator in his struggle to get free. The gruesome manner of his death and the failed rescue attempts left a pall of grief over the operation. As casualties mounted, leaders took fewer risks. Instead of making further attempts to map tunnel networks, the Aussies began changing tactics—whenever they came upon VC who refused to surrender, the Australians would extricate themselves from the tunnel, blow it up, and seal the enemy below.

On Jan. 14, 1st Infantry Division commander Seaman realized they lacked the resources and manpower to totally explore and destroy the entire tunnel complex. Six days after Operation Crimp commenced, allied forces withdrew and the operation ended. The Australians alone had unearthed an excess of 10 miles of tunnels and captured more than 100,000 pages of documents revealing the enemy’s operational structure and the identity of agents operating throughout South Vietnam. They seized 90 heavy weapons and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition. They suffered eight killed and 30 wounded, while the American units had 14 killed and 76 wounded. Many of the men had been killed by booby traps.

The operational history reported enemy casualties at “128 confirmed killed, and another 190 probably killed, as well as 92 captured and another 509 suspects detained.” Many more enemy personnel probably died in the caverns and remain lost to history. American officials later asserted that the enemy’s Fourth Military Region HQ had been destroyed.

This was the first American engagement fought at divisional level and, despite significant casualties, most leaders viewed it as a success. Official accounts declared the operation a success not only because of the damage inflicted but also by the intelligence data seized. One report described it as “the first allied strategic intelligence victory of the war.” The report concluded: “On D+6 the 173rd Airborne Brigade terminated Operation ‘Crimp’ in the Ho Bo region and redeployed all units to the Brigade Base at Bien Hoa by the combination of helicopter lift and motor convoy.” Brodbeck described the results as “excellent” and declared that the “tactical elements of the Brigade did an outstanding job during this operation,” with “ground and air mobility being used very effectively to keep the VC off balance.”

However, in retrospect, it proved a partial victory. The allies had been unable to engage the enemy in a conventional battle and were unprepared and ill-equipped to deal with the discovery of the tunnels. Strategically, while the VC suffered significant losses, the allies had only partially cleared the battle zone. Yet Operation Crimp staggered the communists, so much so that Hanoi chastised its forces “to avoid being surprised like this again.”

The tunnels continued to act as a vital enemy transit and supply base, which they used to attack Saigon during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Within the three years following Operation Crimp, additional operations sought to eradicate the Cu Chi tunnel complex, with limited success. In 1969-1970, as part of a general air offensive, the Air Force initiated B-52 attacks that

dropped delayed-fuse bombs which penetrated deep into the earth prior to exploding. This chewed giant holes in the ground where the tunnel complex had been and crippled them.

The labyrinth had taken years to destroy. Perhaps Gen. Westmoreland best explained why when he later said, “No one has ever demonstrated more ability to hide his installations than the Viet Cong; they were human moles.” During the Vietnam War, allied “tunnel rats” and “ferrets” would continue to develop effective ways to neutralize tunnels as enemy havens. V

Dr. William P. Head is the Chief of the 78th Air Base Wing Office of History at Robins Air Force Base. He is the author of 21 books and numerous articles about air power and the Vietnam War.

Young people taking part in the attempted rebellion against Ngo Dinh Diem’s rule in November 1960 scatter in the streets of Saigon, dropping their bicycles as gunfire erupts. As a leader, Diem was unpopular due to corruption and crackdowns on dissent.

PARATROOPER REBELLION

SOUTH VIETNAM’S PRESIDENT DIEM RULED WITH AN IRON FIST. IN 1960, AIRBORNE TROOPS RAIDED HIS PALACE TO TOPPLE HIM FROM POWER

The Geneva Accords, signed on July 20, 1954, ended the Indochina War. The Accords established a demarcation line along the 17th parallel, dividing Vietnam into two political entities: the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the State of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Partition was intended as a temporary expedient pending elections in July 1956 to determine if both populations wanted unification. South Vietnam’s prime minister, Ngo Dinh Diem, a hardline Catholic, fervent nationalist, and committed anti-communist, was immediately faced with domestic turmoil caused by armed militias threatening the new government. However, the fledgling army had four battalions of well-trained, well-disciplined paratroopers who helped defeat the most dangerous private army, establishing Diem as the undisputed leader of South Vietnam.

Disregarding the mandate for joint elections, the prime minister organized a countrywide referendum where it appeared that the voters had overwhelmingly opted for their own nation, the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), with Diem as president. His rule proved autocratic and nepotistic. His brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, was his chief adviser. Other family members held positions of authority.

By 1960, there was great dissatisfaction among prominent civilians and military officers over Diem’s failure to grant more individual freedoms and be more proactive combating the growing communist insurgency. On Nov. 11, 1960, the same paratroopers who contributed to the restoration of order

at independence turned on the president and attempted a coup d’etat. This marked the first open rebellion in the country’s six-year history.

Developing a viable military was one of many challenges facing South Vietnam. The national army, a legacy of French colonial misrule, was a heterogeneous assortment of separate battalions and companies. Few leaders were groomed for high command because the French had dragged their feet putting Vietnamese officers into leadership positions.

Airborne battalions were the exception. During the Indochina War, the overextended French Far East Expeditionary Corps used indigenous troops to augment their forces. In 1951, the 1st Vietnamese Colonial Parachute Battalion was formed, becoming the first of five airborne battalions manned entirely by Vietnamese soldiers. French officers occupied key jobs while promising Vietnamese were given responsibilities as combat platoon leaders and company commanders.

After independence, four airborne battalions— the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th—were organized into the Airborne Group and moved to Tan Son Nhut Air Base on the northern outskirts of Saigon. All the paratroopers were volunteers. Many had served in combat against the Viet Minh, Ho Chi Minh’s troops. The 5th Vietnamese Airborne Battalion, a former colonial parachute battalion, saw extensive action. Most notably, the unit parachuted into surrounded Dien Bien Phu and fought there until May 7, 1954, when the garrison fell.

The Airborne Group’s combat experience was soon tested. The Binh Xuyen, a gangster organization controlling the police, gambling, and prostitution in Saigon, chafed under restrictions imposed by Diem. Its base was in Cholon, the Chinese quarter of the capital, and its heavily armed paramilitary forces numbered several thousand. On April 27, 1955, skirmishing broke out between Diem’s paratroopers and the Binh Xuyen. The next day, hundreds of soldiers on both sides were killed in fighting that raged throughout Saigon. Cholon became a free-fire zone as mortars and artillery obliterated parts of the enclave, killing 500 civilians and leaving 20,000 homeless. This urban fighting became known as the Battle of Saigon. After a week of intense combat, the Airborne Group overran the Binh Xuyen’s main command post. Most militia troops were killed or captured while their leader, Le Van Vien, fled to Paris.

Diem was impressed with the Airborne Group. One paratrooper, Lt. Col. Nguyen Chanh Thi, especially distinguished himself. When the dust settled, Thi was promoted to colonel and given command of the Group. The prime minister, a bachelor, spoke affectionately of Col. Thi as his “son.” A CIA operative, George Carver, reported Thi was an excellent combat commander but a “blatant opportunist.” This assessment was remarkably prescient.

Diem’s victory over the Binh Xuyen did not go unnoticed in Washington. Heretofore, there were discussions as to whether Diem was the right man for the job.

Foremost among his critics was Gen. Joseph Lawton “Lightning Joe” Collins, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had appointed Collins as his emissary to South Vietnam in October 1954. Collins was adamant that Diem was not the leader the country needed. His reports to the State Department and Eisenhower castigated the prime minister as “a man in over his head.” Yet Diem had American advocates. Sen. Mike Mansfield and Rep. John F.

October 1960 parade for the republic’s anniversary.

Center: Reliable reports from the mid-1950s established Diem as a stubborn and nepotistic leader, yet Eisenhower continued to support him. Below: One of Diem’s soldiers guards a Binh Xuyen gangster amid 1955 street fighting. Diem subsequently cracked down on Buddhists and dissenters.

Kennedy countered Collins’ criticism. A turning point came when Diem defeated the Binh Xuyen; Eisenhower and his secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, concluded that Diem held Vietnam together when it was on the brink of civil war. The full weight of the U.S. administration now supported him.

Diem moved rapidly to strengthen his control and take advantage of American goodwill. In October 1955, a quickly organized referendum was held that established the Republic of Vietnam. His brother Ngo Dinh Nhu rigged the election, giving Diem a stunning victory with a 98.2 percent plurality—when ballots were counted, the new president received 200,000 more votes in Saigon than there were registered voters!

Such heavy-handed actions were troubling for Eisenhower. However, he wanted to portray Diem in a good light due to the anti-communist Cold War aims of the U.S. Official pronouncements extolled Diem’s accomplishments. “President Diem stands for the highest qualities of heroism and statesmanship,” declared Eisenhower during Diem’s 1957 visit to the United States. Life, the most influential magazine of the era, followed that lead and called Diem the “Tough Miracle Man of Vietnam.”

The acclaim Diem received in Washington carried little weight back in South Vietnam. A communist insurgency grew. Assassinations, kidnappings, and attacks on army outposts became commonplace. Many officers sensed that Diem and Nhu had a “business-as-usual” attitude toward this menace. Attempts to push the powerful brothers to be more proactive fell on deaf ears.

Communist activity was not the only problem facing Diem. Discord over restrictions on basic freedoms was on the rise. Nhu filled jails with political dissidents. His secret police shut down newspapers daring to criticize the government. Club-wielding thugs dealt with demonstrators brave enough to take to the streets.

Efforts by the U.S. ambassador, Elbridge Durbrow, to persuade Diem to be more liberal got nowhere. His authoritarian behavior and clampdowns rankled both influential citizens and military leaders. Governmental intransigence was the catalyst for plotting against the Ngo family.

However, money still flowed in from Washington. Much of it was used to expand the army and some earmarked for economic development was redirected to the military. The Airborne Group, a Diem favorite, received more than its share. Two more infantry battalions, the 7th and the 8th, and a 105mm artillery battalion were activated. On Dec. 1, 1959, the last vestige of French influence disappeared when the “Airborne Group” designation was dropped and the unit was named the Airborne Brigade, now with six infantry battalions.

In April 1960, 18 anti-communists, former cabinet ministers, dissenting Catholics, and leaders of several political parties published a letter listing grievances over the loss of civil liberties and recommending modest reforms. U.S. reporters called the document the Caravelle Manifesto because its contents were announced at a press conference at the Caravelle Hotel in downtown Saigon. The letter to the president was respectful and did not call for him to leave office. Diem simply ignored it. Vietnamese journalists, thoroughly intimidated, did the same.

Col. Nguyen Chanh Thi, commander of the Airborne Brigade, and his former deputy, Lt. Col. Vuong Van Dong, were persuaded military action was needed to coerce Diem to implement changes. Neither wanted the president removed. Yet they were adamant that Nhu and his wife, Madame Nhu—Diem’s sharp-tongued sister-in-law often referred to as “The Dragon Lady”—needed to leave the government.

Their discontent came to a head on Nov. 11, 1960, three days after the U.S. presidential election when Sen. John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon. CIA analysts thought that the timing of the coup attempt was directly linked to the election and that the rebels wanted to give JFK a more liberal administration to deal with.

Shortly after 3 a.m., automatic weapons fire and mortar explosions shattered Saigon’s nighttime quiet. Earlier the previous evening, Thi and Dong led three paratroop battalions, the 5th, 6th, and 7th, and two companies of marines into the city. Detachments took control of the Joint General Staff headquarters, the central police station, and the main telephone exchange while the bulk of the troops headed for their main ob-

jective, the presidential residence at Independence Palace. Diem narrowly escaped being killed when the paratroopers opened up suppressive fire with small arms and machine guns. Diem, Nhu, and Madame Nhu retreated to the safe room in the cellar equipped with communications gear, including radios and recently installed telephone lines not routed through the central exchange’s switchboard.

Around the palace, Diem’s outnumbered guards, about 30 men, stood their ground and inflicted casualties on the attackers. As the paratroopers launched their initial assault, the 5th Airborne Battalion commander was killed. A dozen airborne soldiers died and scores more were wounded.

The ferocity of the guards’ resistance surprised Thi and caused him to hesitate, although he possessed more than enough strength to destroy them. His hesitancy was a critical mistake. The initiative was lost and a time-consuming dialogue with the president began.

The pause allowed Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh, the acting head of the army, to slip into Independence Palace and serve as intermediary. Thi passed his demands through Khanh while Dong contacted Ambassador Durbrow, requesting American help. Although a frequent critic of the regime, Durbrow turned Dong down. In a call with Diem, the ambassador urged negotiations to avoid bloodshed. Diem was furious and viewed the response as tacit approval of Thi’s actions.

Rebuffed by the U.S. ambassador, Diem said he would listen to the insurgents. At the same time, he reached out to loyal commanders and requested their assistance. Being a talker, he could parlay extensively with his opponents and appear to accommodate them while his supporters organized efforts to aid him with force.

Paratroopers attempted to take matters into their own hands to remove Diem’s unpopular government. Top: A tank and a military vehicle block the entrance to Diem’s palace in Saigon during the Nov. 11, 1960, coup attempt. Below: A military vehicle blazes as violence unfolds in the streets of Saigon during the rebellion, which failed.

Two nearby loyalists immediately responded to Diem’s request. Col. Tran Van Khiem, commander of the 7th ARVN Division in the Mekong Delta, was a friend of the president’s family. He assembled his tank battalion and two infantry regiments for a move to Saigon. Col. Nguyen Van Thieu mobilized the 5th ARVN Division, stationed northeast of Saigon in Bien Hoa, and gave orders to march on the capital. Thieu would later rise to prominence as the president of South Vietnam from 1967-1975.

Diem haggled with Thi throughout the afternoon and evening of the 11th. He agreed to some points, including dismissing his current cabinet

and forming a more moderate government. He refused to sack his brother. The insurrectionists were delighted when Diem stated he would end press censorship, allow more free speech, and reduce economic restrictions. To buy additional time, the president promised to tape a speech highlighting the concessions. When it was completed at dawn, the insurgents rushed it to Radio Saigon.

Yet, as the president’s speech aired on the morning of the 12th, two infantry divisions, supported by tanks, converged on Independence Palace. They moved freely because Thi failed to block the routes leading into Saigon—a fatal error. The appearance of the 5th and 7th ARVN divisions caused senior officers, who stayed on the sidelines with a “wait-and-see” attitude, to declare their loyalty to Diem.

Fighting ensued as the newly arrived units attacked the paratroopers. Four hundred were killed in the melee. Many of the dead were innocent bystanders who came on the streets to see what was going on. By late afternoon, the remaining paratroopers surrendered and were herded back to their barracks.

As the situation crumbled, Thi, Dong, and their allies boarded a military aircraft and sought sanctuary in Cambodia. The abortive coup attempt was over and the Ngo family remained firmly in power.

Outsmarting the efforts of the paratroopers gave an extreme boost to Diem’s confidence. During the crisis he received advice from his brother and Madame Nhu that reinforced his perception of their indispensability and the preeminence of his family. Having triumphed over his adversaries, he promptly reneged on promises of reform and pun-

ished those who had sided with the paratroopers. The roundup included the signers of the Caravelle Manifesto.

Another lesson Diem promoted was that loyalty trumped all. Allegiance to the president, not the nation, became the primary attribute for army promotion and key assignments. He and his brother personally reviewed and approved every major military posting. Unfortunately, this policy prevailed after Diem was gone.

Diem carefully selected the new Airborne Brigade commander. He wisely chose Col. Cao Van Vien, considered Vietnam’s most gifted leader who remained loyal to the president throughout his tenure in office. Vien was almost shot because he would not participate in the Nov. 1-2, 1963, coup d’etat that overthrew Diem and led to his and his brother Nhu’s assassinations. Vien ultimately became a four-star general and Chairman of the Joint General Staff from 1965-1975.

The airborne battalions involved in the coup attempt were assigned new leaders and banished from their comfortable billets at Tan Son Nhut Air Base (to more spartan sites outside the capital). The 5th and 7th Airborne Battalions were moved to Bien Hoa. The 6th Airborne Battalion, the unit at the forefront of the insurrection, was sent to the seaside town of Vung Tau, 65 miles

from Saigon. Diem and his brother believed the distance would keep that battalion out of the capital’s political intrigues. U.S. advisers who later served with the 6th said “banishment” to a quiet, picturesque locale overlooking the South China Sea was hardly a punishment.

Lost in the turbulence of the waning days of 1960 was the December 20 activation of the National Liberation Front (NLF). After six years trying to unify the two Vietnams by political means, the Communist Party in North Vietnam decided violence was required to depose Diem and expel the Americans. After the paratrooper incident, the Politburo knew it was time to act. The NLF muted its communist ideology and ties to the north in order to recruit disillusioned southern nationalists. The new organization, collectively referred to as the Viet Cong by Americans, proved to be a serious problem for Diem, surpassing any rebellious activity stirred up by disgruntled paratroopers.

The rift between the United States and South Vietnam became palpable after Nov. 11, 1960.

Diem remained angry with Ambassador Durbrow for his “lack of support” and “meddling in local affairs.” Nhu even accused Durbrow and the CIA of collaborating with the rebels. The wound of distrust did not heal even after a new American ambassador arrived in Saigon.

Diem and Nhu fought any pressure for reforms from citizens as well as from the United States. Recriminations were the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface, the mishandled coup was a symptom of instability and unrest, overlooked in Washington as attention focused on the U.S. presidential transition.

Years later, the CIA’s George Carver reflected, “It [the paratrooper coup] was a fire bell warning which few noticed. Its not being heeded made probable, if not inevitable, much tragedy that was soon to follow.”

The tragedy cited by Carver unfolded sooner than Diem or Kennedy anticipated.

Notwithstanding dramatic increases in American economic and military aid, Diem was unable to make headway in combating the communists or generating more support for his government. The brothers’ obsession with ferreting out dissidents, real and imagined, became a growing malignancy that caused them to take more draconian measures.

Restrictions on religious freedoms led to the 1963 Buddhist crisis. Riots that began in May spread throughout South Vietnam, culminating in self-immolations by Buddhist monks. Photos

of a burning bonze circulated worldwide and caused the Kennedy administration to finally lose patience with Diem. It was the last straw for Americans. Vietnamese generals began plotting in earnest once they learned the United States would support a regime change.

Mistakes made by the paratroopers three years earlier were not repeated. On Nov. 1, 1963, troops commanded by Gen. Duong Van Minh stormed the president’s residence, now in the Gia Long Palace. Although the Airborne Brigade commander, Vien, refused to join the rebels, his subordinate leaders and their paratroop battalions actively participated in the coup. The commander of the 6th Airborne Battalion commandeered trucks in Vung Tau and moved the unit to Saigon where he led the attack on the barracks of the presidential guard.

Religious Strife

Religion played a key role in the fall of Diem’s regime. The majority of South Vietnam’s population was Buddhist. Diem belonged to a Catholic minority. Religious discrimination from Diem’s government brought on the Buddhist Crisis, which ultimately cost Diem the support of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

To Minh’s frustration, Diem and his brother escaped before the assault on the palace. After hiding in nearby Cholon, the Ngos surrendered the next day, assuming they would be sent into exile. Denied a ceremonial transfer of power, an infuriated Minh directed their execution. At the time of the assassinations of her husband and brother-in-law, Madame Nhu was traveling in the United States with her daughter. She and her children were exiled to Europe. In the end, Diem’s ouster and assassination solved nothing, since Minh and the military junta proved to be as inept at governing as their deceased predecessors. V

John Howard served in the U.S. Army for 28 years, retiring as a brigadier general. During the 1972 Easter Offensive, he was senior adviser with the 6th Airborne Battalion, one of the battalions involved with the 1960 coup attempt. His research for this article included interviews with former Vietnamese paratroopers, William Rust’s 1985 book, Kennedy in Vietnam, Seth Jacobs’ Cold War Mandarin, and Misalliance by Edward Miller.

Newly released POWs give a loud and relieved cheer as they fly away, homeward-bound, from Hanoi after years of enduring brutality and isolation in North Vietnamese captivity. Operation Homecoming was planned down to the last detail to bring the POWs back safely, and special focus was given to making their return journey as healthy and comforting as possible.

“WE’RE GONNA TAKE YOU HOME”

HOW OPERATION HOMECOMING WAS SPRUNG INTO ACTION TO REPATRIATE AMERICAN POWS

The column of buses groaned to a halt near the bomb-cragged hangar at Hanoi’s Gia Lam Airport just after noon on Feb. 12, 1973. The men inside were the first 116 American POWs slated for repatriation. Some 700 miles south, another 27 captives of the Viet Cong were scheduled for release at Loc Ninh, South Vietnam. At the head of the line, the first 20 U.S. servicemen sat in expectant silence. For the most part, these were the “Old Timers”—those held longest in North Vietnam’s notorious Hoa Lo prison, sardonically dubbed the “Hanoi Hilton” by inmates. As a matter of code and honor, the men of the “4th Allied POW Wing,” as they had named themselves, agreed that they would accept release only in the order of capture. In the front seat sat the Hilton’s first “guest,” Lt. j.g. Everett Alvarez Jr., 36, a Navy A-4 Skyhawk pilot who became the first American shot down over North Vietnam on Aug. 5, 1964. Beside him was Lt. Cmdr. Robert “Bob” Shumaker, the second-longest held among those assembled. Suddenly a great cheer went up among the men. Someone had spotted the silver and white visage of a C-141 Starlifter, tail emblazed with a medical red cross, coming in for a landing. After eight and a half years of dashed hopes, Alvarez allowed himself to truly believe that the time of his liberation was at hand.

Alvarez had been held captive by the Vietnamese longer than anyone except Army Special Forces Capt. Floyd “Jim” Thompson, captured by the Viet Cong after the O-1 Bird Dog spotter plane he was a passenger in (the pilot was killed) was shot down near Quang Tri, South Vietnam, some four months prior to Alvarez. Cruelly, Thompson’s “Freedom Day” would have to wait. Although he had finally been brought to Hoa Lo the day after the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam—better known as the Paris Peace Accords—was signed on Jan. 27, 1973, his release would not come until more than a month after this initial group. Kept separate from the Hilton long-timers, Thompson and others later speculated that the North Vietnamese had held him longer hoping that an improved diet would mask years of starvation and torture. Indeed, hundreds of other American prisoners of war like Alvarez,

Shumaker, and Thompson had suffered unimaginable degradation at the hands of their captors. As the big C-141—soon to be affectionately dubbed the “Hanoi Taxi”—rolled to a stop some 50 yards away, the trials and tribulations that this group of men had known as captives would soon end.

This moment was perhaps the most significant step in a years-long effort involving thousands of personnel from the federal government, Department of Defense, and all four military branches and the U.S. Coast Guard. As U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War deepened in 1966, officials realized the need to prepare for the eventual repatriation of the accompanying surge of American POWs. What followed was one of the most comprehensive and detailed operations of the war. Planners worked through nearly every detail of repatriation, from transportation, logistics, and personnel to every conceivable need and want of returning POWs. The goal was straightforward: no effort would be spared in ensuring the returnees’ physical, mental, and material well-being.

YEARS EARLIER, the Joint Chiefs labeled the burgeoning plan “Operation Egress Recap.” But outgoing Defense Secretary Mel vin Laird—who had waged a personal crusade on the POWs’ behalf since entering office in 1969—insisted the operation have a name more befitting its core ethos. To Laird, the “long-awaited repatriation of Americans captured in Southeast Asia deserved a more meaningful, more humanely engaging title.” On Jan. 8, 1973, he ordered that the operation henceforth be known as “Homecoming.”

According to the peace agreement, American POWs were to be released in increments directly linked to proportional withdrawals of remaining U.S. forces in Vietnam. Homecoming provided that each increment be repatriated in three phases. Phase I would see the return of POWs to U.S. control via flights from either Hanoi’s Gia Lam Airport, or from agreed-upon handover locations throughout Southeast Asia. The destination was to be Clark Air Base in

the Philippines. Clark had been chosen as the Joint Homecoming Reception Center for all returning POWs because of its proximity to Vietnam and its sprawling hospital facilities. The stay at Clark was to be intentionally brief, ideally no longer than 72 hours. The goal was to get the men home as quickly as safety allowed.

At Clark they would be met by male military service escorts specifically chosen for their similarity in rank, age, and interests to their matching returnee. Each escort was to build rapport with his man while shepherding him through all preliminary medical exams, intelligence debriefings, uniform fittings, career and financial counseling, calls home to family, and so on. The escort was to be the returnee’s “shadow,” even accompanying him to the dining facilities, base exchange, and to visit children at nearby schools—an excursion that became especially popular among those repatriated.

Once returnees were deemed fit for trans-Pacific travel, they would embark on Phase II flights to Travis Air

Force Base in California. From there, Phase III flights would deliver the men to nearly a dozen bases throughout the U.S., usually nearest their homes and families. They would then undergo more comprehensive medical and psychological testing and treatment, as well as thorough intelligence debriefs to help determine the status of remaining POWs or those listed as missing in action.

All that lay ahead as Alvarez and the others climbed off the buses and formed smart columns, two abreast. Nearby, Air Force Col. James R. Dennett, head of the 18-man Reception Support Team and top U.S. negotiator on the ground, worked with his North Vietnamese counterpart, Lt. Col. Nguyen Phuong, to finalize the turnover. Dennett and his team had flown in hours earlier on a C-130 Hercules from PACAF’s 374th Tactical Airlift Wing to facilitate the transfer. Accompanying Dennett’s team were 16 other crucial personnel, including a flight surgeon, several medical technicians, translators, photographers and public affairs specialists, and an airlift control crew. Also aboard was an AN/ MRC 108 mobile radio system and crew which, in conjunction with an HC-130 Hercules radio-relay platform orbiting just off the North Vietnamese coast, allowed for real-time communication between Gia Lam, Clark, CINCPAC headquarters in Hawaii, and even the National Military Command Center in Washington, D.C. The Hercules also provided air rescue coverage for the Phase I flights. Because information on the health and overall condition of POWs was virtually nonexistent, USAF Capt. Kenneth E. Green, Aeromedical Evacua-

tion Management Branch commander at Clark, came for a firsthand look to better plan for the medical equipment and specialists needed to bring the returnees home safely. Two civilians accompanied the recovery team: Dr. Roger Shields, 33, chair of the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Task Force, and 38-year-old Frank A. Sieverts, a State Department official specializing in POW affairs. Both men were instrumental in shaping and implementing U.S. repatriation policy for Operation Homecoming and beyond.

BACK AT GIA LAM, Alvarez and Shumaker led the way as the first column marched in good order toward the airport terminal. Gone were the ragged and filthy POW pajamas the men had worn for years. The returnees were now clothed in the identical, light-colored zippered jackets and dark trousers that the North Vietnamese had provided only a few days before. Many speculated that this, along with the improved diet and treatment afforded the POWs in recent months, was their captors’ attempt to mask years of cruelty and abuse. American and North Vietnamese officials gathered in front of the terminal around a white-covered table shaded by an old parachute canopy.

Each returnee stepped forward as a North Vietnamese official called his name. Alvarez incredulously noted that the roll-caller was none other than “the Rabbit” himself— a particularly ruthless interrogator and torturer given the derisive nickname by POWs due to his prominent ears and overbite. At first unaware of the Rabbit’s notorious history, Dennett later discovered the truth and moved to bar him from further repatriation cere-

monies. “[But] I was informed by our men that it would make no difference whatever,” he recalled. Since the men were thoroughly disciplined, they would not do anything to disrupt the proceedings.

Alvarez stepped forward and saluted the receiving officer, USAF Col. Al Lynn. Then, an Air Force sergeant from the C-130 took the Navy flyer gently by the arm. “C’mon, sir,” he said, softly. “We’re gonna take you home.”

Alvarez fought back a sob but maintained his composure as the sergeant led him past the gathered throng of international journalists. While not part of the original Homecoming plan, the practice of C-130 crewmembers personally escorting each returnee to his C-141 would become standard for all subsequent flights into Hanoi. The reporters called after Alvarez for comment, but he and the others had been ordered by their senior ranking officer to speak to no one other than U.S. representatives, lest an errant comment somehow endanger those still awaiting release.

The rest of the men then moved forward in turn, each dealing with overwhelming emotions in his own way. Held captive under terrible conditions for years, many limped from broken bones that had never properly healed. Yet the men nevertheless displayed a poise and military bearing that awed those who had come to take them home. Finally, three litter patients, too sick and hobbled to walk, were brought up by North Vietnamese bearers, with Americans taking over at midpoint to carry their brothers the final yards to the awaiting C-141.

INTERESTINGLY, there had been some controversy during planning over which aircraft would serve as the primary asset for

Homecoming flights. The Aeromedical Command argued that its C-9 Nightingales, well-appointed and purpose-built for medical transport, were ideal for the mission. But the Military Airlift Command’s C-141 eventually won out for several reasons. The big cargo jet’s remarkable 3,000mile flight range—about 1,000 more than the Nightingale’s—made the C-141 well-suited both for both Phase I and II flights. Another factor was the C-141’s cavernous cargo bay. This allowed crews to configure the aircraft as needed, optimizing for any passenger, crew, or equipment need. The C-141s were outfitted with seats and litters to accommodate each returnee’s preference. While the planes could carry many times the number, Homecoming officials limited each flight to no more than 40 returnees to maximize space and comfort.

Standard operating procedure provided for both primary and backup aircraft on each Phase I increment. For example, three C-141s had flown in to pick up this first group of 116 returnees, with a fourth orbiting just below the DMZ in case of trouble. Throughout Homecoming’s duration—Feb. 12 through April 4—C-141s would

Held captive under terrible conditions for years, many limped from broken bones that had never properly healed.

ferry some 567 returnees in 17 Phase I flights out of North Vietnam, while making 38 Phase II flights from Clark to Travis, bringing home 591 former POWs. Meanwhile, the 9th Aeromedical Evacuation Group’s C-9 fleet was tapped to handle all Phase I flights from areas outside North Vietnam. The C-9 would conduct four flights, picking up 27 former captives from Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, and another three released by China to officials in Hong Kong. Both C-141s and C-9s shared Phase III duty.

Back on the ground, Alvarez ascended the plane’s ramp and spied something he had not seen in nearly nine years—an American woman. He stood awestruck gazing at the “delicate apparition” before him of a beautiful blonde flight nurse in her early 30s wearing a form-fitting uniform. “Every slight movement she made was divine,” he later wrote.

While not aboard Alvarez’s plane, flight nurse Lt. Mikeline “Mickey” Mantel, then 25, says reactions like Alvarez’s were common—and welcome—during her service aboard four Phase I and II flights. “They just loved talking to us,” she says. “It wasn’t like they were trying to pick us up or flirt. It just felt good for them to talk to

another American—and a female. And we were so glad to be there for them.”

Nurses and medical techs escorted each returnee to his seat. The crew had brought aboard copies of Stars and Stripes and even a few Playboy magazines, along with electric razors, aftershave, and cloth hand towels. But on the food front, the men were to be disappointed. Homecoming dieticians were deeply concerned over the returnees’ digestive state after years of starvation diets and intestinal parasites. So they prescribed “Sustacal,” a rather bland high-protein drink, as the menu staple. “The first thing the men wanted when they got on board was something to eat,” recalled Capt. Green. “It was rather embarrassing to say all we have for you is Sustacal.” The onboard flight surgeon eventually relented, allowing nurses to give the men apples, chocolates, even ice-cold Cokes to tide them over. Still, the dieticians never changed the menu for subsequent flights, so medical crews resorted to smuggling aboard chocolate cake, salami, cheese, crackers, and so on.

Bland diet or no, the men were ecstatic as the engines revved for takeoff. Alvarez, with his liberation so close at last, prayed silently that there would be no breakdown. The C-141 rumbled over the rough runway as the pilot, Maj. James E. Marrott, poured on the power. All at once, the Starlifter’s wheels pulled free of the earth, and a tremendous roar went up among the returnees. The men cheered and laughed, backslapped and wept. After years of cruelty, mental and spiritual anguish, they were finally going home. But what world would await them? Their captors had for years fed them a steady diet of antiwar protests and propaganda—including news of Jane Fonda “manning” an antiaircraft gun in Hanoi. Their answer would not be long in coming.

ABOUT FOUR HOURS LATER, another raucous roar of hoots and howls exploded as the Hanoi Taxi’s wheels touched down at Clark. Alvarez later wrote that during the flight it was agreed that he, as the longest-held, would deplane first and say a few words. At some point, however, Alvarez contends that Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeremiah Denton, the senior ranking officer aboard, informed the junior officer that he, not Alvarez, would deplane first and speak.

When the moment came, Denton descended the ramp outside the C-141’s jump door and walked down the red carpet. Ironically, given Homecoming’s otherwise detailed planning, this item was procured at the last minute from the Inter Continental Hotel in Manila. Denton was

greeted by the thunderous cheers of thousands who had come to welcome the men home. The senior ranking officer on the second flight that day, USAF Lt. Col. James Robinson “Robbie” Risner, a legend among the POWs for his years of bravery and leadership, said he and his men were overwhelmed. “The sincerity and feelings in the welcome were beyond anything we had imagined,” he later wrote. “Some were crying, many waving flags; they were just like our family.”

Denton saluted and shook hands with CINCPAC Chief Admiral Noel Gayler and 13th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. William G. Moore. As TV cameras rolled, he stepped to the microphone. “We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances,” he said. “We are profoundly grateful to our commander-in-chief and to our nation for this day. God bless America!” At every stop of the returnees’ long journey home, whether midday or midnight, freezing or raining, massive crowds gave an outpouring of love, welcome, and gratitude for those who had sacrificed so much. The men had gotten their answer in spades.

As for Alvarez, he would indeed get his chance to speak. As he deplaned at Travis and walked his own stretch of carpet—red, white, and blue—he was

welcomed by Maj. Gen. John F. Gonge, commander of the 22nd Air Force, along with thousands who had come to cheer his homecoming. After nearly nine years in brutal captivity, Alvarez addressed the crowd and millions around the world. He spoke of faith, hope, and dreams through the long dark years. “We have come home,” he said. “God bless the president and God bless you, Mr. and Mrs. America. You did not forget us.” V

J. Keith Saliba is the author of the award-winning book Death in the Highlands: The Siege of Special Forces Camp Plei Me (Stackpole Books, 2020). His next book, In that Hour of Deliverance: Linebacker, Homecoming, and the End of America’s War in Vietnam, the story of the political and military efforts to free America’s POWs, publishes in January 2023.

RELICS OF WAR

A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY ACROSS VIETNAM WAR BATTLEGROUNDS

When Mark Watson and his partner Hana Black set off on a dream long-distance bicycling trip through Southeast Asia, they weren’t quite prepared for what they would find in Laos and Vietnam. Evidence of the Vietnam War was vividly apparent—in everything from the landscape to people’s farms, home decor, and innovations created from former weapons of war from decades past.

As a journalist, photographer, adventurer, and military history enthusiast, Watson is no stranger to harsh environments and former battlefields, but what he experienced on his journey caught him off guard. He was especially surprised by what he saw in Laos. “It’s remarkable how you can visit a place and be so blown away by what you’re seeing. As an adult who’s grown up reading books, watching the news and filling my mind with history, I could still go to a place like this in 2011 and witness something that’s far greater than anyone can imagine in terms of the impact it’s had on the land and people’s lives,” Watson told Vietnam magazine in an interview. “The country is so much living under the shadow of this carnage, and yet it’s not something you really hear about.”

Traveling from China into Laos, and from there into Vietnam, Cambodia, and eventually into Thailand, Watson rode along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and explored villages, noticing traces of UXO (unexploded ordnance) and documenting it in his photography. “It was an amazing adventure,” he said. “After I experienced this, I longed to go back, because there is just so much there to see.” V

These external fuel tanks in Laos were slung underneath aircraft and discarded into swamps and jungles when emptied. “These have been recovered and turned into canoes,” Watson said. “These are ubiquitous on the rivers, particularly in the poor regions of Laos.”

Relics of War

DA Children stand beside a personal “collection” of bombs outside their home in Laos. “There’s a huge industry of recovering war scrap for money. You’ve got all this steel sitting in the ground which has a value. So there’s a big incentive for poor local people to try and recover the stuff, defuse it and take it to scrapyards. It’s a massive industry. There’s just so much of it that people display it,” Watson said. B This cluster bomb canister in Laos has been used as a planter. “As well as people using this material for scrap metal, there’s also a burgeoning art scene where people are using bits of UXO and war scrap to make artwork like bracelets, necklaces, and pieces of art for the home,” said Watson. C War relics are displayed at the entrance to a business in Laos near the border with Vietnam. D “She’s holding what the locals call a ‘bombie’— which is a cluster bomb,” explained Watson. “That one’s been defused. There’s millions of these scattered through swamps, fields, and people’s tribal lands, right through northern and eastern Laos. This was a pretty remote village. They were surprised to see us, and very friendly.”

Watson added that the Ho Chi Minh Trail is extremely dangerous due to UXO. “You just don’t leave the road. It’s not worth the risk.” While farming, local people sometimes “hit these bombs accidentally, which blow up and take off a leg or an arm or kill people.”

Relics of War

GE Watson saw enormous craters such as this one in Laos everywhere. “Something very vivid in my memory is that, as we were going along the road, most of the jungle had been destroyed by bombing and napalm....There were massive bomb craters. You’d be riding along the road and there’d be three or four massive craters on either side. Seeing those was really quite horrifying.” F These cows in Laos wear bells formed from cluster bomb cylinders. G War relics have been repurposed for Laotian house stilts and a ladder. “The houses are elevated to help keep them cooler. This was something we saw cluster bomb cylinders used for a lot,” noted Watson. H Women on scooters whizz by a tank at a former Marine base at Con Thien in Vietnam. Watson describes the image as “a bit of a juxtaposition between history and modern life.” Across from the tank is a North Vietnamese military cemetery. “The way the story of the war has been told there is absolutely from the North Vietnamese perspective. There is strong propaganda there. It’s not a balanced story.” I A former runway at Khe Sanh, Vietnam, remains devoid of vegetation. “I’ve got a feeling that the use of defoliants there was so savage that nothing’s been able to grow there since,” said Watson.

“Since I was a boy I’ve had more than a passing interest in war history, so I was very aware of what took place in Vietnam during the war, but not so much in regard to Laos. I had no idea there was still so much evidence of what took place there during the ’60s and ’70s.”

DAY OF DOGFIGHTS

U.S. AND NORTH VIETNAMESE ACES CLASHED ON MAY 10, 1972

Among other responses to North Vietnam’s invasion of South Vietnam on March 30, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced on May 8 the full resumption of bombing North Vietnam’s supply centers and logistical routes. That same day, McDonnell F-4 Phantom IIs of both the U.S. Air Force and Navy battled Mikoyan-Gurevich fighters of the Vietnam People’s Air Force, which included their first encounter with Shenyang J-6s (Chinese license-built MiG-19s).

Escorting a strike on the Thac Ba hydroelectric plant, Maj. Barton P. Crews of the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, with Capt. Keith W. Jones Jr. serving as his weapons systems operator (WSO), got into a confused dogfight with J-6s of the 925th Fighter Regiment (FR) near Yen Bai airfield, during which he saw a yellow parachute and got subsequent confirmation from U.S. intelligence that the enemy fighter was down out of control. On the VPAF side, Nguyen Ngoc Tiep was credited with an F-4 while Nguyen Hong Son reportedly released his brake chute by mistake, then jettisoned his auxiliary fuel tanks and shot down another F-4 before landing. Neither VPAF claim has a corresponding American loss.

A more clear-cut victory that day was a MiG-21MF hit by one of two AIM-7E-2 Sparrow radar-guided air-to-air missiles launched by Maj. Robert A. Lodge and 1st Lt. Roger C. Locher of the 555th TFS, 432nd TRW. Its pilot, Vo Si Giap of the 921st FR, tried to force-land when he saw he was coming down on Thuong Trung Secondary School. He veered off and made for a water-filled ditch but crashed. Although he was rushed to Military Hospital 108 near Hanoi, he died of his injures on May 11. Elsewhere, escorting a strike on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, F-4J crewmen Lt. Randall H. Cunningham and Lt. j.g. William P. Driscoll Jr. of fighter squadron VF-96

of the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, after a difficult scrap with MiG-17s of the 923rd FR, hit one with an AIM-9G Sidewinder heat-seeking AAM and were credited with their second confirmed victory of the war. On May 9, the U.S. Navy carried out Operation Pocket Money. While a diversionary force of 17 aircraft from the carrier USS Kitty Hawk bombed the Nam Dinh railroad siding, another force of Navy and Marine planes from USS Coral Sea dropped 36 mines into Haiphong harbor.

These aerial skirmishes were just a prelude to the all-out bombing campaign called Operation Linebacker. It began in earnest on May 10, 1972, with both sides committing all their air assets in a sprawling succession of aerial duels.

May 10 also became a “day of aces.” The U.S. Navy’s Randy Cunningham and Willy Driscoll became the first American airmen to achieve ace status in the Vietnam War, while VPAF aces Dang Ngoc Nhu and Le Thanh Dao added one each to their scores. Two USAF aces-to-be, Capt. Richard Stephen Ritchie and his WSO, Capt. Charles Barbin DeBellevue, claimed their first successes. The Americans’ attack plan that day displayed the differences by

ences by which their two services approached Linebacker. The Navy sortied at 8:00 a.m. with the first of three Alpha (attack) strikes on various coastal installations, particularly Haiphong, launched at four-hour intervals from Constellation, Kitty Hawk, and Coral Sea.

Each carrier’s Alpha strike consisted of six Grumman A-6 Intruders, 10 Vought A-7 Corsair IIs, nine F-4Js flying escort, four other F-4Js assigned to suppress anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), and two “Iron Hand” A-7s disrupting the enemy’s surface-to-air missiles, or rather, the radar that guided the SAMs.

The Air Force’s main target was the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and involved one strike force in a two-pronged approach, starting at 9:20 a.m. Its components included a MiGCAP (combat air patrol) of four F-4Ds from the 555th TFS, with eight other Phantoms of the 8th TFW dropping metallic chaff to confuse North Vietnamese radar, while the strike force itself consisted of four more F-4s of the 555th TFS and four from the 13th TFS, five Republic F-105G “Wild Weasels” of the 17th TFS for SAM suppression, and 16 F-4Ds of the 8th TFW armed with precision guided munitions—four with electro-optically guided bombs and 12 with laser-guided bombs.

In addition to a new generation of high-tech bombing ordnance, some of the Phantoms were fitted with the new APX-81 Combat Tree, radar capable of reading North Vietnamese MiGs’ SRO-2 transponders out to 60 miles at all altitudes, giving them invaluable advance knowledge of the enemy’s movements. Also present in some USAF units was the F-4E, the first Phantom with a nose-mounted 20mm cannon to supplement its AAMs. By then, both services had been training their fighter pilots on how to most effectively engage MiGs through the Navy’s Top Gun and the Air Force’s Fighter Weapons School.

In comparison to the advances made in American weaponry, those in North Vietnam’s defenses were primarily modified SA-2 SAMs, backed by new missile launch vans with an optical guidance system as a backup in case the radar was jammed. These were still part of a long-standing triad strategy in which their ground control intercept (GCI) coordinated the SAMs, the MiG fighters, and the AAA to make the most of their performances at high, medium, and low altitudes, respectively—at least in theory. In practice, the three defensive elements overlapped on this occasion, resulting in confusion as to which weapon was engaging a particular American aircraft.

As far as aircraft were concerned, by February 1972 the VPAF had doubled its fighter force to 120, although only a quarter of it could be called state-ofthe-art. These were the MiG-21MFs delivered to the 921st Fighter Regiment based at Gia Lam and Bach Mai airfields, which passed on its older but still capable MiG-21PFMs to a new unit, the 927th FR at Phuc Yen and Noi Bai. Supplementing these were two types dating to the 1950s. The veteran 923rd FR, based at Kep, still used the MiG-17, a nimble but obsolescent subsonic fighter. Between 1968 and 1969 the 925th FR, based at Yen Bai, had received a total of 58 Chinese-built J-6s, Mach 1-capable but difficult to fly and so unpopular with their pilots that the VPAF avoided using them until Operation Linebacker made it necessary to commit all available resources.

As information about the Americans’ approach reached them, the North Vietnamese focused their defenses—including all four fighter regiments— on the area southeast of Hanoi, as well as Yen Bai airfield and the Thac Ba hydroelectric plant. At 8:30 a.m. the first American attacks took place around Haiphong, Pha Lai, Son Dong, Bac Ninh, and Luc Ngan. The first aerial clash occurred as two MiG-21MFs of the 921st FR, taking off from

Kep, were jumped by two F-4Js of Constellation’s VF-92, which made a supersonic pass down the runway, engaging the MiGs in a high-speed, low-altitude fight. Hit by a Sidewinder launched by Phantom crew Lt. Curt Dosé and Lt. Cmdr. James McDevitt, Nguyen Van Ngai’s MiG blew up. “There was no ejection,” Dosé reported. Dang Ngoc Nhu, an experienced pilot with three airplanes and three unmanned reconnaissance drones to his credit, evaded the Sidewinders until the Americans broke off their attack as two new MiG-21s flew through the fight. American intelligence reported that those fighters’ pilots were speaking Russian.

Nhu turned back after the fleeing Phantoms and claimed an R-3S missile hit on one. Dosé reported that: “We saw and evaded this missile which was fired at the lead F-4J.” Nhu’s second AAM failed to leave the right pylon and he disengaged, landing at Noi Bai to be credited with his seventh and final victory, although VF-92 recorded no F-4s lost in that fight. It was hardly the only such case that day.

The next clash involved the USAF as two MiGCAP flights of the 555th TFS entered North Vietnamese airspace at 9:20 a.m. At 9:45 “Oyster Flight,” led by Maj. Bob Lodge, engaged MiG21MFs of the 921st FR over Kep.

Piloting Oyster Flight 3 was Steve Ritchie, who had previously flown 95 missions in 1968 as a “Fast FAC” (forward air controller) out of Da Nang with the 480th and 489th Tactical Fighter Squadrons of the 366th TFW. After training in the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, he returned in January 1972, assigned to the “Triple Nickel” squadron at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base.

“Approaching our planned orbit some 25 to 30 miles west of Hanoi,” Ritchie said, “we stayed below 300 feet as planned and continued radio silence until we electronically spotted a flight of four MiG-21s in orbit northwest of Hanoi. Intelligence had predicted this situation, and our plan was to wait until the MiGs departed their holding pattern to attack our strike force as it approached from the southwest. We would then ‘pop up’ to meet the Soviet-built fighters. Right on schedule, the MiG-21s departed orbit, and we rolled out on a northerly heading, pointing our radar sensors skyward to achieve full system radar lock-ons at 15 miles. Our adrenaline surged as the battle developed at a closing rate of some 1,200 miles per hour. The computer for our Sparrow radar missile flashed that we were in range and as briefed, our first two jets—Oyster One with Bob Lodge and Roger Locher, and Oyster Two piloted by John Markle and Steve Eaves—fired head-on at

seven miles. Within seconds, fireballs and smoke trails filled the air, and debris was falling all around us. Two MiGs had been destroyed. Lodge and I, in Oyster One and Three, immediately turned our fighters as hard as possible to achieve rear-quarter positions on the remaining two MiGs. I locked on to the third MiG using the auto-acquisition switch on the left throttle and fired two Sparrows at a range of 6,000 feet. The second missile exploded under the fuselage of the North Vietnamese fighter and the pilot bailed out as his craft burst into flames at 15,000 feet above sea level.”

North Vietnamese accounts state that MiG-21MFs of the 921st FR, scrambling up from Kep at 9:44 a.m. were ambushed. Nguyen Cong Huy’s plane was damaged by an AIM-7 AAM, but managed to limp back to Noi Bai, though he was probably credited either to Lodge and Locher or to Capt. John D. Markle and Steve D. Eaves. The VPAF also claimed that Cao Son Khau, after downing an F-4, was hit by a missile—probably launched by Ritchie—and ejected, only to die of injuries shortly after.

“What a great day it was going to be—a perfectly planned, perfectly executed mission, resulting in four American victories,” Ritchie recalled. “But it was too good to be true.” Having scored his third victory, Lodge was positioning to attack the remaining MiG-21 when he was suddenly attacked from above and behind by a cannon-armed J-6. “Within seconds,” said Ritchie, “the Phantom burst into flames and rolled.”

Lodge was the weapons officer for the 432nd TRW and, concerned that the enemy might get technical information from him, had sworn, “I will not be captured.” Now, with his Phantom afire and out of control at 7,000 feet, he told his WSO, “You can bail out if you want to.” Locher

barely ejected in time, but Lodge rode the plane down.

The North Vietnamese credited Lodge and Locher to Nguyen Van Phuc, but the 925th FR did not emerge from the day’s fighting scot-free. After expending almost all his ammunition on a flight of American aircraft, Le Duc Oanh was hit by an AAM. Although he ejected, he slipped from his harness and fell to his death at the foot of La mountain. Nguyen Manh Tung was killed as he returned to Yen Bai when his J-6 ran out of fuel, overran the runway, flipped over, and exploded.

At 9:45 a.m. F-105G Wild Weasels engaged the SAMs and Phantoms dropped chaff along an 18-mile corridor, after which four-plane flights of F-4Ds attacked the Paul Doumer Bridge at Long Bien—without bringing it down. At 10:05 16 USAF F-4s, with eight escorts, heavily damaged Hanoi’s Yen Vien rail yard. As they made for home, an F-4E was shot down by a J-6 over Yen Bai, killing Capts. Jeffrey L. Harris and Dennis E. Wilkinson of the 58th TFS, 432nd TRW. The victor, Le Van Tuong, overran the Yen Bai runway and fatally crashed. Shortly after Harris and Wilkinson went down Le Van Tuong’s wingman, Nguyen Hong Son, was struck by a missile over La mountain, either by an Oyster Flight AAM or a North Vietnamese SAM— and, although he ejected, he later died of his injuries.

There was an additional coda to the Air Force’s dogfight. On June 1 Ritchie was flying near Yen Bai when he picked up a radio message: “Any U.S. Aircraft—this is Oyster-Zero-Zero-Bravo—over.” “We don’t have an Oyster call sign today,” Ritchie thought, “but then we realized, ‘My God, that’s Roger Locher!’ We answered, and Roger said: ‘Hey, guys, I’ve been down here a long time. Any chance of picking me up?’”

Although only five miles from the enemy airfield, Locher had somehow evaded capture. The next morning Gen. John W. Vogt Jr., commander of Air Forces in Vietnam and Thailand, canceled a bombing mission to Hanoi and committed 119 aircraft to cover the search and rescue operation that succeeded in extracting Locher by helicopter after a record 23 days in enemy territory.

F-4C Phantom II

Wingspan: 38 ft. 5 in., 27 ft. 6 in. folded

Length: 58 ft. 2 in.

Height: 16 ft. 6 in.

Weight: Empty 28,496 lbs; max. 58,000 lbs

Cruising Speed: 590 mph

Max. Speed: 1,400 mph

Power: Two General Electric J-79-GE-15s of 17,000 lbs. thrust each

Armament: Up to 16,000 lbs. of externally carried ordnance

MiG-21MF

Wingspan: 23 ft.

Length: 47 ft. 6 in.

Height: 13 ft.

Weight: Empty 11,400 lbs; max. 17,086 lbs.

Max. Speed: 1,352 mph

Power: One Tumansky

R-13F2S-300 turbojet of 14,320 lbs. thrust

Armament: Four R-3S infrared-seeking missiles, one GSh-23L twin-barrel cannon

At 12:19 p.m. the U.S. Navy returned as Constellation launched an Alpha strike on Hai Duong rail yard, followed at 12:30 by one from Coral Sea. They were greeted by 85mm AAA as well as two GCI-directed MiG21PFMs of the 927th FR, flown by Lts. Le Thanh Dao and Vu Van Hop. Le Thanh Dao, a veteran with one and one shared claim while serving in the 921st before being assigned to the 927th’s training cadre, described what ensued when they spotted two F-4s 10 kilometers north of Hai Duong:

“One of them turned left and passed under my MiG, while the other turned back and went into a climb. Hop turned sharply and got on the tail of the second F-4. He fired an R-3S missile. He wanted to fire his second but saw the first had hit its target and that the F-4 was already on fire. Hop shouted, ‘He’s burning!’ Because of heavy fire from our AA units he was ordered to land at Kep. Meanwhile, I was chasing another F-4, and fired my first missile when the range was about 1,500 [meters]. I wanted to launch my second missile but saw my target was also on fire. I broke off and dived to low level and returned to Kep.”

Le Thanh Dao was credited with what turned out to be an F-4J of Constellation’s VF-92, crewed by its executive officer, Cmdr. Harry Lee Blackburn Jr., and Lt. Stephen A. Rudloff. Both were captured. Rudloff was repatriated later, but the Vietnamese did not return Blackburn’s remains until April 10, 1986, never specifying how he died in captivity.

Vu Van Hop’s Phantom victory was credited as being crewed by Cunningham and Driscoll of VF-96. Although they took part in the mission, the duo was then part of the Alpha strike, not the MiGCAP, unable to take part in any dogfighting until they dropped their Rockeye bombs. Driscoll remembered seeing Blackburn and Rudloff go down and stated, “They rolled into the target right in front of us and flew into a nasty AAA

Left: Lt. Randy Cunningham and Lt. j.g. Willy Driscoll flew this F-4J, call sign “Showtime 100,” on May 10, when they “made ace” and were shot down. Right: North Vietnamese VPAF pilots discuss tactics before a newly delivered MiG-21MF in January 1972.

barrage coming off target.” It seems more likely that Hop thought his missile downed the F-4J of Lt. Rod Dilworth and Lt. j.g. Jerry Hill, who were hit in their right engine—again, they claimed, from 85mm AAA—and loitered just long enough to spot Blackburn’s and Rudloff’s parachutes, thinking it was the same kill. Cunningham, who witnessed Dilworth’s difficult retirement, noted: “On the way out, two MiG-21s made one pass at him and then let him go.” Though streaming fuel and jettisoning missiles to reach Constellation, Dilworth made an excellent single-engine deck landing, but his riddled Phantom was written off.

At 1:00 p.m. MiG-17s of the 923rd FR scrambled up from Kep to protect the bridgehead at Lai Vu and ran into Constellation’s strike force 15 kilometers from Hai Duong. Cunningham released his bombs about then, just in time to engage an oncoming MiG-17 while his wingmen, Lts. Brian Grant and Jerry Sullivan, fought another one. Loosing one of his Sidewinders at 2,500 feet distance, Cunningham saw his opponent explode. Still carrying ample fuel and missiles, he and Driscoll decided to try for another MiG.

Looking down, Cunningham saw eight MiG17s in a defensive circle with three Phantoms among them. One of the F-4s, crewed by VF-96’s executive officer, Cmdr. Dwight D. Timm, and Lt. James Fox, broke from the circle with three MiGs in attendance. Going to their rescue, Cunningham made out two “MiG-19s” and four MiG-21s above them, “just cruising along, keeping an eye on the fight below.” Finally getting a tone on the MiG-17 nearest Timm’s plane, Cunningham fired another Sidewinder, which Fox said “traveled the entire length of the MiG, blowing him up. The

pilot ejected right next to them.”

Then the four MiG-21s rolled in on the F-4s, but Cunningham evaded them and joined Timm in a race toward the coast. On the way, Cunningham spotted another MiG-17 and attacked it head-on—right into a barrage of 37mm and 23mm cannon fire. Cunningham pulled up into the vertical, expecting the MiG-17 pilot, whose plane dogfought more effectively in the horizontal plane, to quit while he was ahead. Instead, he found the MiG alongside him, canopy to canopy, matching his every maneuver in a series of climbs, dives, and scissor maneuvers. Cunningham thought, “He was flying [a] damn good airplane!”

Their speed bled down to 150 knots—more the MiG-17’s element than a Phantom’s—but at that point the MiG broke off and dived, undoubtedly low on fuel or ammunition. Cunningham pursued it, fired off one Sidewinder and saw the MiG erupt in flame. “He didn’t seem to go out of control,” Cunningham recalled, “but he flew straight down to the ground. He didn’t get out.”

Besides the three MiG-17s that made Cunningham and Driscoll the first American Vietnam War aces, two others were credited to VF-96’s Lts. Michael J. Connelly and Thomas J.J. Blonski, and one to Lt. Steven C. Shoemaker and Lt. j.g. Keith V. Crenshaw. A seventh MiG-17 was credited to a Phantom crew from Coral Sea’s VF-51, Lts. Kenneth L. Cannon and Roy A. Morris.

Information that has turned up from the VPAF mentions four MiG-17 pilots taking off from Kep. Ta Dong Trung missed an enemy plane. Nguyen Van Tho missed an A-7 and later engaged an F-4 until his ammunition gave out and he was hit by a missile, ejecting northwest of Tu Ky. Tra Van Kien was killed by Cunningham and Driscoll. The fourth pilot, Do Hang, ejected after his MiG was hit by two AAMs but was killed by 20mm gunfire as he parachuted down—by two Phantoms, claim the North Vietnamese, but more likely by their own ground fire, since Navy F-4Js didn’t mount guns.

After scoring their fifth MiG kill, Cunningham and Driscoll dodged two SAMs and fought their way through two attacking MiG-21s and more MiG-17s before finally reporting—and both maintaining to this day—that their Phantom fell victim to a SAM. “It was about 400 feet away

when it exploded,” Cunningham said, “and we had closer misses than that, so I wasn’t too concerned.” A minute later, the F-4 yawed violently and Cunningham saw that “the PC-1 hydraulic system was indicating zero, and the PC-2 and utility systems were fluctuating.” Struggling to maintain control, he managed to fly a critical 20 miles to clear the coast and get as far as possible over the Gulf of Tonkin before he and Driscoll had to “abandon ship.” “Our ejection went smoothly,” Cunningham said, “and we were picked up from the Gulf of Tonkin by Marine helos from the USS Okinawa!”

Le Thanh Dao survived the war with six victories to his credit. Vu Van Hop would not, being shot down on July 8 in one of two MiG-21PFMs credited to the soon-to-be USAF ace team of Steve Ritchie and Chuck DeBellevue. In a bizarre coincidence, Dang Ngoc Nhu was also killed on July 8, credited to Capts. Richard F. Hardy and Paul T. Lewinski of the 4th TFS, 366th TFW.

At 3:45 p.m. Constellation launched a third Alpha strike on the port of Hon Gai. At 3:55 Coral Sea’s aircraft attacked the railroad and highway bridge at Cam Pha, followed at 4:00 by Kitty Hawk’s last Alpha strike of the day. VF-92’s Curt Dosé, escorting an Iron Hand run, was pursued by two SAMs that passed close to his F-4J but failed to explode. Lieutenants John Anderson and Les Roy had a similar brush with SAMs, which also didn’t explode.

Thus ended one of the largest air battles, and certainly the most ferocious, of the Vietnam War. The Americans claimed 11 MiGs for the loss of six Phantoms, only two of which they acknowledged as air-to-air losses—both victims of 30mm cannon fire from obsolescent J-6s. The VPAF claimed four F-4s for the loss of three MiG-21s, anywhere from three to seven MiG-17s, and one J-6 in combat. However, despite their two aerial victories, more of the J-6s were lost in landing accidents, with at least three fatalities.

As both sides went over their after-action reports and pondered how to parlay lessons learned into revised tactics, plans were made for the next day’s missions. This was only the start of five months of further confrontations between North Vietnam’s defensive triad and the newest in American technology that distinguished Operation Linebacker. V

Soviet Pistols:

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE TO VIETNAM

MEDIA

Pistols, like swords in the past few centuries, have usually served more as symbols of authority for officers or senior noncommissioned officers than as serious weapons. They are, however, easier to conceal than rifles when indulging in urban guerrilla missions as the Viet Cong so often did. Although primitive pistols were among the products of the VC’s cottage industry of improvised weapons, they were relatively few and short-lived as thousands of handguns became readily available from the Soviet Union, China, or, occasionally, Warsaw Pact licensees.

Soviet Pistols, Leroy Thompson’s addition to Osprey’s “Weapon” series, does not focus on their use by the Vietnamese communists, but provides a detailed survey of the evolution of the Soviet handgun from its last revolver, the Belgian-designed Nagant M1895, through its successors,

Fedor V. Tokarev’s TT-30 and TT-33, followed during World War II by Nikolai F. Makarov’s equally effective PM and Igor Y. Stechkin’s postwar APS “machine pistol.” This is supplemented by evaluations of the foreign-made versions, such as the Chinese Type 51, a TT-33 copy whose lack of chrome-lined bores was a serious liability, given the corrosive ammunition it fired; the much-improved Type 54, 50,000 of which were exported to North Vietnam; and the relatively rare M20, “sterilized” without factory markings for clandestine shipment to the VC and other insurgent groups.

On the higher side of the quality scale is the East German Pistole M, a license-built Makarov that is widely regarded as the best of the type. Accompanying those prolific weapons are quicker glances at other less-produced Soviet and Warsaw Pact pistol designs, sound suppressors, spe-

cialized “assassination weapons,” and the dart-firing, underwater SPP-1, which lends a different meaning to the term “water pistol.”

The Makarov pistol is still in commercial production, but a good number of its predecessors

A Pilot’s Incredible Journey

If I had to come up with a single word that encapsulates Larry Duthie’s memoir, it would have to be “improbable.” That is definitely not a criticism of his very interesting and well-written account of his life before, during, and after his Vietnam War service—it’s just descriptive of the extremely unlikely twists and turns and unusual happenings that seemed to follow him throughout his life. He attended high school as a teenager while part of the tiny American community in pre-Vietnam War Saigon, became a commissioned naval aviator, joined the Navy as an enlisted sailor and—almost accidentally—qualified as a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier jet pilot. Shot down over Hanoi, he survived a difficult, highspeed ejection, was rescued, and dealt with PTSD demons by not only returning to Vietnam postwar but by actually revisiting the scene of his shoot-down and rescue. Larry Duthie’s life seems defined by astonishing experiences.

As it was advertised, I mistakenly assumed Return to Saigon was based merely on the historical accident that Duthie once lived for a time in Saigon prior to America’s “all-in” participation in the Vietnam War and coincidentally ended up serving as a Navy pilot during the war. When his memoir began recounting the circumstances of his amazing life experiences, I was hooked on the story. Memoir evolved into “page turner,” and I became engrossed in finding out what could possibly happen next to top what I had just read.

I enjoyed finding out things like: what was it like to be a teenager in Saigon in that era? How was it possible for a college dropout to man-

made their way to the United States as souvenirs of many soldiers’ tours of duty. With that in mind, Soviet Pistols might be a useful guide to putting those souvenirs in historical context.

age to get a Navy commission? What permitted a former undistinguished enlisted sailor to leapfrog over Naval Academy grads and seize a much-coveted slot as a carrier-qualified jet pilot? How does one land a jet on the heaving, yawning deck of an aircraft carrier steaming at sea in a pitch-black night? What does a combat pilot do to safely eject from his stricken aircraft when it is spewing smoke and fire after taking multiple hits from enemy anti-aircraft artillery and rapidly plummeting to earth? How does a pilot shot down over the heavily defended heart of the enemy’s country avoid being killed by angry peasants or taken prisoner by North Vietnamese soldiers while waiting for a “Jolly Green” rescue helicopter to pluck him safely from the shootdown site? And, what totally “improbable” twist of fate resulted in his Vietnamese guide, who led him decades later to visit the site north of Hanoi where he’d been shot down, turning out to be the sister of one of the AAA gunners that had shot him down? Duthie’s memoir recounts all those riveting experiences.

Vietnam magazine readers of this reviewer’s previous book reviews will recall that a recurring theme I emphasize is encouraging all veterans to

Return to Saigon: A Memoir

Naval aviator Larry Duthie went to high school in Saigon, was later shot down over North Vietnam but was rescued, and returned to the site of the shootdown many years later on a journey of healing and discovery.

record their experiences during the war—whether in books, articles, or simply in handwritten manuscripts that perhaps only family members will read. The main point is that—of the approximately 3 million servicemembers who served in-country during the war, in the skies overhead,

and on waterways and surrounding seas—each one had a unique experience which deserves to be taken down and preserved. Although it is unlikely that many accounts will be as incredible as Larry Duthie’s Vietnam adventures, they collectively represent the real history of the war written by those who actually fought it.

Saigon’s Last Stand

In a succinct but enlightening account, author Albert Grandolini illustrates the last days of South Vietnam in Target Saigon 1973-75, Vol. 4: The Final Collapse, April-May 1975. Relying on a vast array of Vietnamese sources, Grandolini provides a refreshing and rarely seen perspective of the end of the Vietnam War from both the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese viewpoints. Grandolini paints a clear and detailed picture of the higher strategy behind the war’s final battles from the standpoints of commanders on both sides, which is fascinating. Maps and many rarely seen images of Vietnamese troops illustrate the engaging and interesting narrative.

1975 Fall of Saigon. Details of the fighting at Xuan Loc are well worth reading about. The book also contains a very useful map illustrating the Fall of Saigon which helps readers to understand how events unfolded from a military perspective. In addition, the book also features many fine illustrations of Soviet and Chinese tanks and trucks used by North Vietnamese forces as well as a variety of aircraft, including planes and helicopters.

The highlight of the book, in this reviewer’s opinion, is Chapter 4: “Last Stand at Xuan Loc.” In it, Grandolini describes the truly courageous and tenacious last stand of troops led by Brig. Gen. Le Minh Dao, arguably one of the most talented and innovative South Vietnamese commanders, who kept communist forces at bay but would later be imprisoned for no less than 18 years by the communists in the wake of the

Grandolini also uses his research to illuminate facets of the South Vietnamese military experience that are overlooked by many people who write about the Vietnam War. “Most Western journalists portrayed ARVN officers as deserting their men in droves,” Grandolini writes, adding that, on the contrary, “most mid- and upper-level commanders in the field stayed with their men until the end.” He also adds that many officers and men “chose suicide rather than surrender.” The book is a must-have for any interested reader’s Vietnam War library.

MAJOR PETER BADCOE

VICTORIA CROSS / SILVER STAR WITH OAK LEAF CLUSTER

Nicknamed “The Galloping Major,” Peter Badcoe was one of only four Australian soldiers to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Vietnam War. Born in Malvern, South Australia, in 1934, he enlisted in the Australian Army in 1950. After graduating from Officer Cadet School in 1952, he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Royal Australian Artillery.

HALL OF VALOR

In June 1961 Badcoe was assigned to 103 Field Battery, serving a tour in the Federation of Malaya following the conclusion of the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency, during which Communist insurgents attempted to overthrow British colonial administration. In November 1962 he was sent from Malaya to South Vietnam for a week-long tour of temporary duty to observe operations against Viet Cong insurgents. Aggressively pursuing opportunities to gain combat experience, Badcoe spent five days in the field with an ARVN battalion in Quang Ngai Province and subsequently managed to join an airmobile operation with the ARVN 7th Division in the Mekong Delta.

In 1965 Badcoe branch-transferred to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. After his request for assignment to Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) was approved, he completed the adviser course at the Intelligence Centre at Mosman, New South Wales, and the Jungle Training Centre course in Canungra, Queensland. Arriving in South Vietnam in August 1966, Badcoe was assigned as a sub-sector adviser in Thua Thien Hue

Province on Vietnam’s central coast, where he was responsible for working with district-level Regional Forces and Popular Forces (RF/PF).

On Feb. 23, 1967, Badcoe was operating with an RF company in the Phu Thu District when he monitored a radio transmission reporting that a nearby American adviser had been killed and another was seriously wounded and pinned down. Going directly into the path of enemy fire, he moved across 600 meters of open ground to secure the wounded American. He then led a platoon-sized counterattack against the VC machine gun, personally killing the gunner.

Twelve days later on March 7, two VC battalions attacked the Quang Dien District headquarters. When the commander of the RF Reaction Company was killed, Badcoe moved to their position and assumed command. He led a counterattack that beat back the numerically superior VC. On April 7, 1967, Badcoe was the sector headquarters staff duty officer in Huong Tra District when reports came in that the ARVN 1st Division Reaction Company was pinned down under heavy fire near the hamlet of An Thuan. Badcoe and U.S. Army Sgt. Alberto Alvarado immediately got in a jeep and headed for the fight. The ARVN force was falling back as they arrived.

Badcoe rallied the South Vietnamese and led them in a counterattack. Crawling close to a VC machine gun, he made several attempts to take it out with hand grenades. At one point Alvarado had to pull him down out of the line of fire. When Badcoe rose one last time to lob a grenade, he was killed by enemy fire. However, the restored momentum of the ARVN attack ultimately managed to overrun the VC position.

Badcoe was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his combined actions of Feb. 23, March 7, and April 7, 1967. The United States awarded him the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, and the Air Medal. The Republic of Vietnam made Badcoe a Knight of the National Order of Vietnam, and awarded him the Cross of Gallantry with Palm, Gold Star, and Silver Star, and the Armed Forces Honor Medal 1st Class.

Badcoe was buried at the Terendak Garrison Cemetery in Malacca, Malaysia. In 2015 the Australian government repatriated the remains of 22 Australian soldiers from Malaysia, but Badcoe remains at Terendak at the wish of his family. The inscription on his special Victoria Cross headstone reads, “He lived and died a soldier.” V

Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. David T. Zabecki is Vietnam magazine’s editor emeritus.

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