Captain John Abbott, USN, was killed in action on or about 20 April 1966.

Captain Abbott served with honor and courage in three of our nation’s twentieth century wars: The Cold War, Korean War, and Vietnam War. He was captured by the North Vietnamese, 50 years ago on this date, died in captivity, and was returned to the United States in 1974. He is buried in the hallow grounds of Arlington.

Fifty years ago on this date the Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron 113 embarked in USS Kitty Hawk operating in the Gulf of Tonkin and participating in Operation Rolling Thunder, the United States air war against North Vietnam in support of South Vietnam, was mortally wounded while leading his squadron of A-4C Skyhawks against a bridge in Vinh Son, North Vietnam. The Commanding Officer, Commander John Abbott, a veteran of many combat missions during the Korean War, had just begun his command tour in VA-113, “The Stingers.” One of his officers, Tom Scott, said recently of Skipper Abbott: “…(he) was a combat leader in the squadron and a forward thinker, which became obvious to me and some others once he assumed command. I recall having several evening ‘brain storming’ sessions with him and some of the other squadron members who were expected to make up the ‘turnaround’ cadre for our second combat cruise. He had high hopes for the squadron. He impressed me as a competent, steady, no nonsense senior aviator who led by example. If I remember correctly, ‘Rat’ Welch was with Skipper Abbott when he was shot down.”

Commander Abbott’s last flight on 20 April 1966 is recorded in historian Chris Hobson’s unexcelled record of “Vietnam Air Losses: United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps Fixed-Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 1961-1973,” with this entry (Page 56):    A-4C     148512 VA-113 USS Kitty Hawk Cdr John Abbott (POW- died) :

“Cdr Abbott, the CO of VA-113, BATTLECRY ONE, led a strike of eight Skyhawks against the Vinh Son road bridge over the Song Ca River 25 miles northwest of Vinh. There was intense anti-aircraft fire over the target and Cdr Abbott’s aircraft was hit in the starboard wing causing a fire. As the Commander flew toward the coast the aircraft started to roll uncontrollably and disintegrated at about 2,000 feet. It is thought that Cdr Abbott, who had taken over as acting CO on 11 April, had died shortly after being taken prisoner.”

Two members of Cdr Abbott’s 20 April 1966 flight, his wingman, Harry Welch, and Paul Adams in the second section, were queried about what they remember from that day over Vinh Son and North Vietnam… The flight was composed of : Lead Cdr Abbott, #2 Harry Welsh, #3 Paul Adams (PA), and  #4 Andy Churney (AV)… Here is PAs response to the request…

“Harry, per your request, as I can best recall…..some things are etched vividly in my mind forever. Others are getting dim, and some are simply not there anymore.

“I was section leader with AV on my wing and the Skipper Abbott with you on his wing. Our mission was flak suppression for the A6s, who were to take out a bridge which was inland a ways in mountainous terrain southwest of Thanh Hoa. I was loaded with 6-250 pound bombs and I thought we all were so interested to hear AV had rockets. Hell, maybe I had rockets but I am pretty sure I had bombs.

“I can’t recall details of the drive into the target area other than we went feet dry to the north of the target, heading west until past the target, whereupon we turned south until abeam and then turned east to make our runs. I suppose, so we were heading for the coast as we pulled off target. I don’t recall who came up with that plan but it seemed like a good way to do it to me.

“At the target, we split into two sections. Skipper to the north and me to the south. My flak site target was under a thin cloud layer which made it hard to line up in the sights when I started down. I heard someone say the skipper was hit and I am pretty sure he said it himself. I pickled my bombs, pulled up and looked to my left where I saw a burning airplane in the distance. Actually, I could see the flame but could not see the airplane. I’m a bit hazy on the exact sequence of events but I’m fairly certain I pulled off, heading for the coast and did a slow turn to my right to try to pick up AV, which didn’t work as I never saw him. I turned left back to the east, at about six thousand, and could see a smoke trail slightly higher and off to my left. About the time I could see the coast line, the smoke trail plunged downward to the ground. I looked backup from the impact area, thinking the skipper had just bought it, when I see him in his chute about my eight o’clock.

“I turned to my left to keep him in sight and at some point I joined on you and we started a left orbit, during which the skipper touched down in a field next to some trees just to the west. While we were doing this I was aware of stuff flying around and my ALQ ladder lights were illuminating almost steady. After several orbits and low passes I distinctly recall and will never forget looking past you to the chute on the ground when there was a brilliant flash at the base of your right wing, sxxx flew everywhere and then was gone in the blink of an eye. You turned into a flaming comet with the nose of an A-4 sticking out of the front. You turned out right, toward the east and started climbing. I made a decision to stay with you instead of the skipper as I knew where he was and I was afraid you would be the next one on the ground.

“Aghast at how  extensive you were burning. I yelled on the radio to “get out of the damn thing.” I distinctly remember you saying back “fxxx you, it’s still flying.” And I thought to myself “you can’t beat that logic…it is!”  I trailed you on your right and slightly aft as you continued to climb and realized I needed to get back to the skipper ASAP so I yelled for AV to join up to escort you. He said he was unable since he thought he had a bird strike. So I continued to follow you and started yelling Mayday on guard. Someone answered immediately and asked for coordinates and I remember fighting my map to try to figure them out. I gave out a rough guesstimate and said I would fine tune them as soon as I could. I don’t recall all the details when I turned back or if AV had joined up yet, but as you went feet wet, I figured you were home free, relatively speaking, and I turned around and headed back to the skipper.

“Finally I had time to beat my map to where I could read it and gave out coordinates of where the skipper was. Someone said they were inbound and I have a dim impression it was the Spad guys but it could have been helos as they both had choppy, roaring sound on their radios, who ever they were, they had no hesitation whatsoever and I thought to myself “those guys have BIG ones.

“I came back to where the skipper was, the ladder lights going ape again, and could find no sign of his chute in the field. the inbound SAR guys asked if I had the guy on the ground in sight and I answered “Negative”. I could find no trace of him and didn’t hear anything coming from his PRC so, not having any idea where he was, had to tell the SAR guys to hold off. I made more loops around the area and still saw no sign of him. I then made a decision which has haunted me for years. I couldn’t in clear conscious ask the slow movers to come into a hot area like this one and stooge around looking for someone, so I told them I had no one in sight so don’t come in. They said they would continue in closer anyway and I hoped they would hear him if he came up on his PRC. I was getting really low state, under a thousand pounds, so I gave it up and turned out to the coast and asked for the tanker.

“After I got gas from the whale, I told strike I was turning back to again try to make contact with the skipper and they very emphatically said, “negative, return to Pawtucket.” I did and after being tied down, I asked the plane captain what happened to you and he said they picked you up with the helo right next to the ship. I was really wasted and remember just sitting in the airplane taking deep breaths for awhile before climbing down the ladder.

“And like AV says, more than a few brain cells have vanished since then so I’m definitely open for amendments to my memory, but this is how I recall it now. And I don’t remember at all if Doc Rubottom gave me any of that cheap booze.”

-Paul Adams

Commander Abbott’s wingman on 20 April 1966, Harry Welch, reviewed Paul’s recollection of the 20 April 1966 events and contributed the following:

” The only correction I would make to PA’s comments are: I never did join on PA. I dropped my bombs and looked up to find him after AV said he had been hit. The skipper was not hard to find as he had gone balls to the wall and headed for the coast at about 500-feet. I called for him to climb thinking to starve the fire. He either did not hear, ignored my sage advice, or was unable to comply. Near the coast his aircraft came apart. The pieces flying around me were so large I did not see him eject but someone said there was a chute but it was laying on the ground. I was still low level so I turned around and found him on the ground. Paul said he would take high cap and work on the rescue, I stayed low and tried to ascertain the physical condition of Cdr Abbott.  I made several passes around him and saw no movement, he was still connected to the chute but it was lying flat. We were close to Hwy 1 and PA noticed some troops unloading into a grove of trees off the Highway. About this time PA said he had help on the way. I do not recall how far out but I think it was about 30 minutes. I had continued to make passes toward the trees to keep the troops away. I wondered why they did not advance since I had not tried our useless 20mm. I found out later that I had a hung bomb which probably gave them cause for concern. Anyway I decided that with the small arms coming from the troops that it would be a very difficult rescue if they had to put someone on the ground, unleash the skippers parachute(which the chopper blast would probably have inflated and blown him away from the chopper). I decided to go right down on the deck to see if the boss showed any signs of life. As I made the pass I could see he was not moving at all, then I was hit and you can pick up on PA’s narrative from there. AV accompanied me back to the ship, above about 12,000 the fire diminished. AV looked me over and he told me about the hung bomb which I jettisoned. By the time I got back to the ship and descended to 10M feet the throttle linkage had burned through, the trim had run to full nose down and full right wing down, AV said the whole tail section was turning black, so I decided to depart(eject).”…. 

-Harry Welch

An additional note from a former VA-113 aviator in the squadron at the time Commander Abbott was shot down, Robert Naughton, is pertinent to this remembrance of Commander Abbott’s last flight and perhaps his last day. Naughton was shot down on the squadron’s following cruise and was a POW from May 1967 until released 12 February 1973. During that time he had many occasions to seek information on Commander Abbott’s post 20 April 1966 fate. Bob N. posted me the following…”When I arrived at Hanoi and entered into the POW communication network I asked if anyone had any information on John Abbott or Jim Graham (another Stinger shot down on the 1967 cruise). No one had any sightings but some people had heard the name John Abbott with the suspicion that he died early after capture. I don’t think he made it to Hanoi alive. Jim Graham’s name never made it into the system. I think he was killed soon after landing.”

-Bob Naughton

John Abbott was born on August 20, 1927, in Burlington, Vermont. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on August 8, 1945, and entered the Navy V-5 flight training program in October 1945. Abbott was released from active duty in September 1946, and then returned to flight training with the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in July 1947, being designated a Naval Aviator in September 1948, and receiving his commission as an Ensign on July 22, 1949. He served with VF-53 from July 1949 to May 1952, and during this time flew combat missions during the Korean War from the aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9) from August 1951 to March 1952. His next assignment was with VX-3 from May 1952 to June 1954, and then as an instructor pilot at NAAS Kingsville, Texas, from June 1954 to January 1955. LT Abbott served at NAS Olathe, Kansas, from January to December 1955, and then served with the Navy ROTC detachment at Yale University from December 1955 to September 1956. He served with the Service School Command at NS Great Lakes, Illinois, from September 1956 to June 1957, and then served as air operations officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CVS-45) from June 1957 to August 1959. LCDR Abbott then attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, from September 1959 to June 1960, followed by service with the Commander of Operational Test and Evaluation Force at Norfolk, Virginia, from June 1960 to May 1962. CDR Abbott served with Headquarters U.S. Navy in the Pentagon from May 1962 to June 1963, and then with Air Development Squadron FIVE (VX-5) at NAF China Lake, California, from June 1963 to 1965. He then served as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot with VA-113, flying combat missions from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) from November 1965 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on April 20, 1966, having just taken command of VA-113 nine days before. CDR Abbott was reported to have died in captivity 7 days later, on April 27, 1966. He was posthumously promoted to Captain, and his remains were returned to the United States on March 13, 1974. Capt Abbott is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

His 4th Distinguished Flying Cross Citation reads:

For heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as strike leader and pilot in Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN, based aboard USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) during operations against enemy aggressor forces in the Republic of Vietnam on 22 December 1965. Participating as strike leader of a flak suppression element on the extremely vital and heavily defended Uong Bi Thermal Power Plant northeast of Haiphong, Captain (then Commander) Abbott preceded the fighter-bombers into the target area and, in the face of intense and accurate heavy antiaircraft fire, led his division in direct and devastating counterfire with the most active antiaircraft emplacements defending the power plant, personally damaging at least one 8-gun emplacement and silencing several others. By his courageous leadership and determination that the fighter-bombers were able to execute a devastating and highly successful attack on the target and retire without sustaining damage from the enemy. His exceptional performance and outstanding devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Your Humble Host thanks the VA-113 Stingers for providing “the rest of the story” and comments to this remembrance of the last flight of a courageous Rolling Thunder warrior leader, BATTLECRY ONE, who gave his life for our country on this day fifty years ago.

Lest we forget……. Bear                       ………………..  –30–  …………….