The flamboyant leader of the VF-162 Superheat’s, CDR Dick Bellinger, was noted for his unquenchable spirit, both ashore and aboard USS Oriskany. On 14 July ’66, he attempted to “lure” MiG’s into a fight by breaking his flight of 3 Crusaders away from a TARCAP mission over the Red River delta, and proceeding directly towards Hanoi.  It worked!  Unfortunately, a broken cloud layer and excellent ground radar intercept control for the MiG’s resulted in 4 MiG-17’s hitting Bellinger’s flight from an advantageous position.  It was a real dogfight, with unfortunately no MiG’s knocked down and “Belly’s” F8 sustaining severe damage.  He tried to make Danang but had to ejected over the Gulf.  A couple junks showed interest in “rescuing” him, but were driven back by his wingman, Dick Wyman (who became a MiG killer a year later).  This caused Wyman to run low on fuel, and after Belly was picked up by an Air Force SAR helo, they all spent the night at the Danang Club.

On 9 October, the tables were turned as Belly and his wingman LT Lee Prost got a perfect vector from our radar ship, USS King, and pulled into position behind and below a MiG-21.  Belly had trouble seeing the MiG, and Prost talked him through an afterburner climb to a perfect firing position.  The MiG driver saw them at the last moment, rolled inverted, and pulled into a steep dive.  Belly handled the maneuver and fired two Sidewinders; the first took off the MiG-21’s right wing and the second passed through the debris.  There was much joy in the Superheat ready room, and perhaps too many medicinal brandies, before Belly was ordered to board one of Oriskany’s KA3B tankers for an immediate flight to make the “5 o’clock Follies” in Saigon.  LT Tom Maxwell had just landed after a long refueling flight when he was told to hot refuel and transport Belly to Saigon.  Upon arrival, Belly insisted that Maxwell perform a victory roll before they landed.  That got Tom into deep trouble with an irate Air Force Colonel who met them on the ramp.  Belly was not too happy about his time at the “Follies.”  An A1-H Spad pilot off Intrepid had shot down a MiG-17 in a fierce, all guns blazing, all guts, head-on pass just an hour after Belly’s victory.  In spite of Belly getting only the 5^th MiG-21 shoot-down of the conflict, the media focused on the Spad driver!

After a few days in Saigon, CDR Bellinger arrived back on Oriskany as SecDef was making his much heralded visit to Yankee Station.  Mr. McNamara decided he would award Belly a Silver Star for his “victory.”  Belly was late for the ceremony.  When Lee Prost found him in his stateroom, he hadn’t shaved for a couple days and was definitely not “ready for inspection, Sir!”  The Secretary was not pleased!  McNamara went directly from the presentation in the warroom to witness the briefing for an Alpha strike.  There were some 40 aircrews in the room, with two chairs at the front reserved for SecDef and our Oriskany Skipper.  As he started to sit down, McNamara bent down to pick up a paper from the seat.  He studied it carefully.  While I was several rows back, I could see the red flush come to his face.  He abruptly handed the paper to Skipper Arrabino and sat down.  We found out later it was a copy of a famous cartoon; where Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy was low on ammunition but was scheduled to fly against the Red Baron. That intrepid beagle predicted he would defeat the WWI Ace, even though he was down to one last bullet. When questioned by Charlie Brown as to how he could possibly expect to win with only one bullet, Snoopy replied “It’s a silver bullet!”  At that time, we were low on bombs and Sidewinder missiles on Yankee, and McNamara obviously didn’t think it was very funny. 

We didn’t lose any aircraft during that Alpha Strike, but we later had to prove to SecDef that we could kill trucks at night.  In spite of horrible weather, Oriskany launched a night armed recce flight of A4 Skyhawks.  The VA-164 Magic Stone’s LT Frank Elkins led a section into a hilly area southwest of Thanh Hoa, searching for trucks in the black haze of a valley with a road running down it.  They saw the fiery glow on a nearby hill top as a SAM rose to meet them.  His wingman could not be sure if Frank was hit by the SAM or if he flew into the side of the hill.  His remains were returned in 1990; his wife published his incredible diary: “The Heart of a Man.”  RIP, Frank!  Lee Prost survived the explosion and fire on Oriskany, only to die a few months later when the wing came off his F8 Crusader during a strafing run.  May God have mercy on their brave souls.

V/R  Dick Schaffert aka Brown Bear