VF-162 Superheat Terry Dennison
Terry and I were good friends, we meet most every Sunday morning in the Oriskany’s f’ocsle for church services. The night before he was smoked, we both “stood” the 0300-0500 Alert 5 in our Crusaders. He was on the port catapult and I was directly behind him.
At 0500, I had fallen asleep in the cockpit and he considerately banged on the side of my aircraft. Since we were both scheduled for the 0530 brief for a strike on the “Bridge at Co Trai” we went directly to breakfast in our flight gear. Didn’t have time to wait for the hotcakes and eggs, so we both settled for a bowl of Frosty Flakes.
The brief took a long time, it was a really well-defended target near Hanoi. When we went to the flight deck to man aircraf. By chance, Terry and I were both scheduled to fly the aircraft we had sat in for the Alert 5.
As I recall, my VF-111 flight was scheduled for Iron Hand SAM-suppression and his VF-162 flight would be flak-suppressing. It was as expected: SAM’s coming up from all four sides and a sky filled with 37/57/85MM flak. I was inverted, half-way through a barrel-roll over the Shrike shooting A4E I was protecting, when I saw the SAM approaching from the north, about 5 miles away and 2,000 feet below me.
Unfortunately, it was locked on to a Crusader that was directly between me and the SAM. The frequency was jammed with emergency calls and I could only watch as that Soviet-made, 40-foot missile hit the F8 directly in the cockpit.
Myself and three other Crusaders stayed in the area for another 20 minutes, searching in vain! There had been no chute, there were no emergency beepers that might have accompanied an ejection, nothing but more Sam’s and extremely heavy ground fire. Running out of fuel, we were forced to return to Oriskany.
Later that day, other pilots flew through that heavily defended area, but no contact, no luck! I knew that Terry probably watched our efforts from “somewhere up there,” with Gabriel. I said goodbye to you, old Friend, when I went feet-wet returning to Oriskany, and I’m saying it again now via Bear Taylor’s worthy RTR efforts for all you guys.
Dick Schaffert aka Brown Bear
Terry Dennison Vietnam Air Losses Record
Terry Dennison was born on January 20, 1934, in Cosmopolis, Washington. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on December 15, 1952, and entered active duty for Naval Aviation Cadet training on October 6, 1956. He was commissioned an Ensign and designated a Naval Aviator in October 1957, and then attended F11F Tiger Replacement Air Group training before serving as an F11F pilot with VF-191. His next assignment was with VR(F)-32, followed by an assignment to complete his bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington. Lt Dennison then served as an instructor pilot with VA-126 at NAS Miramar, California, followed by F-8 Crusader Replacement Air Group Training. His next assignment was as an F-8 pilot with VF-162 at NAS Miramar and then deployed to Southeast Asia aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) from May 1966 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on July 19, 1966. He was reported by the North Vietnamese to have died in captivity 2 days later, on July 21, 1966, but his remains were not returned to the United States until March 6, 1974, and he was buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California. During the time he was listed as Missing he was promoted through the ranks to Commander.
Epitaph For A Hero
If I should perish overseas
In service to my Land
I shall have died a noble death–
Let none misunderstand.
I hope my body will be found,
Returned back to my home,
Where it was nourished and inspired–
No more to yearn, or roam.
Home is the soldier then from the war
Back to his family;
Home is the patriot at last,
Buried in majesty.
Pause, visitor, and cast a glance,
Upon a hero’s grave;
Be thankful to breathe Freedom’s air,
For which his life he gave.
