COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973) and honoring the courageous Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers and aircrewmen who defied the guns, missiles and MiGs of North Vietnam to carry out the strike operations of Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968)…
GOOD MORNING. It is Tuesday, 25 August 2020 and Faithful Scribe has another tale of guts and glory to tell. WHEN NAVAL AVIATION ROARED. Tale #21. THE RESCUE OF PAGEBOY 450… 11 June 1967…
One of the best personal journals of the Vietnam air war is that crafted by Stephen R. Gray. His book, RAMPANT RAIDER: An A-4 Skyhawk Pilot in Vietnam is a beaut! His 1967 cruise as the junior pilot in the VA-212 Rampant Raiders lineup of incredibly brave and competent warrriors embarked in USS BON HOMME RICHARD provided him the opportunity to see the air war at its most intense and dangerous time for Navy attack pilots. His journal is a must read. Faithful Scribe has a little to add to one of the episodes lightly treated by Steve Gray in RAMPANT RAIDER.
On 11 June 1967 BONNIE DICK, CVW-21 and VA-212 were nearing the end of the 3rd of 6 combat cruises. They had departed Alameda on 26 January 1967 and would return on 25 August 1967 after logging 112 days of combat flying from Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. The air wing lost 23 aircraft on the deployment, 21 in combat. Three pilots were killed-in-action and ten more were downed and captured to finish the war in March 1973 when they were released from Hanoi Hilton. Three died while in captivity at the hands of their brutal captors.
Here is Steve Gray’s entry for 10 and 11 June 1967… quote (pages 238-39)…
“Weather and a shortage of flyable airplanes had restricted our operations mainly to cyclic launches–the normal hour-and-forty-five-minute cycles of launches and recoveries when the ship was launching individual squadrons rather than alpha strikes. But on 10 June the weather cleared over North Vietnam, and Cdr. Marv Quaid led a flight of four Walleye-carrying airplanes against the Hanoi thermal power plant. Homer Smith and Mike Cator (two of the bravest of the brave) had failed to knock the power plant out of commission on the original strike back in May due to bad weather over the target. VA-212 got the job done on this strike, but two of the four airplanes were hit. One was too badly damaged to salvage, but again the gutsy little A-4 got its pilot back home. VF-24 (sic VF-211) wasn’t as fortunate. Lt.Cdr. Tom Hall was flying MiG CAP cover for the strike. He was hit by a SAM or flak, had to eject practically over downtown Hanoi, and was taken prisoner.
“VA-212 was very low on airplanes now. In addition to the two we had lost on the Kep strike, four had heavy battle damage. This left the division with only six airplanes, and one of those was being used as a tanker. We were supposed to get three new airplanes as replacements this in-port period, and the airplane I had left at Udorn was ready to be returned. We could refresh and replenish our airplanes, but refreshing our spirits was more difficult.
“Continuing President Johnson’s policy of making life difficult for the North Vietnamese, on 11 June Commander Quaid led VA-212’s four remaining airworthy combat planes against the Uong Bi thermal power plant north of Haiphong–the target that had claimed Homer Smith in May. The strike was successful and did heavy damage to the power plant. One of the MiG CAPs was shot down, but the pilot was able to eject over a high ridge covered by jungle. Quaid led the rescue effort, and they got the pilot out uninjured.”… end quote…
WHO WAS THAT PILOT?… Pageboy 450. Chris Hobson reported this loss as follows… “On 11 June 1967 a reconnaissance mission was flown over the Uong Bi thermal power plant about 12 miles northeast of Haiphong. As the reconnaissance aircraft started its run the escorting Crusader was hit in the rear fuselage by AAA. Lt(jg) J. R. Miller, VF-24, flew his burning aircraft northeast for about 12 miles before the engine flamed out and he was forced to eject. He was fortunate to be rescued from such a ‘hot’ area by a Navy helicopter (Big Mother 67) accompanied by a strong SAR effort.”
FAITHFUL SCRIBE has the rest of the story (from the Awards Files of CINCPACFLT)…
On 11 June 1967, Commander Marvin Moses QUAID, Jr., commanding VA-212, and Lieutenant Steven Russell BRIGGS were engaged as surface-to-air missile suppression element of the second Bon Homme Richard alpha strike of the day against the the Uong Bi Thermal Power Plant in North Vietnam. Maintaining their station over the target area after retirement of the main stike group so as to cover the photographic element during its bomb damage assessment run, they observed the wingman of the photo aircraft, a VF-24 F-8C, sustain a hit from the enemy antiaircraft fire immediately after his pull-off from the target. As the wingman, Pageboy 450, began to fall behind his leader and to emit puffs of fire and smoke from his tailpipe, CDR QUAID and LT BRIGGS skillfully and daringly dived down to cover his escape. Hearing no radio transmissions from the damaged aircraft, CDR QUAID broadcast the pilot’s plight and immediately began to give detailed instructions as to how best to avoid the enemy’s heavy ground fire and to reach the relative safety of the hills. CDR QUAID instructed the pilot of the damaged aircraft to ‘stay with it’ even though it was on fire, so as to get the damaged aircraft clear of the populated and hostile area. The pilot of the damaged F-8 Crusader was finally forced to eject when he lost control of the aircraft in a mountainous area about twenty miles north of Haiphong and 40 miles from the sea. CDR QUAID followed the parachute down and observed the pilot’s safe landing.
CDR QUAID then orbited the scene at a very low altitude and established radio contact with Lt(jg) Miller on the ground. LT BRIGGS then detached and climbed to an intermediate altitude so as to alert the search and rescue forces and to act as radio relay. While orbiting the downed airman, LT BRIGGS accurately plotted the exact location and broadcast it to the search and rescue element which was standing by over the water some 60 miles away. CDR QUAID and LT BRIGGS maintained their positions over the downed aviator despite the hostile environment and their determined efforts to save the downed pilot enabled the search and rescue helicopter pilot to come directly into the area without incident and to effect a successful rescue within five minutes after reaching the scene. Only when the helicopter was in the immediate area did they proceed to a predesignated tanker area and refuel their aircraft with less than 20 minutes fuel remaining. They recovered on BONNIE DICK without incident.
Also responding to the downing of Pageboy 450 were two VA-215 Barnowl A-1 Spads from CVW-21 and BONNIE DICK that were assigned the Rescue Combat Air Patrol mission covering the strikes on Uong Bi. CDR George Arthur CARLTON and LCDR Christopher Robert VATIDIS heard via radio that an aircraft had been hit and the pilot had ejected. The position given, 21-degrees six-minutes North and 106-degrees 57 minutes East, was 40 miles inland, north and west of Uong Bi in a rugged mountainous area. This area was just a few minutes flying time from the major MiG base at Kep and was in a high-hot threat surface-to-air missile zone. Ascertaining from the downed pilot’s wingman that the downed pilot was all right and in voice communications via his survival radio, CDR CARLTON requested and received permission to escort the rescue helicopter, Big Mother 67 to the area for a rescue attempt. CDR CARLTON positioned himself ahead of the helo to navigate and probe for enemy ground fire, while LCDR VATIDIS positioned himself in a weave behind and above the helo so as to be in a position to spot and suppress any antiaircraft fire. Navigating precisely to a pre-planned coast-in point, known to be relatively flak free, CDR CARLTON crossed the beach and guided the flight toward the scene, utilizing a ridgeline as protection against surface-to-air missiles. Arriving at the scene in approximately twenty minutes, CDR CARLTON determined the location of the downed pilot from CDR QUAID, who had been orbiting the scene for 35 minutes, and assumed the duty as on-scene-commander. As the helo made his approach, CDR CARLTON took a position low and in a tight orbit around the helo so as to be in a position to suppress any possible ground fire in the immediate vicinity. LCDR VATIDIS took a higher and wider orbit to supress any antiaircraft fire which might threaten the flight and also to maintain communications with the search and rescue commander.
Since the pilot was down in a heavily wooded area of multiple canopies of leaves and vines, Big Mother 67 had difficulty in pin-pointing him immediately, but after several minutes, the downed pilot got into the jungle penetrator seat and the helo began hoisting him aboard. At this time, LCDR VATIDIS’ missile warning light flashed on and he broadcast “missile in the air”, while he executed an evasive dive into a valley. The missile exploded three hundred feet directly over him and directly above the rescue scene. The shock from the near-miss explosion severely buffeted the two VA-215 Spads and Big Mother 67.
With the rescue pick-up complete at the scene, CDR CARLTON directed the Big Mother 67 with Pageboy 450 on board on its dangerous 40 mile retirement course and took the weave position above and behind the helo, while LCDR VATIDIS weaved out front. During the retirement the flight successfully evaded a second SAM and intense automatic weapon and small arms fire. Approaching the coastal exit point the two VA-215 Spads continued protective cover of the rescue helo until well clear of clusters of off shore fishing and waterborne logistic craft. After the helo and CDR CARLTON were safely out of danger and the rescue of Pageboy 450 complete, LCDR VATIDIS detached and returned to make a rocket attack on the logistic craft, severely damaging two large motorized barges.
The event was accorded a Bravo Zulu by CTF-77 in a message dtg 120402z Jun 67:
“Pageboy 450 Recovery. 1. The rescue of the pilot of LTJG MILLER, Pageboy 450, from enemy territory yesterday once again demonstrates to the entire force that if a pilot gets into trouble he can depend on our SAR forces to extricate him if at all feasible. The message came through loud and clear again yesterday to all combat pilots of the force. 2. Please pass to the brave and dedicated men of Flying Eagle 224, the three Barn Owl rescue pilots and, of course, Big Mother 67 my sincere admiration and well done. RADM Mehle.”…
BITS OF RIBBON. CDR QUAID was awarded the DFC, his third. LCDR BRIGGS was awarded his fourth Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. Both CDR CARLTON and LCDR VATIDIS were recommended for DFCs (final disposition unknown).
NEXT POST. Tale #22. HEAVY PHOTOGRAPHIC SQUADRON-61 (VAP-61). The last flight of LCDR James DENNISON, LTJG Terence HANLEY and Chief Petty Officer Henry Howard HERRIN, lost on 1 January 1968 on an RA-3B “Black Bart” mission over North Vietnam…
Lest we forget… Bear