For a more complete appreciation of the character of Dick Perry and his Ghost Rider squadron mates, RTR links to a brilliant 14-minute war story entitled “Lady Jessie.”

Dear Rear Admiral Taylor,

On an August 31, 1967 alpha strike, I was the section lead in LCDR Dick Perry’s division, and was in close escort on him from the moment a missile hit his plane, through the sad discovery he was lifeless in his parachute, and until the SAR helo departed from his submerged body due to shore battery fire. I am greatly distressed by the accounts of this incident, filled with inaccuracy and hyperbole, posted to your blog as ‘Ripple Salvo #211’ and republished in ‘The List’ # 4279 on 28 Sept 2016. The persons posting these accounts speak solely from bad hearsay. Such sensationalized accounts gain wide dissemination on the internet and cause great distress among surviving family members.

Therefore, I am compelled to respond and state the truths of this event, and to request you give this wide dissemination. Let me start by clearing the most glaringly inaccurate statements on your blog:

Dick’s aircraft did not come apart.

Facts: All was ok until the last 30-60 seconds prior to ejection, feet wet. At that point flames about two feet long began emanating from the fuselage vents. There was not an engulfing fireball. The aircraft then rolled through 360 degrees to the right at moderate rate. Dick ejected precisely as the aircraft came back through wings level, still at full power and most importantly, at very, very high speed.

There was no firing at Dick in his chute.

Facts: There was never ground fire at the chute, nor at us at we orbited Dick. Factually, there was no ground fire whatsoever until the H2 helo arrived and deployed the swimmer. There would not have been any success had they tried to shoot at Dick in his chute as the ejection was in the 10-12,000 MSL realm.

Dick was not shot to pieces.

Facts: He was simply lifeless in the chute from the moment it opened until he landed supine on the water and slowly sank beneath.

The helo was not on the scene as Dick entered the water, the crew did not see him descending in the chute.

Facts: The helo did not arrive over the chute until upwards of 10 minutes after Dick’s body had landed and slowly sank out of sight, the parachute canopy still visible on the surface.

There was not heavy shelling.

Facts: The shore batteries were more than hundreds of yards away — they were located more than a mile to the west, a factor in their inaccuracy. I observed three, at most four; shots splash the water, the closest hitting 1500-2000 feet away from the H2 helo. Their impacts were moderate, not of very large caliber. Nonetheless, the northern SAR commander’s order to withdraw was prudent in the context of the disastrous loss of Big Mother 67 July 18th.

My account of the event as first hand witness, start to finish, is as follows:

The missile exploded beneath Dick’s aircraft belly, and made a 7-9 inch hole and several smaller ones, all in the bottom of the wing aft of the tail section break. Fuel streamed from them. Dick immediately broke left into my section and we maneuvered hard to avoid collision. I checked all of his port side, then crossed under, checking the entire belly, then out on starboard side for a complete check, then back under. There was no evidence of any hits other than those stated above on the aft under fuselage. Dick was talking calmly stating his intentions during this period. I believe it was after crossing back under to his port wing that Dick jettisoned all ordnance and racks.

Now in a clean aircraft and at full power, he pulled ahead of us during the trip to feet wet. I must again emphasize here and later that he had full power and attained a very, very high speed, probably well in excess of 400 KIAS during the trip to the coast.

As stated above, as the coastline was crossed, flames about two feet in length began emanating from the mid-fuselage vents, the aircraft rolled at moderate rate to the right, and precisely as it came 360 to wings level, Dick ejected. I reemphasize the aircraft velocity at ejection was in excess of 400 KIAS. Ejection sequence and parachute deployment was normal in all respects.

We orbited the chute at safe distance, but such that we could ascertain a good chute, and a man descending in it. We waited for Dick to come up on guard on his handheld. But he did not. In denial that something was amiss, I waited upwards of five minutes, so wingman George Schindelar pressed me that something must be wrong.

I dropped flaps and slowed as much as safely possible with ordnance still aboard. I made a flyby at very close range. Dick was lifeless in the chute, head and arms down. O2 mask was still attached to his face. The body and flight gear appeared normal; he was simply limp and lifeless.

We continued to orbit Dick throughout the descent, a period on the order of 10 minutes. I repeat for emphasis — there was no ground fire at any point until the helo arrived. Not at Dick in the chute — not at us — not until the helo was in hover over the body and swimmer in the water. The ejection was at 10-12000 feet, my slow flyby was in the 9000 foot range. And all this was at least 1/2 mile offshore, and more than a mile from the eventual location of the shore batteries.

When Dick reached the water, his body landed completely intact and supine. The chute collapsed with risers straight above his head towards the canopy. We looked down for any sign of life but observed none. The body remained on the surface for a minute or two, then slowly sank over about a five plus minute period. The helo arrived 5-10 minutes after water landing and immediately deployed the SAR swimmer. Dick’s body may well have been entangled in risers, I don’t know, you’d have to ask the swimmer. Then shore batteries fired 3-4 shots as above, Northern SAR commander, prudently as above, ordered retreat, the swimmer reboarded, and the helo left, broadcasting a confirmed KIA.

The helo made no mention of a large chest wound at that time. I only heard that report as hearsay when I returned to Oriskany. I have never heard of “other injuries” — if anyone has firsthand, non-hearsay information to that effect, I’d appreciate knowing.

Anyone who professes certain knowledge of what killed Dick is speculating. That includes me. However, having witnessed every second of the whole event, I will assert that Dick was alive and sentient as he pulled an ejection handle. But he exited at very, very high speed, from a rolling aircraft, and then was lifeless at the deployment of his chute. From experience I think it is reasonable to say that such a violent ejection, while usually survivable, entails high risk of something going wrong. It is my belief based on analysis that that was the case here.

I take ownership of the above, and have affixed my contact data below if anyone wishes to discuss the matter further.

Cdr John C. Davis, USN (Ret)

jcdavisii@aol.com