Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2021 by
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083, USA
and
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Copyright 2021 Kenneth V. Jack
Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-074-9
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-075-6
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
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Front cover: A doomed, unarmed VFP-63 RF-8 Crusader doing photo-reconnaissance over Vietnam is hit by antiaircraft fire, as jet fuel from internal tanks feeds a devastating fire that will force the pilot to eject. Above and to the rear is his F-8 Crusader escort flying target combat air patrol. (Mads Bangs, Aircraft Profiles)
Back cover: The pilot of a VFP-63 RF-8G Crusader goes to full afterburner as he waits for the shooter whose hand is raised in the air in preparation for touching the deck to give the launch signal. The sailor immediately behind the shooter, sitting on the flight deck, is monitoring the current steam gauge settings to make sure all is ready for the catapult to launch that specific aircraft. The ship is the USS Midway (CVA-41) on its MayOctober 1971 Vietnam combat deployment. (USN photo via Jerry Nolan ISC)
Dedicated to all Vietnam Veterans
Contents
Acknowledgements
When I envisioned the concept of this book, I recognized the details of the stories I wanted to tell could only come from Navy and Marine Corps pilots recollections of their missions over Laos and North Vietnam. I knew some from my work on my previous book, Blue Moon Over Cuba: Aerial Reconnaissance During the Cuban Missile Crisis , but I had to appeal to the broader Crusader aviator community for more help. Fighter pilots, by their nature and culture, are an insular, tight-knit fraternity. They exhibit much trust and openness among themselves when they reminisce about their adventures in the high-performance jets they flew. It was a slow build of trust and confidence building, but eventually a large number, ready to tell their stories, responded. To our benefit, photo-reconnaissance and fighter escort pilots contributed their well-written accounts from the early months of the war to the last.
Two of the most prolific resources were Lieutenant Commander Scott Ruby and Captain Len Johnson. Scott is recognized as the Light Photographic Squadron 63 (VFP-63) historian. He has extensive knowledge of the RF-8 Crusader and squadron detachments during the war. He graciously tolerated my endless stream of questions and his colorful anecdotes are sprinkled throughout the narrative. Likewise, Len, AKA Rocky, made massive photo and written contributions that describe the progress of a photo pilot from rookie to well-seasoned fighter pilot with over 100 combat missions. His self-deprecating style and natural humor give us a sense of what a young man goes through to prove himself in an exclusive cadre of naval aviators.
Commander Andre Coltrin describes his encounters with surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), MiGs, and AAA (anti-aircraft-artillery). Most memorable is his harrowing, but sensitive, account of the tragic fire on the USS Oriskany (CVA-34). Another generous pilot and my friend, Commander Norm Green, from our squadron, Light Photographic Squadron 62 (VFP-62), made huge photo and written contributions to the chapter on VFP-62s only Vietnam combat detachment. Norm also provided a touching and moving memorial for his close friend, and shipmate, who mysteriously crashed at sea.