Another couple of things "down trhe memory hole". A late friend was an AP reporter in Vietnam, and turned me on to the story of the USS Higbee, which was the first USN ship attacked by an enemy air force since WW2 in April 1972. In researching it, I found a site where someone had copied the entry for the ship from the USN…
Another couple of things "down trhe memory hole". A late friend was an AP reporter in Vietnam, and turned me on to the story of the USS Higbee, which was the first USN ship attacked by an enemy air force since WW2 in April 1972. In researching it, I found a site where someone had copied the entry for the ship from the USN Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, which had a paragraph in it that covered the attack in outline accuracy. When I went to the DANFS site, I looked at the official entry and that paragraph was missing. When I queried NHHC, they claimed it had never been there! So I hope they will be interested when the new book has the account of the last living VPAF pilot who made the attack, a photo of the attack map they used, and official USN photos of the ship and the destroyed aft turret. "Never happened" my ass.
That same pilot has another story in the book - about his leading the special VPAF squadron, "the victory-minded air unit" who went to South Vietnam, renovated five VNAF A-37s, learned to fly them (over three days) and made the attack on Tan Son Nhut on April 28 1975 that shut down further air evacuation, which Americans have always blamed "turncoat" VNAF pilots for, since they didn't believe Vietnamese could be smart enough to learn how to fly a "complicated" airplane like the A-37 so quickly. I also have photos the the "victory-minded air unit" with their A-37s that will be in the book.
TCinLAjust now
Another couple of things "down trhe memory hole". A late friend was an AP reporter in Vietnam, and turned me on to the story of the USS Higbee, which was the first USN ship attacked by an enemy air force since WW2 in April 1972. In researching it, I found a site where someone had copied the entry for the ship from the USN Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, which had a paragraph in it that covered the attack in outline accuracy. When I went to the DANFS site, I looked at the official entry and that paragraph was missing. When I queried NHHC, they claimed it had never been there! So I hope they will be interested when the new book has the account of the last living VPAF pilot who made the attack, a photo of the attack map they used, and official USN photos of the ship and the destroyed aft turret. "Never happened" my ass.
That same pilot has another story in the book - about his leading the special VPAF squadron, "the victory-minded air unit" who went to South Vietnam, renovated five VNAF A-37s, learned to fly them (over three days) and made the attack on Tan Son Nhut on April 28 1975 that shut down further air evacuation, which Americans have always blamed "turncoat" VNAF pilots for, since they didn't believe Vietnamese could be smart enough to learn how to fly a "complicated" airplane like the A-37 so quickly. I also have photos the the "victory-minded air unit" with their A-37s that will be in the book.
"The War of Lies" will never stop.