Lucky’s Bridge (Vietnam Air War Book 2)
Page 69
The taxi driver drove up Duong Avenue, away from Cholon toward the docks of Saigon, so he figured they'd changed ships. Then they swung south across the Mong bridge, and he began to wonder and ask questions.
The driver said they were going to the Ben Tau wharf, on the other side of the canal.
Ten minutes later, when they'd passed by the Ben Tau turnoffs and were picking up speed as they entered the dark countryside, the Peacemaker knew, and began to sob and croon, "Nooooo."
TRUTH & FICTION
Missing Man Formation
TRUTH AND FICTION
Descriptions of locales are generally accurate for the period. The 355th Tactical Fighter Wing was located at Takhli, Thailand, during the period of Lucky's Bridge. Southeast Asians, having never seen a bulldog, identified the 354th TFS emblem as a pig and called the 354th the Pig Squadron. Depictions of Asian tribes were taken from discussions with an adventurer who knew and spent his life among them, as well as from personal experiences.
The bridges campaign had difficulty getting off the ground, but was finally turned on in August and lasted through November of 1967. The OPlan nickname CROSSFIRE ZULU is not historically accurate. AGM-12 Bullpups were not used on the first attack on the Doumer bridge, but they were misused against other high-threat-area targets, and results were generally as described. The air attacks mentioned occurred at those target locations on or about the dates mentioned. A pilot from the 354th TFS was first to knock down a span of the Doumer bridge, on the date and using the ordnance described.
Electro-optic and laser-guided smart bombs were developed during the period . . . and their operational readiness was accelerated for the bridges campaign. LGBs were introduced for combat testing shortly after the campaign ended.
A friend related to me how the teams he dropped into North Vietnam were mostly all-indiginous, much as the NVA renegades described as Hotdog, and were very shortlived. A Special Forces team leader told how his group reported the helicopter base and witnessed the attack. On the day depicted in the book, ten Soviet helicopters were destroyed by Thuds from Takhli using internal M-61 Gatling cannons.
Like most military men, airmen of that time were mostly apolitical, yet selected politicians were especially disliked for constantly placing roadblocks in the path of victory. A teakwood Edsel grill was prominently displayed at the Korat Officers' Club bar, not in admiration of the Secretary of Defense.
Members of the 355th TFW were charged with attacking unauthorized targets and subsequently court-martialed, and the entire wing's morale suffered. The real-life stories were different and much more dramatic than those described in Lucky's Bridge. An account may be found in Jack Broughton's nonfiction book, Going Downtown (Orion Books, 1988).
There were no American females assigned at Takhli during the period. Only the occasional USO showgirl, Peace Corps worker, government official, or newswoman honored the base with her feminine graces. A friend recently told me that the first assigned female, a secretary, arrived on November 5, 1967 . . . but who keeps track of such things?
The fighter-pilot songs in Lucky's Bridge are as they were sung. I'm sure some have been updated by pilots who flew in Desert Storm, for singing is a time-honored Air Force tradition. "Beside a Laotian Waterfall" will sound just as sweet when sung as "Beside a Saudi Sand Dune," and the change is just fine, for World War I fighter jocks sang it as "Beside a Belgian Watertank."
Some related items of interest regarding later conflicts:
. . . Laser-guided bombs were used effectively during the Libyan campaign. LGBs and electro-optical smart bombs were both employed with spectacular results during Desert Storm.
. . . After being deactivated at Takhli when the 388th TFW moved there from Korat, the 355th TFW was reactivated at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona and equipped with A-10 Warthogs. During Desert Storm, 355th OA-10's were used as forward air controllers and helped decimate enemy tanks and bunkered positions with bombs and 30mm Gatling guns.
While I especially enjoyed writing this fictional account of fighter pilots at work, I do not pretend to have captured the true courage of the real players, many of whom I was honored to serve with. I am still awed by the memories of men who flew their missions against such odds, flying to the pop-up point and climbing, then turning and diving into not the possibility, but the probability of sudden, fiery death.
A country that produces such men will prevail.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TOM "BEAR" WILSON was a career United States Air Force officer with three thousand hours of flying time, mostly in fighters. During his five hundred hours of combat flying, he earned four Silver Star medals for gallantry and three Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism. He also served in various roles as instructor, flight examiner, tactician, staff officer, and unit commander. After leaving the military, Wilson enjoyed diverse careers, including: private investigator, gunsmith, newspaper publisher, and manager of advanced programs for a high-tech company in Silicon Valley. Mr. Wilson was the author of several novels including Termite Hill, Lucky's Bridge, and Tango Uniform.