by G. E. Nolly
“Wolf, 52, I want you to drop one Mk-82. That will make enough noise to let any survivor know we're here.”
Wolf 52 dutifully dropped one 500-pound bomb, in level flight, through the undercast. Still, no one came up on the radio. After about a half-hour, Wolf Flight RTBd to Ubon.
That one bomb had just put the Paris Peace Talks in peril. The negotiators had heard about it within minutes. Kissinger had phoned Nixon to tell him about it. Nixon, Nixon himself, had phoned the new Wing Commander, to chew his ass out personally. The new Wing Commander, Colonel Nelson, was waiting for Wolf 51 Flight when they returned. He was waiting for Cobra.
“Captain Corbin,” Colonel Nelson said, “I noticed your wingman is missing one Mark 82. What happened to it?”
“We dropped it on a target of opportunity in Laos, sir. Why do you ask?”
With that, Colonel Nelson exploded. His face turned red. The veins in his neck popped out. His eyes had become slits.
“You son of a bitch! You single-handedly ruined the fucking Paris Peace Talks! I'm going to have you court-martialed! I'm going to take your wings and shove them up your ass! I'm going to rip your fucking head off and shit down your neck!”
Cobra stood at attention and took it like a man. Then he responded in a way that made him a legend in his own time.
“Sir,” he asked, “does this mean I'm no longer Junior Officer of the Year?”
72
February 12, 1973
This was the best day of the war.
The POWs were heading for home.
Operation Homecoming consisted of three C-141s that flew to Hanoi to pick up the first group of the 591 POWs that would be released. The Stars & Stripes published all of their names, and everybody in the squadron carefully scanned the list to see if there were any names we recognized. And pretty much all of us saw it at the same time: Vince and Sambo were both listed as returning POWs!
And then I saw the most remarkable, moving scene of my entire career. For all of our swagger and braggadocio, we fighter jocks were just a bunch of pussies. We were all crying, and all trying to hide it from each other. There wasn't a dry eye in the squadron.
Flying was cancelled for the day, and we headed to the bar. We all walked in wearing our hats, and we offered up a solemn toast to our 1350 comrades who were still missing.
73
March 15, 1973
The war, of course, continued on. We had missions over South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. I flew 23 additional missions after completing my 100 over the north.
This was my champagne flight, carrying 6 Mk-82s for a target in Cambodia. I was Number Two in Hoofer Flight of two aircraft. The plan was to deliver our ordnance, then we would RTB to base and split up. In the tradition of champagne flights, I would make a high-speed pass down the runway, then pull up into a closed pattern, land and taxi up to the Wing Headquarters building to get hosed down and presented with a bottle of champagne.
That was the plan. The reality was, just as we entered the target area my left engine rolled back to Idle power. I couldn’t perform a weapons delivery, and held high while Lead dropped his bombs. I had to RTB without dropping any bombs, and the unexpended ordnance, plus the single-engine approach, required me to make a straight-in approach and landing, and an Approach End Barrier Engagement. No high-speed pass.
In a way, it was a good thing. I had never made an AEBE before, and it's something every fighter jock should experience at least once. The Navy jocks do it for a living. It turned out to be a non-event.
I de-armed and taxied to Wing Headquarters. Someone had gotten my mission statistics from Scheduling and written them on a large cardboard sign: 190 missions total, 100 over North Vietnam.
We had the obligatory picture-taking, the hose-down, the champagne.
It was really good to be done, and I couldn't wait to get home to Sam.
74
March 17, 1973
My follow-on assignment was to an F-4C squadron at Kadena Air Base, in Okinawa. The “poor man’s Hawaii”. Sam had a joint spouse assignment to Kadena also. I had requested, and received, two weeks of leave before traveling to Kadena.
Sam was waiting for me at the Yokota Passenger Terminal. When I walked through the Terminal door, Sam ran up to me, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a passionate kiss. God, I loved the way she always welcomed me home!
During the latter part of my tour at Ubon, I had stopped writing about operational issues, mostly because I didn't want Sam to worry. Now I couldn't wait to tell her that Vince had been released, that I had come close to getting a MiG, that I had reached the magic hundred missions.
“I have a lot to tell you, honey.”
“I have something to tell you also,” she responded.
“Okay,” I replied, “you go first.”
Sam grabbed both of my hands and looked into my eyes. “Ham, you're about to become a father. I'm pregnant.”
The adventure continues . . .
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GLOSSARY OF TERMS
AO – Area of Operations
BDA – Bomb Damage Assessment
Below the zone – Promotion earlier than normal sequence
BOQ – Bachelor Officer’s Quarters
CBU – Cluster Bomb Unit
DEROS – Date Eligible for Return from OverSeas
DOS – Date of Separation
ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival
FAC – Forward Air Controller
Fingertip – Close formation flying, 3-foot wingtip spacing
Gomer – Guy On Motorable Enemy Route
Initial – The first portion of a visual overhead landing pattern
IP – Instructor Pilot
M-1 maneuver – grunting to increase thoracic pressure
Mark 82 – A 500-pound bomb
MiG – Russian fighter jet, Mikoyan and Gurevich
Mike-mike - millimeter
MPC – Military Personnel Center
Nape - Napalm
OER – Officer Effectiveness Report
PCS – Permanent Change of Station
PDA – Public Display of Affection
Piddle pack – Portable urinal
RNO – Results Not Observed
SAM – Surface to Air Missile
Short-timer – Someone nearing DEROS
Slicks – Bombs with no high-drag metal parachute fins
Snake – Bombs with metal parachute fins
TDY – Temporary Duty
TOT – Time Over Target
URC-64 – Portable Survival Radio
VOQ – Visiting Officer’s Quarters
Willie Pete – White phosphorous rocket
About the Author
George Nolly served as a pilot in the United States Air Force, flying 315 combat missions on two successive tours of duty in Vietnam, earning 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 24 Air Medals, flying O-2A and F-4 aircraft. He was the last Air Force pilot to complete 100 missions over North Vietnam. While in the Air Force, George received the Tactical Air Command Instructor Pilot of the Year Award. Following his Air Force duty, he hired on with United Airlines and rose to the position of B-777 Check Captain. He also served as a Federal Flight Deck Officer (armed pilot). After his retirement from United, George accepted a position as a B-777 Captain with Jet Airways, operating throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 2000, George was selected as a Champion in the Body-for-LIFE Transformation Challenge, and is a Certified Fitness Trainer and self-defense expert with more than 30 years' experience in combative arts. George received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the United States Air Force Academy and received a Master of Science Degree, in Systems Management, from the University of Southern California. He completed
all of the required studies for a second Master of Science Degree, in Education, at the University of Southern California, and received his Doctor of Business Administration Degree, specializing in Homeland Security, from Northcentral University. He now flight instructs in the B777 and B787.
