More Anecdotes

On Feb 25, 1966 at 14:47 PM, EB-66C (54-0457) Gull 1 was hit just south of the NVN DMZ by a SAM. The aircraft was heading east and continued till it got out over the Tonkin Gulf before it went in. Robert Walker was the pilot and John Kodlick was the navigator. When the Walker returned home, he was recouperating from ejection injuries at Huntington Beach, CA. He called me and told me that they were hit in NVN and he tried to get the aircraft over the Gulf so that they could be picked up. Three(3) Ravens ejected and John Causey (Raven 4) didn't. He probably went in with the aircraft. The Navigator and other crewmember (?) up front successfully ejected. The pilot pulled his pre-ejection handle but the seat did not retract to the aft position and the control column did not stow. Anyway, the pilot ejected and broke both ankles.

The EB-66C crew reportedly landed in the Gulf, near the shore, and the winds began to drift the crew towards the shore where Charlie was waiting for them. They paddled to a point farher off-shore where they were rescued. Maybe the actual facts are different than I've noted. I'd like to know the name of the pilot, AFSN of the EB-66C, and if the pilot is on the B-66 master roster. I'm sure that the B-66 people who were stationed at Takhli remember this situation.

Postscript by Paul Duplessis

I flew on the same reconnaissance mission in the morning of Feb 25, 1966 just south of the NVN DMZ looking for SAMs near the DMZ. It was my 100th mission. No SA-2 SAM radars were detected during that mission. Because the squadron was short of qualified EWOs, I volunteered to fly the identical mission in the afternoon. Major Matson, the squadron Commander, informed me that the 100 combat mission limit was a firm USAF requirement and he didn't have that authority to waive that requirement. He told me to go back to the hooch, pack my bags, and make arrangements to depart the base by the end of the day. I did what I was directed me to do and later returned to the squadron to bid farewell to my fellow squadron friends and associates. Upon arriving at the squadron I learned about the shoot down of the identical mission that I had flown earlier that day.
Every time I think of that day, I thank God that Major Matson was firm on the 100 mission rule.

Postscript by Wayne H. Smith

Late in 1965, the USAF EB-66s in Takhli, Thailand were runing short on crews since most of the crewmembers that came from Shaw AFB were flying their 100 missions over North Vietnam and rotating back to the States. They needed crews desperately. Me and another Captain from March AFB B-52s were selected as the first 2 EWO repacements. I flew my first mission in an EB-66 over North Vietnam in January 1966 since at that time they did not have a training program set up at Shaw AFB. Having come from B-52s, the EWOs had extensive electronic signal recognition tape study since we had a "wide open" receiver that you could hear all electronic radar signals. Therefore, I was intimately familiar with the sound of an SA-2 signal. I was amazed when I got to Takhli that the EB-66 crews turned off their APS-54 (that "wide open" receiver) since it fed into the whole aircraft and the pilots and navigators did not want to listen to all that "trash." I convinced the crew that I was flying on to leave the APS-54 turned on with the volume turned way down. This way I was able to listen to the electronic environment.

The day of my 13th mission over North Vietnam (Feb 25, 1966), all missions were cancelled, except ours, since the weather was "dog-shit" over the North. They told us to go "up there" and do a little reconnaissance. I do believe that we were the only aircraft flying over the North on 25 Feb 1966. Our flight took us over Vinh, North Vietnam and we then coasted out and flew up the coast. When we flew over Vinh the first time, I heard what I thought was a FANSONG SA-2 radar on the APS-54 and told the chief Raven. He went to the SA-2 band and discovered the FANSONG but the signal went down. On our return to Vinh, I heard the signal again and warned the chief Raven. When he intercepted the signal, he saw that it was VERY strong and told the pilot to take a turn. A little later, the Raven ONE said that he intercepted a strong missile guidance signal and the chief Raven told the pilot to start a steep break-away. Shortly thereafter we heard a loud POP. When the pilot finally was able to level off, he discovered he had little control of the aircraft and determined that the tail had been shot off.

Fortunately we were able to make it offshore by 20 miles where we were able to eject in the water.
We were all able to eject safely except the chief Raven. The U.S. Navy was able to pick up 5 of the remaining crew members. I might add that since I had just come from B-52s where we had upward ejection, I was very confused (since I was in shock) and had a difficult time in accomplishing
the downward ejection.

It has been a long time, 38 years ago last Tuesday. I know since I always get smashed on that day. Always pour an extra drink for Capt John Causey, the Raven 4 sitting behind me who did not make it out somehow. He was the last one to eject. Since it was so long ago, I do not know if it was Maj. Walker or not, however the name does sound very familiar and that was probably his name. Lost all contact after the incident. I do believe that I was the only crewmember to complete his 100 missions after the shootdown. That was my 13th mission as was most of the other guys'.
I do remember that the pilot had to walk across the flight deck of the USS Ranger and climb down all those steps to the first deck of the carrier. Do you know how many steps it takes to get down to the first deck of a carrier? A LOT!! And he did it with two broken legs!! Shows you how much shock we were in. Of course the Navy gave us a nice bottle of Christian Brothers brandy that we consumed with the help of the helicopter crew that picked us up. See, the Navy does have alcohol on their ships, for medicinal purposes. I can not add anything else to Maj Walker since I totally lost contact with him after the incident.

I was stationed at March AFB just before being assigned to EB-66s at Takhli, Thailand. As I may have stated in the story you saw, I did not have the opportunity to go into any transitional training since Shaw had not set one up yet. Me and another Captain from March were the first replacements to the original EB-66 crews sent to SEA and were all getting ready to rotate due to then getting their 100 missions. I was still used to the B-52 ejection system. When we were hit, we had intercom communications with the front end. However, as the airplane started to break apart, we apparently lost that communication. Capt Causey apparently heard two "pops" from the front end which he assumed was the front end ejecting. He told us also to eject and was a controlled ejection, ie. Raven one, two three, four. The Raven one ejected and then I attempted to eject. I rotated the levers and nothing happened. In the B-52, when you rotate the levers the hatch goes which arms the seat and allows you to eject. When the hatch did not go, I thought that there was a malfunction and unstrapped my shoulder harness to reach down on the floor for the manual hatch release. From here on everything is fuzzy. Apparently I noticed the ejection lever sticking up between my legs which is activated when you rotate the levers. For some reason I pulled that lever and then everything blacked out or redded out and the next thing I remember I was dangling in my parachute thousands of feet later. I do not know whether those extra couple of seconds could have been the cause of Capt Causey not making it. It haunts me to this day.

I retired from the Air Force in 1981. I spent 10 years flying for the U.S. Navy as a contractor flying old NKC-135s and an OLD DC-8, called an EC-24 by the Navy. All the aircraft were filled with jammers and we flew all over the world flying in on the fleets. Loved the job. After 10 years the Navy thought I was having too much fun and cancelled the program. I then got into computer simulation at Hurlburt Field Florida and then volunteered to come to Germany 4 years ago to do that here.

Postscript by John Lopez Jr. Major, US Army, Retired

I have been doing some research on the air war over North Vietnam and have quite a bit of info and data on air losses. I read the ancedotes regarding the loss of frame 54-457, Gull 1. According to the sources I have obtained, Gull 1's Mayday was heard and the Air Force launched two Jolly Greens to make the pick up. Location of where Gull 1 crashed was unknown though it was verified that the aircraft made it out over the Gulf of Tonkin. However, a Navy A-1H Skyraider from the USS Ranger was conducting a practice SAR exercise when the pilot picked up several mysterious emergency beepers from an area where none were expected. He was able to establish voice contact with the Gull 1survivors and vectored two SH-3As from the Ranger to make the pickups before the Jolly Greens arrived. Though five survivors were picked up a sixth crewman, Capt John Causey, was never found and he was listed as MIA.

The loss of Gull 1 was never publicized. When Devil 1 was shot down on July 20, 1966 the Air Force announced that it was an "RB-66C" and the "first" such aircraft lost over North Vietnam.

Postscript by Bud Emch

I suppose I should add one more thing to carry this discussion on. I arrived at Takhli in April, 1966 and was crewed with as an EWO with another EWO Wayne Smith (I don't remember if he was a Capt. or Lt.). Wayne was one of the survivors from the ill fated EB-66 that was shot down and ended up in the South China Sea. He was also the only member of that crew to continue flying combat missions afterward and he completed his 100 missions about late mid year in 1966.

I must admit that Wayne was a little nervous at times, but he did OK. The shoot down happened on Wayne's 13th mission and he was superstisious about became a little hyper when he flew combat mission with any multiple number of the number "13", e.g. 26, 39, 52 etc. He was sure those multiples were bad signs.

Not being too sure about his long term future flying combat, in SEA, he had his wife come over and she lived in Takhli village for a period of several months, I suppose this was not well known at the time, or USAF leadership most likely would have ordered her sent home.

Wayne told me the whole story of the rescue, and there was a little more than a some luck in the rescue. As I recall, he said that "No one heard their "Mayday" call and there was no official rescue effort initiated for the downed crew." A couple of Navy choppers were flying off a carrier and practicing Search and Rescue missions, they were nearly complete with their training mission and ready to RTB when the received a survival radio signal going off and decided to investigate. You can imagine the Navy crews surprise when their investigation resulted in finding the five downed crew members, fished them out of the water and back to the carrier.

The above crew... Capt. Mann, 1st Lt. McEwen arrived in SEA on/about 27 Sept.1965. I was assigned to this crew off and on from their first SEA mission on 29 Sept 1965. I was one of four Gunners assigned to the 9th TRS Det. at Tan Son Nhut AB. Our Det. had three RB66's #30415, 30418 and 30452.

These aircraft were equipped with an infra-red camera system that was operated by the gunner at his position. We had tested the system in Alaska and it was felt the system would work in SEA. Of the four gunners, one returned to the states on a PCS order.

We were only in a TDY status and were flying two missions per day both day photo and night infra-red. Our best altitude for the infra-red systems to operate was 300-to a max of 500 feet altitude. Our systems operated beautiful and found campfires after campfires every night. Air strikes were then called in on the targets. Well, one day one of the gunners busted his leg and could no longer fly, and was sent back to Shaw to recover. We were now down to two gunners and so Col. Mattson had me train 1st Lt. John Weger (Nav) to operate the camera system.

On 22 Oct 1965, I reported to operations for a night mission with Mann & McEwen. Col Mattson felt I was about worn out and decided Lt. Weger would replace me on the mission. Col. Mattson then invited me to go into Suagon for dinner with him and a couple other officers. That night we sent up two missions, Mann in one and Bill Puckett in the other.

Capt.Puckett later said he had talked to Capt Mann on the radio and Capt Mann was in a heavy action area, with fighter A/C all around. Shortly after Capt. Puckett said he saw a large fire ball in the area were Capt Mann was working. Later, Capt Puckett returned to base, but no word from Capt Mann. After Col. Mattson and I returned to base and checked in at operations, only to find Mann missing. All the other bases were called to see if he had made an emergency landing without success.

At first light, I flew with Col. Mattson, along with an RF-101 to the mission assigned area. The aircraft had crashed into the top of a mountain and we knew for sure after viewing crash site photos that it was A/C 452. This plane had had large red stripes painted on the wings and around the rear near the speed brakes. The red showed in the photos and was proof we had lost the crew. It was a year later that a chopper lowered a man into the crash site and it was determined the crew was KIA.

As of this date, the remains have never been recovered and returned. And not a day goes by that I do not think about those three officers. Memorial services were held at Shaw for the crew and a C-47 flew from Shaw to Pittsburgh Pa. full of 9th TRS officers for a service for Jamed McEwen in Washington Pa. A parade and awarding of medals were made at Shaw by the 9th AF CO, with a missing plane fly-by.

We were prohibited from wearing our flight boots in the building since the heels left black rubber scuff marks on the tile floor. It no doubt seemed strange to the 16th TRS and other aviators to see us exit the 9th TRS with our flight gear – only to sit down on the steps and don our flight boots. Likewise, in reverse process upon returning from a flight, we went through the exercise of removing our flight boots before entering the sacred sanctuary. When the gunners weren’t flying, their endless task was to constantly clean the 9th TRS facilities. As I passed down the hall one day, I heard one of the gunners refer to the 9th AC&W Squadron in derogatory terms. Upon questioning, he said that the gunners called it the 9th Always Cleaning and Waxing Squadron (ACWS) – which was quite appropriate.

This was back in the days when The Millionaire was a popular show, with the knock on the door and the family being handed a check for 1 million dollars. About this time, one of the gunners [SSgt James Rilling] literally became a millionaire overnight when a Great Uncle died in North Dakota and James inherited over a million dollars in money, real estate and river-bottom farmland. From that moment on, Sgt Rilling paid rapt attention to the detailed weather briefings given by the 9th TRS Weather Officers – especially when the thunderstorms approached the wheat fields of North Dakota. Surprisingly, Sgt Rilling didn’t run to personnel to apply for separation, but continued his Air Force career with his usual cheerfulness, vim and vigor. One day as I passed Jim operating a floor buffer removing scuff marks from heels of flight boots, I remarked, “Some job for a millionaire” -- and went on to ask why anybody in their right mind with that sort of money would stay in the Air Force. His answer was: “I get to fly and see the world from 30,000 feet – and, besides, I get paid $50 a month Hazardous Duty Pay for doing so!” Jim Rilling was a handsome bachelor who didn’t need money to attract the opposite sex, but somehow didn’t remain single for very long after he became a millionaire overnight.

Hopefully, the 9th TRS was the last AC&W Squadron anywhere in the Air Force.