Dan Heller 
HUMBLE HOST notes that Major General DARYLE E. TRIPP, USAF (Ret) has put his great story of one of the most historic air rescues of all time on the internet. Read his book, BOXER 22: Air Rescue at the Door of Death.
(Webmaster note: I am unable to find a good link to GENERAL TRIPP’s book. RTR readers are welcome to puruse the net to find it somewhere out there in Cyberville. A book on the subject that is readily available is The Rescue of Boxer 22 by Jeffrey Chunglo. Also available is Don Holloway’s excellent narrative found on his website. The Vietnam Air Losses record for Boxer 22 can be found here)
The rescue effort of 51-continuous hours on 5-6-7 December 1969 set records. On 5 December 49 Jet aircraft, 55 A-1s, 15 Jolly Greens, 7 Nail FACs, 3 King HC-130s and a flock of tankers added to the 130 total aircraft in the air over the southwest exit from the MuGia Pass, home to more than 300 enemy AAA barrels. MuGia = “Door of Death. Of 6 December, Major General TRIPP wrote: “This day set the an absolute rescue record. The force included 93 jet aircraft (from all services), 96 Skyraiders, 11 Jolly Greens, 12 Nails FACs, 5 King HC-130s, 2 Cobra helicopter gunships and KC-135 tankers that were deployed. A total of 222 aircraft had been committed to the operation.” During the 51 hours 490 aircraft sorties were flown. When it came to “Bits of Ribbon,” the General reported an Air Force record number of awards for a single event were recommended and awarded following the rescue. One thousand eighty awards were recommended and the number approved set a record that stands today.
BOXER 22 is a great story made clear by the best set of pilots charts and maps of the Commando Hunt area every published. General TRIPP obtained several cockpit charts used by aviators involved in the successful rescue of one of the two aviators. In addition, the photographs and other attachments are well chosen and support the prose. General TRIPP is to be commended for his superb book and releasing it to the internet.
