Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #929… HUMBLE HOST IS A DAY EARLY. FRIDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER IS THE OFFICIAL DAY, SO SAYS THE FLYER RECEIVED FROM SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MATTIS. Good. I will make it POW/MIA Recognition Weekend. There are too many great stories from the ranks of Rolling Thunder POWs and MIAs to confine the pause to remember to one day a year… The FIFTY-THREE year old tale of “Dutchy 41” is a great place to start the remembering… but first…
GOOD MORNING…Day NINE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE honoring the service and sacrifice of the bold Yankee Air Pirates of OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER, especially those who “gave the last full measure,” those who completed their Vietnam service as POWs, and those who remain somewhere on the battlefield.
WAR HEAD LINES from The New York Times for Friday, 20 September 1968…
THE WAR: Page 4: UP-TO-DATE CASUALTY FIGURES– 27,091 KIA … “The U.S. command said that 217 Americans were killed in combat during the week ended September 14. It was the highest death toll in two weeks but was well below the casualty rate during periods of intense fighting. The latest figure brought the number of United States combat deaths in South Vietnam since January 1, 1961 to 27,921. Additionally, during the same week, 739 American servicemen were wounded seriously enough to be hospitalized. This brought the number of seriously wounded to 92,022. The figure given for the number of enemy soldiers killed during the week was 2,484, bringing the American total of enemy slain since the war started to 395,454. This morning 24 American troops had been killed in sharp battles in the northern provinces during the last two days. … Enemy losses in the two engagements were put at 53 dead. … “ALLIES ARE UNCOVERED ENEMY’S WAR SUPPLIES AT A FASTER RATE”… “Allied forces are finding enemy weapons and food caches at an increasing rate. Military men are convinced that more aggressive tactics are responsible for this ‘ We’re getting out and searching in areas where the Vietcong have long held sway,’ a high ranking officer said. ‘We have more help from civilians because they are not frightened any more. The B-52 raids have also helped. We’re finding all kinds of stuff when we move in to sweep an area after a bombing raid.’ The United States command said lst night that more than 80 tons of food and equip-ment had been uncovered during the even days that ended last Monday night.”…..
20 SEPTEMBER 1968… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (221 Sept reporting 20 Sept Ops) Page 1: “In the air war, LIEUTENANT ANTHONY J. NARGI of Clifton, New Jersey was credited with shooting down a North Vietnamese MiG-21 in a dogfight yesterday (19th) near Vinh. LT NARGI was flying an F-8 Crusader of VF-111, Detachment 11, embarked in CVS-11, USS Intrepid. It was the 110th MiG of the war shot down by American pilots. Enemy gunners shot down an Air Force F-105 Thunderchief jet fighter-bomber yesterday near Vinh as American airmen flew 131 missions against the southern panhandle. The pilot was liste as missing (MAJOR ELWYN REX CAPLING, 469TH TFS)…”… VIETNAM: AIR LOSSES (Chris Hobson) There were no fixed wing aircraft loses in Southeast Asia on 20 September 1968…
SUMMARY OF ROLLING THUNDER LOSSES (KIA/MIA/POW) FOR THE FOUR 20 SEPTEMBER DATES OF THE FOUR YEARS OF THE OPERATION OVER NORTH VIETNAM…
1967, 1968… NONE…
1966… LCDR JAMES REGINALD BAUDER, USN… (KIA) … and… LTJG JAMES BURTON MILLS, USN… (KIA)… and… CAPTAIN EDWARD LEE HAWKINS, USAF… (KIA) …
20 SEPTEMBER 1965… CAPTAIN PHILIP ELDON SMITH, USAF… (POW, China)… and… CAPTAIN WILLIS ELLIS FORBY, USAF… (POW)… and… CAPTAIN THOMAS JERRY CURTIS, USAF… (POW)… and… CAPTAIN WAYNE WHITNEY, USAF… (POW)… and… SSGT WILLIAM A. ROBINSON, USAF… (POW)… and… A1C ARTHUR N. BLACK, USAF… (POW)…
RIPPLE SALVO… #929… AND THEREIN LIE TWO POW STORIES FOR THE AGES…
(1) CAPTAIN PHILIP E. SMITH, 436th TFS and 479th TFW attached to the 6252nd TFW out of Danang…
On 20 September 1965, then Captain Philip E. Smith was the pilot of an F-104C that was to conduct an EC-121 escort mission over the Gulf of Tonkin. His aircraft experienced several equipment failures and incorrect steering commands, and flew well to the west of his target area and into communist Chinese airspace, where 2 Chinese MiG-19s shot him down. The location of the loss was approximately 28 miles northeast of Folue Northeast Airfield, 45 miles northwest of Lingshui airfield, and 55 miles east of the western coastline of Hainan Island, China. It was almost 253 miles east-northeast of Vinh, North Vietnam. When Captain Smith failed to return to base a visual and electronic search was immediately initiated. When no trace of the missing aircraft or pilot were found, the search was cancelled and all aircraft returned to base. During the return flight, two F-104s were involved in a mid-air collision. Both pilots ejected and were rescued. The search efforts were terminated. Pilot Smith was reported as Missing in Action.
Philip Smith successfully ejected from his crippled aircraft and was captured shortly after reaching the ground. After capture, the communist Chinese transported him to Canton where he underwent intensive interrogation. later Captain Smith was transferred to the capitol of China, Peking, where he spent the bulk of his captivity in solitary confinement. During the time Captain Smith was not in solitary, he found himself with Richard Fecteau and John T. Downey, CIA case officers captured during the Korean War. The two men had been passengers on a C-47 aircraft shot down on 29 November 1952 when they were sent in to pick up anti-communist Chinese agents. The C-47 pilots Robert C. Snoddy and Norman A. Schwartz were killed and the two CIA officers captured.
On 13 December 1971, the Chinese released Richard Fecteau to U.S. control. During his extensive debrief he told U.S. intelligence officers that other Americans, including Downey and Smith, were alive. Further he provided specific and detailed information about their confinement as well as his nearly 20 years in captivity. With positive proof of capture in hand US Air Force upgraded Captain Smith’s status to POW. On 17 February 1972, then President Richard M. Nixon made his historic visit to Peking. In addition to discussing in depth the Sino-American relationship and the need for improvement with Chairman Mao, Captain Smith believes that although his release was not secured at that time, positive results were achieved in government-to-government relations that directly affected the American’s situation. For example, the same prison authorities and guards, who were once dealing out harsh treatment in austere living conditions before President Nixon’s trip, were directed to adopt more humanitarian practices towards their captives. The hard reality is that Philip Smith and John Downey could have remained prisoners of the Chinese long after the Vietnam War ended if relations had not improved between the nations.
In 1992, A national Security Agency (NSA) correlation study of all communist radio intercepts pertaining to missing Americans, which was presented to the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA affairs in a classified format, was finally declassified and made public. According to this document 8…radio messages were intercepted and correlated to this incident. The NSA synopsis states: “Note. Navigational error to vicinity of Hainan Island and shot down by PRC fighters. PRC shootdown of unidentified hostile aircraft…” On 12 March 1973, John Downey returned to US control when he walked across the bridge from mainland China to Hong Kong. Three days later, on 15 March 1973, Lieutenant Colonel Smith did the same thing. They joined 591 American military and civilian Prisoners of War who returned during Operation Homecoming in 1973. For other Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, questions remain… This copy snipped from Task Force Omega online material…
(2) “DUTCHY 41″… CAPTAIN THOMAS J. CURTIS, aircraft commander; 1LT DUANE W. MARTIN, co-pilot; SSGT WILLIAM A. ROBINSON, crewchief; and, A1C ARTHUR N. BLACK, pararescueman, comprised the crew of a HH-43B Huskie helicopter, call sign “DUTCHY 41.” On 20 September 1965 Duchy 41 was directed to make the rescue of a downed F-105D pilot, CAPTAIN WILLIS ELLIS FORBY, 35 miles south of Vinh, close to the Laotian border. CAPTAIN FORBY’s F-105D was hit by AAA during an attack on a bridge and he was forced to eject. When his wingman heard his Forby’s emergency beeper he called for SAR assistance. Duchy 41 and a second HH-43B operating out of a forward Lima site in Laos made their way toward the downed pilot near the town of Ha Tinh. As the helicopters approach CAPTAIN FORBY’s position,he lit off a smoke cannister to help mark the position and provide wind info to the helo pilots. However, CAPTAIN FORBY was unaware that the North Vietnamese were hidden all around him waiting for the expected rescue aircraft to arrive on scene. CAPTAIN CURTIS and Dutchy 41 came to a hover over the downed pilot but as they prepared to hoist him aboard the helicopter the enemy unleashed an intense AAA attack on the helicopter downing it immediately. The second HH-46 made an approach to pick up the five downed airman but was held off by the intense gunfire and pulled off after taking several hits. In one fell swoop the North Vietnamese had captured five American prisoners. Make that four. 1LT DUANE MARTIN evaded capture by the North Vietnamese troops but was captured after a short period and imprisoned by the Pathet Lao in Laos. That POW story here tomorrow in Ripple Salvo #929.
CAPTAIN THOMAS J. CURTIS and two of his Dutchy crew were to spend the next 2,703 days in the Hanoi prison system before being released with the Operation Homecoming group of 591 POWs. All three were awarded the AIR FORCE CROSS for the extraordinary courage and effort to rescue CAPTAIN FORBY, who accompanied the three to Hanoi. The AIR FORCE CROSS citations for the Dutchy 41 aircrew are similar in describing the extraordinary heroism of these men who put their lives at risk in the attempt to save another… The citation of A1C WILLIAM A. ROBINSON…
“Airman First Class William A. Robinson distinguished himself by extarordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force as an Aircrew Member of a HH-43B helicopter over North Vietnam on 20 September 1965. On that dte, Airman Robinson participated in an extremely hazardous attempted recovery of a downed pilot. This mission required a flight of over 80 miles, mostly over hostile controlled territory. Evaluation of the environment in which the downed pilot was located indicated that maximum performance would be demanded from each crew member if successful recovery was to be affected. Though exposed to intense hostile ground fire, Airman Robinson, with complete disregard for his own safety, performed with courage and professional precision in the supreme effort to rescue a fallen comrade. Airman Robinson’s courageous action and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the American fighting man under attack by an opposing armed force. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship and aggressiveness, Airman Robinson reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.”… oohrah…
EACH OF THE MEN CAPTURED ON 20 SEPTEMBER 1965 would serve out the war –2,700+ days– in inhuman conditions under the watch of depraved and cruel keepers, frequently enduring years on end in solitary confinement broken only by periods of unspeakable torture. When freedom was regained in March 1973 each was asked to contribute a few thought for a book project–WE CAME HOME— by Captain and Mrs. Frederic Wyatt, USNR (ret). Some of those thought :…
COL THOMAS JERRY CURTIS… “My joy in being home is interrupted almost daily as I think of the families of our men who did not return. My heart goes out to them, as their waiting has not ended. To these brave families, my most sincere salute.”… “I had faith in myself that I was up to the task. I developed faith in my fellow POW that he was going to do everything he could to resist. I had faith in my country that they were going to do all that they could to get me our. Our war became trying to resist what they were trying to get us to do.” (This last quoted from the current MOAA magazine). Colonel Curtis is 85, and going strong 53 years to the day that he was downed trying to save another… He retired from the Air Force after 25 years to become a school teacher.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM ROBINSON… Along with ARTHUR BLACK from “Dutchy 41” the longest serving prisoner of war of the Vietnam War… Quoted in the Madisonville Daily Times: “The return with honor was our goal, but the most important things we lived with, the mottos were…never give up, roll with the punches, bounce back, and be ready for the next round.”…. “The things that kept us going…faith, faith in myself that I could handle things, faith in those around us that we would get through this together, faith in my country that it wouldn’t abandon me, but most of all faith in my God that he will see me through. We believed every day this thing could end. I think about the times that someone would boom on the wall, and we’d all stand up in unison and face the east, look at an imagine an imaginary flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance and then the Lord’s Prayer. These were the things we dId over and over again.”
MAJOR ARTHUR N. BLACK… “There are many lessons that we all learned during our captivity, but the most important lesson for every countryman to learn and remember is that no matter how difficult, hopeless, or futile the situation might appear, a strong faith in God and country will somehow, in time, resolve that situation.”
COLONEL WILLIS ELLIS FORBY… “I feel the greatest things that sustained me during my years of imprisonment was the faith and knowledge that my country would succeed in its mission after which I would be permitted to return. Another important strength was derived from my faith in God. this Strength contributed greatly in helping me survive during the more difficult periods of confinement. These two faiths coupled with good training prior to capture enabled me to keep mentally and physically healthy during my confinement.”…
Tomorrow: FIRST LIEUTENANT DUANE WHITNEY MARTIN, USAF (1940-1968)…
Lest we forget….. Bear
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