Bear Taylor 
RIPPLE SALVO… #452… “I’m hit and heading back…” Arv Chauncey finally “got back” on 4 March 1973… Wingman, Ensign Steve Gray was there for the first hour of that six-year “visit” to North Vietnam… but first…
Good Morning: Day FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO of tales from the “air war” that was Rolling Thunder fifty years ago…
31 May 1967… HEADLINES from The New York Times on a very nice Wednesday in NYC…
MIDEAST: ARAB STATES- ISRAEL…Page 1: “Nasser and Hussein Reach Surprise Pact on Defense”… “The United Arab Republic and Jordan entered a military alliance yesterday that appeared to commit Jordan to attack Israel if Israel attempts to break the blockade at Aqaba.”… Page 1: “Eban Says Israel Would Attack Alone”… “Foreign Minister Abba Eban said today that the Israeli Government was ‘pursuing a policy of prying open the Strait of Tiran, alone, if we must, with others if we can.’ “… Page 1: “Soviet Is Sending 10 More Warships to Middle East”… “Turkey has granted the Soviet Union authorization to move 10 ships from the Black Sea through the Turkish Straits into the Eastern Mediterranean to reinforce its naval force there.”…
ALSO: Page 1: “Wheeler At Memorial Day Services at Arlington”… With the President ot of town at his ranch in Texas, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Wheeler headed up the ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery… He voiced U.S. hopes for Peace…”…’that world leaders would some day settle their disputes by employing reason, not violence. With the insanity of war, violence has been the chosen means of predator nations to gain their objectives. Unless we are willing to submit to the predators, there has been no recourse except to take up arms in self-defense.’…about 250 persons attended the ceremonies.”
PRESIDENT JOHNSON sent a letter to be read by General Wheeler at Arlington…”This is a time for re-dedication to the principles so courageously defended by those we honor this day. Their sacrifice enables us to persevere in our patient and determined search for peace, freedom, and justice as their glory inspires our quest, their success assures man’s right to an independent choice of life and destiny.
“May God guide us in this purpose and bestow His blessings upon those who guard ramparts in Vietnam. they will ever be a credit to this country and its cause. When in the pursuit of this cause we encounter a crisis, then a contest of violence: a nation needs more than peaceful principles and good will and civilized social systems; it needs fighters, champions who are skilled in defense against vigilance. It needs fighting skill coupled with strong will and determination; and, above all a nation needs defenders who believe so strongly that they are willing to go out from the gate and expose their very lives so that their nation and its principles will live…”
31 May 1967… The President’s TS Daily CIA Briefing (Sanitized) ARAB STATES-ISRAEL: There have been no major developments…Press reports yesterday implied the Soviets were suddenly strengthening their Mediterranean squadron. These reports appear to be a somewhat alarmist pick-up of routine Soviet navy activity… Nasir, having received King Husayn’s surrender, is turning his attention to other moderate Arabs. The Cairo press has been turning the screw on Libya with charges that the US is shipping weapons to Israel through Wheelus Air Force Base. Soviet commentary on the crisis is relatively restrained. JORDAN: King Husayn’s ‘secret’ trip to Cairo yesterday was about as secret as an Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. Nasir, in a clear double-cross, gave Husayn maximum publicity to make sure the whole world knows of Jordan’s surrender and to make it virtually impossible for Husayn to renege later…Despite Egyptian pledges to handle the whole affair quietly, almost every radical Arab in Cairo was on hand to greet Husayn when he arrived and the first press release came less that two hours after his plans touched down. Husayn signed a joint defense pact with Egypt–the proceedings were broadcast live– and then flew home, leaving his scalp nailed to Nasir’s lodge pole. The defense pact stipulates that Husayn will put his forces under Nasir’s command in case of war…the King may have to sack some of his pro-western cabinet ministers… SOUTH VIETNAM: As we go to press there have been no significant enemy attacks for 48-hours. There still are plenty of signs that the enemy anticipated some heavy fighting, but recent allied operations along the DMZ may well have spoiled his timetable….
31 MAY 1967…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (1 June reporting 31 May ops) Page 2: “U.S. Bombs 2 Oil Depots at Haiphong”… “Navy fighter-bombers flew through heavy antiaircraft fire and surface-to-air missiles today to bomb two petroleum storage area within four miles from downtown Haiphong. Although no planes were shot down in the raid, one Navy A-4 Skyhawk was lost over North Vietnam for unknown reasons and the pilot is listed as missing in action. Two aircraft were shot down during attacks yesterday. The total is now 565 United States planes lost in the North…Clearing weather permitted strikes near North Vietnam’s major cities for the second day.
“Yesterday fighter-bombers blasted the runway at Hoalac MIG base 20 miles west of Hanoi and hit a number of rail road yards and rail and road bridges. In the latest attacks planes from the attack carrier Hancock bombed the petroleum storage depots at Loidong and Caucam on opposite sides of the Caucam River within four miles of Haiphong’s major dock areas. The two fuel depots are important storage areas used in transshipping petroleum from ships by railroad and trucks into North Vietnam’s interior. The river fronting the two new dumps is clogged with mud and consequently long, flexible pipes are floated out to tankers moored further down diver. For that reason there was no danger of hitting foreign shipping. The spokesman said that antiaircraft fire was moderate to heavy around the two sites and numbers of SAMs were sighted by the pilots. The two POL sites had been bombed three times before in April and May…fighter bombers also damaged a radar site three miles northwest of Haiphong and hit three rail yards northwest of Hanoi.”
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Chris Hobson) Three fixed wing aircraft were lost in Southeast Asia on 31 May 1967…
(1) MAJOR M.C. FULCHER and CAPTAIN A.E. WOLFF were flying an F-4C of the 398th TFS and 366th TFW our of Danang as a participant in a 366th Wing strike on the barracks at Kep. MAJOR FULCHER and CAPTAIN WOLFF were hit by 85-mm antiaircraft fire retiring from the target after a successful strike. They flew their damaged Phantom east then south over the Gulf of Tonkin headed for Danang. About 45 miles east of Danang the tired F-4 gave up and the two aviators ejected to be rescued by a Navy destroyer… to fly and fight again…
(2) and (3)… LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ARVIN ROY CHAUNCEY (NavCad Class 34-55) and LTJG MARK T. DANIELS were flying A-4E Skyhawks of the VA-212 Rampant Raiders embarked in USS Bon Homme Richard on a strike on the airfield at Kep and were downed by North Vietnamese antiaircraft fire. Here is how Chris Hobson starts the story…
“A series of raids by the Air force and Navy was flown against targets at Kep on the final day of the month. Four Skyhawks were on their way to Kep airfield when they encountered intense antiaircraft fire about 20 miles northeast of Kep. LCDR CHAUNCEY’s aircraft was hit in the engine and caught fire. He turned towards high ground and jettisoned his stores but the aircraft lost power and he was forced to eject. He was captured and joined the rest of his shipmates in the Hanoi Hilton. Like most of the others, he was released on 4 March 1973.
“When LCDR CHAUNCEY’s aircraft was hit his flight called for SAR assistance and stayed in the area to protect their leader and the SAR forces when they arrived. However, LTJG DANIELS almost suffered the same fate as LCDR CHAUNCEY when his aircraft was hit by AAA about 8 miles northeast of Kep. He headed out to sea in search of a tanker but with his radio inoperative he was not able to rendezvous and take on fuel. He found a SAR destroyer and ejected close by when the Skyhawk’s engine flamed out. He was picked up by the destroyer’s Seasprite SAR helicopter.”
Flying LCDR CHAUNCEY’s wing that day fifty years ago was ENSIGN STEVE GRAY, who included the last flight of ARV CHAUNCEY, “Flying Eagle Two-Two-Six,” in his great air war journal, “RAMPANT RAIDER, An A-4 Skyhawk Pilot in Vietnam.” Here is page 231 of Steve Gray’s account of ARV CHAUNCEY’s 31 May 1967…
“We reached the initial point, a large reservoir, and the strike leader began to climb the force to attack altitude. Without warning, because the enemy had been optically tracking us without using radar, heavy antiaircraft fire shells began to burst right in the formation. Without being aware of it, because we had little intelligence on this area of North Vietnam, the strike leader had led us close to e very large concentration of heavy antiaircraft guns protecting the northeast railroad that ran from China to Hanoi. The first flak burst I saw hit Arv Chauncey’s airplane just behind the fight wing. I was flying on Arv’s port side, stepped down slightly, and the explosion momentarily shrouded Arv’ tail section in black smoke. almost immediately, what looked like a bushel basket of sparks poured from Arv’s tailpipe, accompanied by pale red flames. the cohesion of the strike group disintegrated as individual elements took evasive action. The problem had just begun, but Arv and I were already in serious trouble.
“Arv called, ‘I’m hit and heading back,’ as he rolled into a left turn. I crossed above and behind him, trying to get a look at the damage to his right side as we fell out of the strike formation. He called to jettison our CBUs and I saw him begin to drop his bombs. I punched my bomb pickle four or five times just to make sure all of mine released. ‘Steve,’ Arv radioed, ‘I’m losing my engine and can’t make it to the coast. I’ll try for those mountains.’ My heart sank. It was obvious that Arv wasn’t going to make it back over the water because we were steadily losing altitude and slowing down. The flak guns were hammering us badly, and Arv couldn’t do anything but fly straight and try to stretch his glide. The high pitched buzz of antiaircraft tracking radar filled my headset as the gunners on the ground locked us up solid. I began punching our bundles of chaff, trying to break their lock as the heavy shells continued to burst all around and in between us. I had no idea where the flak was coming from because I hadn’t seen the guns. As we descended below twenty-five hundred feet, the flak stopped as suddenly as it had begun. I was flying a hundred feet above and the right of Arv’s airplane. the mountain he had referred to –a two thousand foot tall ridge covered by heavy forest–was still a couple of miles ahead, and it didn’t look as if he could glide that far. Huge tongues of yellow flame began to pulsate out of Arv’s tailpipe as his engine continued to disintegrate. Afraid that his airplane was about to explode, I transmitted,’You’re burning pretty bad now, Arv. You better get out.’ His canopy flew off almost immediately, and the rocket powered seat lofted Arv clear of the burning A-4.
“I looked down at the radio dial and selected to 243.0 MHz, the Guard Channel. ‘Mayday, mayday, mayday,’ I transmitted, ‘Flying Eagle two-to-six has ejected five miles east of the reservoir. Good chute. Get the rescue chopper on the way…”
Ensign Steve Gray, Flying Eagle two-two-three, that day, remained on scene as the commander of the situation until relieved. Before departing he was able to put 20-mm rounds over the heads of enemy in black suits closing in on Arv.
Steve spins five more pages of this tale (buy the book) that doesn’t have the happy ending he wished for his leader, Arv Chauncey. The bad guys got there before the Rescap Spads and helicopter could close the scene. When last seen that day Arv Chauncey was being led down his hill by four North Vietnamese…
And that’s the way it was on this day fifty years ago…
Lest we forget…. Bear (NavCad Class 34-55)
