Bear Taylor 
COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973) and honoring the bold, brave Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers, and aircrewmen who bloodied the enemy in his heartland during the aerial bombing campaign called Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968)…
GOOD MORNING. Faithful Scribe has another tale from the combat record of USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31) and Attack Carrier Air Wing-TWENTY-ONE on the morning of 25 April 1967. Led by Commander Al MONGER, the strikers obliterated Kien An Ammo Storage Depot in spite of the MiGs, fifteen SAMs, and a sky full of flak…
WHEN NAVAL AVIATION ROARED. Tale #27. SCOOTERS OVER HAIPHONG. A tale of diving through SAMs, MiGs and the usual mix of intense and accurate enemy antiaircraft gunfire. The source of this summary of action is USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31) letter 1650, serial 0049 of 15 July 1967. The Prologue is quoted from Stephen GRAY’s extraordinary journal RAMPANT RAIDER, An A-4 Skyhawk Pilot in Vietnam, page 207-8…
THE PROLOGUE. “Although Congress had lifted the restriction on bombing the area around Haiphong at the request of the Johnson administration (?), the shipping in Haiphong harbor and the dock areas remained closed to U.S. attacks. On 25 April (1967) the biggest show of the war so far was laid on. A plethora of new targets around Haiphong was to be hit throughout the day by all three aircraft carriers in the Tonkin Gulf. These would be the first strikes around Haiphong since the oil refinery strike during the 1966 cruise, and in the meantime the North Vietnamese had greatly strengthened the air defenses around the city. The morning strike (led by CAG, CDR Al Monger) was heavily contested. As Air Wing 21 approached the target (Kien An Ammo Depot), which was very close to a MiG base at Cat Bi airfield, a MiG-17 lifted off the runway and bored right up through the strike formation, squirting off an Atoll heat-seeking missile on his way through. The missile flew right up the tailpipe of an A-4 from VA-76 and blew the entire tail section off the airplane. No one in the strike formation saw the pilot, LTJG Charles STACKHOUSE, eject from the burning jet as it spun out of control into the ground. ‘Charlie Stackgas,’ as he was affectionately nicknamed by his squadron mates, was presumed to have died in the crash. Another long-awaited and much dreaded threat materialized for the first time in Air Wing 21 experience: The SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile. VA-212 pilot LT Joe GATEWOOD, a slow talking, humorous Mississippi boy whom everyone liked and whom was nicknamed, of course, ‘Gator,’ had a close encounter with a SAM and received moderate shrapnel damage to his airplane. The morning strike pilots returned (from Kien An) with eyes wide and tales of MiGs and a sky full of ‘flying telephone poles,’ as SAMs were called. In addition, every type of antiaircraft artillery North Vietnam possessed had been observed firing. I was flying on the afternoon strike (to the Cat Bi ammo dump).”… (Faithful Scribe awards an A+ to Steve for his six-page tale of his afternoon contest with the defenses of Haiphong. )…
TALE #27. “On 25 April 1967, Commander Al MONGER, CAG-21, was assigned as the strike group leader on the important and hazardous attack on the Haiphong Ammunition Depot, Kien An, North Vietnam. The target is located in one of the most heavily defended areas in North Vietnam. There are 48 active antiaircraft sites containing an estimated 315 light, medium and heavy caliber guns, 19 known and active surface-to-air missiles sites at the target and it is within eight minutes flight time of four major enemy air bases. Commander MONGER used his extensive experience and knowledge of enemy defenses to carefully plan the attack. The strike group consisted of 16 attacking bombers, 8 flak suppressors, 6 target air patrol, and other support aircraft. He carefully positioned the support aircraft to afford the maximum protection of the strike group and assigned specific targets to each of the flak suppressors and attacking bombers. The route to the target was selected to minimize the exposure to enemy defenses. The initial phase of the strike went exactly as planned, crossing the enemy coast-line on time and proceeding to the target area. As Commander MONGER began to climb to attack altitude stiff enemy defenses were encountered, the first of which was accurately aimed antiaircraft fire; then the first of a volley of some 15 surface-to-air missiles were fired directly at the strike group and surface-to-air missile suppression elements. Commander MONGER led the flight in an evasive maneuver that eluded the missiles. He climbed back to attack altitude and again was forced to take violent evasive maneuvers to avoid enemy missiles. One of the aircraft in his flight was struck by a missile during the second volley and was forced to retire. With resolute determination he once again led the strike group up to attack altitude and commenced his attack. Just as he was about to roll-in on the target, enemy fighter aircraft were sighted below the strike group. The enemy fighters pulled up and engaged the last of the attacking aircraft and succeeded in shooting down one of the A-4s during retirement.
“Through all of the defenses, and the violent maneuvering to avoid the missiles, Commander MONGER maintained control of the group. He delivered his own bombs with great care and precision, completely disregarding any personal danger and concentrating solely on his attack. Bomb damage assessment photography shows both revetted ammo storage buildings in his assigned area of the target were completely destroyed by his attack. Commander MONGER by his great courage and determinatio9n was directly responsible for the success of this mission. His strong leadership and steadfast devotion to duty were the deciding factors determining the success of this strike when such strong enemy opposition was encountered. These characteristics plus his exceptional skill as an airman serve as an inspiration to all the pilots in the air wing. His actions were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”…. oohrah…
BITS OF RIBBON. The ship and air wing recommended medals and bits of ribbon be awarded to 24 Bonnie Dick warriors for guts and performance in the face of fire on this mission to Kien An, Haiphong. Two were SILVER STARS, one for CAG, his third, and one for Charlie STACKHOUSE, VA-76, who would have to wait until POW Homecoming in 1973 to accept it. Twelve DFCs were recommended: CDR R.B. RUTHERORD (VF-211); CDR R.B. FULLER (VA-76); LCDR W.J. ISENHOUR (CVW-21); LCDR W.H. GREENE (VA-212); LCDR R.G. HUBBARD, JR (VF-211); LCDR R.S. THOMAS (VA-212); LT C.V.K. OHRENSCHALL (VA-212); LT S.R. BRIGGS (VA-212); LT J.E. KILLIAN (VA-76); LT J.B. GATEWOOD (VA-212); LTJG M.T. DANIELS (VA-212); and LTJG C.E. LASKEY (VA-211).
NAVY COMMENDATION MEDALS with Combat V were recommended for nine of the strike group aviators: LCDR P.F. HOLLANDSWORTH (VA-76); LCDR A.L. SCHULTZ (VA-76); LCDR L.S. MILLER (VF-211); LTJG T.R. HALL, JR (VA-212); LTJG J.M. SHEA (VF-211); LTJG M.H. ERSKINE (VA-76); LTJG G. LYFORD (VA-76); LTJG D.I. WILLIAMS (VA-76); and LTJG R.A. NEWELL (VA-76)…
CINCPACFLT approved the two Silver Stars and four of the twelve DFCs. Four DFCs were downgraded to Air Medals and four to NCMs. A total of 12 NCMs with Combat Vs were approved. Two of the twenty-three recommendations were reduced to 2-points toward next Strike Flight Medal…. that hurt!… A few large secondaries out of an ammo dump target would have helped sway the awards czars in Hawaii…
Lest we forget… Bear
