Bear Taylor 
COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR and honoring the intrepid Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers and air crewmen who carried the war into the heartland of North Vietnam in the years of Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968)…
GOOD MORNING. I have another tale of guts and glory to tell. WHEN NAVAL AVIATION ROARED… #11… a tale of the brave and bold… 14 February 1968… TICO Does VINH…
USS TICONDEROGA (CVA-14) and CARRIER AIR WING 19 were on the 4th of 5 combat deployments. The ship departed Alameda on 27 December 1967 and returned on 17 August 1968 and spent 120 days on the line at Yankee Station. The air wing lost eight aircraft on the cruise, only two of which were combat losses. Two aviators were killed in combat and three were captured to spend the rest of the war in Hanoi Hilton. Two other aviators perished in operational accidents. On the prior cruise the air wing lost 17 aircraft, 14 in combat… (Source: Humble Host notes from personal 1985 review of CINCPACFLT awards files held at the Navy Annex at Suitland, Maryland.)
THE TALE… The weather over North Vietnam remained unfavorable for group gropes into the Heartland and Red River Valley through January and the first half of February 1968, forcing Rolling Thunder operations to concentrate on the enemy’s transportation network through Route Packs 1 through 4. Targeting of bridges and POL storage areas was a high priority. As the strike ops moved south where the weather was most favorable, the enemy made an effort to move move more of their defenses south of 19-North, including MiG ops from airfields at Bai Thong and Vinh. On 14 February 1968 Carrier Air Wing 19 was directed to nip the restoration of Vinh Airfield in the bud…
AT THE TIME…February 1968... Task Force 77 at Yankee Station was dividing their strike operations between support for the U.S. Marines fighting like hell at Khe Sahn in the middle of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, and sustaining ROLLING THUNDER pressure on the North Vietnamese logistic supply line in the panhandle of the North and down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. Humble Host was flying A-4Fs with the VA-113 “Stingers” embarked in USS ENTERPRISE and was en route to Yankee Station from the Sea of Japan, where we had been for the response to the seizure of the USS PUEBLO by the North Koreans… It was an exciting time…
THE MISSION. Strike the Vinh Airfield and adjacent petroleum storage facilities. Intelligence determined that the enemy was moving to expand the airfield to support MiG-17 and MiG-21 operations for employment against Task Force 77 and to cover the logistic transportation network south of 19-North.
ENEMY DEFENSES. While Route Pack 2 (Vinh) was lightly defended by MiG and SAM forces, the Vinh area was covered by one active and very mobile SAM battalion that moved among several prepared SAM sites. MiGs had also been active intermittently south of 20-North in Route Pack 3. Both threats had to be expected to challenge the striking force. Defenses included: One known active SAM site and two additional possibly occupied sites; 18 radar controlled 85mm gun sites; 26 37mm/57mm AAA sites; and unlimited automatic gunfire sites…
THE PLAN. The strike on the Vinh Airfield and POL facilities was planned, briefed and led by the air wing commander, Captain Phil CRAVEN. The plan called for two strike elements of six A-4s each, supported by an equal number of flak suppressors, Iron Hand and F-8 TARCAP aircraft. In order to reduce the effectiveness of the most dense defenses in the Vinh area Captain CRAVEN’s plan of attack was to split his force into five elements approaching the Island of Hon Mat. The TARCAP element of four F-8s were to proceed to the northwest remaining in visual contact with the strike elements. They were to set up a barrier patrol north of the Vinh Airfield. Five bomb-laden VA-195 A-4Cs were to proceed northwest to a point northeast of the airfield from which to launch their dive bombing attack from the north. Two VA-23 A-4F Iron Hand were to accelerate to the west of the airfield to cover the suspected active site of the SAM battalion. The remainder of the strike force– four VA-192 A-4F bombers, one VA-192 A-4F Walleye aircraft and A-4F escort, two VA-23 A-4F bombers and two VA-23 A-4F flak suppressors were to proceed southwest from Hon Mat to position for a north to south diving attack on the airfield. The attack to be timed to hit the runway 30-seconds ahead of the VA-195 A-4Cs attacking from the north. The lead Walleye A-4F was to strike the POL facility. The photo recce RF-8 and F-8 escort were to cross the target area at 5,000-feet two minutes after the last bomb impact…
EXECUTION. The 25 aircraft of the strike force rendezvoused expeditiously over USS TICONDEROGA and led by Captain CRAVEN executed the plan as briefed. The force proceeded to Hon Mat at 20,000 and split as briefed descending to attack roll-in altitudes of 12-14,000 while closing the target only six miles inland from feet-dry. Multiple cloud layers and afternoon visibility of four miles complicated, but did not appreciably effect the execution of the plan. Enemy AAA commenced at feet-dry and became intense as the various elements closed on Vinh and the airfield. Captain CRAVEN led the attack from south to north delivering his Walleye into the petroleum storage facility. He was rewarded with a secondary explosion and billowing black smoke that marked the target for the other ten bombers. Enemy barrage fire covered the roll-in areas for the north-south runway but all strike pilots successfully penetrated the dense pockets of AAA and avoided the intense aim and tracking fire opposition in their respective diving attacks to hit their assigned sections of the runway and POL storage facility. The two flak suppressors had no trouble locating, attacking and silencing two of the several firing sites as the bombers executed their dives. As the strike aircraft cleared the target, the VFP-63 RF-8E flown by LCDR Rob WALLACE and escorted by LTJG Robert Charles McMAHAN executed a post-strike damage assessment photo run at 5,000-feet. The pass brought the enemy SAM battalion into action with a volley of three SA-2 missiles. The Iron Hand section responded immediately and shut down the site’s radar with a brace of Shrike missiles. However, one of the three SAMs scored a direct hit on the F-8 of LTJG McMAHAN. While there was no parachute sighted or beeper/emergency radio heard, a SAR was initiated then canceled. LTJG McMAHAN was listed as missing. His remains were recovered and repatriated in 1990. LCDR McMAHAN (promoted twice while MIA) rests in peace in Oakland Cemetery, Warsaw, Illinois-duty done and remembered on this day in 2020 with admiration and respect….
RESULTS. The Vinh Airfield runway was cratered from one end to the other more than twenty times and the seed weapons were estimated to be buried in the runway. The POL facility was heavily damaged and more than six secondaries were observed by strike pilots. The North Vietnamese made no further effort to repair the Vinh Airfield runway in 1968.
BITS OF RIBBON. Thirteen awards were recommended, including DFCs for Captain CRAVEN (CVW-19) and LTJG McMAHAN (Posthumous) (VF-114). The brave and bold on the successful strike on Vinh included: CDRs EGGERT, BUSH CHESSMAN and ALDERN: LCDRs CAMPBELL, LUBBERS, AMMANN, MARKS, COWLES and WALLACE; LTs LARSON and PRICE; and LTJGs LAWRENCE, GILL, DETLOFF, THOMPSON, ARMSTRONG, KORTEUM, HOLLUB, WHITE and FRANKLIN…
Lest we forget… Bear
