Bear Taylor 
COMMEMORATING the 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR (1961-1973)…and honoring the gallant Naval Aviators, Naval Flight Officers and aircrewmen who took the war to the heartland of North Vietnam during the years of Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968)…
GOOD MORNING. Faithful Scribe has another tale of combat heroics to tell. WHEN NAVAL AVIATION ROARED… Tale #14 from the Taylor Cache of 1985 notes from the CINCPACFLT awards files… USS HANCOCK (CVA-19) and Attack Carrier Air Wing FIVE strike the Hai Duong Railway/Highway Bridge and Thanh Lien RR Siding on 19 June 1967… USS HANCOCK and her air wing left North Island, San Diego on 5 January 1967 and returned on 22 July 1967 after logging 102 days on Yankee Station conducting Rolling Thunder Operations. This was the 3rd of 8 wartime cruises USS HANCOCK made to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war, the most of any American carrier. The air wing lost 16 aircraft on the 1967 cruise with nine (9) aviators left behind, five as POWs to return in 1973. The ship and air wing were in the fourth of five line periods on 19 June 1967, the date of this tale of guts and glory…
THE MISSION. Interdict the rail and road link between Haiphong and Hanoi. The Hai Duong Railway and Highway Bridge and adjacent railyard at Thanh Lien were a priority Rolling Thunder target for the entire year of 1967. As the merchant ships offloaded unopposed at Haiphong, the enemy sought to move the incoming war materials west to Hanoi where the funnel for the flow to the battlefields of South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos began. As the war widened the enemy developed alternative routes to the Highway 1 route through Thanh Hoa and Vinh. Hai Duong, 18 miles northwest of Haiphong, became a hotly contested center of activity. Rolling Thunder aviators would drop a span or render the bridge unserviceable one day and the NVN/Chinese engineers would return the bridge to service the next day. Through the summer of 1967 nearly every CTF-77 attack and fighter aviator got a crack at the key target in the link between Haiphong and Hanoi. Enemy defenses were beefed up accordingly. On 19 June 1967 two back-to-back strikes were scheduled for the bridge and railyard. HANCOCK’s target time was ten minutes after the first strike by USS ENTERPRISE and CVW-9 (Faithful Scribe led a division of Bullpuppers against the bridge and scored a big hit on the center stanchions–moved them a few feet–good for a NCM)… HANCOCK’s A-Team got the call to follow ENTERPRISE and finish the job…
ENEMY DEFENSES. Five 37/57mm anti-aircraft artillery sites were located in the immediate target area, two of which were radar controlled. Within a five mile arc of the bridge were ten 37/57mm and two 85mm AAA sites of multiple guns. The route to and from the target was defended by nine high-threat surface-to-air missile sites and Hai Duong was defended by 15 additional sites. Enemy MiG aircraft were poised to meet American strike groups from four airfields within 25 miles.
THE PLAN. The strike was coordinated, planned, briefed and led by the skipper of the Attack Squadron NINETY-FOUR Mighty Shrikes, Commander James H. WYNN, III. Commander WYNN formulated the overall concept of operations for the mission, including the assignment of types, number and weapons loading of all 28 aircraft in the strike force. He coordinated the two carrier attack, selected rendezvous, navigation and communication plans and approved the tactics proposed by the various element leaders in the strike group. The strike group consisted of four A-4C and four A-4E bomber aircraft, four A-4C flak suppressors, four F-8C flak suppressors, four A-4E SAM suppressors with four F-8E escorts and four F-8E target combat air patrol. Timing of the attack was crucial. The short time between strikes was intended to be so close that the enemy would be denied time to reload the SAM batteries after opposing the ENTERPRISE group.
EXECUTION. Rendezvous and navigation to coast-in north of Haiphong was as planned. The strike lead used the hump of mountains north of the port city (Bac Giang Mountains) and Hai Duong to assist in preventing the enemy AAA any tracking advantage. The seventy miles of flight over defended terrain was made with minimum opposition to a point twenty miles from the target at which time a volley of five enemy SAMs required the strike group to take evasive action to maneuver clear of the threat. Rejoining and regaining attack altitude the intrepid strike pilots resumed briefed tactics and as the bombers approached roll-in for their diving attacks on specific aim points in the railyard and the east end of the bridge, two more SAMs took the bombers under attack. With total disregard of the danger of the SAMs and the intense 37/57mm AAA over the target all eight strike pilots followed their leader and executed their diving attacks to score direct hits on the yard, associated buildings and the bridge. Flak suppressors had no trouble locating and neutralizing firing gun sites and the SAM suppressors were able to visually identify two of the firing SAM sites and score hits that silenced further opposition. All 28 strike force aircraft came through the hale storm of enemy gun and missile fire –one aircraft sustained minor damage from SAM fragments– to successfully retire across seventy miles of enemy defenses to the relative safety of the sea. A total of ten enemy SAMs were expended against the HANCOCK strike group. ENTERPRISE fared much better–no SAMs. The enemy had saved their big guns for HANCOCK on that day…..
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. Subsequent BDA photography confirmed that the HANCOCK aviators had scored several bomb hits on the bridge rendering it unserviceable, but intact from shore to shore. In addition, the railway siding and yard were heavily cratered with 200 feet of rails destroyed, the station house seriously damaged, and three of ten boxcars in the yard destroyed or damaged. For the day, two Navy air wing strikes of more than 50 aircraft– about 20 assigned the bridge– left the bridge in one piece, a little worse for the Navy punishment, but repairable in short order. Bridges are tough targets…’
(Webmaster note: RTR readers interested in the numerous USAF and USN strikes against bridges in NVN should research the Dragon’s Jaw (Thanh Hoa/Ham Rong) and Paul Doumer (Long Bien) Bridges)
BITS OF RIBBON. Awards recommended for the HANCOCK strike on 19 June. DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS: Commander Jim WYNN, III, CO VA-94; LCDR Mike TROUT, VA-93; LCDR Guy CANE, VF-53; LCDR John ROBL, VA-94; LTJG Mike FULLER, VA-93; and LTJG Wayne SKAGGS, VF-51. INDIVIDUAL AIR MEDALS: LCDR Paul BARRISH, VA-94; LCDR Jim QUINN, VA-94; LCDR Ed HICKEY, Jr, VF-51; LCDR Bob HEISNER, Jr, VF-53; LT Dick BUELOW, VA-94; LT Bill BROUGHER, VF-53; LT George TALKEN, VF-53; LT Dick PENNINGTON, VA-94; LTJG Doug BAILEY, VA-94; and LTJG John KUCHINSKI, Jr, VA-94. NAVY COMMENDATION MEDALS with Combat V: LCDR Dave YOUNG, Jr, VA-93; LCDR Harold EDELMAN, VF-51; LT John ANDREWS, VF-53; LT Robert VIOLETT, VA-93; LT Bob BURNETT, VA-93; LTJG George HISE, II, VA-93; and LTJG Clayton RAMSKILL, VF-51. CINCPACFLT approved DFCs for CDR WYNN, LCDR TROUT, LCDR CANE; LCDR ROBL, LTJG SKAGGS and LT BROUGHER (upgraded from AIR MEDAL recommendation)….
END NOTE. Faithful Scribe has a challenge for you. On 14 June 1967 LT Hart Joseph (Irish) SCWARZENBACH, JR., USN, VA-94, logged a combat mission that rated special recognition. Your task: did Irish rate a DFC for this mission. Source: USS Hancock 16 July 1967…
“On 14 June 1967, LT SCHWARZENBACH was flying as leader of the second section of A-4C strike aircraft in a five plane attack against the Dong Khe Railroad siding in North Vietnam. The strike group successfully struck the target, delivering all bombs in the target area. While retiring at high speed toward the coast, LT SCHWARZENBACH’s A-4F received a 37mm hit in the forward fuselage just below the cockpit. The projectile exploded within the aircraft causing extensive damage in the nose wheel well, severing wiring bundles and control cables in the area of the hit, and wounding LT SCHWARZENBACH with shrapnel in the left thigh and leg. As a result of this damage his radio was unusable and he was unable to lower either his hook or nose landing gear. After joining with his wingman, LT SCHWARZENBACH used his portable survival radio to relate his problems and condition. Since an arrested landing was impossible, he was diverted to DaNang Air Base. Due to damage in the nose wheel well, LT SCHWARZENBACH planned to land gear-up on his two empty 300-gallon fuel tanks. He reached DaNang as dusk was descending and made a perfect emergency landing on the two drop tanks. Except for the two tanks and the loss of some antennas beneath the aircraft, his exceptionally skillful landing precluded any additional damage to the aircraft. He was then taken by helicopter to the base hospital. LT SCHWARZENBACH handled this situation extraordinarily well. Although in pain and bleeding from his wounds he calmly considered the alternatives and took the optimum course of action. He displayed extraordinary airmanship in making a perfect wheels-up landing in spite of his wounds and the approach of night. LT SCHWARZENBACH’s heroic performance and extraordinary achievement in saving his crippled aircraft is deserving of formal recognition.”…unquote HANCOCK letter…
(Webmaster note: CDR SCWARTZENBACH passed away 16 July 16 2012 age 75)
YOUR RECOMMENDATION for recognizing the 14 June 1967 flight of “Irish” SCHWARZENBACH??? Irish completed a bombing mission wherin he hit the heavily defended target, got hit, was wounded and bleeding, his aircraft was severely damaged, and it was getting dark. Irish proceeded to make an emergency landing at DaNang. Sounds like distinguished flying to me…. That’s what CAG-FIVE and HANCOCK recommended. CINCPACFLT downgraded to an Air Medal–to go with his PURPLE HEART…. “Irish,” you were shortchanged by the meanies in Honolulu…
NEXT POST Brave and Bold #15: The VA-85 Intruders embarked in USS KITTY HAWK pound the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Mill on 27 March 1967… “Gangway, Intruder crews.”…
Lest we forget… Bear
