The men of VO-67 are to get some long delayed recognition:
(The) men took to calling themselves “the Ghost Squadron” because they felt forgotten, participants in a secret war that neither the U.S. nor the North Vietnamese wanted to acknowledge was being waged next door to Vietnam.
Silenced for decades by their classified missions over Laos, the men finally in recent years began to speak publicly of their war, a decision that would ultimately lead to a rare historic correction by the Navy.
Forty years after the squadron’s actions, VO-67 has been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest decoration for combat valor a unit can receive. Some of the surviving 300 members of that squadron will be on hand Wednesday in Washington, D.C., for the ceremony in front of the U.S. Navy Memorial.
High risk missions in low, slow aircraft, dropping acoustic and electronic sensors along the crucial Ho Chi Minh trail. A 25% loss rate. In nine months of fighting.
It’s about time.
Long overdue and so very deserved.
This squadron has fascinated me for a while; AW’s and other ASW types might find this interesting:
http://home.att.net/~c.jeppeson/igloo_white.html
They stared at the elephant every night.
Some of the VO principals came out of the Heavy Attack community. A few quiet, brave souls out of a bunch already known for being quiet to begin with….
Glad to see they are finally getting some recognition.
The combat history of VO-67 should serve as a cautionary tale for those who would try to wring too much out of vulnerable civil aircraft turned Faux Warbirds, and who would put them in places they were never designed for.
“As one of the first systems to the fight, ACS will provide early intelligence that could help shape the first stages of battle.”.
Lt Col. Adam Hinsdale
Seems to me that the “first to the fight” tend to get shot at the most…
Not sure what happened to my last post, but AW’s and other ASW types might find this interesting:
http://home.att.net/~c.jeppeson/igloo_white.html
Warriors.
Brave ones.
Their heroic actions and sacrifices made a difference.
I salute them all.
Working with the sensor system on the trail was an interesting mission. We knew the sensor operators as Copperhead, out of NKP. In the F-4, we flew flak suppression for the A-6. The A-6 needed a 20 mile run in at 4,000′, and we would be in radar trail 6-8,000′ above them, always at night. We always had AAA guns to bomb, and the A-6 routinely left trucks burning non the trail. It was interesting to read the details of the the people who risked their lives to put the sensors in place.