I cruised on America ‘85-‘86 flying F-14’s in VF 33 as part of Carrier Air Wing 1. I’ve got almost 300 traps on her, over 100 at night and got to take part in “El Dorado Canyon” in spring of ‘86. The Saratoga and the Coral Sea were the other two ships involved and between them and America we were flying our butts off for a couple of weeks before and after the strike. Our fly day started at noon and went to 0400 the following morning and we were flying three sorties a day, with two at night.
I knew it had been sunk but hadn’t seen any pictures or video of it.
I have three Marine buds that cruised on her in “Trip Trey” flying F 4’s (VMF 333, Shamrocks) during Vietnam.
That’s a serious resume right there. There was some bad ass times, I tip my hat to you, That was an absolute morale booster for America.
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