50 years ago, my father was a USAF pilot in South East Asia.

Three months after this photo was taken, he was shot down and declared Missing In Action.

He was recovered safe and mostly sound

I was dragging going to work today, but this changes my perspective.

I will go to work and be happy and be grateful for all that I have.

Have a great day.

Wow.

Every day is a gift, no doubt.

FC

Ouch. There be a lot of wild and crazy stories about the Bronco back in those days.

Thanks for posting that. Have a good day.

And you too. We all should. If you've not read this book about OV-10 FACs you should. A lonely kind of war

Excellent pic and story.. I'm glad to hear he was recovered and survived...

Great picture and happy ending to what otherwise could have been heartbreak for your family..Glad he survived and was picked up..!

I was already back stateside when USAF Bronco's arrived at NKP. they were the only aircraft we never shared CAS missions with in '69-'70

A great day to you Sir as well .

Cool story, lucky for you is right, he looks like a very proud and honorable man.

He loved flying the Trail in the Bronco.

As a kid I'd sit cross legged and starry eyed, soaking up his stories.

There's a second half of the MIA story that is long, but the abbreviated version is... about 15 years ago he received a scratchy faint, satellite phone call from US personnel standing over the wrecked fuselage of his Bronco.

They had recovered an identifying number off the wreckage, called it in, and within minutes had my father on the phone to verify that he was flying solo that day. They were relieved to hear there were no human remains to be recovered at the sight.

That dug up a bunch of long-dormant emotions for him.

The story of how his wreckage was located is remarkable. I'll take time and write it up proper.

50 years ago? Wow . . . Time sure flies when you're having fun!

I was a junior in high school.

Thanks for sharing! Glad you have that picture and that it helped your perspective for the day.

Dang man, great post and photo. So glad to hear you grew up with a dad!

In 1970 I was a 9 yo kid with a newly made OV-10 model on my dresser. Such a cool plane. I believe it was recently used against Isis.

I turned seven that year. Glad you got your Dad back.

Great story with a great outcome. Thanks for his service and your sharing of the story.

His service helped keep us safe!

Look forward to it.

Thanks for the pic......and thanks to your Dad for his service!!

I'm guessing he was a Nail FAC (callsign Nail-xx) and those guys took over the day FAC mission on the Trail when it became less than survivable for O-2 aircraft. O-2s continued to fly the Trail, but at night, when the OV-10 could not (because the back seater couldn't use a starlight scope in the Bronco) and the O-2 could. It was a hairy job. They faced the usual small arms thru .51-cal heavy MGs, but also 14.5, 23, 37, and radar-directed 57mm AA guns. Later, even shoulder-fired SAMs. As I say, it was interesting up there.

I flew the Trail too, but farther south where the firepower was lower caliber (most of the time). That's my little fun wagon below my name at the left.

Anyway, crisp salute to my brother FAC, and I am toasting his recovery with a suitable beverage as I type this. (Not with the official Nail FAC drink, which was the Rusty Nail, but I may have made tribute to those guys and that drink in a different way, LOL!)

Ha! I was the freshman you tried to mess with but then quickly learned had real fast hands😉

T Bone,
Awesome picture and eventually great finale! I look forward to reading a full story on this event and (in a way) the timeframe between learning about the mia announcement and your Father's ultimate recovery in particular. Thanks for sharing this with us!

i was 14, thanks for his serviceé

I was born that year but always interested in hearing about those before me. Especially vets.

Thanks T Bone. My day wasn't so bad after all. Great story. Looking forward to the rest of it.

BTW, T-Bone, after looking at that photo a bit, it appears that he took a hit in the left wing flap, just outboard of the tail boom and near the port engine exhaust. It was either anti-aircraft artillery (37mm?) that went off just above the flap, or a heat-seeking missile that just missed that hot exhaust but detonated via proximity fuze. The pattern of holes shows the main blast hit from above, and there are numerous warhead fragment holes in the boom.

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

Very cool!!!!

Thank God for men like your Pa.

T, Glad your dad made it home safely after that experience....I was a senior in High School that year....

This has been 25 plus years ago, but my wife and I were at an Air Show in St Paul, at the old St Paul Airport..

There was an OV 10 there.... the interesting thing about it, was that pilot of the plane was also the owner...

He had manage to buy the OV 10 as a surplus A/C in the mid to late 80s, and IIRC, he bought it out of Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona....he had gotten some sort of special permission to do so...


The OV 10 he had at the airshow, was the same AC he was flying FAC Missions in SE Asia during the Vietnam War...

but he and evidently the A/C made it home safely....

These, too, were amazing men.

Rocky,

You are correct on both your replies. He wasn't a drinker, but he played a lot of volleyball outside the Rusty Nail.

The damage in the picture posted was from AA. From a AA gunner that was very good.

My Dad describes it in a way that I can't wrap my head around, but it may make sense to you.

This particular AA placement was in a spot that he had to fly within range of every flight. Over a period of weeks and near fatal misses and hits, my Dad grew to really looked forward to this one encounter every flight. The AA gunner/team was more skilled than average, he/they adjusted immediately to every evasive tactic my Father could design and fly.

After the second near fatal hit, my Father decided to end the game of chess with a single puff of white smoke, seconds later, fast movers turned the AA placement into a muddy crater.

And the part I don't understand.....my Dad really missed that daily encounter with that particular AA placement. Still to this day, he gets emotional about it, as if talking about having to put your favorite dog down.

This is something only those that have played that game may understand.

Their bar hooch was called the Nail Hole. A former Nail FAC I knew built an exact replica of it in his basement.

I understand his game perfectly. It's a high-stakes game you play against an equal adversary. Pro on pro. Every encounter proves who is the better fighter, until one wins permanently. But that ends the game - and the winner no longer gets to test himself to that level.

BTDT, by the way. Never a single identifiable shooter, but we had locations where the bad guys were all 9-level graduates of anti-aircraft school. Every time we had to go there, it was winner take all.

Against poor to average gunners, the tracers all go behind you. When you see tracers passing ahead of you, you're dealing with the pros and you'd better up your game right damn now. Getting home with only a few new holes gets a fist pump. Getting home unscathed warrants tying one on.

As you say, you have to have done it to get it.

Thanks Rocky,

Much respect to you.

It blows my mind how "normal" it was for the FAC aircraft to get shredded by AA, MG, and small arms fire.

Thanks T-Bone and Rocky. It is an honor to read of valient acts done by brave men.

Just remember, Idaho, "brave" does not mean unafraid. It means saddling up despite being scared spitless.

50 years ago I was an 11 year old celebrating KC win in the Super Bowl


When I should have been celebrating men like your dad

They won again & im happy for them & their fans.

But I’ve wised up a tad, God bless our military members & their families.


They’ll have another SB next year. But for those folks that give all or come home wounded either physically or mentally, life will never be the same for them or their families

50 years ago I was 2 years old and probably watching Sesame Street. Thanks to men like your dad I could.

50 years ago my ass was glued to the seat of an Grumman Ag Cat 600 HP spray plane for the next 40 years! Powers that be told me one gunshot wound while on active duty was enough....which kept me out of VN!

My father was Nail-28

Correct again Rocky!

12.7 MM that started a small fire in the cock pit, and burned his cheek

Only a fool would be unafraid, and fools were the first to die.

AA hit that resulted in a fire that lasted a "disturbingly long time". Finally the foam in the wing sealed the fuel tank and the fire went out.

Me too. Please let us know the rest of your dad's story.

Thanks for posting,
Ted

T-Bone, if your Dad is still with us, please pass on a crisp salute from Mike 58, my callsign back then.

Not all of us got shredded that often. Overall, we lost 1 in 10 FACS during the war. In my unit, we had only six - so we weren't allowed to lose anybody, LOL!

Will do Rocky! They live in Twin Falls, ID.

Were you out of UBON by chance?

He was transferred to UBON after NKP traffic slowed.

Honor him. He surely deserves it.

I flew out of Ban Me Thuot, VN as a Mike FAC. Before that, I was a Tonto FAC at LZ English in support of the 173rd Airborne.