Job description from a WWII B-17 training manual, “The inflight Armorer-Gunner inspects, repairs, maintains machine guns, cannons, bomb release mechanisms, bomb racks, aerial gun sites, the auxiliary equipment and chemical carrying release mechanisms, and flare […]
Shot down in enemy-held territory while on a bombing run in Vietnam near An Loc, 1st Lt. Michael Blassie was listed as MIA (Missing in Action) and the body said to be unrecoverable. In reality, […]
Mike was a spitting image of what most people believe a young Air Force officer should look like: tall, handsome, with a hospitable grin and approachable demeanor. A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy, […]
By Pete Mecca A ‘dustoff’ in Burma? Pete, you mean Vietnam, right? Yes and no. It’s true that I’ve been home bound for a few weeks, but no, the Corona quarantine has not warped my […]
By Pete Mecca Born and raised in Cajun country, Alan Gravel received a degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana Tech before obtaining a Master’s Degree in Environmental Health Engineering at the University of Texas.February of […]
By Pete Mecca An airfield in northeast Thailand designated as NKP (Nakhon Phanom) during the Vietnam War is actually a Royal Thai Naval Base. The Thais utilize NKP as a home base for river patrols […]
By Pete Mecca In the year 1427, celebrated Vietnamese patriot Le Loi defeated the occupying Chinese soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. Considered God-like by the Vietnamese, Le Loi’s birthplace village of Lam Son is regarded […]
By Pete Mecca From a special article in the New York Times on December 15, 1944: “Big strike on railroad marshaling yards in Rangoon by B-29 bombers cause devastating results. No B-29s were lost.” The […]
It’s rare for anyone to find… and then fly… the aircraft they made their first military flight in as a pilot a half century or so after the event, let alone on the anniversary of […]
In March of 1967, a flight of F-4 Phantom IIs from the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron based out of Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, flew through clear skies for a bombing run on […]
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