In July ‘67, CVW-16 and Oriskany were back on the line after the October ‘66 fire killed 46 (most of whom were airwing pilots). After a brief warm-up on Dixie station, during which we lost an A-4 off the cat, we moved to Yankee on 14 July. That first day, Cool Hand Cunningham lost his A-4 to flak in Route Package 1, but we got him back (Note: I flew Iron Hand escort with that former AF B-47 pilot many times -- he was totally fearless, up until the night of 7 October, when he took on too many Hanoi SAM sites at the same time!). In the thirteen days between 14 July and 27 July, we lost 12 aircraft: (1) Spad, (6) A-4s, (4) F-8s, and (1) A-3. Dead or missing were Attack pilots Castle, Hartman, and Davis; Fighter pilots Hunter and Zuhoski; plus two A-3 crewmen. Rescued from deep in Indian Country were F-8 driver Butch Verich and A-4 pilot Larry Duthie.
Now, let me tell you how it went with Duthie and the F-8C (BuNo146991) that saved him! On 18 July ‘67, I was assigned MIGCAP for an Alpha strike on the Hanoi battery plant. After the cat shot, 146991 gave me a 'wing unlocked' warning light. Several recyclings didn’t change anything, and since my wingy was a NORDO, I traded John Hellman my MIGCAP for his BARCAP. I dropped my wingy off so he could join the recovery in progress and took station off the Northern SAR.
During the strike, Dick Hartman’s A-4E was hit by flak. He got about 50 kilometers south of Hanoi before ejecting. Other A-4s set up a RESCAP, but they were soon low on fuel. Listening to all this on Strike Control frequency, I again recycled the wing several times -- still the unlocked indication! The A-4 RESCAP made radio contact with Hartman and reported his TACAN position from Oriskany, but they had to bingo back to the ship. I knew from personal experience with the Verich rescue two days earlier that timing was everything. If the rescue couldn’t be made in the first hour or two, the unfavorable odds became astronomical! So, I asked Red Crown for a steer to Hartman’s position and went feet dry. I had witnessed Lee Prost’s death off the Oriskany a few months earlier when his wing came off while strafing the spar, so I tried to hold 146991’s speed down to the NATOPS wing-unlocked 220Kts. Not possible! Before I got to the Hour Glass, I started taking 37mm close aboard -- so I pushed it up to 300Kts. When the Fansong locked on, and the APR-27 began warbling, 146991 showed me her wing would stay on through a 350Kt and 3g barrel-roll!
I was still about 20 kilometers south of Hartman’s advertised position, and down to 1,500 feet trying to shake-off the Fansong, when I stumbled across an emergency beeper. Going over the top in another barrelroll, I spotted a parachute in the trees. It was the first time we realized two A-4s were down -- both Hartman and his wingy, Larry Duthie! I couldn’t get Duthie to answer me on the radio, but his beeper was loud and clear, so I swung down into the trees to try to pick him up visually. That bought a whole lot of 37mm my way, so, not wanting to give Duthie’s position away to those guys, I climbed out of there and took up a position to the west.
The Jolly Green and Sandys had been scrambled when Hartman was reported down and were already enroute from the southwest. It was then a matter of staying overhead to vector them when they got there. That involved 45 minutes of evading continual flak and an occasional SAM. At one particularly hazardous point, 146991 kept her wing on at 400 Kts and 4.5g before the SAM-2 flew past! Unfortunately, the Jolly Green still had a long way to come when I reached bingo fuel.
Oriskany had launched the KA-3s to top off the Alpha strike, and was trying to hot-spin one to get some fuel back in the air, but all they had airborne was one A-4 buddy tanker to cover the recovery. Rules were that tanker had to stay around the pattern. God was there that day! I felt his hands on the stick many time! He also inspired a hell of an A-4 driver by the name of Mac Davis to lie about his fuel state, take the fuel from the buddy tanker, and come on back in to help me!
When I heard Mac coming in, I knew we had a great chance to get Duthie if I could show him the position. So, I changed my bingo calculations from making Oriskany to just making feet wet. Davis made a perfect rendezvous, and I dropped him off over Duthie as the Sandys reported 20 klicks to the southwest. I was down to 500 lbs. and didn’t really think I would make the water. I was trying to give Red Crown my likely ejection position when Tom Maxwell came up on the frequency. His KA-3 detachment had dozens of saves during that cruise and I got two of them in the first two weeks on the line! It was against all the rules for those guys to go feet dry in the area of known SAM firings, but Tom gave me the same break I had given Duthie and came on in. He swung in front of me with his drogue extended and the APR-27 blaring in our ears. After plug-in, I glanced down at the gauge and saw it rising past the first index mark from zero! When I disconnected with 1,200 lbs, the Jolly Green reported the successful pickup of Duthie.
Four hours later, Oriskany launched the equivalent of an Alpha strike and tried for Hartman. The Northern SAR helo got within a couple kilometers before it flew right over a 37mm site with the loss of seven very brave souls! Crusader drivers like J.P. O’Neil and Pete Peters dodged SAMs in the area all night long to keep radio contact with Hartman. He reported an intensive weapons build-up all around him and suggested a massive strike on the area. The next morning, the second Northern SAR helo got shotup before getting more than ten kilometers feet dry, and Perfume called it off. There was talk of trying the Fulton Recovery Rig, but we lost contact with Hartman the next night and it was over. Years later, I wondered if Hartman’s story had been the inspiration for the rescue segment in the Flight of the Intruder movie. I know they stole Rock Cunningham’s "Cool Hand" call sign! But, God bless them for keeping him alive in some way!
Mac Davis was killed 7 days after he vectored the Jolly Green to Duthie. SecDef was visiting the Oriskany, and we had to show him we could bomb trucks at night, even with a 500 foot overcast! Mac hit the side of a hill in Route Package One.