Got a war story? Submit it with pictures if available, and it will be published consistent with good taste and appropriateness. The stories are subject to editing where necessary for excess verbiage, clarity and punctuation, but the content will not be changed. Mark Witt
War stories aren't always about war. When flight crews and those
who have shared the adventures of war and flying are together, they
relax. Sooner or later they turn to "war stories". The
opener leads to "That reminds me of the time...." and goes on
from there. Most are real, some are funny, a few are embellished,
too many are tragic, and all are personal.
The following list will lead you to some of those adventures, stories, tales, and memories.
First Strike and other hairy tales: Anytime I would start telling a “War Story”, my kids would say, “ Dad, you should write that down”. They were right. The memories are starting to fade and some facts I just no longer can remember. I have noticed at reunions that as the facts fade out, the tendency is for embellishment to take over. I hope that I will not fall into that situation. The problem is that while on active duty, the one thing I hated the most – was writing – anything. So here goes. Charles (Chuck) Ramsey
The Bomb-handlers: One of the more exciting parts of our job were the occasions when we would be assigned to the arm/de-arm area. There, we would remove all the arming devices and charge the rounds into the guns so they would be hot. This would all happen at the end of the runway prior to take-off; the noise was deafening especially when the B-57 engines were being revved up This was particularly exciting on the 50 caliber planes, because we would have to climb up onto the wings of the B-57 with its engines running, remove the
tsus fasteners, put a 50 caliber round over the pawl and then button it back up again. Often, the fasteners wouldn't cooperate, and there were some anxious moments in making sure the gun doors were properly buttoned up. On the 20 mil. aircraft, we would charge the round into the gun from a gun door under the wing.
Occasionally, we would have trouble getting a round charged in. When the aircraft returned, we would reinstall arming devices, as needed, and remove any rounds that were chambered in the gun. During every tour of duty, you would hear horror stories of a round being pickled off in the revetment area due to a hot gun. I don't know how much truth there was to these stories.
Dan English - Phan Rang
1968
Names
Unknown
"Hi Guys, here's something I wrote a few years back when I was
in a very reflective mood. Feel free to pass it on to any other
Bummers you know that are not
on my list." John DeCillo
"The best laid plans of mice and men....": A gear up landing and a geared down mind. Stan Murphy
Recon in Vietnam: Eighty percent of the usable air intelligence in Vietnam came from the five Patricia Lynn aircraft assigned to Detachment 1 of the 460th Reconnaissance Wing at Tan Son Nhut - Photos and the mission. John Harris
The Cat's Tale: The Doom Pussy emblem had its origin early in the Vietnam War. The designer of the meaningful patch tells how it began and what it means. Bob Galbreath
The Guns of
Tchepone: Hit by gunfire, a wounded navigator, loss of power, no radio, Larry
Mason and Jere Joyner bring it home.
Larry Mason, Jere Joyner,Bob Mikesh and Joe
Rup, Jr.
Asymmetric thrust: The B-57 was infamous for causing trouble when the throttles were advanced too fast at low speeds. Over the years, several crew members were killed when throttle application was used improperly. This story has a happy ending with a recovered airplane and two scared crew members. John Harris
Low Altitude Bombing System:
The first field trials of the B-57 in the LABS maneuver are described by the first B-57
pilot to try them.
John Harris
LABS Maneuver Revisited: An experienced navigator gets a second try in surviving a 4g pullout. Lyndon Mitchell
Tuck It In!: A long time B-57 pilot recalls having "all the eggs in one basket". Chuck Ramsey
8th Tac Bomb Squadron Flies Safe and the Roving Ravens in Greenland: Photo of eleven crew members who completed 1000 B-57 hours accident-free in Japan (young guys at that) and Air Combat magazine photos and story of the 4713 DSES and its mission. Chuck Ramsey
© Copyright Marquis G. Witt, 1998,1999, 2000, 2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008: Materials may be freely copied and distributed subject to the inclusion of the copyright notice and the web site address. The site is intended for historical and informational purposes. This site contains links to other Internet sites. These links are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information in such sites has been endorsed or approved by this site.