Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
THE
READER
The Official Publication of the TAC Recce Reunion Association — www.tacrecce.org
Spring 2008
RECCENews and Views of TAC Recce from WWII to the Present
Supporting Scotty Schoolfieldin his hosting of the 2008
Voodoo/Recce Reunion were daughter Karen Brown, son-in-law Tim
Brown, Butch Thomas, son Kevin, secretary Cindy Thomas, daughter-in-law
Jennifer Schoolfield, daughter JenniferSchoolfield, grandson Spencer Schoolfield,
daughter Julie Daniel (standing besideScotty), and Nolen Stanford.
Two of our WW II Recce vets: Cecil Rigsby (P-38) and Clyde East (P-51).
2 The Recce Reader, Spring 2008
The Recce Reader Spring 2008F e a t u r e s
Pentagon Battle for the RF-4C . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4It turned out to be a battle royal
Voodoo/Recce Reunion 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Togetherness in Chattanooga
Mission: BDA North of Hanoi . . . . . . . . . . . .15A Vietnam War experience
D e p a r t m e n t s
Reunions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 7Notes From Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Editor’s Thrust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Letters and Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7, Back PageFinal Flights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Health Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
In This Issue
The Recce Reader is the official publication of the TAC RecceReunion Association. It is published four times annuallyand is available by subscription. Statements and opinionsrepresent the views of each author. Articles from membersand commercial enterprises will be considered for publica-tion. Submissions may be edited for appropriate content,grammar and length. The desired format for submissions isin Microsoft Word or a similar word processing program.Send material to the editors by email (preferred) or by snailmail to the address shown below.
The subscription rate for The Recce Reader is $10 annual-ly made payable to The Recce Reader, c/o Donna Martin,3010 Honey Tree Lane, Austin, TX 78746-6742.
In Charge
© 2008 TAC Recce Reunion Association Inc.
–––– BOARD OF DIRECTORS ––––Carlos Higgins . . . . . . .512-258-3564 – [email protected] Fountainbleu Circle, Austin, TX 78750-3319
Bill Laseter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214-363-8601 5515 Glen Lakes Drive, Apt. 626, Dallas, TX 75231
Roger Wilkes . . . . . . . .801-546-2258 – [email protected] N. 3175 East, Layton, UT 84040-3029
Bob Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . .913-897-0115 – [email protected] Meadow Lane, Stanley, KS 66224-9741
LaVerne Griffin . . . . . .608-742-4001 – [email protected] West Pleasant St., Portage, WI 53901
–––– The Recce Reader ––––Editor Bob Gould . . . . . . . . . . . .913-897-0115 – [email protected] Meadow Lane, Stanley, KS 66224-9741
Associate Editor Carlos Higgins . . . . . . .512-258-3564 –[email protected] Fountainbleu Circle, Austin, TX 78750-3319
–––– WEBMASTER––––John Duquette . . . . . . . . . .913-351-3651 – [email protected] Rock Creek Dr, Lansing, KS 66043 WEB PAGE: www.tacrecce.org
–––– MEMBERSHIP RECORDS ––––Donna Martin . . . . . .512-327-4648 – [email protected] Honey Tree Lane, Austin, TX 78746-6742
–––– 2009 RECCE/VOODOO/PHANTOM REUNION ––––George Wehling . . . . . . . . .512-328-2391 – [email protected] Winter Park Road, Austin, TX 78746
RECCE ROSTER
Aprinted copy of the Recce Roster is available by mailfor $5 pp. It’s free by email in PDF, Word or Excel.
Send your requests to: Bob Gould, 15918 Meadow Lane,Stanley, KS 66224-9741; [email protected].
TAC RECCE REUNION 2009M AY 28 – MAY 31, 2009
HOTEL EL TROPICANO110 Lexington Ave, San Antonio, Texas Toll free 866-293-1842 or 888-465-4329
Tell operator group code is TRR or say "Tac Recce Reunion"
Room rates $102 — Good two days before and after.The hotel has a 72 hour cancellation policy.
Hotel information is on line at http://www.eltropicanohotel.com/
HOST: GEORGE WEHLING512-328-2391 or 512-238-2392
The combined reunion, which includes all TacticalReconnaissance Aircrews, will be held from May 28 - 31,2009 in San Antonio, Texas. Please mark these dates onyour calendar and pass the word to those that you know.The registration form will be in next issue of The RecceReader and available for download at www.tacrecce.org.
The Recce Reader, Spring 2008 3
Notes from Austin Editor’s ThrustAir Scoops
Recce Reader scoops. Bob Gould gets those once in awhile. An example is the story in this issue about
why McDonnell ended up producing more than 5,000Phantoms. For our Reconnaissance fleet, McDonnell built503 RF-4Cs The scoop? Read about the central role playedby Cecil Rigsby in the Air Force's initial battles swirlingaround which fighter type to buy.
Some of you were part of other inside stories aboutmajor decisions made during our Air Force years. Howabout sharing some of those stories? Your story does nothave to be earth-shaking or breath-taking; just interesting.Tell it like it is (or was), put it down in your computer, andsend it in. Short little episodes that bring back memorieswork fine, too. Or maybe some of the things you did oryou knew about, that not many others knew. For example,did you know there were some missions flown by Reccecrews in Vietnam that were on a strict need-to-know basis?They were so strict that the pilot "hid" from fellow pilotsto do his flight planning for those missions, and nevertalked about them to other crews.
You've probably been promising yourself for decadesyou're going to write a book. Where is it? Now's the timeto record at least a few of your favorite stories Write 'emup and send 'em in, while you can still remember 'em, andthe rest of us can still fully appreciate 'em.
Of This and ThatBob Gould had a lot of first-rate help in the photography
department, judging by the photos from our ChattanoogaReunion (below and on pp. 8-11). We owe much to ScottySchoolfield, family and friends for putting together an outstanding reunion. Scotty and family are shown on thef ront page. And no, Nolen is not part of that family. It's just acase of "See camera - jump in." (This compulsion may be asymptom of Phocalphobia - too many close encounters withphrigging phlares in his Recce night-phlying.)
Our next reunion will be in San Antonio, hosted byGeorge Wehling. That one is beginning to look like it willbe well-attended, so read about it in this issue and makeyour plans (and reservations) early. With George at thehelm, how can it not be another dandy?
—Carlos Higgins
Time Rolls On
Searching thru the 300 plus photos of the Chattanoogareunion sent to me from various sources really made
me sad, but only because I wasn’t there. Our grand-daughter, Sarah, was graduating about the same time fromthe University of Hawaii.
Life hasn’t been a total bore here in Kansas. In A u g u s t ,Carlos and Katherine Higgins were in Kansas City and wehad a grand dinner with them at Cafe Des Amis in Parkville.
Roger and Dolores McLain’s son, Kurt (he and wife, Kim,live in Lawrence, Kan.) called to say Mom and Dad were visiting and suggested we meet for dinner. We agreed and soit happened at Jack Stack Barbecue in Martin City.
About a week later, I received a call from Charlie Bukoski. He was a navigator in the RF-4 in my squadron atSunny Zwei, but is now a pilot and big shot in Quiet Birdmen. The QBs were having their annual Governor’s Conference at the KC Hangar and Charlie and Judy wouldbe arriving in their Greyhound bus/travel home. We metthem at the Airline History Museum and gave them a tourand dinner in Kansas City’s festive Power & Light District.
It was a real pleasure to see Charlie walking and drivingthe bus after his near-death experience in Utah last year.
—Bob Gould
Kim & Kurt McLain Roger and Dolores McLain
Marj & Bob Gould with Charlie and Judy Bukoski
Marj, Katherine, Carlos and Bob at the Power Plant Brewery
The humor boys, Marv Reed (left) and Al Magazzine (right),with “Griff” Griffin. Griff was host of the reunions at The Dellsand Branson, He’s been known to tell a joke or two himself.
4 The Recce Reader, Spring 2008
Pentagon Battle for the RF-4CIt turned out to be a battle royalBy Cecil RigsbyCol. USAF (Ret)
With an RF-4C Reunion pend-ing in Austin, Texas, some ofyou pilots and others who
flew or were associated with this mag-nificent flying machine may want toknow how it came about to be selectedby USAF. I was there and participatedin what turned out to be a battle royalso here is my experience in the Penta-gon with the RF-4C decision.
In 1959 I graduated from the AirCommand and Staff Course at The AirUniversity and was assigned toAFOOP, Air Force Operations, Recon-naissance Group, in the subbasementof the Pentagon. I thought my best fitwould have been ReconnaissanceRequirements because I had extensivereconnaissance experience; 91 photorecon combat missions, P-38, WWII;First jet photo recon squadron, P-80and RF-80, 1945; Chief Pilot aerial sur-vey company, 18-months 1946-47; 100tactical reconnaissance missions, RF-80and RF-86 Korea; RF-100 overflightmission in Europe, 3-years. Unfortu-nately, I had a bad relationship withColonel Fred Dyer, Commander,Reconnaissance Requirements, eversince I was a member of his accidentb o a rd that charged him with piloterror. However, one of my best friends,Major Bert Dowdy, a fellow 1959 ACSCclassmate got the requirements job andwe worked closely together.
I was the lowest ranking Major inthe Reconnaissance Group when Ireported in for duty. The Commandertold me that I would be responsible forall day tactical re c o n n a i s s a n c esquadrons: active, National Guard andReserve. And another officer wasresponsible for all the night squadrons.The rest of our officers were managinghighly classified world-wide re c o n-naissance projects. The first paper Ipicked up indicated that on the daybefore, Colonel Dyer, ReconnaissanceRequirements, had signed off on theRF-105 as the follow-on tactical recon-naissance replacement.
When I went through the documentI found the RF-105 offered little if anyadvancement over the RF-101 that wasin the pipeline. The cameras and sen-sors had to be in a bathtub affair thatprovided very little space. The forwardshooting camera arrangement did notshow the horizon and there were notenough stations to provide the neces-sary configurations. Also, the F-105was old technology and the radar pro-vided little if any low altitude naviga-tion assistance and was primarily anair-to-air radar. I told my boss that theRF-105 was not the answer for a fol-low-on tactical reconnaissance air-plane and pointed out the deficiencies.He agreed, and told me to prepare abriefing for the AFOOP Commander (aMajor General who later became a fullGeneral (but I can’t recall his name)
When I finished briefing theAFOOP Commander, he said to me,“You have told me why you don’tbelieve the RF-105 will be a suitablefollow-on tactical reconnaissance air-craft, but you have not told me the air-plane you want to replace it. Comeback with a replacement and we willtalk. How can you fault that kind oflogic? It hadn’t even occurred to me toinclude a recommended aircraft. Ilooked around to see what was avail-able. There was the North AmericanNavy R-5A that had a limit of five Gsmax, and another limited bathtubarrangement for sensors and a verypoor sensor selection. I dismissed itout-of-hand. Then there was theMcDonnell F-110 being marketed as an
interceptor. These two were the onlyaircraft available.
I called the local McDonnell re p re-sentative and asked him if he wouldcome in and give us a briefing on thereconnaissance version of the F-110 if hehad one. Again, the cameras suggestedby McDonnell were nothing new but Iwas really surprised by the perform-ance of the airplane. It was a 2.25 Machairplane with a 60,000 foot altitudeservice ceiling, good range, two cock-pits, and a very large nose compart-ment when the radar was removed. Ilost no time in getting all the informa-tion down and pre p a red my briefing forour Commander.
When I briefed the General I gotanother dose of his logic. He asked mehow many aircraft we needed for tacti-cal reconnaissance. I told him the firstbuy would be for 87-airplanes. Then hesaid, “The Air Force is not going to pur-chase 87 completely diff e rent airplanesc o m p a red with the rest of the inventory.If you want this McDonnell airplaneyou better get the fighters involved. Ifthey also want the airplane you have agood chance of getting it for tacticalreconnaissance. Go brief them.”
The AFOOP Tactical Division wasthe largest in our Directorate. Theyhad four full Colonels, and about 20-Lt.Cols. and Majors. I arranged to brieftheir Commander, a Colonel who laterbecame a three star general and theCommander of Ninth Air Force.
I briefed him on why we didn’t likethe RF-105 and why we wanted thereconnaissance version of the McDon-
The Recce Reader, Spring 2008 5
nell F-110. I also told him that theAFOOP Commander had told me tobrief them to see if they had any inter-est in a fighter version of the F-110.Bear in mind that they had alreadysigned off on about 600 additional F-105s even though they were gettingmore and more dissatisfied with theairplane. The first combat wing wasyet to become combat ready, it was amaintenance nightmare and far toomany manual systems for a singlepilot. On top of that the airplane had aterrible accident record. I believe hewas more surprised than I was at theperformance factors of the F-110.
“ A re you sure those figures areright?” he asked me. I told him I gotthem from McDonnell. He got up fromhis desk, thanked me and said that hewas going to Edwards Air Force Baseand fly the F-110 in the near future.
After this briefing I got my friendBert Dowdy involved in Reconnais-sance Requirements and I briefedColonel Dyer. He was interested butnot ready to go back on his firstdecision. We were committed tothe RF-105 unless somethinghappened. We made several tripsto Republic Aviation to see themockup of the RF-105 and startedswitching to modern sensors and talk-ing about different cameras. At thesame time we were calling McDonnellin and working with them on a recon-naissance configuration. WhenMcDonnell sensed that there was apossibility of selling the F-110 for tacti-cal reconnaissance they immediatelyput 85 engineers on development ofthe reconnaissance version of the air-plane. Bert Dowdy and I flew out tothe plant to talk about the early phaseof a reconnaissance configuration.
H e re is a little background of inter-est: President Eisenhower told thearmed forces, as the Cold War was heat-ing up, that the US and NATO wouldgo immediately to the use of nuclearweapons if attacked. Our tactical fight-ers stopped gunnery training and con-centrated on delivery of small nuclearweapons. But when President Kennedycame into office in January 1961, he toldthe armed forces that he wanted a con-ventional weapons response capability.Our entire Air Force had to switch back
to aerial gunnery, ground attack withi ron bombs and what a shock to SAC.They had to train all their B-52 and B-47c rews to drop iron bombs. This conven-tional weapons policy also meant ani n c rease in tactical forces includingreconnaissance.
When General LeMay became AirForce Chief of Staff the word went outthat he wanted a second source to pro-duce fighter and reconnaissance air-craft. Buying more F/RF-105s didn’tappeal to him. At this point the fight-ers said they wanted the McDonnell F-110 and the designation of the airplanewas changed to the F-4. The reconnais-sance decision makers said that theywanted the RF-4. At this point the Pen-tagon battle began but we didn’t knowit yet. The Air Council approved theF/RF-4 and McDonnell put aboutevery engineer they had on theseweapon systems and hired more.
There was a reorganization of the
AFOOP Reconnaissance Group and I was the only tactical reconnaissanceofficer transferred to the Tactical Divi-sion. I was to remain there for threeyears and I was responsible for all dayand night, active, National Guard andReserve, tactical reconnaissance mat-ters for our Directorate. The Recon-naissance Group was now called Spe-cial Activities and went completelyclassified. I got a seat on the Recon-naissance Board in the RequirementsDirectorate and I only had to convincemy fighter pilot boss that my recom-mendations were good for tacticalreconnaissance.
Bert Dowdy and I began to workclosely together. We called in represen-tatives from all the major commands tomake recommendations for the config-uration of the RF-4 which was giventhe designation of RF-4C. Major PaulVa n d e rhoek from USAFE made anumber of important re c o m m e n d a-
tions. One was for a single-sidebandcommunication capability for low alti-tude communication and severalmore. The configuration of the RF-4Cwas to be based on a general war inEurope, the most demanding scenario.All the sensor and camera develop-ment people on the Air Staff met to dis-cuss the latest developments thatcould meet the production schedule ofthe RF-4C. AFSC, responsible fordevelopment of reconnaissance equip-ment, did not have much to off e r.Every idea: new cameras or sensors,side-looking radar, night capability,terrain-following radar, navigationsystem, etc. was passed on to McDonnell who responded on feasibil-ity within a very reasonable time. Sothe aircraft configuration was begin-ning to take shape.
Would you expect Republic Av i a t i o nto sit still with this second source deci-sion? They pulled out every stop toavoid losing millions on the great num-ber of F/RF-105s that were planned.
Their opposition was almost a hun-d red percent political with theirSenators and Congressmen com-plaining to the Secretary of
Defense, Robert McNamara andp robably the Pre s i d e n t .They were not the only ones to com-
plain about the F/RF-4C decision. TheNavy had ordered 100 North Ameri-can A-3J Vigilantes (A-5) to use asnuclear bombers. The nuclear weaponwas stored internally and ejectedthrough a long chute out the rear of theairplane. The concept did not work sothe Navy was stuck with 100 airplanesand no mission. It was decided to turnthem all into Navy reconnaissance air-craft, the RA-5C.
North American, seeing a chance tosell even more RA-5s and F-5s too, alsocomplained bitterly to Secretary McNa-mara and more or less demanded acompetition or equal considerationbetween the F/RA-5, the F/RF-105 andthe F/RF-4C. The Navy would havebeen delighted to diminish their bige r ror in purchasing the 100 NorthAmerican airplanes that didn’t workand Republic claimed to have alre a d ydone considerable work on the RF-105.At this point the battle began betweenthe three weapon systems. Not only did
6 The Recce Reader, Spring 2008
we have to justify the RF-4C but we hadto shoot down the other two systems.
The RF-4C was hands down thesuperior weapon system but Republicand North American kept copying allthe advances we had made with theRF-4C configuration. We had McDon-nell burning midnight oil in keepingup with our demands, but when weimproved our capability the other twosystems added it to theirs.
One day the Air Force received aletter signed by Secretary McNamarad i recting the Navy RA-5 as the follow-on Air Force tactical re c o n n a i s s a n c ea i rcraft. Many felt defeated at thispoint but we didn’t give up. Wefound out that the letter was writ-ten by a member of McNama-ra’s staff who was a formerVice President of North A m e r-ican. This made us believethat McNamara had not beengiven the full story. Also, weknew that the decision was politi-cal so we called upon the Air Forc eS e c retary to intercede. In addition, ourgenerals went to bat for us; then theMarine Corps came out in our sup-port. The Marines wanted the RF-4Bbut had not made much noise untilthis letter came through. They sup-ported the RF-4C and we finally gotthe Army to support the selection ofthe RF-4C. With the fighters firmlybehind the F-4, we were now assure dof the decision in our favor.
In some respects the fighters decid-ed some basic configurations that wewent along with. One was full pilotcontrols in each cockpit. They were sofed up with the F-105 situation thatthey wanted two pilots, one to becalled the systems operator. In addi-tion this would be an easy upgrade tomove the pilot from the back cockpit tothe front. To get two sets of pilot con-trols they had to specify two pilots.This also doubled the pilot trainingprogram. That came in handy whenVietnam came along and we went toNavigators in the rear cockpit. Theywanted the tail hook the Navy usedand made other modifications to theNavy version. I discussed at length thevalue of the single-sideband, low alti-tude, communication capability wewere getting but for some reason they
didn’t believe it was of much value.Were they ever wrong?
For every weapon system the con-tractor must receive summarized air-craft configuration guidance from thegovernment. Bert Dowdy and I weregiven the task of writing this docu-ment. We came into the Pentagon oneweekend, sat in my office and pre-pared these instructions. Each camera,s e n s o r, etc. and other re q u i re m e n t shad already been discussed time andagain with all concerned but this wasan opportunity to let the contractorknow how the Air Force was going to
employ the RF-4C. Here are some ofthe important capabilities that you RF-4C lovers already know about:
1. The aircraft must be capable ofday and night, all-weather tacticalreconnaissance and have a 90 percentprobability of successful sensor anda i rcraft operation on the missionbefore takeoff.
2. The side-looking radar was onlycapable of a 50-foot resolution but wedecided that 50-feet would show theground zero of a nuclear weapon andbe valuable with bridges and other tar-gets when encountering zero or poorvisibility. We called for side-lookingradar, the most expensive sensor at$175,000, on every aircraft but later aPentagon money man came to me andrequested that we change the require-ment to every other airplane so hecould manage the funding. I told himthat it would be okay for the first buybut after that all the aircraft shouldreceive the sensor. It never happenedso we ended up with the side-lookingradar on every other aircraft.
3. All film was to be five-inch exceptfor the mapping camera that was aprecision camera, using nine-inch filmin a controlled vertical camera mount.
Some questioned the mapping capabil-ity but the world was not very wellmapped in the early 1960s. Also, wewanted to eject a roll of film to anArmy unit using the mapping camerawhere the film was developed in themagazine. The Army continuallyclaimed that we could not get intelli-gence to them fast enough. McDonnellnever could make it work.
4. We called for the very besti n f r a red sensor available, the bestpanoramic cameras under develop-ment and were disappointed that nohigh altitude panoramic camera wason the horizon. The only thing suitablewas a 12-inch focal length precisionpan camera with over 100 lines of res-
olution. This proved unsatisfactorybut years later they would devel-op a high altitude panoramic.
5. We were amazed that TexasInstrument came up with a terrain
following radar that worked andpermitted the RF-4C to safely pene-trate weather over mountainous areasto fairly low altitudes.
6. When we told McDonnell wewanted flash cartridges of both sizesthey gave the aircraft the capability.
7. We didn’t put enough priority onthe viewfinder for the pilot and thefirst few production airplanes had tobe retrofitted.
8. Bert Dowdy and I went throughevery possible combination of camerasending up with a series of camera com-binations that we listed in the require-ments document. This listing alsoresulted in the determination of howmany cameras and magazines of eachtype the squadron of 18-RF-4Cs shouldbe authorized.
9. We submitted the document toAFSC who sent it to McDonnell. Aftera couple of weeks and after studyingtheir guidance, McDonnell requestedthat Bert Dowdy and I come to theirfactory and answer questions. We wereon the stage looking at about 50-McDonnell engineers, re p re s e n t i n gvarious capabilities wanting moredetails in some areas and giving ustheir interpretation of some of therequirements. At that time McDonnellwas also in the manned space businessso they knew exactly how to ensure thatthe Systems Operator could test all of
Pentagon Battle for the RF-4C — Con’t from p. 5
The Recce Reader, Spring 2008 7
his capabilities from his station andmeet that 90-percent re q u i rement forsuccess. The USAF had previously toldMcDonnell that we wanted to keep thenuclear strike capability already builtinto the airplane and to wire off thefolding wings. Aerial refueling was thesame for all F/RF-4s.
I haven’t mentioned it but pricewas also a factor in deciding betweenthe RF-4C and the other two compet-ing aircraft. As a result that first buyf rom McDonnell for 138 airplaneswas about as cheap as you will everp u rchase a first line aircraft. We paid3.4 million dollars program-cost foreach airplane. That included all thesimulators and support equipment.I’m sure the second and third buysw e re more expensive.
Did we know at the time that theRF-4C would be the last tactical recon-naissance aircraft purchased by the AirForce? We did not and before I left thePentagon we had a long range require-ment in for the RF-15. We also had onein for the RF-111 but the RF-4C had somuch capability and performance thatnone of these long range programsmaterialized. We decided to phase outthe RB-66 (night-recce version) firstand replace the squadrons with RF-4Cs. After that the RF-84s werereplaced by the RF-4Cs leaving the AirF o rce with RF-4Cs and RF-101s.Because of the buildup in convention-al forces our active duty squadronswent from 12 to 14.
Now you know more about the RF-4C than you wanted to know but allof you who have served on the Air Staffin the Pentagon know that most of thework is done by the Majors and Lt.Cols. So you are not surprised by whatI have written. When I left the Penta-gon for the Air War College I had noidea that it would be four years before Igot to fly the RF-4C. General Bloodlatched on to me when I graduated andI spent three years in NATO and4 ATAF flying T-33s. I checked out atShaw in both the RF-101 and the RF-4Cand split my 148 combat missions inVietnam between the two airplanes.These Voodoo pilots swear by the RF-101 but nothing can compare to pilot-ing the RF-4C.
What an airplane.
Letters and EmailMrs Ingrid Stockreiser
I have received several letters andphone calls from Ingrid regarding herhusband, Emile “John” J. Stockreiser.I’ve not personally met her in person,but it’s been a pleasure to talk to her.
Emile passed away October 14, 2006while he and Ingrid were visiting inthe United States. They were in a hotelin Atlanta when Emile apparently hada heart attack. Fortunately, Sam andDale Stuckey were nearby and wereable to assist Ingrid in making finalarrangements made doubly difficultbecause they were in a foreign country.
John checked out in the RF-4C atShaw AFB in 1966 and then wasshipped to RAF Alconbury to the 32TRS. John went to Tan Son Nhut in1967. He joined the 17th TRS atZweibrucken in 1969 and that is whenI first knew him.
John was a confirmed bachelor andeveryone was shocked when Ingridconvinced him to get married. Theyhave a daughter Christine and agranddaughter Laura. They have livedin Garmish where John worked withthe Armed Forces recreation program.
Ingrid has been trying to learnabout John’s flying hours and has beenunable to locate his Form 5. I have senther some sources for obtaining infor-mation – a member of Congress andthe National Records Center – andhopefully she will be successful.
Ingrid’s address is Box R293, Unit
24514, APO AE 09053-R293. Her phonenumber is 011-49-8821-59125.
— Bob Gould
Al Ziemba’s little boyThis was taken in about 1964. Dad
would have been 35 and a Captain andI was 4! —Richard Ziemba
E.J. “John”Stockreiser with grand-daughter Laura born Aug. 23, 2002.
Photo courtesy Sam Stuckey
RAF Alconbury/Chelveston ReunionSept. 24 – 27, 2009
Crowne Plaza Dulles Airport, Washington, D.C.Contact: Art Modgling — [email protected]
People who served at either base in England are invited.
We had a 1st TAC ( RF-4C ) reunion all from 1965 - 1970 time frame, in LasVegas in 2005. We had about 90 attend. In 2007 we met in Tucson, (found myaircraft in the boneyard) and had 27 attend. I decided to put together areunion to include everyone from Alconbury/Chelveston from beginning tobase closing. I have 44 signed up now hoping for more.
RAF Alconbury Art Modgling1st TAC Crew Chief 1966 - 1969 102 Aspen Drive12th TAC Crew Chief 1970 - 1971 Kerrville, TX 78028
Reunions
8 The Recce Reader, Spring 2008
By Scotty Schoolfield
The 2008 Voodoo/Recce reunionwas a highly successful event, ifthe emails and letters that I
received are any indication. We had215 people who came, had a goodtime, and left. As always, people started arriving on Wednesday anddeparted on Sunday. By noon on Sun-day, the Choo Choo Hotel looked as ifnothing had ever happened.
I was very fortu-nate to have manypeople volunteer-ing to assist in thevarious chore s .Donna Martinstarted in Decem-ber preparing tosend out re g i s t r a-tion forms and pro-cessing the com-pleted re g i s t r a t i o n sas they came in.
We were very“hi-tech” in thatthe bank I selectedin Chattanooga has a branch in Austinwhere Donna lives. She deposited themoney in Austin and I spent it in Chat-tanooga. She also prepared name tagsprior to coming to Chattanooga. BobGould spun his computer magic, as healways does, and sent post cards tothose who don’t have e-mail capability,sent many notes and updates, andeven kept an up to date list on the website of people as they registered.
Arrangements for the hotel, tours,
meals, etc. were fairly slow andmethodical up until about three weeksbefore the reunion date. At that timethings began happening at a fast pace.Fortunately for me, my very talentedand enthusiastic secre t a r y, CindyThomas, was always available when Ineeded her. Most of the attendeesprobably remember her bubbly per-sonality during the reunion. John andLinda Duquette, the web masters,b rought lots of food and youthful
enthusiasm to the event. Their supportwas greatly appreciated.
As reunion day arrived, Hank andHarriet Scherer stepped up to the plateand managed the hospitality bar andsnack tables throughout the entirereunion. I can truthfully attest that thisbunch of Recce Pukes and their spous-es are still able to swizzle large quanti-ties of adult beverages and partake ofthe chips, dips and “horse d’oeuvres. ”
Jerry Rogers handled the tours;
C a rolyn Rogers, Diane Tschida, JaneReese and others did the dining decora-tions; Murph Lustig, Jane Linihan andothers operated the registration desk;Murph also got up early every morningand made coffee for the masses;
Don Karges collected photos takenand put them on the discs that theattendees should have received byn o w. And, as usual, Chuck Lustig,Mike Tschida, and John Linihansupervised the whole operations and
made sure that theirwives did their jobsp roperly (yeah, sure ) .I’m sure that I have omit-ted others who assisted;for this, I apologize.
Recce Emeritus pilots,Clyde East and Cecil Rigs-by were ever present atthe reunion. They re l a t e dstories of their vast andi n t e resting experienceswith Recce versions of theP-51, P-38, RF-80, RF-84and RF-4C. What a pair!
I was in flying schoolclass of 55-H with Recce pilots BudBeadles, Nolen Stanford, and KenE k b e rg. (I haven’t seen Ken in severalyears). I re g ret not having spent moretime with them and other friends inattendance. The Polka Dots weret h e re in force as they always are.
I look forward to going to San Antonio next year. I hope that every-one will support George Wehling, asthey did me, in his role as host ofVoodoo/ Recce Reunion 2009.
Voodoo/RecceReunion
2008
Scotty Schoolfield (third from left) poses with WW II vets Cecil Rigsby andClyde East along with Voodoo speed demon Bob Sweet.
The Recce Reader, Spring 2008 9
Voodoo/Recce Reunion 2008 Scrapbook
George Swagel with Martha & Jim Fosdick
Joyce Sweet, Rabbit Hare and Bob Sweet Hank Scherer managing the bar.
Harriet Scherer and Murph Lustig
Carolyn Rogers and Hilda Swanson George & Jo Jo Edwards Homer Lee and George Edwards
Scotty with our webmeister, John Duquette,and his wife, Linda Suttlehan.
Chuck & Murph Lustig
Fran Brockhoff, Ray Tiffault and Murph Lustig
Ginny & Rabbit Hare in their railway car. Is Dick Bidlack ignoring the warning?
Thanks to Cindy Chamblee, Roger Brockhoff, Virginia Hare, Nolan Stanford and George Swagel for the Reunion photos
10 The Recce Reader, Spring 2008
Hank Curry and Doug Tingley Jo Jo Edwards and George Hall Dick Johnson and Carlos Higgins
Posing around the RF-101 model are:Fran & Roger Brockhoff, Janet & JackLangille, Don & Evy Hunt andKatherine & Carlos Higgins.
Three lovelyRecce ladies: Joy Stanford,
Katherine Higgins and
Jo Jo Edwards.
Donna Leechats with BJ & Donna Martin.
Mike & Diane Tschida Toni & Dick Newbury
“Goldie” Goldfein always has a smile.
Ray Hinely and John Linihan
Voodoo/Recce Reunion Scrapbook
The Recce Reader, Spring 2008 11
The 45th TRS Polka Dots pose for their traditional photograph. I was aproud member of this squadron before they had the jackets. - bg
Jerry Rogers, Ray Tiffault and Cecil Rigsby
Webmeisters present and past:John Duquette and Charlie Bukoski
Nolen & Joy Stanford with Dan &Phyllis Waddle
Train Station
When the Brockhoffs and
Langilles gottogether at Upper
Heyford -- beware!
Remembering our POWs
Voodoo/Recce Reunion Scrapbook
Richard “Dick” Campbell,Richard Allen Campbell, 85, passed
away Friday, Aug. 1, 2008, following abrief hospitalization.
Dick was bornFeb. 1, 1923, inNewark, N.J. Hejoined the A r m yAir Corps andgraduated fro mcadet training.
During Wo r l dWar II, Dick flewtransport airc r a f tin North A f r i c a .He was laterselected to fly the Berlin Airlift. In1949, he was reassigned to the Strate-gic Air Command’s 301st BombWing, first in Salina, Kan., and then at Barksdale AFB, La. There he methis future wife, Eva Evelyn Stuart. They were married in theBarksdale AFB Chapel on Nov. 25,1950. Dick subsequently few KB-29tankers and the RB-47.
In 1960, Dick was selected to fly theB-58 Hustler. When the B-58 programwas terminated, Dick went to a tacticalunit in England where he flew the RF-4C. Near the end of his tour of dutythere, his plane malfunctioned and hebailed out into the North Sea, where hewas rescued by a Dutch frigate.
Dick’s final assignment was with a B-52 bomb wing at Wurtsmith A F B ,Mich., where he re t i red in 1974 after 31years in the Air Force. He is survived byhis wife, Eva Stuart Campbell; daugh-t e r, Cheryl Widmer Campbell; son,R i c h a rd Stuart Campbell, three grand-c h i l d ren, a sister, and several nephews.
Charlotte E. Woodyard Charlotte E. Wo o d y a rd passed
away July 21, 2008 in Austin, Texas, atthe age of 78.She was a verypatriotic Ameri-can and sup-porter of them i l i t a r ythrough numer-ous activitiesand participa-tion of organi-
zations and volunteer groups support-ing her former husband, Col. Jean K.Wo o d y a rd re t i red Air Forc e ,(deceased) over the past 53 years. Shewas a member of Redeemer LutheranC h u rch and lived in Austin for 37years. Charlotte is survived by herdaughter, Carol Wilson and husbandGary; a son, Curtis Wo o d y a rd andthree grandchildren.
Lenadelle ReamLenadelle Ream, 83, wife of Lt. Col.
(Ret.) Clyde W. Ream, died Tu e s d a y,August 19, 2008 at the home of herson in Blythewood after a long illness.She was born in Rockwood, Penn.M a rch 21, 1925. She married ClydeReam in 1946, and after his re t i re m e n tf rom the US Air Force, they madetheir home in Sumter.
She always found enjoyment in life,especially in her family. She madehomemaking and gardening an artand took much pleasure in volunteer-ing for 30 years at Shaw AFB Hospital.She was a member of Aldersgate Unit-ed Methodist Church, participatingactively until recent years when inca-pacitated by a stroke.
Mrs. Ream is survived by her hus-band; a son, Jeffrey L. Ream a grand-daughter and a grandson.
Clyde Ream lives at 5450 OaklandDr, Sumter, SC 29154; [email protected]
Col. Travis BillingsleyRetired Col. James "Travis" Billings-
ley, USAF, 69, of Signal Mountain, diedSunday, Aug. 3, 2008.
A native of Chattanooga, he was a1957 graduate of Red Bank HighSchool and a member of its Hall ofFame. He earned MBA and also mas-ter’s degrees in political science, sci-ence systems management and scienceeducation. He attended Air Commandand Staff College and Air War College.Travis served 31 years with the Forceas a pilot flying 200 combat missionsand serving as an instructor pilot,plans and training, squadron com-m a n d e r, organization commander,director of operations and director ofNATO Air Board.
Travis was a member and past pres-ident of the Signal Mountain LionsClub. The Lions Club InternationalFoundation named him a Melvin JonesFellow for dedicated humanitarianservice.
He was preceded in death by hisp a rents, Charles and Mildred A g e eBillingsley, and his first wife, LindaRoberts Billingsley.
Travis is survived by his wife, DixieBillingsley; two daughters, SarahHenry Coble, and Alexis Henry; a sis-ter; two brothers; a granddaughter andseveral nieces and nephews.
Janie "Mimi" WagnerJanie "Mimi" Wagner passed sud-
denly on May 31, 2008 at her home inLago Vi s t a ,Texas, after a fulllife of deliveringjoy to thosearound her.
The story ofher life began onHalloween in1925 where shegrew up in Som-erset, Penn. with her two bro t h e r s ,who spent most of their time keepingher out of trouble. Mimi was a rolemodel for how to live life. She movedwith grace, class and kindness ineverything she did and her presence litup the rooms she dwelled in.
In 1950 she married Joseph Wa g n e rof Central City, Penn., and together theys h a red 55 years together. She lived allover the world and her spirit touchedeveryone along the way. She served onthe Lago Vista School Board, andt h roughout her life she participated ino rganizations that promoted educationand support of the Nation’s military.
Her husband, Joe Wa g n e r, spentmany years in Recce flying the RB-66.He passed away in 2006..
—Gerry Parker [email protected]
Phil HarvellPhil Harvell died August 27, 2008.
He was 78. Phil flew the RF-101 from1965 - 1968 in the 17th TRS at Laon,France and Upper Heyford, England(where he was Ops Off). From there he
Final Flights
12 The Recce Reader, Spring 2008
Charlotte Woodyard
Janie Wagner
Dick Campbell
The Recce Reader, Spring 2008 13
went to the 45th TRS at Tan Son Nhutw h e re he con-tinued to fly theRF-101. Follow-ing the SEAtour he was atShaw AFB.
Among hissurvivors are hiswife Gre t c h e nwho lives at 14Camden Ct., Fairfield Glade, Te n n38558; phone 931-484-4464.
—Carlos [email protected]
Les AlumbaughIt is with sadness that I must tell
you that our good flying buddy andfriend, Les Alumbaugh passed awayon 27 July 2008. It has been one yearsince his brain tumor was discovered,and with all the surgery and treat-ments since, his body just shut down.
Les was in the Air Defense Com-mand flying F-86Ds and then F-102s.His Recce experience began in the 19thTRS at RAF Bruntingthorpe in Eng-land flying RB-66s.
Les was the 363rd Wing project offi-cer for the RF-4Cs introduction intoUSAF and was CO of the 4415th CCTSCombat Crew Training Center at Shaw.He was in the 16th TRS at Shaw andthen deployed with the first RF-4Cunit to Vietnam. After Vietnam he wasTAC Headquarters DOO. Followingretirement from the military he had along career with FA A Wa s h i n g t o nCenter (Vienna).
Pat Alumbaugh lives at 1430 FileneCt, Vienna, VA 22182; [email protected].
—"Soupy" Campbell [email protected]
Mike GebrenMike Gebren, (LTC USAF Ret), a
former Recce pilot died on Saturd a y,July 26th after a long battle withcolon cancer. Mike is survived by hiswife Sue, their twin daughters Mag-gie and Katy, their son Stephan andrespective spouses.
Mike attended pilot training at We b bAFB and then was stationed at ShawAFB for RF-4 training. In December of1972 he was transferred to Zweibru c k-en AFB in Germany to join the 17thTRS. It wasn’t long after that that he
and Sue were married. Jim (Doc) and Ilived in the same village of Kirrberg, afew blocks from Mike and Sue.
We traveled together on occasion,including trips to Belgium to "antique."A few months ago when I visited Sueand Mike in Bedford, Texas, he re m i-nisced about one such trip, wanting toknow if I still had that massive oldstove that he and Jim had struggled toget into the trunk of our car. Helaughed, remembering what a sight wemust have been as we "limped" ourway back to "Sunny Zwei," bumperalmost scraping the ground.
After leaving Germany, Mike andSue were stationed at McDill AFB andlater went on to Bergstrom. It was atthat time that Mike left active duty andaccepted a position at Lockheed Air-craft in Fort Worth, Texas. At Lockheedhe worked as an electrical engineerwith a career that spanned 25 years. Hewas attached to the Reserve Wing atFort Worth Naval Air Station.
Sue and her family may be reachedat 255 Somerset Te r., Bedford, TX76022; [email protected].
—Pat [email protected]
Winifred Mahan Nelsonre: Libby Nelson Singleton
" Wyn" Nelson, 88, a 38-year re s i-dent of Colorado Springs,passedaway on 9 July 2008. Wyn was bornM a rch 22, 1920 and married DanielJack Nelson on June 5,1945 upon hisgraduation from the U.S. MilitaryAcademy at We s tPoint, NY, and committed the next58 years to her hus-band until his passing on Febru-ary 18, 2004.
For many of thoseyears, she was an A i rF o rce wife andmother facing the challenges of fre-quent moves throughout the UnitedStates and overseas and raising their sixc h i l d ren while Jack was often deployed.
She is survived by her children, MaryEllen Spahr, Libby Singleton, Daniel Jr. ,Trish Nelson, William Nelson, and Te r r iLujan; seven grandchildren and twog re a t -grandchildren.
Bobby Joe “BJ” MartinCol. Bobby Joe “BJ” Martin made his
last flight Sept. 7, 2008 in Austin, Te x a sat the age of 74. Col. Martin was bornon Jan. 27, 1934 in Vera, Texas to GoldieBell and Johnny Martin, the youngestof 11 children. Hegraduated fro mEast Texas StateU n i v. in May 1955with a Bachelor ofMusic E d u c a t i o nand was commis-sioned a secondlieutenant in theU.S. Air Forcethrough theAFROTC program.
BJ spent the majority of his Air Forc ec a reer as a Tactical Reconnaissance pilotand Instructor pilot flying over 4000hours in the RF-84F, RF-101C and RF-4C. He participated in many missionsduring the Cold War including the 1958Lebanon Crisis and 1962 Cuban Crisis.During the Vietnam War he completed100 combat missions over North Vi e t-nam flying the RF-4C. After 29 years ofactive duty, he re t i red from the A i rF o rce - the passion of his life.
Over the course of his career he wasstationed in many places includingKadena AB, Okinawa, Udorn AB, Thai-land; Incirlik AB, Turkey (as Base Com-mander); Ramstein AB, Germany;Chanute AFB; Shaw AFB andB e rg s t rom AFB (as 12th TRS Comman-der). Among his many military decora-tions and awards are: two Distin-guished Flying Crosses; three Meritori-ous Service Medals; 12 Air Medals; andthe Joint Forces Expeditionary Medal.
On Feb. 14, 1959 BJ married CarolynBaker of Sumter, S.C. Two childrenwere born to that marriage (Deborahand Jeffery).
He was predeceased by his pare n t s ,son Jeff e r y, sister Geraldine Caldwell andb rothers EJ, Leroy and John, five infantsiblings and exwife Carolyn Martin.
He is survived by his loving wife of12 years, Donna Frazer Martin; daugh-ter Debi Martin Luckenbill, stepdaugh-ter Dana Bush; five granddaughters;b rother; Bill Martin; sisters-in-law Tommye Martin and Pat Martin; nieces,nephews and friends.
Phil Harvell
“Wyn” Nelson
BJ at completion of100 RF-4 missions
14 The Recce Reader, Spring 2008
Pat HollarnIt has just been a week of hell for my
daughters, but all three have reallydone the family well! I don’t reallyknow what we would have done with-out them.
For some who may not have heard,Pat was in a head-on collision on themorning of the 12th. She was on herway to Crestivew, to her main office,when another driver hydroplaned intoher northbound lane. The other carwas so far into the southbound lane,her passenger side collided with Pat’scar. It also hit the passenger side ofPat’s car, which saved Pat’s life! Bothcars had deployment of the airbags,but only Pat was wearing a seatbelt!
Our major concern was her headinjury, as there was internal bleedinga round the brain. Thankfully, thattrauma was short-lived; and she hasgained full use of her faculties.
All of Pat’s ribs, on both sides, arebroken; her sternum is fractured, as isher right hand, some fingers, her footand her "Great Italian Nose." The footwas operated on yesterday, to removesome chips and set some bones, havinga few pins to hold it together for awhile. Her nose (which I love, butdon’t ever tell her I told you) will haveto wait -- she has been under enoughsedation for too long. They justremoved the hose from her mouth thismorning, and she is mending verywell, but it may be a while before she isfully recovered.
She is still at the helm, runningthings as best she can from her bed.Actually, her staff is so well trainedthat the public can be assured the elec-tions, will run as smoothly as if shewere there.
—Tom Hollarn139 Poquito Rd
Shalimar, FL 32579 850-651-1543; [email protected]
Later reports indicate that Pat is recover -ing and is back at work in her office. — bg
Ruffin GrayOn Monday, 9 July, Ruff doubled
over in pain and was rushed to thehospital. During several hours of test-ing it was determined he had a blood
clot that was blocking the major arteryfeeding his lower abdomen and smallintestines. About 8 hours after theonset of his pain, they went upthrough a groin artery and attemptedto remove as much of the clot as theycould. Although mostly successful, helost a lot of blood and we were in veryreal danger of losing him throughoutmost of the night.
Ye s t e rday they removed appro x i-mately 100 cm of his small intestine.He did well for a second night butwhen they opened him up this a.m.did not like what they saw andremoved another 150 cm of his smallintestine. This leaves him with approx-imately 1/3 of his small intestineintact. So, his single biggest hurdle hasbeen overcome.
—Gary Gray aka, "Grazer"
What sad news to the greatest Cotton -picker of them all. Ruff and I go back toCoffeyville, Kansas (P-38s) 1944. He wasmy CO in the 15th TRS, Korea, 1952, andwe served on the same base several times.
—Cecil Rigsby
Latest update My father, Ruff Gray is improving at
the rehab center taking physical thera-py twice a day and may possibly bereleased in a couple of weeks. My hus-band and I are visiting from MyrtleBeach for a week and are thrilled towitness his "fighter pilot" spirit as hetakes on the rigors of his physical ther-apy. Also, his sense of gratitude andfaith are inspirational to all of us.
My brothers have printed many ofthe emails you have sent which hasbeen such a boost to Dad. Even yester-day he was talking about his experi-ences with you all and it’s evidentwhat an important part of his life youare. He cherishes your emails, cardsand prayers and looks forward to com-ing home when he can be in contactwith you again.
—Deb Gray [email protected]
You can contact Ruff and Fran Gray at24422 Bay Hill Blvd., Katy, TX77494;email [email protected]. —bg
Harold Burgeson,Colonel Harold Burgeson, OXCART
S t a n d a rdization Officer and pilot iscurrently in the hospital in Dallas withkidney failure and congestive heartproblems. He is undergoing daily dial-ysis and would appreciate yourprayers. You may reach him on his cellphone at 972-754-5777 or by mail at hisdaughter’s address: 4317 Shady Lane,Rowlett, TX 75089. —Roadrunners Intl
Thanks for these updates on Burgie Burge -son’s assignments
When I arrived at Misawa AB, Japanin Oct, 1957, Burgie was an establishedmember of the 45th TRS flying the RF-84. He later became one of the first45th pilots to check out in the RF-101.
He became an instructor pilot in theTraining Squadron at Shaw AFB, SC.While at Shaw he received an assign-ment to the initial Blackbird programat area 51. —Dewey Hemphill
Burgie was on the RF-101 with the45th TRS in the late 1950s (see VoodooWarriors, p.105 where he is pictured)and thereafter a flight commander on the 4414th. —Nigel Wa l p o l e
He was with the 45th at Misawa andthen he and Dick Roselle went to area51 in Bs. —Jon Gardner
Frank MeyerIn June 2005 I had brain surgery and
a Deep Brain Stimulus was insertedinto my brain to control tremors. Oneincision never healed and there wasinfection at the right cathode.
On Aug. 28, 2008, the neuro s u rg e o nremoved the entire DBS system and Iseem to be sans tre m o r. The next morn-ing the Dr. making the rounds checkedmy strength. I over powered his pusheach time he pushed against my legsand arms. He said he hoped he was thats t rong when he was 80. I remarked youa re dealing with a “Fighter/ReconPilot." —Frank Meyer
Health Reports
The Recce Reader, Spring 2008 15
Lt. Col. Tony Weissgarber
On October 5, 1965 Major TonyWeissgarber and CaptainRobert W. Pitt flew a bomb
damage assessment mission north ofHanoi in unarmed RF-101 Voodoos, asingle place twin-jet re c o n n a i s s a n c efighter. Their task was to photograph abridge and an ammunition storagearea. The fighter-bombers had bombedthe targets a few minutes before Pittand Weissgarber were to fly over thetargets with their cameras running tobring back valuable intelligence infor-mation as to the bombers’ success. Pittwas the flight leader; Weissgarber washis wing man. Pitt and Weissgarbertook off from Udorn, Thailand, theirhome station, and proceeded as a flightof two. Their planned route wouldtake them over the Gulf of Tonkin.They would then proceed on a wester-ly heading to their target area, north ofHanoi, at low level, one hundred feetabove the ground, and at 600 knots air-speed. Their planned mission was tosplit after they penetrated north ofHanoi. Pitt was to fly over and photo-graph the ammo storage area andWeissgarber the bridge. After complet-ing their mission, they planned toreform the flight, and fly east to theGulf of Tonkin.
After flying over North Vietnam ashort time they saw a uniformed soldieron a knoll. Pitt exclaimed, “He’s theirearly warning ‘radar.’ He’s pro b a b l ycalling now to alert their gunners thatw e ’ re coming.” Reconnaissance flightsw e re always scheduled over the targ e t10 to 15 minutes after the last bomberd ropped his bombs. No element of sur-prise on their part, time-wise.
Flying over the first paved road, theye n c o u n t e red heavy antiaircraft guns.The sky lit up more brightly than anyFourth of July fireworks display. NorthVietnam’s concentration of antiairc r a f tguns was very heavy. Both Pitt andWe i s s g a r b e r’s aircraft were hit hard .Pitt’s aircraft was burning. The flamebehind Pitt’s aircraft was twice thelength of the 101. Weissgarber told Pitt
he was on fire. Pitt asked, “Whichengine?” Weissgarber said, “Looks likeyour left.” Pitt shut down fuel to his leftengine and stopped the flame. Pitt thensaid, “I’m headed to the coast.” Revers-ing his course and headed east. We i s s-garber glanced at his instru m e n t s ,looked in his rearview mirro r, saw nof i re lights or flame and continued on.
Weissgarber could have also turnedhis battle damaged aircraft about andheaded back with Pitt. Instead, he nowknew he was responsible for the entiremission; he had to get both targets onhis own. He turned south, over flew thebridge with his cameras running. Thenhe proceeded northwest toward theammo storage area. Again the sky lit uplike a “Fourth of July” celebration. A sWeissgarber over flew his target, he felthis aircraft take another heavy hit,much like a heavy sledge hammerpounding up against the bottom of hisseat. Again, he looked in his re a r v i e wm i r ro r, saw no flame and checked hisi n s t ruments, and saw no fire or over-heat lights. Good, he stood a goodchance of bringing back the valuableintelligence film of the bridge and theammunition storage area damage.
He still had to over fly the sameroad where he took his first hit. Again,he saw the “Fourth of July” fireworksin front of him as he headed east and tos a f e t y. Wham! Another hit. Checkrearview mirror … no fire … instru-ments okay … proceed on to find Pitt.
Over the Gulf of Tonkin he spottedPitt’s aircraft. Weissgarber pulledalongside Pitt’s left side and immedi-ately pulled away. Pitt’s aircraft wasgutted from the leading edge of thewing, along the fuselage to the tail sec-tion. Weissgarber thought the aircraftshould not have been flying. Pittasked, “How do I look?” Weissgarberlied and said, “You look okay. Someburn damage, but okay” Pitt washeaded toward Danang, the closestAmerican air base.
Pitt was running low on fuel. Theycalled a tanker. The tanker came fur-ther north than he was supposed to go.Pitt got behind the tanker and tried to
take fuel. Pitt’s hydraulic system,which opened the boom re c e p t a c l e ,was inoperative. He could not take onfuel. Weissgarber said, “Move over. Letme get some.” He on loaded some, notknowing he was constantly spillingfuel overboard from the battle damage.They proceeded toward Danang. AsPitt made his descent into Danang, heasked Weissgarber, “How much fuel isin the fuel lines? My gauges showe m p t y.” Weissgarber said, “Don’tknow. Trim nose down. When yourengine stops, punch out.”
Pitt lowered his gear using thee m e rgency extension system. Pitttouched down neatly on the end of therunway. He had no nose gear steering.His aircraft drifted off the left side ofthe runway, skewed sideways and hita small building. Weissgarber, flyinghigh formation saw Pitt’s aircraft hitthe building with a cloud of dust.There was no fire. Pitt was out of fuel.Weissgarber looked down andthought, “You poor SOB, you comeback from hell; then land and get killedon an American air base. Damn.” Thenthe tower called, “One oh one in thetraffic pattern, you buddy is okay, wehave him running away from the air-plane.” Weissgarber thought, “ThankGod,” immediately applied power andheaded to his home base of Udorn, 320nautical miles to the west. He had toget the film in the hands of the intelli-gence people quickly.
After landing at his home stationand turning off the runway, he pulledto a stop. The ground personnel wouldunload his film and rush it to the lab.The ground people were franticallygesturing to cut engines, cut engines.Weissgarber cut his engines, jumpedout, and saw the bottom of his aircraftleaking like a sieve. Why it didn’t catchfire no one knows. The aircraft was sobadly damaged it never flew again.
We i s s g a r b e r ’s unit re c o m m e n d e dhe receive the Air Force Cross for hisaccomplishments on this three hourmission. The award was downgradedto the Silver Star and awarded on 12November 1965.
Mission: BDA north of HanoiIt was just another routine recce mission over North Vietnam
The Recce Reader15918 Meadow LaneStanley, KS 66224-9741
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Letters and Email
Sachiko and my home built – N25DS – but Sachikohasn’t gone for a ride yet. When it comes to airplanesand boats she likes to keep both feet on a golf course.
—Duane Seymour, 210 Rue Grand Dr., Lake St. Louis, MO 63367.
ful instructor, a kind and generous man and a great friend. Under hisguidance the 38th TRS excelled in every area completing an ORI in1980 with one of the highest ratings in USAFE.
Travis was so dedicated to the mission, the squadron, the Wingand the Air Force.If ever there was a military person who shouldhave been promoted to General, it was Travis Billingsley. With Col.Hoot Gibson as our Wing CC we were blessed with support, care,freedom to make our decisions, pride and love for our fellow militarymembers. Travis was a friend to Officer and Enlisted alike and with-out a doubt, knew that our success was dependent on the enlistedmen and women serving in the Wing. He loved you all.
I will always remember those I served with and those I had theprivilege to lead. I was blessed with the best Flight Commanders aDO could wish for. Without them I would have crashed and burned.Most of all I will remember Travis for giving me such a great oppor-tunity. He was my friend, mentor and inspiration and I will neverforget him. To his family, Dixie and daughters, I say hold your headshigh for Travis was one of the best. Silver Wings to you Travis. Youwere the Man! —Lt Col (Ret) Bill “BZ” Clements
Two beautiful ladies
A Tribute to Travis Billingsley -- 1939-2008
Iam deeply pained and saddened by the death ofTravis. I was very fortunate to have served with
Travis as his Director of Operations, 38TRS,Zweibrucken, Germany in 1979/80. As a RF-4CWSO it was indeed an honor for me to be offeredthis position and I credit Travis and Col. BruceMatthews for the opportunity that was presentedto me. Serving with Travis was indeed a pleasure.He was always there if I needed advice, a wonder-
Lt. Col. TravisBillingsley and
Lt. Col. BillClements landing
at ZweibruckenAB, Germany
1979.
![Recce [recovered]](https://img.pdfslide.us/doc/110x75/55ce895abb61ebaa188b45b0/recce-recovered.jpg)
