Profiles In Courage: Daniel J. Daly

Only two Marines have received the Medal of Honor for two separate actions: Maj. Gen Smedley Butler and Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly. And you know it has to mean something when Butler called Daly "the fightingest Marine I ever knew."

Daly served in the Marine Corps for 30 years, seeing every major Marine Corps campaign between 1899 and 1929. Growing up in New York City as a slender youth, he had to be tough; he even became a semi-pro boxer before joining the Marines at age 25. His first assignment took him halfway around the world aboard the USS Newark, then a cruiser assigned to the U.S. Asiatic Fleet – and it was about to take him to his first Medal of Honor action.

Not long after Daly joined up, China was in upheaval. Anti-foreigner and anti-Christian sentiment boiled over into open rebellion against outsiders interfering with life in China. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese peasants, known as Boxers, rose up and began murdering missionaries, Christians, and other foreigners. At first, the Imperial Qing government stood opposed to the Boxers, but in 1900, it suddenly turned on the foreigners as the Boxer armies approached the capital at Peking (now Beijing). 

On June 5, 1900, the Boxers cut Beijing off from the rest of China and, by June 11, had burst into the city by the thousands, murdering missionaries and Christians while burning churches. British Adm. Edward Seymour tried to reach the city with more than 2,100 multinational troops but was turned back by a Boxer force at Langfang. Dowager Empress Cixi then ordered all foreigners to leave the capital within 24 hours. Instead, British, American, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Austrian, Italian, and Russian troops reinforced their legations and prepared for battle.

This international force protected thousands of foreign citizens from certain death in the Legation Quarter of the city as the Boxers laid siege. Inside, Pvt. Daniel J. Daly was positioned on the Tartar Wall, part of the city's defenses and used by the Americans to protect their diplomatic compound. The Boxers' intense fire forced the Americans to leave the wall, but Daly and his commanding officer quietly retook their positions. 

On August 14, Daly was left to hold the wall by himself as his commander went for reinforcements. Private Daly then held off 400 enemy troops, trying to storm his position while under sniper fire until his backup could arrive. The action earned him his first Medal of Honor, presented in December 1901. 

Undeterred by the vicious combat in China, Daly continued his career with postings in the Philippines, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Maine. He also landed with the Marines to capture the Mexican city of Veracruz in 1914.  Around that same time, Haiti descended into chaos, with seven different presidents taking office and being ousted by assassinations and coups between 1911 and 1915. Its close ties to Germany and strong German presence on the island were a national security threat in the years leading up to American entry in World War I. 

When Haitian President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was lynched by an anti-American mob, President Woodrow Wilson saw a threat to U.S. financial interests. The incoming president, Rosalvo Bobo, was staunchly anti-American and backed by the Caco peasant militias. In July 1915, Wilson sent in the Marines. First, they captured the capital of Port-Au-Prince and then moved to take over the entire country. For the next 19 years, the U.S. ruled Haiti, with its authority enforced by the Marine Corps – but that didn't mean everyone was happy with the situation.

Almost immediately, the Cacos launched an insurgency against the Marines. On Oct. 24, 1915, Daly, then a Gunnery Sergeant, was among a detachment of 40 Marines crossing a river under the command of then-Maj. Smedley Butler. The small force was ambushed by 400 Cacos near Fort Dipitié, and they were forced to take a defensive position on high ground, one they had held through the night under constant fire. When day came, the outnumbered Marines formed three squads (one led by Daly) and attacked the Cacos from three different directions, scattering the enemy and moving on to destroy the fort. His leadership led to a historic second Medal of Honor.

But it's not really just Daniel J. Daly's two Medals of Honor that continue to echo through history. Perhaps his most famous moment came three years later, during the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood. Daly would fight in some of the most vicious and contested battles of the war, but it was at Belleau Wood that he became famous for leading outnumbered and outgunned Marines in a successful counterattack with the battle cry: "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?"

When Sgt. Maj. Daly's Marine Corps career came to an end in 1929, he went home to New York, where he worked as a bank guard, a job he held for the next 17 years. He died of a heart attack in 1937 at age 63.
 

Battlefield Chronicles: The Battle of Iwo Jima

The year 2025 will mark the 80th anniversary of the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the most storied contests in American military history. Many are familiar with the myriad stories surrounding the battle, from the two flag raisings over Mount Suribachi to any of the 27 men who received the Medal of Honor for their actions on the island. What fails to get a mention in history books is the sheer scale of the battle itself and the defensive planning of the enemy's commander.

More than 110,000 Americans fought to capture Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The commander of the Japanese forces on the island, Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, knew he would be fighting a losing battle. Kuribayashi decided he would design his defenses to inflict the highest possible number of casualties on the invading force as he could, even with only some 20,000 starving, emaciated men at his disposal. 

Today, Iwo Jima is the only U.S. Marine Corps battle where more Americans became casualties than the Japanese. Overcoming the defenses at Iwo Jima was a testament to the bravery, ability, and accomplishments of the men who fought to take this critical island.

American forces captured the Marianas Islands in November 1944, giving them strategic airfields from which B-29 Superfortress bombers could threaten the Japanese home islands. Though the U.S. Army Air Forces could now strike at the heart of Tokyo, the Imperial Japanese still controlled early warning stations on closer islands that could provide early warnings to Japan about incoming American bombers. One of those early warning stations was the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. 

In June 1944, as the Americans were preparing to land on Saipan, Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi took command of the Japanese Garrison on Iwo Jima. His first directive was to completely change the defensive strategy, knowing the island could not repel an American invasion. The strategy he chose was to allow the United States to land on the beaches of the island and fight the Americans inland instead. 

His plan was to negate the superiority of American firepower from ships and from the air by fighting from underground. He used a honeycomb strategy, similar to the defenses used on Peleliu, constructing some 11 miles of underground tunnels, building concrete pillboxes, and incorporating the thousands of caves on the island. He had hoped to use Iwo Jima's defense to inflict as many casualties as possible, hampering public sentiment for the war back in the United States. 

Unlike many other Japanese officers, Kuribayashi knew Americans. He was a visiting military attaché with the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, lived in Buffalo, New York, and attended Harvard to study American history, politics, and English. He traveled extensively in the United States over the course of three years, even crossing the country in a Chevrolet. He believed the American people would not tolerate a high casualty count, and if he could kill or wound scores of U.S. troops on Iwo Jima, it might mean a faster end to the Pacific War – even if it meant he would not survive the battle itself. 

When the Americans hit the beaches of Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, the Japanese were eating weeds and subsisting on rainwater. They were low on supplies and ammunition, but Kuribayashi ordered that no banzai charges were allowed; each of his men were ordered to kill 10 Americans before giving their lives. When the Marines landed, they found their Amtracs were useless on the black ash beaches, that the pre-landing aerial bombardment had done little to soften the island's defenses, and that their firearms were practically useless against their entrenched enemy.

By the end of the first day's fighting, the Americans had only achieved one of their objectives: isolating Mount Suribachi. They did reach the southern tip of the first airfield on the island but had not yet captured it. Their progress was hampered by interlocking fire, hidden mines, and the movement of enemy troops through the underground tunnels. Marines could capture strategic positions only for the Japanese to reoccupy them when the Americans advanced. When looking at the casualty reports and the slow progress of American troops, Marine Corps Gen. Holland Smith is said to have remarked, "I don't know who he is, but the Japanese general running this show is one smart bastard."

Flamethrowers became essential to clearing out the island's pillboxes and caves. As a result of their effectiveness, individual flamethrower Marines became a high-priority target on the battlefield, suffering a 92% casualty rate. This meant the Marines' flamethrower tanks became critical for any successful attack. With so few flamethrower tanks available, it would take the Americans 25 days to secure the island and five weeks to declare victory. Even so, the last Japanese holdouts on Iwo Jima would not surrender until 1949, four years after the end of World War II. General Kuribayashi was killed in the battle. 

Of the nearly 21,000 Japanese defenders, only 1,083 survived the battle. The Americans who landed on Iwo Jima suffered a three-to-one casualty rate, suffering nearly 29,000 casualties, including more than 6,800 killed in action. The high casualty rate did not have the effect Kuribayashi hoped back in the United States. Instead, the pre-invasion bombing of Okinawa became the heaviest ever delivered on a Japanese-held island. 

More importantly, the Marines' victory on Iwo Jima, in the face of the massive number of casualties, created an almost religious reverence for the Marine Corps in the minds of everyday Americans. This mythos surrounding the Corps ensured its continued survival as a separate branch of the Armed Forces.

TWS Member Comment

MSgt Rolland May, US Marine Corps (Ret)
Served 1948-1968

Military Myths and Legends: Pershing and His Pig's Blood Bullets

It might be difficult today to imagine the United States as a true colonial power, but in the years following the 1898 Spanish-American War, the U.S. became a major global power. The idea of American Imperialism crept into the public consciousness for the first time. During the war, the United States captured several key Spanish possessions, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. 

At first, it looked as if the U.S. was fighting to grant the Philippines its independence, but when the Americans annexed the islands instead, the resistance fighters that fought the Spanish started fighting the Americans. Combat in the Philippines meant bloody ambushes, lightning-fast raids, and fierce hand-to-hand combat at times. American forces suffered more troops killed in action in the first four months of fighting in the Philippines than they suffered in the entire Spanish-American War. 

No rebel group fought more fiercely than the Muslim Moros of the southern provinces, which had resisted outside control for 400 years. Military legend has it that then-Brig. Gen.John J. Pershing, Governor of the Moro Province, ordered the execution of 50 Moro soldiers with bullets dipped in pig's blood. 

The story goes that he knew the Islamic Moros believed anyone who touched a pig was unclean and could not enter heaven. After the execution, it's said, he buried the men with pigs and spared one insurgent to tell his friends and peers what would happen if they continued fighting American forces. The legend says it stopped the Moro attacks. 

But did any of that happen? 

To wrest control of the islands from the Spanish, American forces had transported the exiled Filipino revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo and enlisted the help of the Philippine rebel forces. The United States captured Manila and other major cities; Aguinaldo and the rebels took control of the countryside, declaring independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. 

However, neither Spain nor the U.S. recognized Aguinaldo's declaration. That same year, Spain ceded the islands to the Americans in the Treaty of Paris, and the United States formally annexed them. The people of the Philippines, especially those who fought with the Americans, saw this as a betrayal: the Americans were taking the place of the Spanish as their colonial masters. 

Philippine nationalists formed a republican government under the leadership of Aguinaldo in January 1899, but the U.S. refused to recognize it. It was a matter of days before fighting broke out between American and Filipino troops. On February 4, 1899, 19,000 American soldiers and 15,000 of Aguinaldo's Philippine troops clashed in the capital, fighting a conventional war that Aguinaldo could not sustain. 

Filipino independence fighters tried for months to wage a conventional war against the better-armed and better-equipped soldiers but found it unsustainable. In November 1899, they faded away, switching to the guerrilla tactics that had bedeviled the Spanish. General Arthur MacArthur, the soon-to-be Military Governor of the Philippines, declared the "insurrection" to be squashed, but he soon learned the Filipinos were far from finished. 

The Philippine-American War would rage across the islands for more than three years. Even when President Theodore Roosevelt announced an official end to the war, resistance among some rebel groups would continue until 1913. The U.S. had granted autonomy to the Moros if they stayed out of the Philippine War, but as soon as the war ended, the Americans invaded the Moros' land. 

Pershing was brought in as the third and final American governor of the Moros in 1909. At the time, one of the biggest problems was the juramentados, suicide jihadists who would strike occupying soldiers, policemen, and officials with swords and fight until they were killed in combat. To stop the religiously zealous juramentados, American forces in the Moro Province took extreme measures, one that echoed through the coming decades during the Global War on Terror. 

"... inaugurated a system of burying all dead juramentados in a common grave with the carcasses of slaughtered pigs. The Mohammedan religion forbids contact with pork, and this relatively simple device resulted in the withdrawal of juramentados… Other officers took up the principle, adding new refinements to make it unattractive to the Moros. In some sections, the Moro juramentado was beheaded after death, and the head sewn inside the carcass of a pig. And so the rite of running juramentado, at least semi-religious in character, ceased to be in Sulu."

The officer who first ordered the desecration of the Muslim remains was actually Col. Alexander Rodgers of the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment, with others to follow. There's no evidence that Pershing was ever involved in the idea of using pigs to subdue the Moros, but Pershing did mention the practice in his own memoirs:

"These juramentado attacks were materially reduced in number by a practice the army had already adopted, one that Muhammadans held in abhorrence. The bodies were publicly buried in the same grave with a dead pig. It was not pleasant to have to take such measures, but the prospect of going to hell instead of heaven sometimes deterred the would-be assassins."

Pershing did succeed in quelling the Moros' attacks by the time he left the governor's office in 1913, but it wasn't by burying rebels with pigs. He expanded the area's economy, opened banks, built roads, and forcibly disarmed the rebels. When they fought against disarmament, he met them on the battlefield at Bud Dajo and Bud Bagsak, which led to the end of the Moro Rebellion. 

Distinguished Military Unit: American Volunteer Group (AVG) M/ Flying Tigers

"... I judge the operations of the 14th Air Force to have constituted between 60 percent and 75 percent of our effective opposition in China. Without the Air Force, we could have gone anywhere we wished."
- Lt. Gen. Takahashi, Japanese Chief of Staff in China

The United States government organized the American Volunteer Groups to aid the Nationalist government of China against Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The only unit to actually see combat was the 1st AVG, popularly known as the Flying Tigers. Air Force TWS to date lists thirteen remembrances for deceased members of this unit.     
                        
The group consisted of three fighter squadrons of around 30 aircraft, each of whom had trained in Burma before the American entry into World War II to defend the Republic of China against Japanese forces. The Flying Tigers were recruited starting on 15 Apr 1941 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed an unpublished executive order and began to arrive in China at that time. One hundred Curtiss P-40Bs were obtained from Curtiss-Wright by convincing the British Government to take a later, more advanced batch of P-40s in exchange. While it accepted some civilian volunteers for its headquarters and ground crew, the AVG recruited most of its staff from the U.S. The AVG were officially members of the Republic of China Air Force military. They had contracts with salaries ranging from $250 a month for a mechanic to $750 for a squadron commander, roughly three times what they had been making in the U.S. forces. The group assembled at RAF Mingaladon in Burma by November 1941 for training, where it was organized into three squadrons and established a headquarters. After the Japanese invasion of Burma, the AVG fought alongside the Royal Air Force to defend Rangoon. Under Chennault's command, the Flying Tigers became famous for defending Burma and China.

The group first saw combat on 20 Dec, 1941, 12 days after Pearl Harbor. It demonstrated innovative tactical victories when the news in the U.S. was filled with little more than stories of defeat at the hands of the Japanese forces and achieved such notable success during the lowest period of the war for both the U.S. and the Allied Forces as to give hope to America that it might eventually defeat Japan. AVG pilots earned official credit and received combat bonuses for destroying 296 enemy aircraft while losing only 14 pilots in combat. The combat records of the AVG still exist, and researchers have found them credible. On 4 Jul 1942, the AVG was disbanded and replaced by the United States Army Air Forces' (AAF) 23rd Fighter Group in July 1942, which was later absorbed into the U.S. 14th Air Force with General Chennault as commander. Only five AVG pilots chose to continue with the AAF. The 23rd FG achieved similar combat success while retaining the nose art on the left-over P-40s. 

AVG fighter aircraft were painted with a large shark face on the front of the aircraft. This was done after pilots saw a photograph of a P-40 of No. 112 Squadron RAF in North Africa, which had adopted the shark face from German pilots of the Luftwaffe's ZG 76 heavy fighter wing, flying Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters in Crete. (The AVG nose art is variously credited to Charles Bond and Erik Shilling.) At about the same time, the AVG was dubbed "The Flying Tigers" by its Washington support group, called China Defense Supplies. The P-40's good qualities included pilot armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, sturdy construction, heavy armament, and a higher diving speed than most Japanese aircraft – qualities that Chennault's combat tactics were devised to exploit. To gain full advantage, Chennault created an early warning network of spotters that would give his fighters time to take off and climb to a superior altitude before engaging the Japanese. The AVG's military chaplain described the volunteers' background in his memoir, "Most men were escaping from frustrations or disappointments, as perhaps I was. They hoped an unknown future in unknown places would somehow give them a second chance. One of the oldest was a tough former sergeant major about forty-three, irreconcilably divorced. One of the youngest was a boy of nineteen who had enlisted in the army, then got right out again for this junket; he longed for adventures with lots of shooting, perhaps because he was small for his age. A majority came from the South and West, and Texans were the largest group from any state." The AVG credited nineteen pilots with five or more air-to-air victories.

The American Volunteer Group (AVG) and Royal Air Force (RAF) fought side-by-side over Rangoon with comparable numbers, equipment, and courage against the same odds. The RAF broke even against the Japanese, while the Americans rolled up a 15-to-1 score. In February 1942, the Japanese threw heavy raids against Rangoon and Port Darwin, Australia, in the same week. Over Rangoon, five AVG P-40s shot down 17 out of 70 enemy raiders without loss. Over Darwin, 11 out of 12 USAAF P-40s were shot down by a similar Japanese force. A few weeks later, a crack RAF Spitfire squadron was rushed to Australia from Europe and lost 17 out of 27 pilots over Darwin in two raids. The Spitfire was far superior to the P-40 as a combat plane. It was simply a matter of tactics. RAF pilots were trained in methods that were excellent against German and Italian equipment but suicide against the acrobatic Japs. The only American outfit in China that the Japanese ever liked to fight was a P-38 squadron that had fought in North Africa and refused to change its tactics against the Japanese.

There are several museum displays in the United States honoring the Flying Tigers. The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, has an extensive display dedicated to the AVG, including an A-2 jacket worn by an AVG pilot in China, a banner presented to the AAF by the Chinese government, and a P-40E. The National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, also has a Flying Tiger display. The Chennault Aviation Museum in Monroe, Louisiana, has an extensive collection of Flying Tigers and AVG memorabilia. The AVG monument in the National Museum of the United States Air Force Memorial Garden features a marble sculpture of a pagoda crowned with a brass model of a P-40; the monument stands nearly 14 feet tall. The Palm Springs Air Museum displays memorabilia inside a mockup of AVG ground facilities, with a P-40N painted in AVG markings. Finally, a memorial to the AVG and 14th AF is located at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, depicting a P-40 in AVG markings with a bronze plaque describing the unit's history and Vandenberg's role as headquarters for the 14th AF. 

There are also several memorials to the AVG in Asia. In Chiang Mai, Thailand, a marble obelisk was dedicated on 11 Nov 2003, inscribed to Chennault; to Jack Newkirk, who was killed in North Thailand on 24 Mar 1942; and to Charles Mott and William McGarry, who were shot down and captured in Thailand. In Taiwan, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek requested a statue of Chennault in the New Park of Taipei to commemorate this wartime friend after his death (the statue has since been relocated to Hualian AFB). A Flying Tigers Memorial is located in the village of Zhejiang, Hunan Province, China, and a museum is dedicated exclusively to the Flying Tigers. The building is a steel and marble structure, with wide sweeping steps leading up to a platform with columns holding up the memorial's sweeping roof; on its back wall, etched in black marble, are the names of all members of the AVG, 75th Fighter Squadron, and 14th Air Force who died in China. In 2005, the city of Kunming held a ceremony memorializing the history of the Flying Tigers in China, and on 20 Dec 2012, the Flying Tigers Museum opened in Kunming. The date is the 71st anniversary of the first combat from Kunming of the Flying Tigers. The Memorial Cemetery to Anti-Japanese Aviator Martyrs in Nanjing, China, features a wall listing the names of Flying Tiger pilots and other pilots who defended China in World War II and has several unmarked graves for such American pilots. 

The largest private museum in China, Jianchuan Museum Cluster, devotes a wing in its military section to the history of the Flying Tigers, including a tribute wall featuring a thousand porcelain photos of members of the Flying Tigers as well as many historical artifacts from the era. In March 2015, the Flying Tiger Heritage Park was opened in Guilin in collaboration with the Flying Tiger Historical Organization. The park is built on the site of Yangtang Airfield and includes a museum, aircraft shelters, and relics of a command post located in a cave. Just before their 50th reunion in 1992, the AVG veterans were retroactively recognized as members of the U.S. military services during the seven months the group was in combat against the Japanese. The AVG was then awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for "professionalism, dedication to duty, and extraordinary heroism." In 1996, the U.S. Air Force awarded the pilots the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the ground crew was awarded the Bronze Star. 

The great value of the American Volunteer Group (AVG or Flying Tigers) was psychological and diplomatic: Americans and Chinese hailed them as heroes during the early period of World War II when Japan had the upper hand. The Flying Tigers raised public hopes for eventual victory while Allied forces, reeling from Pearl Harbor and other Japanese victories, organized for war. "Japan can be defeated in China. It can be defeated by an Air Force so small that in other theaters, it would be called ridiculous. I am confident that, given real authority in command of such an Air Force, I can cause the collapse of Japan." - Brig. Gen. Claire Chennault Despite supply problems, the 14th Air Force grew from fewer than 200 aircraft to more than 700 planes by the end of the war. American airmen in China destroyed and damaged more than 4,000 Japanese aircraft during the war. They also sank more than a million tons of shipping and destroyed hundreds of locomotives, trucks, and bridges while helping to defeat the Japanese in China.

Ten AVG pilots and one crew chief had been killed in action (four in air combat, six were hit by ground fire); nine pilots were lost in accidents. The remaining Flying Tigers, with the exception of Chennault and five others (John Bright, Dave Hill, Ed Rector, Charles Sawyer, and Frank Schiel) returned to the United States where most of them later rejoined their Navy, Marine and Army Air Force units. "Pappy" Boyington and Jim Howard went on to fly their way to more victories, command positions, and Congressional Medals of Honor. The remaining five men formed the nucleus of the 23rd Pursuit Group under Colonel Scott. With probable exceptions of the 8th Air Force itself or WWI Lafayette Escadrille, the Flying Tigers have undoubtedly garnered more articles, books, films, documentaries, monuments, memorials, insignia variants, and general historical accounts than most other Air Force units since 1917. To this day, headquartered at Vandenberg AFB, the 14th Air Force SSI emblem depicts a flying tiger with a 5-pointed star above on the traditional Air Force blue background and shield.

How The 'Surge' Brought Stability to US Forces In Iraq

The years following the 2003 U.S.-led Invasion of Iraq did not bring the stability or rebuilding of the country that the United States had hoped for. Instead, it led to widespread lawlessness, resistance, and sectarian conflict throughout Iraq. Within a year after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, al-Qaeda linked insurgents and sectarian militias engaged in armed conflict against each other, with Coalition forces caught in the middle. 

In 2006, violence between armed Shia and Sunni Muslim groups broke out into open civil war when the Al-Askari Shrine, a revered Shia holy site, was bombed by Sunnis. Bomb and mortar attacks became frequent, along with suicide bombings, death squads, and attacks on other places of worship. After the 2006 U.S. Elections brought Democrats to power in the House of Representatives and the Senate, pressure on the administration of George W. Bush forced the president to reconsider the United States strategy in Iraq. 

The Iraq Study Group report, the U.S. Department of State, the CIA, and a panel of expert historians and former military leaders all concluded that the U.S. needed to increase its troops significantly to stabilize Iraq. On January 10, 2007, President Bush announced the deployment of 20,000 Americans to areas around Baghdad. The strategy became known as "The Surge," and even its fiercest critics were forced to admit it succeeded.

The Surge didn't just send in six brigades of U.S. troops. It also changed the commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq. General David Petraeus, a noted counterinsurgency expert, had actually written the Counterinsurgency Field Manual used by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The general laid out his plan before Congress on January 23, 2007, a plan that focused on securing BBaghdad by maintaining a presence in the most affected neighborhoods while empowering the Iraq government to manage its infrastructure and economy, especially in terms of employment and security. 

By mid-June, troop numbers in Iraq had indeed surged, and major combat operations were underway. American soldiers were now focused on protecting civilian populations rather than chasing and killing insurgents, but the insurgent group still met with severe losses. Petraeus reported to Congress that the Surge dealt major blows to Sunni groups like al-Qaeda In Iraq. Americans and local Iraqi populations began to work closer together, even sharing spaces away from major U.S. installations throughout the capital. 

Violence initially increased in response to the troop surges, but it wasn't long before Petraeus' plan began to bear fruit. By the end of 2007, the monthly number of Iraqi civilians killed in fighting had been cut by more than half, security incidents were in decline, and the U.S. had captured the leadership of many Iran-backed Shia militia groups. Even the most effective Shia leader, the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, had told his Mahdi Army to stand down that year. Even the monthly death rate for U.S. troops was the lowest it had been since 2004. 

Within a year, the Iraqi government met most of the benchmarks set by American forces, benchmarks that allowed the Americans to finally withdraw from Iraq entirely. This stability led to Sunni groups recognizing the authority of Iraq's government, increased oil production, and positive economic forecasts from the International Monetary Fund. 

The Surge didn't end the Iraq War; American forces would not fully leave the country until 2011. However, it did provide the relative stability necessary for the new Iraqi government to begin governing, creating a widespread belief that the central authority in Baghdad was in control and that the Iraqi people could safely lead their lives. 
  

Military Guide-On Bearer

It was like any other day; my family had just finished dinner, and my father looked me in the eye and made a statement that changed my life.

"John, go upstairs and put on a good pair of pants, a clean shirt, and your best shoes. Your cousin Larry Bryant will be picking you up at 7 PM to take you to join the New Jersey National Guard," he said.

To say I was shocked was an understatement as I left the table and headed upstairs. Before I hit the first step, I was crying and entered my bedroom, wondering what had just happened. I was only 15 1/2 years old, and my friends would mock me. My mother came upstairs to help me find my good clothes. I was sitting on my bed with my face in my hand, crying my heart out.

"John, you have to listen to your father as he knows best," she said.
 
I realized that my objecting to joining the National Guard was futile, as you never questioned my father. What he said was the law in my house. I dressed and headed to the front porch to wait for my cousin. Tears were rolling down my cheeks as my cousin arrived.

"Larry I don't want to join the Guard, I'm not the right age," I said. 

Larry gave the same answer as my mother. I quickly realized that he was the one that convinced my dad that I should join. It took us about 35 minutes to get to the Westfield Armory in New Jersey from my grandmother's home in Springfield. During the trip, Larry told me about the advantages of joining the National Guard. I stopped crying as I approachArmory Armory. 

"John," he said, "Since you are not 17 years old, you have to put down on the induction form that you were born in 1935 instead of 1937, which will make you 17."

I went to Armory Armory, a very unhappy young man, and was assigned to a room where I was handed a form to fill out. A young man was sitting opposite me. I later found out his name was Donald Jacobi, and he asked me what he should put down if he was only 16.

"I had to subtract two years from my birthday, so I guess you have to subtract one year from yours," I said.

Our forms were reviewed by a clerk, and with a few corrections, we headed to take our physical. It took about one hour for both of us to complete the entire physical. Don Jacobi passed, but Johnny Barr failed. Boy! Was I happy! I didn't have to join the Guard and let my dad know that I had not gone against his word. The reason given to me why I failed was that I was immature. Of course I was. I was only 15 years old. Then my smile quickly went away, and I learned a lesson in life: it's who you know and not what you know!

My cousin, who held the rank of Major, poked his head in the door and said, "Dr. Nevin, how did the Barr kid do?" The Doc said, "He failed." My cousin quickly said, "He passed!" The Doctor quickly said, "He passed!" 

I passed, and within minutes, both Don and I were sworn in. I was now a member of Troop D, 5th Recon, 50th Armor Division, New Jersey Army National Guard. Both Don and I were assigned as riflemen in the first platoon. When the 1st Sgt. saw me he knew right away that I would make a great company guide-on-bearer. I must have reminded him of the pole that held the guide-on. I was 6 ft. 3 inches tall and weighed a whopping 140 pounds, soaking wet. The Guide-On looked like my twin brother. He gave me a manual and told me to learn to be a Guide-On Bearer. Boy, I read and read and knew everything about the job and used a broomstick to practice. 

My basic training was one night a week, two hours a night for 13 weeks. What can you learn on that schedule? It is very little! You never left the Armory, and never fired a weapon, but you looked good with your boots highly polished and your uniform heavily starched. I passed all the tests mainly due to the questions Major Bryant asked me when he drove me to drill. I usually got 100 percent. Remember, I was too young to drive. Once basic was over, I was back to being a rifleman and Company Guide-On-Bearer.

The word spread quickly through the ranks. In two months, the Inspector General will be inspecting our unit. The entire company was brought into the upstairs classroom, where our commander and 1St Sgt. told us what was expected of us relative to the inspection. We were all given several sheets that contained information that we better knew for the inspection. I was on top of it and spent a great deal of time learning everything on those sheets.

The day of the inspection arrived, and I had memorized everything from those sheets. I could recite my 10 general orders backwards and forwards, I knew everything about my rifle. I was ready. Platoon Sgt. Joe Williams brought us all together for a quick review. As he asked the questions, I was quick with the answers. I knew my stuff.

"Barr, let someone else answer the questions," said Williams. "In all my years, the Inspecting General never inspects the Guide-On Bearer," he added. That was a relief to me when I walked to the front of Troop D about a few steps to the left side of my commander. I was proud to be there in front, waiting for the arrival of the IG. I was looking forward when I heard my commander say, "Sir, Troop D, 5th Recon, ready for inspection. After some small talk, the IG made the following statement. "Captain, I usually don't inspect the Guide–On, but I'm going to start with him," said the IG. Come on, IG, I'm ready, as military answers raced through my brain.

Within seconds, the IG was standing before me, eyeing me up and down. He asked the following question. "Young man, how tall are you?" Where did that question come from it wasn't on the papers I studied. I stood there with my mouth open and my brain not functioning, as that answer was no where to be found. It was filled with all kinds of military facts. I was brain-locked. After what seemed an eternity, which probably was only seconds, he addressed my commander.

"Captain, before I leave today, I want this soldier to see me and let me know his height," said the IG.

The inspection went very well for the rest of the company, and all of the men, from the officers to the enlisted, were proud of the job they had done, getting ready and passing the inspection. But what about the private that didn't know his height? The 1st Sgt. approached me and told me that the commander wanted to see me in his office. I was a little nervous as I knocked on his door, was signaled to enter, saluted, and waited for him to speak. 

"Pvt. Barr, don't you know how tall you are?" he said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Sir, I know that I'm 6'3", but I had so much military information going through my head I that had no room for that kind of information," I answered. "And, Sir, it wasn't on the sheet.".." He shook his head still with a puzzled look and told me to go immediately and find the IG and tell him my height. He told me to remember to salute him when I approached him.

I quickly found him and approached with a snappy salute.

"Sir, Pvt. Barr, I'm 6'3", I said. He answered, "I knew you knew how tall you were," he said. He continued by saying, "Young man, have a great career, our paths will cross again."
 

TWS Member Comment

SP 4 Robert Chesebro, Jr, US Army Veteran
Served 1961-1964

Air Force Operations in Vietnam

In 1950, what initially was a military assistance effort by the United States to support the French in containing communist rebels in what was, at the time, French Indochina had, by 1965, evolved into a full-scale war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. American forces were, by that year, heavily involved in backing the South. At that point, the United States Air Force was a significant factor in their deployment to the South. Their primary targets were North and South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. August 1950 saw the first United States Air Force personnel in South Vietnam with the establishment of the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam; MAAG-V.

Initially, it was a French Air Base, but later, it became a Republic of Vietnam Air Force facility in the city of Da Nang. During the French Indochina period, it was known as Tourane. The United States utilized it as a major base during the war. From 1961 to 1972, it was the northernmost Air Force base in the Republic of Vietnam. It was located 85 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone, the DMZ, where the 17th parallel divided North and South Vietnam. On August 19, 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the implementation of a long-range radar site close to Da Nang. It tracked and reported Soviet military flights that had crossed the Laotian border. On June 15, 1962, Project Mule Train personnel arrived in Da Nang. They operated a pair of Fairchild C-123 Provider aircraft. The Mule Train Unit ultimately became the 311th Troop Carrier Squadron at Ton Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. It remained in Da Nang as an inactive unit until its deactivation on October 5, 1971. 

On February 8, 1965, the Vietnam Air Force launched its first strike into North Vietnam with a squadron of Douglas A-1 Skyraiders. The terrain was ideally suited for constructing an airfield with flat ground on the south of the port city of Da Nang. Ultimately, the base was increased to 2,350 acres with two 10,000-foot-long asphalt runways that featured concrete touchdown pads. The airfield served as a loading port for the massive C-141s and C-5s and commercial Military Airlift Command flights. By the mid-1960s, Da Nang was the busiest single-runway airport in the world, with approximately 1,500 takeoffs and landings during its peak traffic days.

Additionally, helicopters utilized two traffic patterns near the airstrip's edge. From 1966 to 1972, the primary USAF unit was the 366th Fighting Wing. In May 1972, United States Air Force personnel were drawn down. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, and the United States flag was lowered at Da Nang Air Base on March 20, 1973. Of the approximately 2,590,000 U.S. military members who served in Vietnam, about 293,000 were United States Air Force personnel. 

The Pleiku Air Base, established in 1962 145 miles south of Da Nang, was a former South Vietnamese Air Force (SVNAF) Base. The 633rd Combat Support Group, which arrived on March 14, 1966, was the initial United States Air Force unit on site. The base's primary mission was forward air control operations coordinated with the South Vietnamese. From 1968 to 1970, the 633rd Special Operations Wing was Pleiku's largest Air Force unit.

Additionally, it served as a base for U.S. Special Operations forces in the South Vietnamese Highlands. Units from the Navy, Army, and Marines were simultaneously stationed with the Air Force at Pleiku, creating a multiservice base. Given that, a variety of propeller-driven aircraft and a significant number of helicopters were on site. On January 1, 1966, the 1st Air Command Squadron was relocated to Pleiku from Bien Hoa Air Base, approximately 20 miles west of Saigon. Operating A-1 Skyraiders, they were among the initial USAF units in South Vietnam to serve in an advisory capacity.

Along with interdiction missions and support operations over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Skyraiders were involved in pilot rescue missions and support operations for U.S. and South Vietnam in counterinsurgency warfare and civic actions. In early 1967, the squadron was relocated to Nakhon Phan Thai Air Base. Their focus was on special operations at that location, primarily in Laos. 

The 6th Air Command Squadron was assigned to Pleiku on February 29, 1968, and arrived in March. August 1, 1968, saw their designation listed as the 6th Special Operations Squadron. It was active in various assignments until November 15, 1969, with the aircraft transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force. The wing received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat V Device and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Award with Palm. The 9th Air Command Squadron utilized modified C-47 D aircraft and was activated at Pleiku on January 25, 1967. They flew combat missions that included ground forces support, transport cover, combat search and rescue, and forward air control. They also had five O-2 B aircraft that were deployed for dropping psychological leaflets and playing Vietnamese recordings that encouraged the enemy to surrender. From 1968 to 1972, the 362nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron was assigned to Pleiku and flew modified EC-47s that featured various electronic warfare components.

Phu Cat Air Base was approximately 70 nautical miles east of Pleiku near the coastline and 14 miles inland. On February 16, 1966, USAF Civil Engineering Officer Lt. Colonel William Bordner, while evaluating the site for a base, stepped on a phosphorus mine and was killed. That location was established in March 1966 with a Base X designation. December 20, 1966, saw concrete pouring commence for the primary runway. It was opened for use in May 1967. All military personnel were housed in permanent structures by October of that year. On March 1, 1967, the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing was in place at Phu Cat. They served as the host unit and received the required equipment and personnel, primarily from the United States. Tactical Operations were initiated in mid-April 1967 as headquarters equipment was activated. In 1968, 2 additional squadrons were deployed: the 174th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Iowa Air National Guard and the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron. The Air National Guard pilots earned 23 Silver Stars, 47 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 46 Bronze Stars for valor while serving in Phu Cat.

Phu Cat Air Base was a test site for Project Safe Side, an Air Force program designed to defend its bases by reconfiguring their defense forces. The 14th Special Operations Wing, headquartered at Nha Trang Air Base, had three detachments of gunship squadrons at Phu Cat, the 14th, 17th, and 18th Special Operations Squadrons. From May 1967 to December 1970, Phan Trang Air Base's 315th TactBase'sir Wing had a detachment of UC-123 aircraft at Phu Cat Air Base. They conducted herbicide spraying. In 1969, approximately 90 aircraft were assigned to Phu Cat Air Base. Among them were AC-47 Spooky gunships and EC-47 N/P electronic warfare planes. RF-101 C photo reconnaissance planes, C-7 Caribou airlifts, and 2 HH- 43 B Pedro rescue helicopters. With the ongoing decrease of U.S. forces in Vietnam, March 31, 1971 saw the inactivation of the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phu Cat Air Base, It was transferred to the Vietnamese Air Force on January 31, 1972.

Tuy Hoa Air Base was 139 miles south of Phu Cat. The plans for a United States Air Force base at that location were drawn up in 1965 after the 1964 Tonkin Gulf Resolution and the subsequent decision to station United States forces in South Vietnam. The United States Air Force RED HORSE Civil Engineer Squadrons were responsible for the construction beginning in June 1966, with the 820th Civil Engineering Squadron leading the way. The base became operational in 6 months. Initially, Tuy Hoa had been planned to be utilized as a Strategic Air Command B-52 facility. The security concerns associated with having B-52s in South Vietnam brought about their assignment to U-Tapo Air Base in Thailand. On December 16, 1966, the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing of Homestead, Florida Air Force Base, was reassigned to Tuy Hoa Air Base. The Tactical Fighting Squadrons of the 31st T.F.S. were the 308th T.F.S. and the 306th T.F.S., both on the base on November 15, 1966, and the 309th added on December 6, 1966. In June 1967, Air National Guard squadrons, the 136th T.F.S. of New York and the 188th from New Mexico, were deployed to Tuy Hoa. Following a one-year assignment, they returned to the United States and were replaced by F-100 squadrons from the 37th T.F.S. at Phu Cat. From Tuy Hoa, combat operations were conducted from December 16, 1966, to September 1970. They involved air strikes, eliminating enemy aircraft artillery, visual and photographic reconnaissance, and rescue air flights. The 31st became inactive at Tuy Hoa Air Base on October 15, 1970, during the U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam. The 308th TFW was deactivated on October 5, 1970. The facility was transferred to the South Vietnamese government on January 15, 1971. 

Nha Trang Air Base was 72 driving miles south of Tuy Hoa. It was activated in 1949 by the Colonial French government of Indochina and designated Base Aerienne 194. In 1951, it was the training center for South Vietnamese Air Force military pilots. The USAF established a training center at Nha Trang in September 1963. The center was used for R.VRVNAFr a month of preflight training followed by 3 months of flight training for a total of 80 hours. On September 23, 1963, 3 Viet Cong entered the base and used satchel charges to destroy 2 C-47s. June 1964 saw the 116th Liaison Squadron with O-1s activated at the base. By the late 1960s, the United States Air Force was on site and used the base for special operations. Simultaneously, it was utilized by the South Vietnamese Air Force as a tactical base. On March 8, 1966, the USAF activated the 14th Air Command Wing at Nha Trang. Their operations included combat airlift, air support, aerial resupply, counterinsurgency, forward air control ops, and search and rescue missions. The 14th displayed heroism, gallantry, and outstanding performance in earning the Presidential Unit Citation. While flying C-47s, one squadron used miniguns and flare drops to help eliminate a significant number of enemy operations that had targeted friendly hamlets. Against frequently sustained and accurate hostile fire, the search and rescue missions recovered 91 airmen. The Operation Squadrons at Nha Trang were the 1st Air Command Squadron and the 3rd and 4th Special Operations Squadrons. They flew Douglas AC-47B-30-DK 'Spooky' gunships' As part of the Vietnamization process, by the middle of 1969, USAF units at Nha Trang began inactivation and relocation. In October of that year, all USAF units were off the base. 800 personnel remained for support operations until the transfer to the R.V.N. A.F. in 1970. With the drawdown of U.S. forces, some of the South Vietnamese Air Force planes at Nha Trang were flown to Bien Hoa. The abandoned base was left to the North Vietnamese. Given the close proximity of Cam Rahn Bay Air Base, a civilian airport was developed at that location, and in 2004, Nha Trang was closed. 

Cam Rahn Bay Air Base was approximately 31 driving miles south of Nha Trang. It is located in an inlet in the South China Sea and is situated on the Southeastern coast between Nha Trang and Phan Rang. That places it about 186 miles Northeast of Saigon. The Cam Rahn Bay airstrip was constructed in 1965 by the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps in cooperation with civilian contractors. On November 8 of that year, it was transferred to the USAF Pacific Air Forces. The base was also a major seaport utilized by the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. The Navy base served as the center for Operation Market Time. Underway in 1965, to disrupt the flow of troops and material from North Vietnam to sections of South Vietnam, swift boats patrolled the coast and canals, successfully impacting the transfers from the North to the South. Those military branches had forces stationed there from the opening in 1965 until the drawdown of U.S. forces brought about the 1972 closing. Cam Rahn Bay served as a USAF tactical fighter facility. It was the first to have F-4C Phantom II fighter-bombers. The initial USAF unit stationed at Cam Rahn Bay was the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, deployed from Florida's MacDillFlorida'se Base. That established them as the first F-4C Phantom II Wing to be assigned to Southeast Asia. The 557th, 558th, and 43rd Tactical Fighter Squadrons served as the Cam Rahn Bay operational squadrons. Personnel and cargo From the United States arrived at the logistical facilities, which had been delivered by ship, Military Air Transport, and Military Airlift Command.

A combination of heavy rain and strong winds in December of 1965 and March 1966 created maintenance challenges for the aluminum mat runway and taxiway. By December of 1966, Cam Rahn Bay had reached 27,000 aircraft movements per month. The personnel on site endured cramped living quarters, water shortages, and sporadic electrical service. On October 26, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson landed at the base and did so again with General William Westmoreland on December 23, 1967. The first Lockheed C-141 Starlifter landed at the base in November 1966. April 1967 saw medical evacuation flights from Cam Rahn Bay to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. As a part of the Vietnamization process, on March 31, 1970, the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing was reassigned to Phu Cat Air Base. Given its peninsula location, the base was among the most secure and was not attacked during the January – February 1968 Tet Offensive. With that security, coupled with attacks on other bases, many of the transport planes from other bases operated from Cam Rahn in early February. Active flying was terminated on March 31, 1972. The Cam Rahn Air Base was transferred to the South Vietnamese government on May 15, 1972. After major reconstruction, on May 19, 2004, Cam Rahn International Airport saw its first commercial flight.

Phan Rang Air Base was 30 miles south-southwest of Cam Rahn Bay. It was constructed by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, then rebuilt by the USAF in 1965, and used by the Vietnamese Air Force. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Army had support units on site. It was used by the French Air Force during the first Indochina War and abandoned in 1954. In April 1965, the United States Indo-Pacific Command implemented a plan to build a new airfield. Three months later, three fighter squadrons would be deployed at Phan Rang upon the October completion of the airfield. In August 1965, the U.S. Army 62nd Engineering Battalion built a jet-capable runway. After several weather and supply-related delays, the completion date was April 1966. By the end of the year, the base construction was finalized with water and sewage systems, a power plant, and an assortment of accommodations and facilities. The U.S. personnel assigned to the base significantly increased from 118 in March 1966 to more than 4,500 six months later. On October 10 that year, the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing became the base's host unit. base's20th, 352nd, 612th, 614th, and 615th Tactical Fighter Squadrons were assigned to the 35th TFW. Their multifaceted missions included air support of ground forces, close and direct air support strike assessment photography, interdiction, and rapid reaction alerts. From April to May 1970, they struck enemy bases just inside the Cambodian border.

Additionally, they provided interdiction and close air support of South Vietnamese operations in Laos and Cambodia from January to June 1971. Reactivated in 1970 as the 8th Special Operations Squadron, previously the 8th Bomb Squadron at Phan Rang, their Cessna 37-B Dragonfly was used in counterinsurgency. January 15, 1972, the 8th Special Operations Squadron was sent to Bien Hoa as part of the drawdown at Phan Rang. For their combat duty in Vietnam, the 35 Tactical Fighter Wing was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, the Vietnam Air Offensive, the Vietnam Air Offensive Phase II, the Vietnam Air Offensive Phase III, the Vietnam Air/Ground, the Vietnam Air Offensive Phase IV, TET 1968 Counteroffensive, Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969, Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970, Sanctuary Counteroffensive, Southwest Monsoon, Commando Hunt V and Commando Hunt VI streamers. On September 30, 1971, the base's jurisdiction was converted to the South Vietnamese government.

Bien Hoa Air Base was 153 miles southwest of Phan Rang and approximately 15 miles north of Saigon. The Republic of Vietnam Air Force used the base from 1955 to 1975. The United States had Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine units on site from 1961 to 1973. Given the close proximity to Saigon, Bien Hoa was the subject of a significant level of American media coverage. In 1960, the Military Assistance Advisory Group of Vietnam requested the United States Navy to plan and build jet-capable airfields in Vietnam. Bien Hoa was one of the designated locations. One year later, an American construction company, RMK-BRJ, initiated the construction of a concrete runway. It marked the first of many projects built at the base during the following 10 years. Bien Hoa had a Tactical Air Navigation System to provide users with distance and bearings to a ship or ground-based station. In September 1962, the 33rd Transportation Company with Plasecki CH-21C Workhorse/Shawnee helicopters was established at the base. With their physical shape, the nickname 'The Flying Banan" was appropriate' In December 1963, a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft operating out of Bien Hoa conducted missions over North Vietnam and Laos. On November 1, 1964, a Vietcong mortar team launched a half-hour attack and destroyed 5 B-57s, 3 A-Hs, and 1 HH-43. 13 B-57s, 3 HH-43s, and 2 C-47s were damaged. 4 U.S. and 2 Vietnamese were killed. Along with the 33rd, The U.S. Army's A Company Army'sAviation, with Bell UH-1 Huey helicopters, arrived in December 1964. Disaster struck the base on May 16, 1965. Four B-57s were ready to go 'wheels up' for admission when a U.S. Navy F-8 Crusader was forced to make an emergency landing. During the subsequent inspection, the lead B-57 suffered an explosion and was quickly engulfed in flames. That initiated a chain reaction that destroyed nearby aircraft, pre-armed ordinance, and fuel. Following an evaluation, an Investigation Board concluded the aircraft and ammunition had been placed too close together. Engineers launched a program for the construction of revetments (a retaining wall or concrete facing) and shelters that protected individual aircraft. The 10 undamaged B-57s were transferred to Tan Sin Nhut, Saigon. On July 8, 1965, the 6251st Tactical Fighter Wing was activated at Bien Hoa. The USAF units stationed there were the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing, the 416th TFW, and the 429th TFW. In November of that year, the 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron flew the first camouflaged F-100/Fs in South Vietnam. In February 1973, following the last withdrawal of U.S. forces, Bien Hoa continued to be a major Republic of Vietnam Air Force base.

Tan Son Nhut Air Base was close to Saigon and approximately 18 miles southeast of Bien Hoa. It was a major base for the United States from 1961 to 1973, with Air Force, Navy, Army, and Marine forces on site. The French constructed Tan Son Nhut in the 1930s as a commercial airport. 1960 saw an increasing number of U.S. aircraft, with Douglas A-1 Skyraiders, Sikorsky H-19 Helicopters, North American T-6 Texans, and Cessna L-19 Bird Dogs arriving. Within the next 5 years, Tan Son Nhut was reported to be among the busiest airports in the world. The South Vietnamese Air Force used it as a command base. The majority of operational units utilized the Bien Hoa Airbase.

The Vietnamese Air Force/Tan Son Nhut received support from the USAF with the development of the Tactical Air Control Systems (TACS). It enabled the control of combat operations and the effective deployment of personnel. Among all of its other functions, Tan Son Nhut was used as a recruitment center for the South Vietnamese Air Force. On January 30 at about 2:00 AM during the 1968 Tet Offensive, Tan Son Nhut was the site of a large-scale communist attack. During the initial phase, many of the VNAF were on leave for the Lunar New Year. A recall was issued, and within 3 days, 90 percent of the VNAF had returned. The actions taken by the USAF Security Police Squadron and members of the Army 3/4 Cavalry kept the entire from being attacked. Four USAF Security Policemen lost their lives.

Along with two other members of the Combat Security Police, they earned the Silver Star for the valor they had shown. The base was secured at noon the following day. On May 10, 1969, I arrived at Tan Son Nhut after completing a year as a USS Krishna crew member. I was in An Thoi, the southern tip of Phuc Quoc Island, south of the Cambodian coastline, from September 24, 1968, to May 10, 1969, maintaining and repairing swift boats. I had been scheduled to fly out of Saigon on May 10, but mechanical issues with the plane I was assigned to take kept me in Saigon unexpectedly for a week. I was OK with that. My 3rd-floor corner room at the Hotel Continental was at least several notches above the Krishna accommodations.  

The size of the VNAF transportation unit at Tan Son Nhut was increased in 1970 in response to the American units departing the country. As 1971 was coming to a close, the VNAF had assumed control of command and control units at eight major bases. September 1971 saw the transfer of two Fairchild C-119 squadrons to the VNAF at Tan Son Nhut. The expansion of the VNAF at the base near the end of 1971 was increased when two C-130 Hercules squadrons were established there. The U.S. advisory capacity ended with the 1973 Paris Peace Accords. The U.S. kept A Defense Attaché Office in place at Tan Son Nhut. By the end of 1973, frequent violations of the Accords were being committed by the communists quickly after America had withdrawn its last personnel in March 1973. During the final days of South Vietnam, Pan Am schedules from 1973 showed service was in place four times a week to San Francisco via Guam and Manila. It was from Tan Son Nhut that the last U.S. Airman left South Vietnam in March 1973.

The Binh Thuy Air Base was approximately 16 miles southwest of Saigon. It was the most southern location for an air base and had USAF and VNAF personnel. In June 1962, USAF forces assisted at Can Tho/Binh Thuy Airfield. One year later, Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) initiated a plan to build a 6,000-foot runway that replaced the inadequate 3,000-foot runway at Soc Trang Airway. Inclement weather and night operations made it below usable standards. Construction of a new airfield was underway in February 1964 with Navy Seabees on site. The selected location was swampland adjacent to the Bassac River. The Seabees used a dredge 22 hours a day to produce the needed landfill.

Ultimately, 680,000 cubic yards of sand were added to produce a usable mix to build the 6,000-foot runway, headquarters building, and taxi ramps. The 22nd Tactical Air Support Squadron with 30 0-1 Bird Dog aircraft was established at Bien Thuy on May 8, 1965. The following month, Bien Thuy became the forward operational location for the AC-47 Spooky gunships. For flight operations support, 2 HH-43F 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron helicopters arrived on September 15, 1965. Fire from a base AC-47 on February 20, 1966, ended a Viet Cong mortar attack. A second attack occurred on July 8 with the same results. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, the base was under assault by Viet Cong forces using mortars and rocket fire. February 13 saw the VC initiate a ground attack that the USAF Security Police ended. There were no American or South Vietnamese lives lost. In February 1970, as a part of Vietnamization, the USAF began the early stages of transferring control of Bien Thuy to the RVNAF. TRVNAFrocess concluded at the end of the year. On April 30, 1975, 2 Bien Thuy jets carried out the last known air strike of the war. Two People's Army of Vietnam tanks were destroyed during an attack on Tan Son Nhut.  

Of the 10 Air Force Bases in Vietnam, I only spent time in Tan Son Nhut. That was an unexpected seven-day stay waiting for a flight back to 'The World.' The plane I was scheduled to be on had mechanical problems, so I spent time at the Continental Hotel in Saigon. I saw a recent photo of it and noticed it had been nicely upgraded.
 

Book Review: Bullets in My Bottom Drawer

For some, finding humor in war and combat might seem to make light of a very heavy situation. Some might even find it offensive. But those of us who have served in combat know that humor, even dark humor, is sometimes the only way to break the tension, ease the pain, and build the camaraderie that comes with fighting in a war. 

John Montalbano, a retired Vietnam veteran who was drafted into the Army in 1967, would not only agree that humor is important, even in war, but he literally wrote a book about it. Montalbano would spend some thirty years after the war writing and rewriting the manuscript for his book, "Bullets in My Bottom Drawer: The Lighter Side of Combat," which he finally published to great fanfare in 2024. 

Montalbano served in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division and later during an extended tour of duty as a courier for the 93rd Military Police Battalion Headquarters. Today, he writes about his unit’s experiences in-country and has been featured in Vietnam Magazine.

He would spend January-August 1968 in Vietnam with the U.S. Army’s 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), at a time when the 1st Cavalry was still fighting back against the infamous Tet Offensive. The 1st Cavalry Division and its 20,000 men would fight at Quang Tri, Hue, and later in the relief of Khe Sanh – and all that happened within the first four months of the year. 

"Bullets in My Bottom Drawer: The Lighter Side of Combat" was initially written for Montalbono to offer his daughters and grandchildren some insight into his formative years in the Army. It also became an effort to choose camaraderie over carnage and a memoir that the author hopes can help those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In the book, Montalbano recalls the daily life of the men with whom he served – the everyday life of U.S. Army grunts. 

Amid their myriad harrowing experiences, bleak tales, and misadventures, Montalbano and his friends found many sources of humor and entertainment, which he now offers to readers more than 56 years later. 

"Focusing on the positive lessons, the friendships, and the unexpected laughs shared with my brothers in arms, even in the heat of battle, has enabled me to push the good memories to the forefront of my mind, thus allowing the bad ones to be lost with time," Montalbano said in a statement.

Montalbano’s words are a sentiment that any veteran of any era can appreciate, and they will all find laughs in his surprising and relatable, M*A*S*H-like retelling of his Vietnam memories. "Bullets in My Bottom Drawer: The Lighter Side of Combat," can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble starting at $17.99 for paperback editions or $8.99 for Kindle eReader.