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to remember
Anderson, Gareth (Gary), LCDR.
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Contact Info
Home Town Kane
Date of Passing Jun 21, 1976
Location of Interment Forest Lawn Cemetery - Kane, Pennsylvania
Contributed 2023 by Jerry & Beth (46982159):
U.S. Navy 1963-1976
Cold War 1963-1976
Vietnam War 1966-1973 (POW)
Gary Anderson was born on July 28, 1942, in Kane, Pennsylvania. He entered Naval Pre-Flight Training on July 31, 1963, and was commissioned an Ensign and designated a Naval Flight Officer on May 22, 1964. After completing Replacement Air Group training, Anderson served as an F-4 Phantom II Radar Intercept Officer with VF-33 before joining VF-114 and deploying to Southeast Asia in October 1966. He and his pilot were credited with destroying a MiG-17 over North Vietnam on April 24, 1967, while flying off of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). LTJG Anderson was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War when his aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile on May 19, 1967. After spending 2,117 days in captivity, LCDR Anderson was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries and then entered flight training at NAS Pensacola, Florida, in October 1973. Anderson was designated a Naval Aviator in May 1975, and then joined the F-14 Tomcat Replacement Air Group, VF-124, at NAS Miramar, California, but was killed during a training flight on June 21, 1976. He was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Kane, Pennsylvania.
His Distinguished Flying Cross Citation reads:
For heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as a naval flight officer of a jet aircraft in Fighter Squadron ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN, embarked in USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) during an air strike against Kep Airfield in North Vietnam on 24 April 1967. As an integral member of the F-4 combat crew in the Target Combat Air Control Element during an air wing coordinated strike, Lieutenant Commander (then Lieutenant Junior Grade) Anderson engaged approximately seven MIG 17 aircraft threatening the retiring strike group in extremely low altitude aerial combat. In spite of the numerically superior enemy aircraft, he provided invaluable lookout assistance on enemy aircraft disposition and maneuvers which enabled his pilot to evade hard-pressed attacks and enemy air-to-air missiles. Lieutenant Commander Anderson was instrumental in shooting down one MIG 17. His skill, courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Gareth Anderson was interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from May 19, 1967 until his release on March 4, 1973. He was killed during a training flight on June 21, 1976.
Description 2 March 1965-2 November 1968. Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained US 2nd Air Division (later Seventh Air Force), US Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.
In an effort to convince the North Vietnamese government to abandon its support of the insurgency in South Vietnam, President Johnson began a new bombing campaign in March 1965, known as Operation Rolling Thunder.
Lasting from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, Rolling Thunder was the longest bombing campaign in United States history. It involved tactical aviation assets from the 7th Air Force in Thailand and South Vietnam, as well as aircraft from 7th Fleet and Marine Corps assets.
The campaign was marred by disputes between senior military leaders and the civilian administration from the outset. Military leaders argued for decisive strikes in order to isolate North Vietnam and to destroy their production capabilities and transportation systems.
President Johnson and Secretary McNamara sought the graduated use of force, choosing a cycle of bombing halts followed by escalation in an effort to persuade the North Vietnamese to negotiate for peace with the United States and South Vietnam.
During the three years of Rolling Thunder, Johnson and McNamara instituted seven bombing halts.
The three basic objectives of Operation Rolling Thunder under the Johnson administration were:
Strategically deter North Vietnam from supporting the insurgency in South Vietnam;
Raise the morale of military and political elites in South Vietnam;
Interdict North Vietnam’s support of the communist insurgency in the South.
Johnson and his staff continually sought a middle ground that would demonstrate American resolve without raising the ire of the international community. Ironically, by seeking this middle ground, the administration guaranteed that Rolling Thunder would fail to meet any of its objectives.
Rolling Thunder went through five phases.
During Phase I, from March to June 1965, a variety of targets were struck in an attempt to persuade North Vietnam to negotiate for peace. The air strikes served little purpose, other than to harden the resolve of North Vietnam and to solidify the sanctity of their cause. Most importantly, it led to the creation of the world’s most complex and lethal air defense networks.
Phase II from July 1965 to January 1966 was primarily an interdiction campaign aimed at roads, bridges, boats, and railroads. These attacks destroyed an estimated 4,600 trucks, 4,700 boats, and 800 railroad cars. At the urging of Admiral U. S. Grant Sharp, CINCPAC, the focus of Rolling Thunder shifted from interdiction to petroleum products.
Admiral Sharp realized that the interdiction campaign was not achieving the desired results and believed that by focusing the campaign on energy resources, North Vietnam might be forced to negotiate for peace.
Phase III from January to October 1966, focused on North Vietnam’s petroleum, oil, and lubricant (POL) resources. Before this phase began, North Vietnam required only 32,000 tons of oil a year to supply their needs. By the time Rolling Thunder began to target POL resources, North Vietnam had 60,000 tons of POL stocks in reserve.
While the attacks destroyed an estimated 70 percent of the North Vietnamese supply, the North dispersed the remaining stock in fifty-five gallon barrels throughout the country. This proved more than adequate to supply the infantry and guerrilla forces fighting in South Vietnam and did little to affect the war in South Vietnam.
Phase IV from October 1966 to May 1967, concentrated the campaign’s efforts on the industry and power-generating capabilities of North Vietnam. For the first time, targets in Hanoi were struck, but as with Phase III the new tactics failed to have much impact on a non-industrialized country. Because North Vietnam’s ports still remained off limits, the strikes did not impede North Vietnamese ability to receive and distribute supplies destined for South Vietnam.
Phase V, the final phase, from May 1967 to October 1968, concentrated on isolating Hanoi from Haiphong, and both cities from the remainder of the country, as well as the destruction of remaining industrial infrastructure. United States aircraft averaged over 13,000 sorties a month and destroyed over 5,600 trucks, 2,500 rail cars, and 11,500 boats during this final phase of Rolling Thunder.
As during earlier phases, the North Vietnamese air defense network grew. By 1967, pilots confronted the most comprehensive air defense network in the world. North Vietnam fired over 25,000 tons of AAA ammunition from 10,000 anti-aircraft guns and hundreds of missiles from over twenty-five SAM battalions during any given month of 1967.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
April / 1966
To Month/Year
February / 1967
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Kitty Hawk returned to San Diego in June 1966 for overhaul and training until 4 November 1966, when she again deployed to serve in waters of Southeast Asia. Kitty Hawk arrived at Yokosuka, Japan on 19 November to relieve Constellation as flagship for Rear Admiral David C. Richardson, Commander Task Force 77. On 26 November, Kitty Hawk departed Yokosuka for Yankee Station via Subic Bay, and on 5 December, aircraft from Kitty Hawk began their around-the-clock missions over North Vietnam.
