This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Michael D. Withers (Mike), OSCS
to remember
Sause, Bernard Jacob, Jr., ADAN.
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The USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31) saw early Vietnam war action. A World War II Essex-class carrier, she was on station participating in combat action against the Communists as early as August 1964. Her aircraft carried the first Walleye missiles when they were introduced in 1967. In November 1970, the BON HOMME RICHARD completed its sixth combat deployment and was scheduled for decommissioning by mid-1971.
LT Litchfield P. Huie was a pilot assigned to Helicopter Support Squadron 1, Detachment LIMA onboard the aircraft carrier USS BON HOMME RICHARD in 1967. On February 27 of that year, Huie launched from the aircraft carrier with his crew: LTJG Edward N. Letchworth, Airman Ronald L. Zempel, and Airman Bernard J. Sause, Jr. Airman Zempel was an aircrew survival equipmentman, and it is assumed that this crew normally conducted pilot rescue operations.
As the UH2B flown by Huie was launched from the carrier, it lifted tail high, flipped and partially recovered just prior to striking the water. Upon striking the water the helicopter broke apart on impact. A search helicopter was immediately over the scene and was later aided by two Navy destroyers. The search was terminated with negative results.
Huie, Zempel, Sause and Letchworth were declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. They are listed among the missing because no bodies were found to return home. Their accident is listed as non-combat related.
Yankee Station, North Vietnam
From Month/Year
January / 1964
To Month/Year
June / 1973
Description Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes in the Vietnam War. While its official designation was "Point Yankee," it was universally referred to as Yankee Station. Carriers conducting air operations at Yankee Station were said to be "on the line" and statistical summaries were based on days on the line. The name derived from it being the geographic reference point "Y", pronounced "Yankee" in the NATO phonetic alphabet. In turn the term Point Yankee derived from the launch point for "Yankee Team" aerial reconnaissance missions over Laos conducted in 1964. It was located about 190 km due east of Dong Hoi, at 17° 30' N and 108° 30' E.
During the two periods of sustained air operations against North Vietnam (March 2, 1965-October 31, 1968 and March 30, 1972-December 29, 1972) there were normally three carriers on the line, each conducting air operations for twelve hours, then off for twelve hours. One of the carriers would operate from noon to midnight, another from midnight to noon, and one during daylight hours, which gave 24-hour coverage plus additional effort during daylight hours, when sorties were most effective. However at the end of May, 1972, six carriers were for a short period of time on the line at Yankee Station conducting Linebacker strikes.
The first aircraft carrier at Yankee Station was USS Kitty Hawk, which was ordered there in April 1964 for the Yankee Team missions. Kitty Hawk was joined by Ticonderoga in May and Constellation in June, two months prior to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Ticonderoga and Constellation launched the first bombing missions from Yankee Station on August 5, 1964. Constellation was also the last carrier conducting operations at Yankee Station on August 15, 1973. USS Forrestal suffered a major accident while at Yankee Station when a series of fires and explosions on her deck killed 134 men and injured another 161.
A corresponding Dixie Station in the South China Sea off the Mekong Delta was a single carrier point for conducting strikes within South Vietnam from May 15, 1965 to August 3, 1966.