Listening to every transmission from 35,000 feet

Episode 20 (the final episode).

APPRECIATION by the author(s) of the 20 episodes:

Sergeant Robert J. “Bob” Ruseckas

USAF, March 1967 – March 1971

Linguist in the North Vietnamese dialect

6990th Security Squadron

RC-135M

I truly did not know this much detail about the Son Tay Raid until decades later. I have read as many books and accounts as possible about the Raid and, together with Cliff Westbrook, we’ve pieced together my experiences with the timeline of events from USAF and Army documents, including Colonel Frisbie’s and General Manor’s reports to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cliff has interviewed many of the participants in the Raid.

We rely heavily upon the world-class research done by John Gargus, Colonel, USAF (retired), and highly recommend you purchase his book The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten.

We also appreciate the help of the following:

Robert “Bruce” McClelland, Jr. (6-Op aboard the RC-135M on the Son Tay Raid)

Kirk Carpenter (7-Op aboard the RC-135M on the Son Tay Raid)

Stepen Konstenius (aboard the Navy EP-3 on the Son Tay Raid), host of Veterans Talk Radio on KKXX,

George F. Schreader, author of Hognose Silent Warrior, and

Jim Cavanaugh, RC-135M crewmember, later Deputy Director of Policy at the NSA.

We also appreciate so many of the Son Tay Raid Association members for sharing their recollections.

I would love to listen to those old reel-to-reel tapes again…

Written with the help of Cliff Westbrook, Co-author (with Terry Buckler) of Who will Go: Into the Son Tay POW Camp and Son of Clyde “Neal” Westbrook, Aircraft Commander of Lime 2 on the Son Tay Raid

Bibliography for the 20 Episodes.

Gargus, John, Col USAF, ret. The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2010

Schreader, George F.  Hognose Silent Warrior:The USAF’s Airborne Intelligence War in the Final Air Campaigns of Vietnam.  Outskirts Press, 2017

Buckler, Terry, and Westbrook, Cliff.  Who Will Go: Into the Son Tay POW Camp.  Palmetto Publishing, 2020

Image Sources for the 20 Episodes.

Image 1.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/P12.jpg

Image 2.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Spoon_rest_B.jpg

Image 3.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/North_vietnamese_S-75_SAM_site.JPG

Image 4.

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/media/chinese-sam-snr-75-fan-song-radar-in-deployment.20553/full?d=1533599402

Image 5.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Antloppk.jpg

Image 6.

https://vietnamtheartofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Fig-15-Nguyen-Duc-Tho-e1585925759930.jpg

Image 7.

http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Sov-SAM-Simulator.html

Image 8.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/SA-2_Guideline.JPG/1920px-SA-2_Guideline.JPG

Image 9.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/S-75_Dvina.jpg/800px-S-75_Dvina.jpg

Image 10.

http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Sov-SAM-Simulator.html

Image 11.

http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Sov-SAM-Simulator.html

Image 12.

https://witnesscollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/A03.12.9-768×524.jpg

Image 13.

https://nuke.fas.org/guide/russia/airdef/hq-2_7.jpg

Image 14.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/F-105G_with_AGM-78_taking_of_Korat.jpg/1280px-F-105G_with_AGM-78_taking_of_Korat.jpg

Image 15.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-45_Shrike#/media/File:AGM-45_Shrike_detonation.gif

Image 16.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/SA-2_Guideline-S-75_Dvina-IMG_6382-white.jpg/1920px-SA-2_Guideline-S-75_Dvina-IMG_6382-white.jpg

Image 17.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/F-105_hit_by_SA-2_over_Vietnam.jpg

Image 18.

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/american-secretary-of-defense-melvin-laird-holds-a-pentagon-press-a-picture-id818839568?s=594×594

Image 19.

Photo provided by Robert Ruseckas.

Image 20.

Photo provided by Robert Ruseckas.

See more photos and stories on this website and in Who Will Go, which is just as much to honor the wives and family as the men themselves.

Click Here:  The audiobook is now available.

Listening to every transmission from 35,000 feet

Episode 19.

A quote from Brigadier General Manor’s summary of the Son Tay Raid:

“21 November, Simons and I proceeded to Saigon where we boarded a Pan Am flight for Washington with an intermediate stop in Honolulu. On arrival in Honolulu we were met by Admiral McCain [His son, John was a shot-down aviator in a Hanoi prison at the time, now he’s a distinguished Senator from Arizona] who had canceled our onward Pan AM flight and replaced it with a C-135 command post aircraft.
We visited with Admiral McCain for about two hours, explaining the details of the mission. McCain’s final comment on our departure was, “Don’t let anyone tell you that this mission was a failure. We will learn, as the results develop, that many benefits will accrue as a result of having done this.” We appreciated his comment, but at the time believed that it was intended to ease our disappointment of having failed to rescue POWs. In retrospect it is astonishing to realize how accurate his prophesy was.”

[END NOTE: Unknown to the world, the POWs were immediately reaping tremendous benefits from the Son Tay Raid. Within a couple of days after the raid, all the POWs were consolidated into two POW camps in the heart of Hanoi, ending solitary confinement. As a result, the POWs’ morale soared. Contrary to their daily propaganda from Hanoi Hannah, they now knew that America would not rest until they were home. Together at last, they formed what they called the “4th Allied POW Wing.” They were able to converse face-to-face, take care brothers’ wounds, encourage the despondent, and hold church services. They even set up a schedule of college-level classes in their cells (teaching calculus scraping a rock on dirty concrete) led by whomever was best qualified in a specific subject. Only when the POWs came home in 1973 did anyone find out about these great results of the Son Tay Raid.

Read this facet of the story, told by the POWs themselves, in Who Will Go: Into the Son Tay POW Camp.]

Here’s how the 4th Allied POW Wing is explained on Wikipedia:

“On November 21, 1970, U.S. Special Forces launched Operation Ivory Coast in an attempt to rescue 61 POWs believed to be held at the Sơn Tây prison camp 23 miles (37 km) west of Hanoi. Fifty-six commandos landed by helicopter and assaulted the prison, but the prisoners had been moved some months earlier and none were rescued. While the raid failed to free any POWs and was considered a significant intelligence failure, it had several positive implications for American prisoners. The most immediate effect was to affirm to the POWs that their government was actively attempting to repatriate them, which significantly boosted their morale. Additionally, soon after the raid all acknowledged American prisoners in North Vietnam were moved to Hỏa Lò so that the North Vietnamese had fewer camps to protect and to prevent their rescue by U.S. forces.^[23][24]

The post-raid consolidation brought many prisoners who had spent years in isolation into large cells holding roughly 70 men each. This created the “Camp Unity” communal living area at Hỏa Lò. The increased human contact further improved morale and facilitated greater military cohesion among the POWs.^[14][24] At this time, the prisoners formally organized themselves under the 4th Allied POW Wing, whose name acknowledged earlier periods of overseas captivity among American military personnel in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. This military structure was ultimately recognized by the North Vietnamese and endured until the prisoners’ release in 1973.^[25]“

See more photos and stories on this website and in Who Will Go, which is just as much to honor the wives and family as the men themselves.

Click Here:  The audiobook is now available.

Listening to every transmission from 35,000 feet

Episode 18.

Of the 36 SAMs launched against US aircraft this night, two met their marks, F-105Gs, both.  No American lives were lost.  One F-105 limped back to base in Thailand with its battle damage.  As you heard, the other F-105 that was hit made it to Laos before it became unflyable.  The two crewmembers ejected safely and were rescued at dawn.

*  *  *

When all the excitement is over and things begin to settle down on the airwaves, we are briefed about the “negative items” message.  It’s definitive:  No POWs were found. 

What an emotional let-down. 

On the way back to Kadena AB on Okinawa, I vow to myself that I will get on the next Combat Apple mission to the Gulf of Tonkin.  I want to intercept the North Vietnamese Air Defense Command’s daily reports of air activity from all sectors to their central headquarters.  I know that it will be their assessment of what took place.  We (the US Department of Defense) use that information to craft the wording of our press releases depending on how much the North Vietnamese government knows or doesn’t know at that point.

We land a little after sunrise at Kadena.

I succeed in getting on the next Gulf Bird even though I don’t have proper crew rest.  My good buddy and fellow Vietnamese linguist Bruce McClelland does the same thing.  He too is chomping at the bit to help intercept the North Vietnamese After-Action Reports.

Once back over the Gulf of Tonkin (only a few hours after we’d left), those reports are rich.  In fact, it is so significant that I have the pilot adjust the timing of turns in orbit to be sure not to lose the signals even for a few seconds. 

Finally back on the ground at Okinawa, I insist my way into translating and transcribing the recorded reports, rather than leaving it to shift workers.  Again without proper crew rest, Bruce and I help complete the translating of all the recordings.  We call in other senior linguists to assist with certain technical phrases. 

During that team translation/transcription, Colonel Frisbie yet again hovers over us.  From our work is produced a “Critic” Report due to the US President and National Security Council with highest urgency.  The report explains what the North Vietnamese understood about the events of that night.  

John Gargus explains in his book, The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten, that Colonel Frisbie and a major from the 6990^th hand carried a copy of the tapes and our report to the Pentagon ASAP.  The first press release came out with Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird’s press conference on Monday November 23^rd.

See more photos and stories on this website and in Who Will Go, which is just as much to honor the wives and family as the men themselves.

Click Here:  The audiobook is now available.

Listening to every transmission from 35,000 feet

Episode 11.

For my part, because I have trained on all positions on this RC-135M, I scan all areas for indications of what’s going on elsewhere, even beyond my 11-Op responsibilities.

These Navy aircraft swarm toward Haiphong harbor over the next hour and a half, a continuous beeline of America’s top naval strike aircraft concentrating their menace on the enemy’s most important harbor. 

[NOTE:  History records that this 59-aircraft diversionary strike turns out to be the largest nighttime Naval operation to this point in the war.  There had not been a night carrier operation this large since June of 1944, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, 26 years prior.]

I’m constantly scanning, rolling my dial, searching.  The dial is excellent for fine-tuning.  It’s like a miniature of one of those steering wheels that have a knob so that a city bus driver can drive with one hand.  Clockwise takes me through the next few frequencies up.

2:08am.  We hear the five USAF F-105 “Wild Weasel” aircraft arrive over Son Tay, each with their two SAM-site-killing Shrike missiles.  This relatively small formation has snuck in from the west, while all the NVAF Air Defense Command has their focus on Haiphong in the east.  The F-105s establish a taunting orbit, just daring a SAM site to lock on to them.  They are looking for the Fan Song radars.  If a Fan Song shines on them, the F-105 will pounce.  It’s the epitome of a wild west duel:  Weapons loaded and cocked, aimed right at each other.  The SAMs and AAA are daring the F-105s to come in on them.  The F-105s are daring the Fan Song radar to activate.

2:18am.  “Alpha, Alpha, Alpha!” is broadcast by Cherry 1, the MC-130 announcing H-Hour of the Son Tay Raid as they have just released their 2 million candlepower Mk 24 flares over the Son Tay POW camp.  The helicopters then land, their 56 Green Berets storming into a massive firefight.  Within minutes, they have secured the camp, neutralizing between 40 and 100 NVA soldiers.  Not a single American casualty.

2:28am.  “Negative items” is broadcast both over the UHF radios and the FM radios by Capt Dick Meadows to Lt Colonel Bud Sydnor, the Ground Force Commander.  The Green Berets have searched the entire Son Tay POW camp—and there are no POWs.  This is immediately heard by Colonel Frisbie standing next to me.  Colonel Frisbie is clearly concerned.  His conversation with General Manor at Monkey Mountain is grave.  This Hognose is amazing as an airborne command post, making this very important conversation effortless and clear in this mentally and emotionally difficult, confusing moment.  We cut through the fog of war.

2:30am.  “Pull back by the normal plan” is broadcast by Lt Colonel Sydnor to begin withdrawing all troops from the Son Tay POW camp.  The HH-53 helicopters Apple 1 and Apple 2 are called back in to extract the Green Berets.

See more photos and stories on this website and in Who Will Go, which is just as much to honor the wives and family as the men themselves.

Click Here:  The audiobook is now available.