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#51
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Very cool BB! Very nice to read that speech; quite the story. And love the "vases" he sent back -- very clever.
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Collin M. I wear a cowboy hat. '86 951: lucky number 13...rare 6.0L edition. '06 M3: hers. |
#52
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He was a clever guy.
I still remember his story from his last mission. Their target was Radio Hanoi. The good news was their B-52D had the "big belly" conversion which meant that they could deliver 108 bombs. The bad news was they didn't have the upgraded electronic countermeasures and that is what did them in. They dropped their bombs and then made a sharp turn. In doing that, the "window" of electronic protection was directed off to the side and an SA-2 site picked them up and launched two missiles. The first missile missed, prompting a "That's close enough!" comment from the tail gunner. Unfortunately, those were the last words anyone heard from him. The second missile impacted the left wing shortly thereafter. My dad said that communications in the aircraft were immediately cut and he wasn't sure if he should stick ride it out or eject. It wasn't until he saw his reflection in the monitor screens, being lit up by a fire, the he decided to leave. He ejected and, in the process, lost his helmet, which is how he got his head gash. He thinks he fell through an escorting flight of F-4s before landing a quarter mile from another SA-2 site. After ditching his parachute, he got rid of his gun because he knew there was no way he would shoot his way out of Hanoi with a 38 revolver and 40 bullets so why give his eventual captors any more reason to be nervous? He hid in a rice paddy and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, his bright green tracer dye (for when you land in water) sprung a leak and he found himself in a bright green puddle at daylight. They found him shortly thereafter. After his capture, he was interrogated and, being a native born German, managed to convince the Vietnamese that he was an exchange pilot from the Luftwaffe and they didn't find out that he was an American until after they released his name. This may have been a good thing because there is some speculation that some B-52 electronic warfare officers were shipped to the Soviet Union for further interrogation. After that, things were about as settled as they could be until he was returned. One of the interesting things about the press release picture I posted was that the Vietnamese where excited that they shot down a B-52, based on the fact that they captured a full crew. They didn't realize that they had actually shot down two bombers and captured four from my dad's and two from the other one. Back around 1995 or so, they excavated his crash site and found the MIA tail gunner and navigator. Sadly, it looks like the tail gunner had started to egress from the aircraft but something went wrong. They couldn't find any trace of the tail turret or the ejection handles. On the way down, Rose 1 inverted and hit tail first. Maybe he waited too long...? BB.
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Some say "My car is a Porsche!" I say "My Porsche is a car!" and I drive the hell out of it. '87 Porsche 944; '10 BMW 328i xDrive (her's); '98 BMW 323is (ours) |
#54
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good stuff bb
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Harry Current 2019 C7 GS 2019 Mk7 eGolf 1984 944 |
#55
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Very cool story BB.
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Stephen www.salazar-racing.com 1970 914/6 - 3.0L GT 1983 911SC - 3.32L IROC 1984 930 2008 S2R1000, dirt bikes (some gas, some electric), Sherco trials bike Sold: 2001 Boxster (hers), 2003 996tt x50 , SpecE30, 1996 E36M3 GTS2 racecar, 2015 Mustang GT |
#56
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Fabulous story, bb
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Greg DuPertuis When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. Leesburg, VA |
#57
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Wow! That's interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing it.
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1983 911 SC Targa - 1990 944 S2 |
#59
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My dad was a young man in Greece during WW2. Just before he joined the Greek Navy, he lived on the island of Santorini. His family ran the town store, and my dad grew up sailing boats from island to island trading goods. The Italians had first invaded Santorini, and he said the townspeople eventually got used to them being around, as long as they kept the soldiers supplied with food & wine. My dad left the island one day, with an uncle, for a trading trip of several weeks. When they returned, they arrived back to Santorini in the middle of the night. The little cove was at the base of a tall cliff and below his village, Oia.
They anchored the boat off-shore, and planned to sleep a few hours before daybreak, when they could unload on the concrete dock. But on-board, of their items was a live cow. Just as they were getting ready to lay down, the cow moo'd, and the next thing they know they're surrounded by a hail of gunfire. This scares the cow, which moo's again, bringing on even more gunfire. They finally pulled the cow to the floor of the boat, and tied a rope around its snout to keep it quiet. Fortunately, the gunfire stopped. When the sun rose the next morning, my dad peeked out of the boat and saw several German soldiers standing on the dock. They motioned to my dad to bring the boat over, which they did. Apparently, the Germans had taken over the island from the Italians while they were gone. The Germans confirmed they were the one's being shot at during the nite. They told my dad and his uncle that they could go on with their normal business, but just needed to inform the Germans when they would be coming & going. As long as they stuck to the schedule, everything would be fine. My dad eventually enlisted in the Greek Navy, near the end of the war. He ended up working on a mine-sweeping ship right after the war, which found and cleared mines dumped in harbors. Ended up working in the Merchant Marines afterwards, touring much of the world. Eventually decided to live in the US.
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- Tony P. Currently - 1984 944 SP2 racer - 1977 911 KM Special vintage racer - 2012 Cayman R (also the wife's) - 2000 Boxster S (now mine) - 1995 993 (garage queen) - 2007 Cayman S (wife's track beast) - 2017 F350 (tow monster) - 2018 Jeep Wrangler Gone but not forgotten - 1989 944S2 - 1979 RX7 - 1986 944 - 1991 944S2 (in car heaven...) - 2001 Chevy Suburban 2500 (FIL's beast now) Last edited by HoodPin; 07-10-2014 at 10:09 AM. |
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