Call it the thud or the lead sled. It was the f105 thunder chief, and during the veietnam war, it was a workhorse. Im oliver north and this is war stories. Between 1961 and 73, over 3,000 aircraft like this one were shot down or destroyed in southeast asia. 1968, the last year of Rolling Thunder and 652 men piloting these planes lost their lives. From march of 65 to october of 68, air force navy and marine airmen dropped nearly a half million tons of bombs. Rolling thunder was far from a triumph. As youll see and hear, orders straight from the white house forced the men flying these missions to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. And those restrictions inevitably cost american lives. Join us tonight as we pay tribute to the heroes of operation Rolling Thunder. Took this huge hit. Every warning light came on. Nothing to do. Could this war have been won . Of course it could. It could have ended any time we wanted it to. In 1965, vietnam was divided and at war. The south was democratic and americas friend. The north, communist and allied with our cold war enemies, the soviet union and china. Ho chi minh ruled the north with a singular purpose. An independent, yun fid, and communist vietnam. I thought it was the right thing to do, to take the communists on. George day grow up 7,000 miles from vietnam on the banks of the sioux river in iowa. After the war, he switched to the air force and had already flown combats in the korean war. It really started with charlie lindbergh. He was like an allconsuming hero. We used to throw parachutes up in the air, handkerchief with a rock tied to it and yell charlie lindbergh. Jackie cochran, who was the first woman to break the sound barrier, came to our little town of corona. She talked to me and invited me to her ranch. Years later, jack would think cochran by giving her his first set of marine corps wings. His first assignment was in california. I said, i want to be a fighter pilot. He said, we have one slot left. Theyre going to vietnam in august. I said, thatd be great. By 1965, the beatles and Rolling Stones had invaded america, and there were thousands of American Military advisers in South Vietnam. Early that year, president Lyndon Johnson decided to increase americas commitment to the south and its leader. And the public agreed. Polls showed that 80 of americans supported helping South Vietnam. The advance of communism had to be stopped. Jim mcer inny began his military career as a paratrooper in the 82nd airborne. By the korean war, he decided it was better to land them than jump out of them. I had the high honor indeed of getting the last kill of the korean war. Rolling thunder reflecting the caution of the guy who ran it, the president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson. Wayne thompson is an author. The insurgency in South Vietnam was being run from hanoi. So johnson reluctantly agreed to a very limited Bombing Campaign. Gradualization basically violates every known rule of war. Principal airfields in North Vietnam had not been bombed in over two years. The capital city of hanoi was barely bombed so ships could come in and unload supplies. Roughly twothirds of North Vietnams imports came to the port. Closing the port would have crippled the enemy. But white house restrictions allowed the supplies to keep flowing. And that wasnt all. Pilots were virtually forbidden from attacking enemy surfacetoair missile sites. The inability to go after a s. A. M. Site before it was fully built and operational and fired at us, because of the political danger, we would pick up if we killed a couple russians. And we didnt want to hurt the russian advisers. Thats right. When Rolling Thunder began in march of 1965, david, howard, and thousands of men like them were forced to fight by rules like these. Who picked the targets . The tuesday lunch bunch. Thats president johnson and secretary mcnamara. I think four or five other civilians. In the skies over North Vietnam, Texan Bob Parr doe would see the price of hesitation by the tuesday lunch bunch. This is a conversation between secretary of defense robert mcfor that mar ra and lbj on the eve of rolling thound ining th. Len den johnson had well remembered the chinese and the korean war. They might bring in full divisions to combat american forces. Where did you grow up . I was an army brat. My fatherinlaw was career army. My brotherinlaw was west point class of 66. Paul bucked Family Tradition and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1962. The cold war is very much on the minds of certainly people at the Naval Academy. Thats what it was. We knew sooner or later we were going to cross horns with the chinese communists and bash heads have a big war with them. He flew the skies of North Vietnam in an a4. Throwaway bomber, tinker toy. Official name was the a4 sky hawk. But it also had a nuclear mission. Oh, yeah. Many of the aircraft that flew into vietnam were designed with an entirely different war and mission in mind. We got more and more and more embroiled with the socalled cold war. And the mission of the air force became one of nuke, retaliation, nuke, threat, nuke this, nuke that. There was a long period of where actual fighter tactics and conventional warfare were not really considered. 1943 west point graduate robin became an ace during world war ii. His experience dropping unguided socalled dumb bombs on the nazis wuould prove vital to the pilots flying jets over vietnam. The f4 was a fighting machine, built just for that. Navy built as an intercepter, but it turned out to be a marvelous conventional warfare airplane. For vietnam, the f105 thunder chiefs nuclear bombay was turned into a fuel tank. And the b52, designed for longrange nuclear strikes, was modified to carry scores of conventional bombs. 30 of those b52s were sent to guam just before. And the air crews thought they were going to bomb North Vietnam. We deployed on february 11th, 1965. Don was a copilot in one of those bombers. The mission from that point was to go down to 500 feet, paralleling the coast of North Vietnam, not gaining altitude, going over hanoi, probably 200 to 300 feet, and then pop up and vaporize the airfield northwest of hanoi about ten miles. That is the only mission, the only mission in the vietnam war that had a chance of stopping the war before it got started. What might have been mattered little to the men tasked with flying north. Restrictions are orders, and order are followed. You never work against your own country during wartime. Its the same old thing. Just like a football game. Send me in, coach. Im ready. Our pilots call it the flying telephone pole, and they closed in on their aircraft at more than 2,000 miles an hour. Doing battle with the sa2 is next on war stories. Building a website in under an hour is easy with gocentral. From godaddy in fact, 68 of people who have built their. Website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. Build a better website in under an hour. With gocentral from godaddy. Sfx loud poorly played electric guitar that sounds awful seriously, awful but a lot better than last week rock guitar music we werent born to follow we cannot be defeated by force of arms. We will stand in vietnam. In july 1965, president johnson announced that u. S. Troop levels in vietnam would rise to 125,000. From the 24th, two u. S. Air force captains were already at war. Cruising at 23,000 feet, 40 miles west of hanoi, they and their f4 phantom were in a part of North Vietnam designated as route pack six. Where did those terms come from . Is they just draw a line across a map, route package one being near the dmz, route package five and six being the northern most part of North Vietnam. Route pack six probably became the most heavily defended real estate anyone had ever seen. They spotted smoke trails streaking toward their f4. Before they could react, a missile scored a direct hit. Making them the first of many to be taken out by this weapon. After ejecting, they were both captured. Like most pows, their treatment was brutal. Torture, limited medical treatment, and malnutrition were the norm. Only cairn survived. You ever see a missile go by you . Oh, yeah. How big is it . Just like they say. About like a telephone pole. The russian sa2 is quite the opposite of the lowtech pajama wearing vietcong in the south. It contained many weapons, being tested in the skies over vietnam. Wild weasel was a very highly classified program. Essentially, it was mating an experienced Tactical Fighter pilot with an Electronic Warfare officer. The Electronic Warfare officer played with his equipment to find out what it was doing. The pilot figured out how to handle the situation. We would keep them busy while the strike force went in. Dave was one of those Electronic Warfare officers affectionately referred to as the guy in back. You dont think about the fear, the danger, or anything else. Because you cant hesitate. Flying a wild weasel mission, whats the greatest vulnerability . Enemy migs . All of the above. The sa2 was a new threat. We had to look at it and come up with ways to beat it. Now, it took us a while. We lost a lot of airplanes initially. In time, wild weasel flights routinely escorted strike aircraft. The strike force typically was 16 f105s and escorted by what was called an ironhand flight. The ironhand flight typically had two wild weasel aircraft and two f105 single seaters. The weasels flew five minutes ahead of the strike package. Their goal, to get the bombers in and out with bombs on target. But in order to target a s. A. M. , the sight needed to turn on its radar. So they turned on their radars, you could actually fire back at that radar. Thats right. The sa2 sight commander could tell when he was being fired at. It was a very dangerous catandmouse game. Risking their lives to try to destroy a surface missile sight before that sight strikes them. The North Vietnamese realized what we were doing. It didnt scare them anymore because they could keep their radar off until the last minute and put it back on. In late december 1965, president johnson temporarily halted the Rolling Thunder raids, hoping ho chi minh would agree to talk. The North Vietnamese ignored the gesture and improved defenses and targets. When war stories returns, one when war stories returns, one [narrator] what does your when war stories returns, one character look like . Does it bounce back after each setback . Does it stand out by standing up . Does it make good on good intentions . Character is invisible until its not. Only through action will the world know what its made of, what you are made of. Find out how you can strengthen the character of your community alongside empowered veterans and families of the fallen at travismanion. Org. Or a little internet machine . It makes you wonder shouldnt we get our phones and internet from the same company . Thats why Xfinity Mobile comes with your internet. You get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. So all you pay for is data. See how much you can save. Choose by the gig or unlimited. Xfinity mobile. A new kind of network designed to save you money. Call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile. Com. June 1966, astronaut edward white took americas first walk in space. That month on mother earth, Lyndon Johnson allowed the first Rolling Thunder strikes near hanoi. This telephone call between secretary of defense mcnamara and the president occurred on 6th june. Forces are ready and weather forecasts favorable for strikes against targets. Later in the conversation, lbj raises concerns over a soviet tanker that might be caught in the cross fire. Its going to be their response. I think that we have told the russians that we have put it in writing and done Everything Possible to avoid antagonizing them in this military conflict. So if we hit the tanker, i doubt that it would lead to military action. In the skies over vietnam, the pilots flying the missions wondered how they could win a war if we were going to avoid antagonizing one of our enemys principle sources of supply. The restrictions were so ridiculous. June 17th, 1966. Not a good day. Paul was off the coast of vietnam aboard the uss hancock preparing for his Second Mission of the day. What was the target . We couldnt get in because of the weather. We went in to hit boxcars. Rolled in. I got hit right at the bottom of the dive bombing run. I looked down and saw the two hydraulic gauges go down to zero. I said, this is not good. Tail blew off the airplane and i ejected. I pulled my radio out. I got down, looked around. Theyre all coming toward me. Last transmission was, send the airplanes, send the helicopters back. See you after the war, thinking in my mind it was going to be another six months. That the point, 17th june, 1965, did you know anybody who was already a p. O. W. . A bunch of them. My friend john, one of our photo birds, hed been shot down. We thought he was a p. O. W. You didnt know for sure who was and who wasnt . No, no. Because they werent telling anybody. At this point in the war, the North Vietnamese refused to disclose what pilots they held in captivity. Torture and interrogations were a fact of life, as common as the sunrise. Follow his shootdown, pauls fate remained a mystery for years. When an airmen went down in enemy territory, the race to rescue was on. The rescue people were unbelievable. The navy would actually fly across South Vietnam to get to an air force pilot that had been shot down in laos. Thats a pretty risky mission. It is. It certainly is. It was up to them to come in and clear the area. Jolly greens would come in taking heavy fire. The jolly gereen giant hel helicopters and sandy were essential in many rescue missions. The a1 flew low, slow, and loaded with armament. It was great for attacking enemy Ground Troops searching for our downed flyer, but it was also vulnerable to ground fire. There were two navy pilots looking for major norman schmidt. Norman schmidts f104 was shot down. The navy pilots ran low on gas. Air force sky raider pilot and his wingmen took over the search. Him and his wingmen started their zigzagging pattern looking for signs or parachutes or flares. Thats when his plane was hit. And there was no other sign of my dad or no radio or parachute or anything. I answered the door when three air force officers were at the door. And they came in and my mom saw them and she said, carol, take jim out in the backyard and push him on the swing. And i was back there pushing him, and i knew something was wrong. She was told not to talk about it because the North Vietnamese government would use any information like that and use it for propaganda. I pretty much cried myself to sleep every night of my life. When i was in grade school and high school, just thinking he was being tortured. I assumed he was captive and in a prison camp somewhere. When war stories returns, well take you inside one of the wars greatest deceptions, operation bolo is coming up. He would call them by name. This was his standard method of gaining entry. In january of 67, the socalled Boston Strangler was sentenced to life in prison. Operation Rolling Thunder was approaching its second anniversary. Increasing increasingly, raids to the north were being intercepted by communist migs. Our heavily laiden planes often had to jettison their planes short of their intended target. They were getting more and more aggressive. Then colonel robin, who was based in thailand. My boss was there. I said, sir, im sure you know the migs are getting kind of frisky. I have an idea of what we could do about it. The key to bolo, newly introduced into operations. Slung under the wing, these pods jammed enemy radars, making it harder for s. A. M. S to lock on. In limited supply, the pods were usually hung on the airplanes principle bomber. We knew their ground controllers would see these emissions from this pod. They went in as if they were f105s loaded down with bombs. That was North Vietnams major mig base. So far johnson hadnt allowed it to be bombed. We could only engage migs in the air. Came up through the cloud deck behind us, and we had a nice little fight. Loud and clear. I managed to get two that day. The most important job was preparing his men for combat. My first batch of replacements after i got there were five guys. Only one of them had flown real fighters before. A lot of the most experienced air crews had already rotated home. So he was beginning to get Fighter Pilots who might have even been transport pilots or heavy bomber pilots. I looked at these kids and said, jesus christ, i need Fighter Pilots. They sent me a bunch of guys like you. I bet you guys dont even know how to drink, follow me. So we went to the bar. The bar was just one of the many diversions for the air crews. Another was the mustache. Everybody started growing them. Not everybody, but boy, there were some magnificent mus staffs. What it really was, was kind of a joke. It was also a rigid middle digit held up in the face of United States air force. What are you going to do about it . Mustaches, did you have one . Oh, sure. I had this mustache, and i looked meaner than hell. I used to send around to all my friends in an email, this is why we won the cold war. We all had our australian bush hats. Every time you flew, you put a mark on it so you keep track of how Many Missions you flew. Once you flew 100 missions north, your tour of duty was supposed to be over. A lot of the pilots i talked to wore the same neckerchief or carried a silver dollar. Do you have any of those . Not flying on my birthday. When i was a second lieutenant, my best friend over in england flamed out over the English Channel and ejected and died of exposure on his birthday. And i said, thats it, im not ever going to fly on my birthday again. And up until that point, i hadnt. That point was march 10th, 1967. Bobs birthday. And president johnson had authorized a new target. Like it or not, hed be flying. Tell me about it. We started trying to hit that target on march the 1st. I think two or three times we the whole strike force had to abort. We had the exact same route every day. At the exact same time. And so the gunnersi ining ininis could sit down there drinking their tea. Did the enemy adjust . The first day they briefed it, if i remember correctly. Within five miles of the steel mill, they had about 185 guns. Each day when the Intelligence Officer would give us his brief, it went up 100 to 150 guns. So by the 10th, he says, there are roughly 1,000 guns within five miles of the target, and theyve brought in six mobile surfacetoair missiles. It sat within route pack six, 30 miles north of hanoi. Bob and his backseater, steve wayne, were about to strike one of North Vietnams most heavily defended sites. We were inbound to the target. We had just turned over our ipr, initial point. From what altitude . We had pulled up to about 14,000 feet. Wed released the bombs somewhere between 7,000 and 7,500 feet. Down we go, drop our bombs. Start to pull out. Right at the bottom of the pullout, steve and i got hit. One of the first things we do after we come off the target is get a check. One of the other f4 was piloted by earle ayman. Both aircraft were hit and leaking fuel. I was only short at that time about 2,000 pounds. But earl, he only had 2,000. That wasnt enough to get him out of vietnam. Its going to be really bad to sit here and watch these guys flame out and glide until they have to get out of the airplane and then see them get captured. If ayman and his backseater went down in this part of North Vietnam, there was little chance of rescue. But if they could make it to laos, their chance of survival skyrocketed. So i asked earl to get his drag sheet. I attempted to put the nose of the airplane right in the drag sheet. There was so much turbulence coming off his airplane, i couldnt get close enough to even touch him. So i backed away. We dropped down underneath him. I said, okay, well try to put the top of our fuselage up against his belly and just piggy back him a little bit. Wed get within a couple feet, and it felt like a vacuum, pulling us into him. I said, well, we cant do that. He tries again, this time by pushing the crippled f4 by its tail hook. Will his push succeed . Find out when war stories continues. Hi, im the internet you know whats difficult . Adulting. Hi, guys. Im back. Time to slay no,i have a long time girlfriend. You know whats easy . Building your website with godaddy. Get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. Build a better website in under an hour. I hope life treats you kind and i hope you have all youve dreamed of and i wish you joy and happiness but above all this i wish you love and i will always love you i will always love you, i i will always, i will always love you and, as hard as it was when my my lifhusband passed away,ing. I knew i had to keep doing what i love. [alarm bell rings] oops. Coming but i needed help help with my insurance and thats what naic provides. They have resources to help you and your family make the best decision and theyll help you to keep moving forward. Just like me 10th march, 1967. President johnson admits u. S. Planes are operating out of thailand. That day of vietnam, 72 aircraft struck the norths only iron works. On the bomb on an f4, crippled by enemy fire. Their tank was torn open, leaving them without the fuel they needed to get out of enemy air space. On their wing also flying a damaged phantom were bob and steve. I thought thats just going to be really bad to sit here and watch these guys get captured. He pushed them out of North Vietnam so they could bail out in relative safety and be rescued. I was looking at the bottom of his airplane and saw the tail. I said, one last try here. Put the hook down. So we eased in and put the hook in the middle of our windshield because that was the only flat spot on the front end of the airplane. Sure enough, his vertical speed decreased by half. By this time, he was completely flamed out. We could hold it on there about 30 seconds at a time and it would slip off to the side. We just eased back, put her to, and go back in. We finally got down to about 6,000 feet, which is as close to the ground as i wanted to get. How many minutes and how many miles had it been since you were hit . The distance involved in the push was only about 88 miles. Youre over laos. Yes. We watched earl and bob eject and saw both their parachutes open. We turned towards the tanker, but it became obvious within a minute that we werent going to make it to the tanker. When you ejected, you and steve talk, time to go . As soon as the engines flamed out, i said, okay, steve, its time to go. I said, we got to get out. I said, ill see you later, and he was gone. It says a lot about the way pilots and others try to care for each other, the risk they would take to bring back a comrade. Did any other planes go down in that mission . Three others. Did any of the other guys ever make it . No. There were a total of five airplanes shot down that day. The four of us were the only ones that made it back. On 16 may, johnson authorized the bombing of hanois power plant. He was convinced the navys new tvguided bomb could reduce the chance of unintended damage of casualties. On 19 may, the navy made its first raid on hanoi itself, targeting the power plant and other key enemy sites. Deep inside the infamous hanoi hilton, paul and the other p. O. W. S had ringside seats. That happens to be ho chi mi minhs birthday. Were under the beds for the tenth time. Were lying down there. You hear boom, boom, boom, boom. My roommate was under the bed and goes every american in the entire camp cracked up. The guys couldnt think of what we were so happy about. A major step forward, the wa walleye still relied on clear weather and daylight for accuracy. We had almost no night capability. The only aircraft was the a6. New tactics were developed in the field. George bud day led the unit that implemented the fast fac. Fac is basically an ak kro anymore for forward air controller. Idea putting some eyes on the battlefield at some fairly low altitude where you could define targets and then get some 105s, f4 bombers in to take out the targets. They called themselves misty super facs and flew into battle in a twoseat f100. A fast airplane at low altitudes. In late august, 67, they were topping off their f100 tanks and preparing to take out a s. A. M. Site. Kept saying i got the target. I said, i got it too. Boom, right on the target. Took a huge hit. The airplane just felt like it stopped. Got the nose up, tried to do some things to see if i could get the airplane flying again. It didnt work. Dont know what happened. I just went unconscious. Then 20, 30 seconds, here was about a 13yearold kid with a really old rusty boltaction rifle pointed right at my head. So i reversed the american dream. Went from riches to rags with the pull of an ejection handle. He was rescue kd, but bud day was taken prisoner. The next day they took me over, hung me by my feet for the entire day. Really horrible experience when your arm is all fractured up. Its just barbaric. Rolling thunder ends much like it began. Find out how when war stories returns. Retail. Under pressure like never before. And its connected technology thats moving companies forward fast. Ecommerce. Real time inventory. Virtual changing rooms. Thats why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent Network Speed across multiple locations. Every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. Leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. Comcast business outmaneuver. 1967, protests against the war begin to grow in number and size. In november that year, secretary of defense Robert Mcnamara resigned. Mcnamara formally resigned, but he was obviously pushed out. It was mcnamaras testimony before congress that ended the defense secretarys tenure. Mcnamara persuaded him to launch the Rolling Thunder campaign to begin with. He was now telling the Senate Committee that the Bombing Campaign in North Vietnam was virtually worthless. Two months after his resignation, in South Vietnam the enemy mounted the offensive. Fierce battles raged in cities across the country, including the capital saigon. Removed from the jungle of their safety sanctuaries, the vietcong was defeated and lbj had enough too. I shall not seek, and i will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president. He also announced that he was pulling back the bombing in North Vietnam. After 2 1 2 years, over half a million tons of bombs dropped, 900 planes lost, and more than 1,000 airmen killed, missing, or captured, Rolling Thunder finally ended in october of 68. 58,249 names on that wall. I attribute many of those to johnson and mcnamara. Why were they called the river rats . They were called the river rats because of the red river, which goes through hanoi. I know what kind of kept me going on some pretty dark days. What kept you going . My upbringing. And i would give my dad more credit. He would expect nothing but the best. Thats why with earl, i couldnt just fly away and leave. Couldnt do it. Decades after bob pushed earl and roberts f4 to safety, he was stricken by a cruel, debilitating, and ultimately fatal disease. Earl became ill with lou gehrigs disease, so we got busy and started raising money to get a few things he needed. He lived about 4 1 2 years. Lost him in 99. The river rats take care of their own. Today they maintain a Scholarship Fund for the children of military air crew members killed in the line of duty. Weve provided somewhere close to 1. 6 million worth of scholarships to many, many kids. When war stories returns, america leaves vietnam and our p. O. W. S come home. In early 1973, the last american combat troops left vietnam. Two years later in april of 75, the North Vietnamese army rolled into saigon. Some of the wars few joyous moments came in february, march, and april of 73 with the release of 591 american p. O. W. S. Among them, paul, bud day, and four future members of congress, pete peterson, jeremiah denton, sam johnson, and john mccain. Paul endured over six years of hell. We appreciate everything. We all take stuff for granted. He left the navy in 19 3i8 as a commander. Jim retired from the air force in 1980 with two stars. Robin olds retired as a brigadier general. David, joe, and scrappy johnson all rose to the rank of colonel. While bob left the air force as a Lieutenant Colonel and don hearten as a major. After being shot down, colonel george bud day spent over five years in captivity. For his service, he was awarded the medal of honor. Receiving hour nations highest honor is a close second to the day he came home to his wife doris and their children. I look over there, there she is. Looks like an angel. And grabbed her. Oh, just absolutely heavenly. I was so happy for them. Its almost like those people won the lottery ticket. Because their dad is coming home. Hubert nichols didnt come home. His wife patricia raised their five children alone. I think about my dad every day. And reallisticly, he died in the crash. In 1978, military declared colonel nichols died in action, body not recovered. I really wish i knew my father other than from stories. Hes the kind of standup guy you really want to know and meet. For the american airmen who flew during Rolling Thunder, one word describes their experience. Frustrating. These welltrained, remarkably brave aviators were willing to fly through enemy skies swarming with antiaircraft, migs and missil missiles. The foe they most feared, washington. They doomed Rolling Thunder before the first aircraft lifted off the runway or from the deck of a carrier. Yet, these Young Americans still strapped in, lit their engines, checked their gauges and flew into harms way. The hard lessons of Rolling Thunder havent been forgotten. Today we no longer send 16 or 20 planes and crews to attack a target. One plane, one pilot, and one guided bomb can do the job, day or night, in almost any weather. The heroes who flew in Rolling Thunder paid a painful price to teach those lessons. Theirs is a war story that deserves to be told. Im oliver north. Good night. The heyday of hollywood. It was exciting. Bette davis, marilyn monroe, joan crawford. A starstruck teen bit by the bug. Before there were paparazzi, there was jack kuster. This autograph hound takes names like no other. Elvis and, oh my gosh, robert redford. You name it, all of them. Its probably the best collection in the world. And leaves his stunned heir a lot to sort out. What, in your wildest dreams, is this collection worth . [ theme music plays ]