Lt. James Cater

25APR66 http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33945-usmc5/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33946-img00047/ Against all reason, Tate and Perso were assigned an Iron Hand mission to Hoa Lac airfield instead of the strike role in which they specialized. 2LT Alexander Tate was lost bombing a SAM site just west of the airfield. PS-Yes, i'm getting another pilot for VMA-211!

APR66 Flew a mission to Kep that was totally disrupted by MIGs. Everyone went defensive and Tate dropped short, missing the main target. At least everyone made it out in one piece. Looks like we have to adjust to a new situation with very agressive MIGs for the time being. PS-No screenshot.

15OCT65 This was a wild one. Since it was supposed to be a quick in and out, only Tate and Perso were on for this strike. The action began as they were approaching the target area after swinging in behind Cat Bi then heading NW. The logic was that everyone else would be coming off the water between Ninh Bihn and Haiphong so they would be able to sneak in relatively unnoticed with all the ruckus everyone else would cause. Everything was going to plan. They split at 10,000 ft, 10 miles out and all was fine until tracers flew by Tate's Cockpit. Holy $*@#! a MIG at 6 o'clock! A perfect surprise bounce. Tate broke hard left, then down into some clouds, pointing the nose of the aircraft in the direction of the target about 7 miles off. It was a hairy situation as the MIG was right on his tail. And if that wasn't bad enough more MIGs came out nowhere to dive upon Perso. Their controllers must have had them orbiting the area for just such a move by our jets. Now the initial plan was to dive bomb the target, pull up to the NE, then back SE towards the Cat Bi ingress spot. It was no longer safe, a flight of MIG17s were on a pair of Scooters with no escorts anywhere near at the moment. Tate had a broke out of the clouds about 5 miles out and though it was not an ideal approach as he was too fast and shallow, he lined up, got as decent look and let fly with the MK82s. A second later, Perso also dropped his bombs. They then went low, reversing to port for their only way out. Right over Haiphong. With the MIGs right on their heels, they flew the gauntlet of AAA as they flew desperately for safety, jinking like mad at 1000ft to avoid the hail of 57mm, 37mm, 23mm and 14.5 mm. Tate even jettisoned his bomb racks so he could fly faster. The only safe exit was the main shipping channel at the harbor entrance and that was the goal. Finally that was reached and though Tate and Perso went low over the waves, the MIGs kept on them until they were about 10 miles off. As the formed up and check each others aircraft for damage, not a hole was found! They went through all that without getting hit. Despite it all the target was truly well proper hit. For this, Tate and Perso were awarded the Silver Star. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33944-usmc3/

9OCT65 Didn't get a screenshot for this one. Went up to hit the MIG base at Noi Bai and lost B element. Went feet dry at 5,000 in the Nam Dihn vicinity again amidst a number of formations heading in and all was smooth until the outskirts of Hanoi was reached. A then setup for the main target and B broke off to attack the ground defenses. Flak was heavy and SAM was active. Captain Johnson called that he was hit and bailed out. A good chute was seen and no doubt he was taken prisoner, 2LT Schumacher was shot down in the course of successfully attacking and destroying a Firecan radar SE of Hanoi. Nothing was heard from him but his aircraft went down in such a way that ejection was difficult but since nothing more is known of his fate, he will be carried on the rolls as MIA. Tate hit the main target while Perso, his aircraft damaged by 57mm AAA, dropped instead on a SAM site S of Hanoi. Both then headed out at low level back towards the water and returned to base.

7OCT65 What should have been a milk run turned into chaos. Tate and Perso went up on an armed recce just barely into RP1 and found NVA supply troops under an area that had a surprising amount of AAA over them. That wasn't the big deal though. As they made their rocket passes first one, then another MIG jumped them. It then turned into a bit of a fight where defense and offense alternated until the right moment came for them to be able to get out of a sticky jam and making a break for home. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33942-clipboard-usmc2/

Ok, sorry for the delays but i've had some seriously heavy times at work due to the Christmas season. I did think things over a bit though and so have started fresh once again. The pilot is Alexander Tate USMC. VMA 211, Flying an A4E Skyhawk during Rolling Thunder from Chu Lai, South Vietnam. Hard/Limited settings with start time 1OCT65. Knowing the reality of the air war i decided that a flight from the squadron would answer a call from high above (aka the Commandant of the Corps) for volunteers to fly missions up North exclusively. Chosen were 2LT Alexander Tate, 1LT Ralph Perso, Captain Wesley Johnson, and 2LT Clinton Schumacher. The first mission on 3OCT65 was a bit of a learning experience. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33941-clipboard-usmc1/ Went feet dry east of Nam Dihn right on time with in the mass of others going in. Tate and Perso with 6 mk82s each, Johnson and Schumacher toting rockets. Didn't have to far of a run before B went down to do their thing while A went after the main target. To make a long story short. Tate made a dry run due to incorrect switch settings, Perso dropped 100% on target, Johnson got a couple of AAA guns, and Shumacher blew the hell out of some NV base with two passes causing serious mayhem. Tate made a second drop at the target area and hit some buildings but still had a pair of MK82s hang up. It was then decided to head back out as flak was getting rather intense (Perso having already taken hits from a 14.5mm AAA while strafing a Firecan.) The egress was made at 10,000 ft over Ninh Binh. Flak was rather active but inaccurate. Migs weren't a factor. Neither was SAM despite Johnson having two fired at him.

I remember someone flying a Tornado F3 in WOE did a whole tour. He ended with something like 85 kills. Another did it in an A7 flying WOV Gold IIRC. Anyways i got a new pilot flying in WOV who has two missions done already. I should have everything posted over the weekend.

Gnat and Lap went down after hitting a target near Gia Lam. Before that they had two very nice missions and got promoted to LTjgs. Got everything to post details but what's the use? It's something being the last one here doing this DiD challenge as i was one of the very first when it kicked off. I think maybe the next time up will be the last. Will take a day or so to think of an aircraft and campaign and just let it all hang out for one last tour of duty.

9-12/MAY65 Last two missions were really something. For some reason we got tabbed with Iron Hand at Than Hoa so valuable and highly trained A6 crews were going to asked to do something we aren't remotely trained for. To make a long story short, it was like dancing infront of a firing squad. We were up with Cane and his B/N again, loaded with rockeyes and rockets. Thankfully a sizable force of Friendly AC were going into the area so we made our first attack rather easy. Then the ground fire was so intense that it was all we could do to line up on a flak emplacement and let fly and hope for the best. Lost track of how many times we broke off passes because the fire was just too hot. It was such a relief that we were able to pull out of there and return back to the boat. Of coarse we got hit. The next sortie was another doozy. All the way up to the Hanoi area to hit a warehouse at a fuel depot. Would be nice to flatten the whole depot but orders were just hit the building. Kirk Kirkwood and Slim Jim Sutherland were along with us, toting a pair of 2000lbers to add to the fireworks. It was a nice sunny CAVU day. We had plenty of company heading to the same area so provided they soaked up the attention of the MIGs and heavier AAA we shoould have an easier going. And that's how it turned out to be for the most part. Gray was doing his thing with the radar. directing us when to cut back some on the gas, some small changes of direction, and then it was the moment of truth. As Those flying higher up began the action we went feet dry to the south of Thai Bihn at 1000ft steering to pass between there and Nam Dinh. That done. it was high speed in a straight line towards Hanoi. It was an eternity waiting for the distance to the IP to count down. There was flak absolutely everywhere except at our two aircraft! Nothing was even close. Finally it was time. The counter went down and Lap yelled NOW,NOW,NOW!!! So i stood the AC on the starboard wing, pulled it in the direction of the target and slammed the throttles to the max. Kirk and Slim also made the break and pulled further out, climbing to avoid giving the gunners below an easier job. It was an 10 mile run to the target. To get a good setup i put the nose down to 500ft at 7 miles to get us more speed then up we went. By now were were drawing all kinds of fire as everywhere around Hanoi is packed with AAA. With all this going on Lap was going a hell of a job getting the ordnance ready, running down checkpoints, navigating, and when i rolled us inverted and pulled back on the stick, spotting the target before i did. Then it was just a matter of braving flak that made Than Hoa seem like a walk in the park. Our rather shallow approach made for great coverage for the bombs but also made us a juicy target in a shooting gallery. BREAKBREAKBREAK!!! Lap yelled and it was hard left, then reverse, then back again,then returning somewhat in the general direction of our initial heading, nose down and up again, heading for altitude and the egress route. We knew we were hit and hit bad but since everything was running fine it was business as usual. As bad as things got Kirk and Slim dropped on an AA site and hauled ass back the way we came in as it was suicidal for them to try to follow us. As we swung west and then southeast to pass beyond Haiphong and Hon Gai, Lap got a good view of a hell of a tower of smoke from our target. It was well and truly struck! It wasn't until we were well over the water that we could relax again. For some reason i can't add screenshots to the gallery so this AAR is going to have to suffice. BTW-Gnat and Lap were awarded Silver Stars for the Ta Xa POL site mission!

Flew two more missions and will write them up after work before i fly any more. Gnat and Lap and their fellow shipmates are having some interesting times.

6May65 http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33854-clipboard-va2/ Went at the bridge at Phu Tho. Me and Lap along with Stan McCoy and his B/N Glenn Peasy, both birds carrying 18 snake eyes. The weather was really lousy so the plan was to go in fast and low and get our shots in. After launch we went up to 5000ft, throttled back and settled down both await our joining up and letting other elements, as well as our escort for the mission, which was Python flight out of Da Nang. Marine F-4s. The weather being what it was we figured that we had the advantage anyway as we were going to be down below whatever radar coverage the enemy had to vector any fighters onto us. Assuming they are even trained for those kinds of operations. After enough waiting, we pushed the throttles forward and dropped down to 500 ft as we reached our coast in point about 20 miles south of Bai Thoung. We crossed the distance to the hills without incident and turned NE towards the long leg to the target. After that it was just a matter of keeping as low as possible without flying into a rocky cloud, hoping Stan was doing the same, and noting radio calls. Finally we got to the moment of truth at 20 miles out as we left the hills and split for the attack. Me and Lap low, Stan and Glenn high. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33855-img00012/ I really think we made a real error in coming in so low and fast from such a course, as there was a hill we had to pop over just about 6 miles out or so and it really didn't give a B/N time to do a good job on the target. AAA was coming in hot as well. 57mm and light AAA tracers were reaching out for us and right as the bombs were releasing we heard some sharp sounds behind us and knew instantly that we were hit. We broke hard to port and went down to just above the trees to avoid any heavy stuff and thankfully nothing else took a pop at us. In the Meantime, Stan and Glenn rolled in and proceeded with their drop on the bridge. They missed. As we turned back to head for the coast we climbed up to 8000ft as there didn't seem to be any kind of realistic threat. Too much was going on with too many aircraft for anyone to care about a pair of A6s on their way back to the beach, so it was a rather quiet time. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33856-img00014/ As it turns out we got three hits on the bridge. which was better than nothing as far as all is concerned. We also found out that the area north of Vihn is quite devoid of any kind of defenses. It gives us a safe airspace between the flak of Vihn and Bai Thoung we we can use as corridors to the hills beyond the coastal flats. Something of note for future strikes.

1May65 Nice milk run to get us introduced to combat operations. There was an amazing amount of MIG activity for such an area but thankfully we weren't bothered at all. Everything went step by step and LTjg Earl Cone actually did the damage on the target. My entire bomb load just came in on the same area. On the way out at altitude i saw the downward falling smoke from a MIG that was shot down by the TARCAP at 8 o'clock about 5 miles off at just slightly higher than we were (Angels12) damned if we ever had a clue they were so close to our egress route so we are going to have to be more alert in the future. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33852-clipboard-va1/ http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33853-img00010/

I'm at it again. http://combatace.com/gallery/image/33851-clipboard-va/ Here comes the adventures of newly minted Attack pilot Nathaniel "Gnat" Collins and his faithful sidekick B/N Grayson "Lap" Dell!