[Zhang Fei]

[In early 1967, we had a navy F8 overfly us on fire. He punched out right before it blew up and he landed about 400 meters from us and we got him before the VC did. He was very happy to see us and told us stories all night long as we waited to bring him to the rear and then Danang.]

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There’s a movie (BAT-21) starring Gene Hackman about perhaps the highest-ranking FSO ever to have a close shave with POW status. The CAS missions flown to kept the enemy away from him were pretty hairy, for both the pilots and the guy they were trying to keep out of Charlie’s hands. He could be forgiven for thinking that the point wasn’t necessarily to keep him in one piece. Has either of you ever been involved in a situation where the mission was similar and life-threatening to you personally, either in delivering the ordnance or inadvertently being on the receiving end?

[Robe]

Once I was vectored to a grid thad a USAF pilot was on the ground being advanced upon buy VC... I had no ordnance left so I went into a number of Very high speed super sonic passes over the gooks.....until the Jollys came in and got him...He still owes me a case of JB..LOL

[Chainmail]

I was never close to becoming A POW because where we were, we would never allow ourselves to be taken alive. The enemy would have played with us a bit and then executed us. I was with a Marine Rifle Company as their artillery Scout, so I was responsible for quickly and accurately directing artillery on the enemy. Another reason not to be taken.

"Life Threatening"? - every single day. I finally got hit in May'67 and spent 7 months in various hospitals - and when that blessed Medevac helicopter got to us, a kept an M26 frag grenade in my hand in case we went down.

Like I said, it was a bad area to be captured.