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Posted on 02/19/2004 12:00:10 AM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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Date: 24 November 1964; 0600 hours ZULU time  Operation DRAGON ROUGE, RED DRAGON in English, was one of the most dramatic military missions undertaken during the Cold War. It involved a flight of more than 4,000 miles by USAF C-130s carrying paratroopers of the crack Belgian 1st ParaCommando to rescue hostages who had been held for more than three months in the Congolese city of Stanleyville.  Africa was an unstable place in the 1960s, even more so than it is today. The former Belgian Colony of Congo, now known as Zaire, was granted independence in 1960, and almost immediately became the site of chaos. When the crisis ended in early 1964, a new one broke out as Congolese rebels calling themselves "Simba" rebelled against the government. The Congolese government turned to the United States for help. In response, the US Strike Command sent JTF LEO, a task force made up of a detachment of C-130s, communications personnel and and 82nd Airborne security team, to Leopoldville.  Paratroops preparing to load gear at Ascension Island By early August, 1964 the Congolese, with the help of the LEO force and a group of white mercenaries led by Major Mike Hoare, was making headway against the Simbas. In retaliation, the Simbas began taking hostages of the whites in areas under their control. They took them to Stanleyville and placed them under guard in the Victoria Hotel.  Belgian paras loading up for Stanleyville from Kamina airfield While the world watched anxiously, in Washington and Brussels the United States and Belgium were hard at work trying to come up with a rescue plan. Several ideas were considered and discarded, while attempts at negotiating with the Simbas failed - no one could be found to negotiate with!  The task force at Ascension Island In mid-November the C-130Es and crews of the Tactical Air Command rotational squadron from Pope AFB, NC were called back to their temporary duty base at Evreux-Fauville AB, France from missions throughout Europe. The crews were told simply to go to their barracks and get some rest, because something big was brewing. On Tuesday evening, November 17, the crews were told to report to the operations room on the Margarite where the airplanes were deployed. The crews were told to rig seats and take-off. Just before take-off, each navigator was given a Manila envelope and instructed not to open it until their airplane had reached 2,000 feet and there were no mechanical problems to make them turn back. When the crews opened the envelopes, they learned they were going to Klinebrogel, a Belgian military airfield outside Brussels. When they got to Klinebrogel, each airplane loaded with paratroopers wearing red berets, then took off again after being handed another envelope. This time it told them to head south for Moron AB, on the Spanish Mediterranean. At Moron the navigators went into Base Operations where they were given maps and instructions for the next leg of their flight, to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, where they arrived 18 hours after leaving France.  Dragon Rouge, Phases I and II, 0600-0750 By this time everyone knew they were on their way to Africa, but first there was a time of "hurry up and wait" on secluded Ascension, where the rescue force was out of sight of the prying eyes of the world. While they waited, the American airmen and Belgian paras got to know each other, and began working out procedures to drop the Belgians.  Belgian Red Berets on the way to Stanleyville On Sunday before Thanksgiving the force left Ascension and flew across the Atlantic and much of Africa to Kamina, an airfield in the southern Congo. There the crews and paratroopers waited again. By this time all hopes of negotiation had vanished, and that evening the American and Belgian commanders were told to launch Operation DRAGON ROUGE.  U.S. aircrews and Paracommandos at Kamina airfield prior to Stanleyville flight In the early hours of November 23, 1964 five C-130s took off from Kamina, each with 64 Belgian Red Berets in full combat gear seated on the red nylon troop seats in its cargo compartment. Behind the assault force came seven more Herks, with Chalk 12 configured as a hospital ship. The C-130s flew north at high altitude, then dropped down to treetop altitudes to follow the Congo River as they neared the city of Stanleyville.  Paracommandos on the edge of the Stanleyville airfield after parachuting As the sun was breaking over the horizon out of the African Veldt, a CIA A-26 INVADER flown by a Cuban mercenary pilot made a strafing pass over the Stanleyville Sabenas airport. Right behind the A-26 the first C-130 roared low over the runway. As the airplane came over the field, paratroopers led by Col Charles Laurent spilled from the doors on either side of the airplane. Within seconds, 310 paratroopers were in the air, then landing on the strip of grass alongside the runway. The five jump planes came around for another pass to drop the jumpmasters and bundles of equipment. As the airplanes came off the drop zone, they began taking fire from a .50-caliber machinegun. After dropping the troops, Chalks Two through Five left the area for Leopoldville, where they were to refuel and stand-by. Chalk One, carrying the C-130 mission commander, Colonel Burgess Gradwell, and flown by Captain Huey Long of the 777th TCS, orbited over the airfield until they were hit by several heavy shells that knocked out hydraulics. Long pointed the battle-damaged airplane toward Leopoldville.  After the jump an the Stanleyville airfield, rebels who formerly controlled the tower are held on the ground as prisoners Forty-five minutes after he jumped, Col. Laurent reported that the airfield was secure. Five other C-130s roared in for assault landings from their orbit point near Stanleyville. Each airplane discharged troops and vehicles to join the paratroopers on the ground, then took off again and headed to Stanleyville. Meanwhile, Chalk Six, flown by Captain Mack Secord's crew, approached Stanleyville. They had lost a life raft after takeoff from Kamina and had to return for the spare airplane. Secord was told to land, and wait with Chalk Twelve, the hospital plane, until the Belgians returned to the airport with the hostages.  An AS-21 tricycle moves troops into place around Stanleyville airport After leaving the airport, the Belgian rescue team made haste to reach the Victoria Hotel before the Simbas carried out their threats to kill the hostages if a rescue was attempted. Several blocks from the hotel a paratrooper rounded a corner just in time to prevent the Simbas from firing a second volley of shots into the assembled hostages, who had evidently been walking toward the airport. Some of the hostages later said they thought the Simba officers intended to turn them over to the Belgians unharmed, but some of the Simbas, who had been drinking and smoking Hemp all night the night before, decided to take matters in their own hands. They shot their own officers, then turned their guns on the hostages. They had fired one volley, picking women and children as their targets, and were preparing to fire another when the Red Berets showed up on the scene. At the sight of the Belgians, the Simbas lost their courage and ran!  Belgian paratrooper escorting a captured Simba, Stanleyville Airport After more than an hour on the ground at Stanleyville, Mack Secord's crew finally saw the first hostages coming toward them. As they were the most badly injured, they had been driven to the airport. Seeing the engines running and thinking the C-130 was about to take-off, the frightened whites rushed aboard the airplane through the open rear ramp. Secord's loadmasters, there were two aboard, tried to get them over to the other airplane where a doctor waited to tend their wounds. After finally getting the most seriously injured people to leave, Secord's crew closed up their airplane and began taxing for the runway. As they passed a clump of elephant grass, a pair of Simbas ran out. One ran alongside the airplane trying to get inside the door while the other sprayed the underside of the wing with a submachinegun. No one inside the airplane knew what had happened; the whole thing was witnessed by the crew of Chalk 12. Secord took off and headed for Leopoldville. When he got there, he had to be bodily lifted from the airplane and taken to the hospital where he was treated for a brain concussion he had received the night before when he bumped his head getting into the airplane.  The night march an Stanleyville For the rest of the day, C-130s and other transports shuttled between Stanleyville and Leopoldville. More than 2,000 people were airlifted out of the city. That night a Belgian mechanic working on a DC-4 was killed by sniper fire. Several times during the day the field was mortared, and every airplane was hit by ground fire during their landings and takeoffs. One was hit in a wing fuel tank. The airplane crew chief whittled a plug from a broom handle and wrapped it with a rag and used it to plug the leak.  Some of the hostages after the terrible shooting by the rebels The airlift continued the next day. Late in the day the Belgians were pulled out of the city and flown to Leopoldville. Early the next morning a smaller scale mission designated as DRAGON NOIR/BLACK DRAGON, freed hostages held at Paulis, a town 225 miles northwest of Stanleyville. The hostages at Paulis had also been harmed by the Simbas. An American missionary had been beaten to death during torture.  Refugees moving toward the Stanleyville airfield After DRAGON NOIR, the rescue force retired to Kamina to await further orders. While they were waiting, an African thunderstorm prompted one C-130 crewmember, none of whom had had a bath in days, to grab soap and go out into the rain for an impromptu shower. The rest of the force followed his lead as the airmen and paratroopers ran around naked in the rain! A few days later, in response to political pressure from the Third World, President Lyndon Johnson ordered the force ouf of Africa.  Dragon Rouge Phase III, search and evacuation, 0750-1400 For their role in DRAGON ROUGE, the C-130 crewmembers recieved the 1964 MacKay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year by USAF aircraft. All of the crewmembers were decorated with the Air Medal, while Captain Mack Secord received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Date: 26 November 1964; 0602 hours ZULU time Unit: USAF C-130E squadron, Belgian Paratrooper Regiment Operation: Dragon Noir Troopers: 246 Belgians Country: Belgian Congo Drop zone: Paulis Airport Aircraft: 4 x C-130E Hercules turboprop aircraft, 2 x B-26 Invader aircraft Equipment/supplies air-delivered: Armored gun jeeps, AS-24 tricycle ATVs, crew-served machine guns Type Air delivery: Day Mass low-level tactical personnel static-line jump  Dragon Noir assault plan On 25 November the task force received word that the assault on Paulis would take place at 0400 hours on 26 November. The troops and equipment for the operation were picked up by the airlift commander at Stanleyville during the early morning hours. The arrival of the aircraft and their loading at Stanleyville proceeded without incident, and the task force arrived at its objective on schedule. However, a low-hanging fog covered the area, so that it was necessary to make two passes to establish the location of the drop zone, finally seen through the haze as a red glow in the first morning light. Once again the rebel fire was directed at the aircraft; one paratrooper was wounded as he exited from the Number 1 plane. The airfield was secured within 30 minutes of the drop, but landings were delayed for an additional 15 minutes while the sources of fire from the east end of the runway were eliminated.  The 11th Company had assembled and proceeded directly into Paulis. Captain Pierlink's company Split up by platoons for its missions inside the city: the 1st Platoon moved off for the mission; the 2d Platoon moved out to block off the military camp; and the 3d Platoon moved south through the residential quarter to the center of Paulis.  Paracommandos at the airfield, Paulis The 1st Platoon ran through the town encountering scattered resistance. On the way to the mission, they picked up several refugees, and the paras had them move with the formation, screening them from hostile fire. Witteman's platoon reached the mission at 0700 and rescued around fifty missionaries who had been held as hostages.  Lieutenant Peirelinck, commanding 11th Company, reports to Colonel Laurent Again the Belgian forces were lucky in discovering quickly where the hostages were held. The first person whom they met was a Dutch consul, who was subsequently wounded while leading Belgian patrols in their search for hostages. In 3 days motorized patrols liberated 355 hostages at scattered locations in the Paulis area. One Belgian paratrooper was killed in action and several others were wounded.  C-130 Hercules landing at Paulis airstrip to remove hostages and withdrawing paratroops For many of the hostages, however, the Belgians were about forty-eight hours too late. The intelligence reports had been correct; the rebel leadership in Paulis had been particularly brutal. The Simbas had gathered thirty-five to forty American and European hostages several weeks earlier. They had already massacred several thousand Congolese in the city; now, after Dragon Rouge, they were eager to kill their foreign hostages. When Stanleyville fell, the rebels gathered in another thirty to forty hostages at the mission. On the night of 24 November, they began killing them, taking the first group out for execution. As their initial victim, they selected Reverend Joseph Tucker, an American missionary. For the next forty-five minutes, the Simbas tortured Tucker, finally killing him by driving a stake through his skull. The rebels butchered the others and returned for more victims the next evening. By the time Witteman's platoon arrived, the Simbas had executed some twenty of the hostages.  Withdrawal of Paracommandos to the airfield, Paulis The spare aircraft designated to participate in this operation was used to evacuate liberated hostages. Thus a total of eight aircraft was employed. 
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Just wanted to share a story with you guys that happened yesterday. I hope I dont get to long winded with it.
I was assigned to guard the locals that come into our camp to work each day. We dont really have to watch them, we just make sure they dont go through the garbage and such for any personal information. I had the occasion to take a ride in a 1970 chevy truck that was owned by an Iraqi gentleman with an engineering degree named Majeed. He and his crew were contracted to build showers all over the camp.
He told me he was originally from Baghdad, but lives in Mosul now. I asked him which was better. He told me that Baghdad was a beautiful place prior to Saddams rule, and that he really missed the way it used to be. He said "Saddam ruin everything" as he nearly came to tears thinking about it. He told me of being forced to join the army at 18, and that they were not given clothes, food or medical care as a soldier.
After the Army he attended college at the University of Baghdad and got a degree in engineering. He began to speak of his friend who was also an engineer. His friend had been told by the Saddam regime that he was to design and build a bridge in Baghdad. He and his workers did so, and he was paid $7 a month as a professional engineer. After the bridge was completed all who had worked on it including the engineer were put in prison, because Saddam was not happy with the bridge. Again, Majeed was holding back the tears as he spoke of his friend whom he had not seen since being imprisoned. He told me "It's a very hard life in Iraq, but it's getting better" and then he smiled at me and shook my hand.
There was much more conversation, but I'll wrap this up now. If someone says that America has no business in Iraq, share this story with them and ask them "What if the shoe were on the other foot" See what they have to say.
Steve
You ought to see the ladies these guys keep trying to recruit into my troops. (Usually Phil Dragoo's fault). They are just a distraction! LOL. I only want men in my bicylespankentruppen!
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Air Power |
At the beginning of May 1944, four very early production A-26Bs left the USA for combat trials in the Southwest Pacific. These planes entered combat in the spring of 1944 with the 13th Bombardment Squadron of the 3rd Bombardment Group in New Guinea. The Invader was not very popular in that theatre since it had poor visibility to either side and lacked sufficiently powerful forward-firing armament to make it an effective strafer.
Deliveries of the A-26 to the 9th Air Force in the European theatre began in June of 1944. However, it was not until September 17, 1944 that their first combat missions were flown. This first mission was carried out by the 553rd Bombardment Squadron of the 386th Bombardment Group, based at Great Dunmow in England. It was a medium-altitude bombing strike in which A-26Bs led a bombing strike carried out largely by glazed-nosed A-20Ks.
In the meantime, the USAAF had decided that the European theatre would be the first to get Invaders in quantity, with the Pacific theatre having to wait until improved aircraft with clamshell-type canopies and heavier forward-firing armament could be made available.
A-26B and C Invaders were delivered to the Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces in Europe, the first operational unit to be fully equipped with A-26Bs was the 416th Bombardment Group of the Ninth Air Force, which converted from A-20 Havocs to Invaders in November of 1944. A-26s were eventually delivered to the 409th, 386th and 391st Bombardment Groups of the Ninth Air Force in early 1945. At the time of the end of the war in Europe, the 410th BG was in the process of converting to A-26s. The last combat mission of the war in Europe was flown by 124 A-26s on May 3, 1945. During the war in Europe, A-26s flew a total of 11,567 sorties.
In the Italian theatre, the 47th BG of the Twelfth Air Force flew A-26s alongside its A-20s during the last four months of the war. The 47th Bomb Group in Italy also received some A-26s in 1945, but returned to the United States in July for specialized training in night attacks. Its black-painted A-26Cs were equipped with radar and served with the group until being replaced by B-45 Tornados in 1948.
As mentioned above, the large-scale introduction of the A-26 into combat in the Pacific was delayed by initial problems with cockpit visibility and inadequate forward-firing armament. In the Pacific theatre, the 319th BG of the Seventh Air Force was the only unit that was fully operational with the A-26 by the time that the war against Japan ended. At that time, the 41st BG of the Seventh Air Force and the 3rd BG of the Fifth Air Force were in the process of converting to A-26s.
On all fronts, the A-26 was regarded as being the USAAF's best twin-engined bomber, and plans were being made at the end of the war for the conversion of all B-25, B-26 and A-20 units to the type.
The end of the war against Japan resulted in the cancellation of the two A-26 contracts on August 13 and 27, respectively. Nevertheless, the A-26 was selected as the standard light bomber and night reconnaissance aircraft of the postwar USAAF, primarily as the main offensive weapon of the Tactical Air Command which was created in 1946 out of the remnants of the wartime 9th and 12th Air Forces. A-26s were also provided to the Air National Guard and to units of the Air Force Reserve. Additional A-26s were sold as surplus, scrapped or stored for later use. A few were transferred to the US Navy for use as target tugs and general utility aircraft under the designation JD-1.
In June of 1948, the Air Force decided that it no longer needed light attack bombers, and the Attack designation category was officially eliminated. The designation of the two Invader types was changed to B-26B and B-26C respectively. There was no danger of confusion with the Martin B-26 Marauder, since that aircraft was by that time out of service.
The B-26B returned to Europe during the early years of the Cold War when the 38th Light Bomber Wing was assigned to USAFE. RB-26C reconnaissance aircraft also operated from bases in Germany. The RB-26C was unarmed and carried cameras and flash flares for night photography.
The B-26-equipped 3rd Bomb Group ended up being stationed in Japan with the occupation forces. After 1948, it was the only light bomber unit still operating with the USAF.
When the North Korean army invaded the South on June 25, 1950, the USAF was critically short of light bombers. In particular, the 1054 B-26s that were still officially in the USAF inventory were mostly in reserve units or in storage. The only B-26 group available to intervene in Korea was the 3rd Bombardment Group (8th and 13th Squadrons), which was based at Johnson Air Base in Japan. The 3rd BG was equipped primarily with the solid-nosed B-26B, but some transparent-nosed B-26Cs were also on strength. They were immediately thrown into action, initially flying reconnaissance sorties over the invading North Korean armies which were rapidly overrunning the South. With eight 0.50-inch machine guns in the nose and up to six 0.50-inch guns in the wings some of the B-26B bombers had 14 forward-firing guns. Their first mission was on June 28, 1950 when they attacked railroads supplying enemy forces. Their first attack against North Korea was on June 29, when they bombed the main airfield in Pyongyang.
To meet the emergency needs of the Korean War, the 452nd Bombardment Group (Light), an Air Force Reserve unit out of Long Beach, California, was called to active duty. It was made up of four full squadrons. While their pilots and crews underwent a refresher training course at George AFB in California, their planes were overhauled at Hill AFB. Three of the squadrons (728th, 719th and 730th) were based for a short while at Miho, Japan before going on to Pusan in South Korea. The fourth squadron (the 731st) was experienced at night flying and was attached to the 3rd Bomb Group, bringing the 3rd up to full strength. It flew its first combat mission on October 27, 1950. It was an attack on enemy supply dumps and troop buildups around the city of Chong-Ju.
During the Korean War, the two units were redesignated 3rd and 17th Bombardment Wing, respectively. The 17th Bomb Wing renumbered its squadrons as the 34th, 37th and 95th Bomb Squadrons. The two groups flew a total of 55,000 interdiction sorties throughout the war, at first in both day and night conditions and later almost exclusively at night. They were credited with the destruction of 38,500 enemy vehicles, 3700 railway cars, 406 locomotives and seven aircraft. During the Korean War, 226 B-26s were lost to all causes, including 56 to enemy action. One B-26 pilot, Captain John Wolmsley, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Invaders were also flown in the night reconnaissance role by the 162nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (12th TRS after February 1951). Operating as part of the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, they flew without any defensive armament usually at night to uncover targets and then acted as airborne controllers to vector other aircraft onto the targets that they had pinpointed. A few of the aircraft were fitted with APA-64 to locate enemy radar stations.
For Korean War combat operations, the Invader operated at considerably higher weights and with greater loads than had been achieved in World War 2. For example, the B-26B mounted eight nose guns and had three guns in each wing with a total of 4000 rounds; the four turret guns with 500 rpg, and an offensive load of 4000 pounds of bombs could be carried in the internal bay and fourteen 5-inch HVARs under the wings. Two 165-US gallon fuel tanks or two 110-gallon napalm tanks could replace some of the HVARs. The gross weight often reached 38,500 pounds. The B-26C had the same underwing loads as the B and carried the same two defensive turrets. The C could carry H2S radar on an installation in the fuselage between the nose wheel and the bomb bay. The use of radar made it possible for the B-26C to carry out effective bombing attacks at night.
The A-26 had the honor of flying the last combat sortie of the Korean War, when, 24 minutes before the cease fire went into effect on July 27, 1953 a B-26 of the 3rd BW dropped the last bombs of the Korean war.
Following the end of the Korean War, the A-26s began to be withdrawn from active service with TAC and replaced by jet-powered equipment such as the Martin B-57 and the Douglas B-66. The B-26 remained in service with the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard after having been retired by TAC.
When American forces first began to get involved in combat in Vietnam -- at first only as advisers -- B-26Bs and B-26Cs went into action in the counterinsurgency role with the Farm Gate detachment. Unfortunately, by this time the B-26s were nearing the end of their service lives and suffered from frequent wing failures, forcing them out of service. Those few that remained active were provided with a strengthening wing strap along the bottom of the wing spars to prevent catastrophic wing failures and prolong service life. The success of these modifications led the USAF to order a remanufactured version of the Invader from the On Mark Engineering Company of Van Nuys, California that would be specifically adapted to the counterinsurgency role. The designation B-26K was applied and the name Counter Invader was chosen.
The B-26K Counter Invaders were delivered to the USAF between June 1964 and April 1965. They served with the 603rd Special Operations Squadron based at Lockbourne AFB and Hurlburt AFB in the operational training role, and with the 606th Air Commando Squadron (later renamed the 609th Special Operations Squadron) from Nakhon Phanom Air Base in Thailand. During the mid-1960s, Thailand did not permit the basing of bombers on its territory, and so the aircraft were reassigned the old attack designation of A-26A, thus bringing the Invader full-circle. The A-26As flew night interdiction missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail until they were phased out of service in November of 1969, finally bringing the era of Invader combat service with the USAF to a close.
Several A-26's were supplied to Cuban revolutionaries during the Bay of Pigs. The ground attack version mounted a 75mm cannon in the nose for tank busting.
The last US military Invader, a VB-26B (44-34160) operated by the National Guard Bureau, was retired in 1972 and was donated to the National Air and Space Museum.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Douglas Aircraft
Primary Role: Light Attack Bomber
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-27 or -71 air-cooled radials, each rated at 2000 hp.
Crew: 3
Cost: $172,000
Dimensions:
Wingspan: 70 feet 0 inches
Length: 51 feet 3 inches
Height: 18 feet 6 inches
wing area: 540 square feet
Weights: 22,850 pounds empty, 27,600 pounds loaded, 35,000 pounds maximum
Performance :
Maximum speed: 355 mph at 15,000 feet.
Cruising speed: 284 mph.
Service ceiling: 22,100 feet.
Normal range: 1400 miles,
Maximum range: 3200 miles.
Armaments:
Two forward-firing 0.50-inch machine guns in nose.
Two 0.50-inch machine guns in remotely-controlled dorsal turret.
Two 0.50-inch machine guns in remotely-controlled ventral turret.
Internal bomb load of 4000 pounds - Maximum total bomb load of 6000 pounds.
Sure sounds like a familiar, repeating pattern, just substitute any turd world country and year and the story never changes.
Ok.. Bicycle Spanking Troupe?
I didn't know the Foxhole'ers were into....ahem. never mind.
Yeah.. I must've gotten the translation wrong.. yep that's the ticket.
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