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Daughter seeks deciphering re: 96 year old USMC Pilot
- Thread starter gobatp
- Start date
To that end, would recommend taking a look at this… probably a lot of folks on here would have interesting takes on questions to ask that might prompt interesting or more open ended answers, but it’s a pretty amazing thing to have someone that age with those experiences fortunately still with us. Awesome to be able to keep those stories for the future.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/oral-history-resources
My Pops’ career in the Corps was like that. Commissioned in ‘63, retired mid-‘80s. Flew F-4s, H-34s, a few varieties of the Scooter, and H-53Ds, plus getting instructor qualed in an assortment of utility hacks/trainers on shore duty.
Has your father considered requesting his records from the the National Archives?
Here is where he can request them: https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records
More info from the Marines: https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Agenci...ional-Correspondence-Section/Records-Request/
*Of note, there was a fire in 1973 that destroyed a considerable number of veteran records but those were almost all Army and Air Force records with very few Navy and Marine records being affected, so if the Marines kept his stuff like they should have (which is no guarantee) they should still exist.
Here is where he can request them: https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records
More info from the Marines: https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Agenci...ional-Correspondence-Section/Records-Request/
*Of note, there was a fire in 1973 that destroyed a considerable number of veteran records but those were almost all Army and Air Force records with very few Navy and Marine records being affected, so if the Marines kept his stuff like they should have (which is no guarantee) they should still exist.
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Definitely a different time. I'm guessing your pops had a lot of good stories
He did indeed. Always the fun/goofy/stupid stuff, like how they could get plenty of beer in Da Nang but for some reason there was never any ice cream, so they’d volunteer to make casevac runs out to the hospital ships because the Navy guys had really good ice cream and would (covertly) swap for the beer. @gobatp, my dad was probably there at the same time as yours, but he was an HMM H-34 guy, not HMH at the time. Or how much he loved flying the A-4 and didn’t mind the cramped cockpit since he was the shortest pilot in the squadron. Or when he put an H-53 in the water off the Philippines because the Line guys had gundecked inspecting the external tanks and the fuel filters abruptly clogged up...said they went from “Hey the filter bypass light is on” to swimming in about 45 seconds.
I didn’t know that he’d got his DFC at Khe Sanh for picking up a crashed Huey crew under fire, until I found the citation in his papers (“Oh, during Tet they were handing out medals left and right”). Or that when he flew station SAR at Iwakuni he had a reputation for being willing to go out on calls in weather that scared the shit out of everyone else; had to hear that from one of the old guy P’cola sim instructors who flew with him there.
He was one of the Lejeune water cases, caused the leukemia that finally got him, and I had to help my mom dig through and interpret a lot of his paperwork for the VA, so BTDT like the OP.
gobatp
Active Member
Hello all, I have pictures. Below is my avatar's original photo as well as some pictures of Marble Mountain Vietnam that Dad brought home in 1969. In the MM1 - a small building is circled on the the right - on the back of the photo is written that that is our "chick sale" (?)
I will see him Monday so will have lots to talk about.
I'll ask about Korea and what made him move from props (Spitfires right?) into helicopters. Maybe we can get into the adventure of crashing the CH-53. I believe I have seen a picture of what I think is that helicopter on it's side in rough terrain - just have not found it again - yet.
I know it may be asking too much, but, if you were me what would you ask him?
I'm grateful for this forum and to those with which to share all of this history and emotion.
I will see him Monday so will have lots to talk about.
I'll ask about Korea and what made him move from props (Spitfires right?) into helicopters. Maybe we can get into the adventure of crashing the CH-53. I believe I have seen a picture of what I think is that helicopter on it's side in rough terrain - just have not found it again - yet.
I know it may be asking too much, but, if you were me what would you ask him?
I'm grateful for this forum and to those with which to share all of this history and emotion.
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gobatp
Active Member
My dad was short too - loved flying lots of different planes - and had comical nicknames for them.
Sorry to hear about Lejeune for your dad. Mine said he flew in and out of there, being at Cherry Point, but didn't spend time there.
That’s the AD/A-1 Skyraider (the military changed aircraft designation systems in the 1960s), affectionately known in the Navy as the “Spad,” came into service right after WWII, was used heavily in Korea and Vietnam. TBH until your post I didn’t know the Marines flew them, just the Navy and Air Force. Your other posts indicate this is probably an AD-2Q, which was a modified version for electronic warfare (ie, jamming radar/radio transmissions). The EW operator sat in a compartment inside the body of the aircraft, with the single pilot up in the cockpit.
Funnily enough, I think my dad might have told me about that CH-53 crash in Vietnam you mentioned, if it happened in the 68-69 timeframe. Love to hear more about that to see if that’s so.
gobatp
Active Member
That's very cool. It did happen 68-69. I will find and post the award asap.
On Monday I will see dad. He brought his flight logs with him into Assisted Living last year so I can look for the crash in his logs and take a few pictures.
Thanks for this info; so I can sound more knowledgeable than I am. Dad is fourth from the left in the group photo.
On Monday I will see dad. He brought his flight logs with him into Assisted Living last year so I can look for the crash in his logs and take a few pictures.
Thanks for this info; so I can sound more knowledgeable than I am. Dad is fourth from the left in the group photo.
Lots of fun history to dig through here. The photo of the Skyraider we can find that it is an AD-4L, one of a set modified for cold weather operations in Korea. The guys kneeling are a bunch of bad ass fellows - the image is too blurry but I think at least one has a Navy Cross. These are are likely WWII and Korea hands. That particular aircraft is tougher to trace but it was probably assigned to VMA-211 during the war. The tail code isn’t fully visible but it is ?V. A little research shows us that it is either DV, LV, or MV. The first two were part of MAG-31, the last H&MS-32. All of these were at Cherry Point in the 50’s and our accuracy is improved by the jet in the background (tail code LF) of VMFT-20…stationed at Cherry Point!
In the late 1950’s the transition from prop to jets forced a large surplus of attack pilots who had to be redistributed around the fleet. Your dad was probably caught up in helicopter “draft” or maybe preferred that over observation planes. There is a very good chance that the HQ squadrons kept some AD’s around to keep guys current.
The Vietnam photos are great as well. Love seeing the old VMO bird dogs on the flight line.
On a side note I think my guess about your dad flying electronic warfare types is wrong. The personnel codes I can find don’t back me up. Thanks for sharing.
@Uncle Fester my old man had a similar post WWII experience, especially as a reservist. He flew Corsairs, AD’s, Fury’s, A-4’s and F-8’s plus the added joy of some time in a P-2 Neptune squadron!
Added note…the building circled in the Marble Mountain photo is a latrine! You can easily see the cut down 50 gal drums used for collection purposes. Maybe he hurriedly wrote “sh*t shack!”