Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. James ‘Russ’ McCarthy wants the Pentagon to recognize the...
A half-century ago, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. James “Russ” McCarthy was a part of the nation’s last big military action of the Vietnam War — Operation Linebacker II.
The tankers had been doing that on occasion for years but faced less-sophisticated surface-to-air missiles than those loosed in Linebacker II. McCarthy remembers flying a mission over Laos a few months before Linebacker II so he wouldn’t stumble into an officers club party for a tanker crew that had rescued a damaged plane over the north earlier in the day.Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Russ McCarthy leads a presentation reflecting on the 50th anniversary of Linebacker II at Blue Skies of Texas retirement community in San Antonio, on Tuesday, Dec. 14.As President Richard M.
Complicating matters, any plane damaged by the thicket of surface-to-air missiles or MiGs that threatened bomber and fighter crews on every mission, occasionally crippling the aircraft and forcing the airmen to bail out over the north, would need to be quickly refueled. Fourteen crewmen were declared dead, with another 14 listed as missing in action over the north and 33 taken prisoner, according to “Linebacker II — A View From the Rock,” by McCarthy and Lt. Col. George B. Allison. An additional 31 crewmen bailed out over Laos and Thailand, with 24 rescued. One who didn’t eject was listed as MIA in Laos.
The crew photographed the downtown area while evading surface-to-air missiles to ensure that all the POW camps were clearly identified. Along the way, they also uncovered other critical targets that strategic bombers and tactical aircraft would later hit.Capitalizing on the new crop of prisoners taken from downed bombers and fighters, the north used the captured airmen in triumphant propaganda footage.
“Bob Gee, it’s forever embedded in your mind — mine too,” replied Certain, a parish priest in Episcopal churches who became friends with former President Gerald R. Ford and helped plan and officiate his funeral in Michigan.The unsung heroes of Vietnam’s air war was among the topics of a recent Rotary Club luncheon at Blue Skies West, a retirement community just outside San Antonio. Among those on hand were McCarthy and Certain, retired Lt. Gens. Pat Caruana, Mike McGinty and Tom Keck, and Lt.
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