USAAF/USAF Triple Ace

September 30, 2019, 05:32 PM

I cant help but wonder if Robin Olds and Curtis Lemay had been given free rein to prosecute the air war, that Vietnam might have become the 51st state.

September 30, 2019, 05:36 PM

RHINOWSO

quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
peripherally related, a few weeks back I was staying at Luke AFB taking an AF Search and Rescue Course (learning Search Theory), and I was staying in base housing on Bong Avenue. My first pick up driver (a Captain) was commenting on how it was funny to have a street named Bong on a military installation.

I told him it was named after a WW2 pilot who initially trained at Luke before going to the Pacific and he was credited with 40 kills

he said he learned something new every day - and it sucked that it had to come from a civilian

Let's be honest, Major Bong was an Army Air Corp pilot, not a USAF puke

September 30, 2019, 06:41 PM

alreadydead

My favorite part of "Fighter Pilot" was when he changed the work hours of all the support personnel to better aid the warfighters.

There is a great museum in Superior Wisconsin, for Major Bong, another great American hero.

September 30, 2019, 06:47 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
I cant help but wonder if Robin Olds and Curtis Lemay had been given free rein to prosecute the air war, that Vietnam might have become the 51st state

^^^^^^^^
Lemay always worried me, as he seemed to lean towards a nuclear option too readily. If I recall correctly he thought we could win a nuclear war.

October 01, 2019, 09:08 AM

YooperSigs

Lemay was pro nuke. But I think if given a free hand in targeting areas that were hands off to him could have made a big difference in the war.
Operation Meetinghouse. But Hanoi.

October 02, 2019, 02:00 PM

18DAI

General Olds should have had a wheel barrow to carry his balls around in. Read about his flying lead on the 8th Wings low level attack on the Thai Nguyen Steel mills.

Olds F4 was hit multiple times on the run in to the target. Including a "piece of shrapnel the size of his hand that penetrated the windscreen and thumped on the floor of the cockpit."

Brave warrior and leader. R.I.P. Wish we had a few like him in charge today. Regards 18DAI