“It seemed all the muscles in my body”: Details in this section are drawn from the unpublished Hambleton manuscript, pp. 128–33.
Finally, Norris signaled Kiet that they would head back: Interview with Norris (DW).
Hambleton’s progress was pitiful: The details in this section are drawn from the unpublished Hambleton manuscript, pp. 133–38.
28. “SOME KIND OF RESCUE”
“You want what?”: Norris and Thornton, By Honor Bound, p. 52.
“You goddamn dummy”: Interview with Hambleton (DW).
“This guy is losing it”: Ibid.
Norris spent the afternoon getting ready: The incident with the reporters is told in Norris and Thornton, By Honor Bound, beginning on p. 52.
“They said it was too dangerous”: Ibid., p. 53.
“They had lost their fighting spirit”: Interview with Kiet (DW).
“No, Dai Uy,I’m going with you”: Interview with Norris (DW).
Hambleton had been asleep for hours: The details in this section are drawn from the unpublished Hambleton manuscript, pp. 139–42.
His weight was down to 125 pounds: “Training, Equipment Paid Off,” Las Vegas Sun, April 26, 1972.
29. THE SAMPAN
After a few hours of agonizingly slow progress: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, pp. 143–45.
“It was like pulling into a bus station”: Norris and Thornton, By Honor Bound, p. 60.
“There can’t be a hill there”: This account is from the unpublished Hambleton manuscript, pp. 145–50.
“the most beautiful thing he had ever seen”: Dwight Jon Zimmerman and John D. Gresham, Beyond Hell and Back: How America’s Special Operations Forces Became the World’s Greatest Fighting Unit (New York: St. Martin’s, 2007), Kindle location 1711.
30. JOURNEY’S END
“It was like diving to the bottom of the sea”: Interview with Kiet (DW).
“I also told them that we were going to need some air cover”: Norris and Thornton, By Honor Bound, p. 62.
a hoarse shout from the riverbank: Interview with Kiet (DW).
Three armed North Vietnamese soldiers: Interview with Kiet, Operation Report, Camp Pendleton, July 13, 1975.
“It sent chills up my spine”: Nguyen Van Kiet in “Just One Man.”
“the greatest pair of eyes of anyone I know”: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, p. 153.
“starting to moan and babble”: Norris and Thornton, By Honor Bound, p. 64.
“We really need some air support”: Ibid., p. 65.
“Where are we?”: Interview with Hambleton (DW).
“They felt like two chunks of ice”: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, p. 158.
“What the hell have you gotten me into?”: Interview with Hambleton (DW).
“I was overcome with a flood of emotions”: Undated clipping, Hambleton family archives.
“Kindness needs no words in a time like that”: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, p. 158.
31. “LAY THAT MAN DOWN”
“It was a hell of a price to pay for one life”: “Hell of a Price to Pay,” New York Times, April 22, 1972.
“Fifteen or 20 in all swarmed over me”: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, p. 162.
“I was again given the royal treatment”: The account in this section is drawn from ibid., p. 163.
“Well, I’m going over”: This and subsequent quotations in this section are drawn from an interview with Major Gerald Bauknight, October 1994 (DW).
“Hang in there, Gene”: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, p. 173.
“Gwen Hambleton speaking”: Anderson, BAT-21, p. 209.
“We’ve just received a message”: Ibid.
“I’ve had some pretty sensitive jobs”: Undated newspaper clipping, Hambleton family archives.
“We’re the O-2s and the FAC boys”: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, p. 167.
“I had always bragged I wasn’t the emotional type”: Ibid.
“But for joy”: Ibid., p. 173.
“I’m no believer in ESP”: Ibid.
“This episode absolutely stunned the rescue community”: Interview with Whitcomb (ST).
“I am an Air Force man”: Unpublished Hambleton manuscript, p. 174. The remaining quotations in this section are from the same source, pp. 174–77.
A photographer for the local paper: The photos are in the Hambleton family archives.
“She suffered worse than I did”: Interview with Hambleton (DW).
32. BEYOND A NORMAL CALL OF DUTY
“RESCUED U.S. NAVIGATOR BARELY ESCAPED N. VIETS”: Arizona Daily Star, April 21, 1972.
“11 DAYS BEHIND ENEMY LINES”: Undated clipping, Hambleton family archives.
“brought jubilation to headquarters officers”: Undated clipping from the Los Angeles Times news service, Hambleton family archives.
“It’s kind of embarrassing, actually”: Sawadee Flyer (Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base), May 13, 1972.
“how great it was”: “Rossville Native Survives War Ordeal,” Champaign Urbana News Gazette, April 21, 1972.
“He thought enough of this country to fight for it”: Undated clipping, Hambleton family archives.
“For some reason,” wrote one columnist: Undated clipping, Hambleton family archives.
“fantastic . . . miraculous”: Undated clipping, Hambleton family archives.
“He wasn’t a bragger”: Interview with Dennis Armstrong (ST).
“I was really shocked”: Letter to Hambleton from Captain James Vornberg, Hambleton family archives.
“SOME PEOPLE WILL DO ANYTHING”: The telegram is in the Hambleton family archives.
“You never know how strong you are”: Wolf, “Bat 21: Down Near the DMZ.”
“I always thought it was Gene’s way”: Interview with Sharon Fitzpatrick (ST).
“I certainly admire the man”: Interview with Hambleton (DW).
The first 25,000 copies sold out: William Anderson, “Selling a Military Picture to Hollywood,” Retired Officer Magazine, August 1988.
“The world is hungry for heroes”: Undated clipping marked “Calif. Paper,” Hambleton family archive.
“He wouldn’t have gotten out of there”: Interview with Norris (DW).
“Well, I’m a son of a . . . you’re black!”: Anderson, BAT-21, p. 216.
“Charlton Heston, Dean Martin, and The Rockford Files’ James Garner”: Unidentified clipping dated February 18, 1981, Hambleton family archive.
“Gene would have no part of that”: Interview with Mary Ann Anderson (ST).
“He was a better me than me”: Hambleton radio interview with Roy Leonard, undated, Hambleton family archive.
“Are you still in touch with Captain Bartholomew?”: Ibid.
“I think I’m pretty much the person”: Ibid.
Four years after he returned: Interview with Mary Ann Anderson (ST).
he would hear a little plink sound: Buzz Busboom interview with Hambleton.
“This was our only son”: Letter to Hambleton from Syble Alley, Hambleton family archive.
Hayden Chapman’s sister Beth was returning home: This account is drawn from interviews with Chapman’s sisters Beth, Carol, and Jean and his nephew Brad Huffman (ST).
“Please keep in touch if there is ever anything”: Letter from Hambleton to Barbara Serex, September 21, 1986, Hambleton family archive.
“I have been all over the country”: Undated newspaper clipping, Hambleton family archive.
“We cannot accept the fact that our son is dead”: Letter from Mrs. Alley to Hambleton, Hambleton family archive.
“He was always very much embarrassed”: Interview with Dennis Armstrong (ST).
33. THE RETURNS
“You are murderers!”: Gaiduk, The Soviet Union and the Vietnam War, p. 239.
“For all the bombast and rudeness”: Ibid.
“A FIRST STEP, BUT A MAJOR STRIDE”: New York Times, May 27, 1972.
“I was depressed, I was hallucinating�
�: Interview with Astorga (ST).
“People didn’t understand”: Ibid.
“It was worth it”: Ibid.
After marching for days: The details in this section are drawn from an interview with Henderson (ST).
34. “AS COMRADES”
“She fought for every day”: Interview with Mary Ann Anderson (ST).
“He told me he had a spot on his lung”: Interview with Pam Forrest (ST).
“Honey, I do love you and always have”: The card is in the Hambleton family archive.
“I knew when she died, he wouldn’t make it a year”: Interview with Dennis Armstrong (ST).
“BAT 21 HAS BEEN RESCUED”: Photo, Hambleton family archive.
“My dad had the perfect family”: Interview with Tim Alley (ST).
“He was this hero I could never live up to”: These quotations—and the account of Alley’s trip to Hawaii and the wake—are from an interview with Tim Alley (ST).
“The whole side of his head was completely gone”: Interview with Norris and Thornton, Academy of Achievement.
“Mike, there’s no way he’s gonna make it”: Ibid.
“We didn’t think we were gonna save you”: Ibid.
“My injury”: Ibid.
“conspicuous gallantry”: Medal of Honor citation.
“I don’t feel that I was anybody special”: Interview with Norris and Thornton, Academy of Achievement.
“I did not want anyone to know”: This account is from an interview with Kiet (DW).
“Due to Petty Officer Kiet’s coolness”: Navy Cross citation.
“It’s not the value of one life”: Nguyen Van Kiet in “Just One Man.”
“I couldn’t believe this guy”: Norris and Thornton, By Honor Bound, p. 70.
APPENDIX B. WALKER AND POTTS
Larry Potts’s road to the war was rougher: Potts’s story is drawn from interviews with Butch Hammond, Trent Wicks, Gus Evans, Rod Curry, and a nephew of the Marine officer also named Larry Potts (ST).
“He was one of the most well-respected young men”: Interview with Gus Evans, June 2017 (ST).
Bruce Walker’s past could hardly have been more different: Walker’s story is drawn from an interview with Martha Lorin Walker (ST) and from her play Did I Say Goodbye.
Some of his fellow soldiers believe that Potts: Interview with Gray (DW).
Index
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Abilene golf course, 157
Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Illinois, 248
Abrams, Creighton
downed airmen and, 77, 110
Marshall/Andersen rescue attempt and, 132
Nixon and, 108–9, 110
stopping air rescues of Hambleton/Clark, xvi, 123, 140, 149
Vietnam War and, 77, 108–9
Ai Tu Combat Base, 82, 84, 142
Alley, Jim
background/cars and, 112, 113, 248, 249–50
cameraman/Vietnam, 112–14
death premonition/talking about and, 113–14
father after Jim’s death, 237–38, 248
flight to Da Nang and, 111–12
Hambleton mission/death and, 119, 122
Hambleton’s talks and, 239
mother correspondence/Hambleton, 240–41
mother/Jim’s remains, 250
mother’s illness and, 248
parents, 112, 113, 237–38, 248
parents adopting child and, 113, 248
parents after son’s disappearance, 240–41
parents receiving death notification, 237–38
refusing of Hambleton mission and, 115–16
remains returned/funeral, 248–50
schedule for returning to States, 115, 116, 118
See also Hambleton, Gene rescue Jolly Green 67
Alley, Tim
brother’s remains/funeral and, 248, 249–50
childhood/adult career, 248–49
parents’ promise to Jim and, 248, 249
Andersen, Andy
description/traits, 125, 131
Hambleton rescue possibilities and, 126, 130–31
issues with MACV/rescue and, 143
Recovery Studies Division and, 125
success and, 125, 137, 147
Andersen, Andy and Clark/Hambleton rescue missions
after rescue, 224–25
air strikes and, 184
escape from hospital, 186
Marshall and, 131–32, 186
Norris meeting, 140–42
Norris progress report and, 163
NVA hitting bunker area/injury and, 185–86, 224
ordered out of the Hambleton mission, 186
questioning Norris (Clark mission), 175, 177–78
tactical leader/characteristics needed, 133–34
threat to shoot anyone abandoning post, 148–49, 185
traveling to position, 147
Zerbe and, 143, 224
See also Clark, Mark rescue “ground” mission; Hambleton, Gene rescue/“ground” mission
Anderson, Mary Ann, 9–10, 247
Anderson, William, 234–35
Andrews Air Force Base, 18, 118
Ap Bia Mountain, 78
Apollo program/crews, 8, 14
Arizona Daily Star, 233
Armstrong, Dennis, 233, 241, 248
Arnold, Hap, 10
Astorga, José
background/helicopter roles, 48
description/traits, 48
Hambleton rescue and, 48–49, 51, 52–54
Huey shootdown/injury and, 52–54
Astorga, José post-shootdown
crewmates/families and, 245
on Hambleton rescue, 245
Henderson and, 182
life in United States, 244–45
physical/mental condition and, 182, 245
as POW, 54–60, 106, 182, 244
PTSD and, 245
atomic bomb, 11
Avery, Allen, 122
B
Bartholomew, Captain (fictional character), 235, 236
BAT-21 (book/Anderson), 234–35
Bat-21 (movie), 235–37
Battle of Hamburger Hill, 78
after Hambleton’s rescue, 224, 225
Andersen’s rescue mission and, 143
Zerbe and, 143, 224
Bloomington Pantagraph, 232
“blowtorch jockeys,” 72
Boli, Fred
after failed rescue attempt, 132
as on-scene commander (Hambleton mission), 119, 120, 121, 122
supplies for Hambleton and, 119
See also Hambleton, Gene rescue Jolly Green 67
Bolte, Wayne
death, 37–38
description/traits, 29
SAM mission and, 29, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37–38
“Bravo” meaning, 39
Brezhnev, Leonid
meeting with Nixon/Kissinger, 242–43
other leaders and, 146–47
US relations, 45, 107, 146, 242–43
Vietnam War, 45, 107
bridge at Dong Ha/Ripley, 83, 166
Brinson, Doug
Alley/death talk and, 113–14
background, 113
Hambleton rescue and, 113, 115, 119
See also Hambleton, Gene rescue Jolly Green 67
Brookbank, David
Easter Offensive vs. no-fire zone, 82–85, 106
position, 82
C
Call, John Henry, 122
Can, Ta Van/wife, 270
Carley, John, 77–78
Carson, Johnny, 101
CBS Evening News, 31
Chapman, Carol, 7, 238–39
Chapman, Peter (“Hayden”), II
aborted infantrymen rescue and, 117–18
Beth, Brad, Julie, Carol and, 238–39
family/sisters learning of death, 238–39
&nb
sp; Hambleton mission/death and, 117, 118, 121, 122
Hambleton on, 239
Hambleton’s talks and, 239
Harris and, 117, 188
pilot training/becoming military pilot, 8
schedule for returning to States, 118
“Special Air Mission” and, 118
See also Hambleton, Gene rescue Jolly Green 67
Chapman, Peter (“Hayden”), II, childhood
flying/planes and, 7, 117
location, 7
sisters and, 7
Cherry, Don, 156
China and Vietnam War
communications/information and, 146
Easter Offensive and, 146
Soviet Union and, 45
United States relations and, 107, 146
violating peace accords, 244
Cigli Air Base, Turkey, 14–15
Clark Air Base, Philippines, 227
Clark, Mark