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Thank you for service, welcome home sir. There’s another group of guys that deserve our thanks that I don’t hear mentioned much are the PJ’s (para jumpers) that flew on the rescue helicopters and rode the penetrators down to help injured downed pilots. We owe so much to all vets but especially the Vietnam vets who never got the welcome home they deserved.

The fact that Politicians, Generals and U.S. ambassador Sullivan had SOG soldiers fight that War with one hand tied to your balls is infuriating to me. Thank all of you for your Service.

Thank you for the great interview with our old soldiers. My grandfather also served as a first lieutenant in the Signal Corp of ARVN. We never forget about RVN and countless soldiers and officers who did sacrifice their lives and youth to defend the Republic for 20 years. Vietnam war was lost due to the traitorous actions committed by American communists and demoncrats with the disgraceful propaganda of hippie media. Not by our brave soldiers!!!

my grandpa was in npk till 73 i believe. I live in fort walton beach so its crazy to hear it mentioned

Cam on cac chu chia se cau chuyen tuyet voi. Con la nguoi pilot moi o US. Con mung cong hoa Viet Nam

Hmm , interesting . BDA meant Bomb Damage Assessment for us army types who went out and did them . Pretty crazy stuff being done by the AF along the trail . We were briefed one time to go check some sensors along the trail down in lll Corp one time . We never went , and were never told why it was cancelled .

Thank you, Gary Green. We are restoring O-2A, 67-21416 to flying status.

MAJ CHARLES FREDERICK KUHLMANN

I’ve heard Larry white talk about Gary in our conversations ! He said he was one of the best FAC’s to fly… 6 pack Larry White and Kenneth Shoebox Carpenter… both of them flew that day Larry said. I’d love to speak to Garry one day

I knew quite a few FAC pilots at Pleiku because my friend ,Capt. Landron was a FAC pilot with us. I was an A1 Skyraider Crew Chief with the 6th SOS and a member of the Base AR Team and Crash Recovery and can verify with no doubt that these aircrafts were "armed" with Honor and Valor rockets each time they went out. To you 02-A pilots my sincere admiration , respect and eternal brotherhood. There are not enough medals in Washington to pin you all.

Does Mr. Locher give interviews? I have interviewed quite a few military pilots since high school and I admire the courage and determination each had. I would love to interview Mr. Locher. Although, who am I to ask someone who has interviews requested of him from something he might want to forget. I'll just dream and be inspired. I love working with veterans and it's always amazing that I just listen and sit amazed at their strengths. Thank you for your service and God bless you Mr. Locher.

When i was at NKP, a few airmen with “non-essential” day jobs earned extra money by working at night as contractor flare kickers on 123s.

Welcome home and thanks for your service. These stories bring back so many memories that i can relate to regarding recruiter lies, being assigned to a job i hated, being reassigned to another foreign base i did not want to go to when i left NKP, etc. I used to gather gunny sacks full of rice bugs that were attracted to the lights used for plane maintenance at night and sell them downtown. You had to be careful as they could pinch you through the sides of the sacks. They actually tasted ok once they were cooked as long as you salted them.

Welcome home and thank you for your service.

We used to joke that it took a whole crew of Thai contractor personnel to pick up and lay a single panel of PSP for the runway and taxiways, but it only took one to sneak on base at night to steal a panel and carry it through the jungle to use as walls for their houses.

👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏼🎖🎖

I have the honor and privilege to call Kenny Fields my friend today. All thanks to the efforts made by the Sandy’s, Jolly’s, Air Force, and Navy Pilots talked about here and in Kenny’s book “Rescue of Streetcar 304”. Thank you for this wonderful video detailing Mr. Merrett’s experiences in the rescue operation. What song are you playing at the end of the video?

Great interview Gary, knew some Coveys ( Randy Fultz)...I was a Nail FAC out of NKP..Nail13, all missions over the Trail....talking about AAA, I was first one to get hosed with 85mm, air burst same size as the O-2...enjoyed your words and God Bless.

What was the difference between SOG AND special forces?

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

Very informative

The 'mole'.. was seen in an NVA awards ceremony..confirmed by US personnel who had 'worked' with him at Saigon headquarers..

An extraordinary honorable man, serving SOG, MAC-V . and those "state named teams" matched him. I am so grateful.

This is EPIC 🇺🇸🫡

Thank you Tom. You are a true warrior. God Bless. John, MSgt, USAF Retired

I had a nextdoor neighbor who was from Romania and she commented one time about how misleading/wrong our media was. I asked her what she meant. She told me about an incident that happened in Romania back in the early 90's and CNN said reported here than "something" happened. She said "John i was home when that incident happened, it was not like that at all" That stuck with me for years and then Trump comes along and blows up every media source and useless politician there is. Drain the swamp.

Another interview that I haven’t see. Good job. I think u know more about what went on than a lot of the pilots. People forget a lot over time. But then when u recall the situation it’s easy to breakdown right on the spot Thank u

I was crew cheif with the 119 AHC, I'm certain I was on the insert of the SOG team that day,we left DakTo in the morning , the insert was uneventful,but later that afternoon we had to go back the team was in big trouble. I was flying chase up high and saw Officer Wolfkeil go in, I also wondered 45 years what had happened that day. Macy was the gunner but I forgot the pilots names. It was the most scared I have ever experienced.Laos was always foreboding.

Thank you for sharing with us Gary, and Welcome Home Sir 🇺🇲

I was a CH46 crew chief in the 90s and my dad flew the 0-2 in the 70s. Thanks for sharing your story. -Boerne TX

This is brilliant. I hope Gary comes to SOAR this year. Would love to shake his hand.

Welcome home belatedly to you FAC and all the brave Vietnam veterans WHOOAH US army

I hadn't heard about his first missions before, just Tailwind, great stories!

Gary is my neighbor. Fine pilot and a great guy.

แถวบ้านผมเลย นครปฐม

The footprint stories are legendary!

The things we do, so others may live!

Any of you read "Flying Through Midnight"? Written by John Halliday, a C-123 Candle pilot at NKP...some great stories of is year there. Good read.

Thanks very much. USAF SS Semper Vigilant. It was like NASA, there was no star wars yet.

Lt. Radcliffe had a sucking chest wound and the SF MEDIC (an acquaintance of mine) had a foot wound. He became an Anthropology Anthropology

We had a Fuck Up (Friendly Fire Incident) made Gun Run on indigenous folks ,

I was about 6 clicks out of Duc Lap on Forward Firebase. I was with A-Troop 7/17 Air Cav (Air Rifle Plt. 11B's:: I was a 91,B. Medic the last week of August 1968.. What a Light Show it was,, Blue Tracers up and Red/Orange down Will write more in another Comment. I lost about a Thousand words a few minutes

I remember when the 66 ARS came to Nellis in 1990, I was a new Parachute Survival Equipment Airman with the 57 EMS. That was my first introduction to the PJs and their mission and the Jolly Green Footprints. I was so impressed with that Squadron, those where some memorable years. Sad that I recently heard they shutdown the 66th.

I've heard several pilots verify that Lodge did not want to risk being held hostage due to his Intel knowledge. He said he would burn in, intentionally.

MSgt Phil Kivett, my old NCOIC at Mather AFB, wrote a book about TFA, Igloo White, Muscle Shoals, and the electronic war. Phil later became an attorney in California.

The "hoochie min" trail. loool Perfect!

Thanks for posting this.

20450, TFA (ISC), 1971-1972

As the media used to say..."The Super Secret CIA Base 380 miles NNE of Bangkok." LOL

Steve, thank you for this outstanding interview. I was a young AF Lt at TFA in 1972, working in what you called the war room, watching and analyzing the dots on the computer screens to follow infiltration down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We would call our findings to the pilots in the “balcony” above us who would let the operations know what we thought was happening and call in air strikes. I remember working all night on SAR missions helping analyze NVA activity on the ground in the areas around a downed pilot. When we got off at 8:00 AM one morning and were walking back to the main part of the base I remember watching the helicopters and escorts fly in from Laos with the pilot whose rescue we had had a small part in. That was a great feeling. I also remember the sound of the B-52 strikes in Laos, just across the river. And when we would go into the town of Nakhon Phanom we would eat at a restaurant that overlooked the Mekong River into Laos. The karst mountains were so rugged and so beautiful. Steve mentioned a green door, and it seemed he was speaking of the 67th at Yokota in Japan. At TFA we also had a green door we were not allowed to go into. We had no idea what was in there or what they did because we all had Secret clearances. A week before I rotated home they escorted me through that door, read me in to a Top Secret clearance and told me where I was going, back in the States. When I got to my new assignment it was the first time I learned we had photo and signals intelligence satellites. 😮 I have had a hard time finding books and articles telling the story of TFA, and this is the first interview I have heard. I learned a lot from it and it brought back old memories. Thanks, Steve for a great interview.