221120 Two Stories

Some things a man never forgets.

I was on the flight deck of the Kitty Hawk one day when the planes came back from a bombing mission over Vietnam. An A-4 attack plane came in for a landing and it had one 250 pound bomb hanging under its wing that had not released during the mission. The pilot hit the deck hard and caught an arresting wire to stop the plane on deck. The jolting stop set the bomb loose and it shot down the angled deck and went over the end of the deck. We all gasped for breath counting the seconds and hoping it didn’t explode on the deck or under the ship. That would have made for a very bad day for us on the open flight deck and wouldn’t have helped the ship either.

Another day, we were launching aircraft for a mission over Vietnam when an A-6 attack bomber pulled up to the catapult. The A-6 had huge iron air brakes on its sides. The flight director used hand signals to the pilot and to a hydraulics mechanic there. He signaled the pilot to open the air brakes so the mechanic could ensure there were no hydraulic fluid leaks in the air brakes. The mechanic had to put his head inside the brakes to check for any leaking. He didn’t see any problem so he pulled his head out and gave the director a thumbs up to signal everything was okay. The director signaled the pilot to close the air brakes. As the pilot started to close the brakes, the mechanic evidently saw something and not thinking he stuck his head back in for a look. The brakes closed on his head and smashed it down to the width of a carton of cigarettes. The director signaled the pilot to open the brakes and the mechanic fell to the deck. He died a few hours later in the sick bay.

The two events above have never left my mind. I know that the guys fighting in the jungle there saw worse things than I did and I sympathize with the horrors they remember and will never forget.