Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:04 | It was an elite outfit of Air Force pilots working for the CIA in Laos. Shortly after his checkout to join the clandestine effort, Charles White, Jr. heard over the radio that a crew had been forced down by a surface to air missile and had to bail out. It was his friends Guy Miller and Glen Fleming. One of them was hanging from his chute a thousand feet up at the top of a cliff.
Pilot Charles White, Jr. was at the top of his class and wanted to go to Vietnam, but was devastated when the Air Force decided there were enough fighter pilots and made a Forward Air Controller out of him. Based out of Thailand and flying over Laos, he targeted movement on the Ho Chi Minh Trail for air strikes.
Forward Air Controller Charles White, Jr. flew both day and night missions over Laos. The night missions required a two man crew with the man in the right seat using a Starlight scope, an early night vision system. He describes one memorable mission when he was in the right seat.
Forward Air Controller Charles White, Jr. describes a heart wrenching rescue mission that ended when the enemy found the downed airmen. It was dangerous for the FAC's, too, and he was shot at many times. While supporting Laotian ground troops, there were no fighter aircraft available so he attacked in his spotter plane with white phosphorus "Willy Pete" marker rounds.
Pilot Charles White, Jr. had a bounty put on his head for being so successful as a Forward Air Controller. He details the risky job flying low over Laos in a small plane, spotting and marking targets. He remembers one hit that went right down a cave shaft and blew up an entire hilltop.
Lam Son 719 was an ill-fated operation that involved using South Vietnamese ground troops in an incursion into Laos. Forward Air Controller Charles White, Jr. describes the fiasco and how he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in Desert Rat, a twin operation nearby.
Pilot Charles White, Jr. was first on the scene during the rescue operation when one of his fellow Air Controllers in a small plane collided with a B-57 bomber. He recalls that mission and another when an F-4 went down due to pilot error. Accidents and fratricide account for a great percentage of casualties in every war, he says.
Pilot Charles White, Jr. finally got his chance in a fighter when he transferred to an A-1 Skyraider unit. After a thrilling, nearly disastrous checkout flight, he began flying missions in the massive beast of a fighter plane, and was on hand when a film crew documented the 1st Special Operations Squadron.
Pilot Charles White, Jr. tells how he got the call sign "Snip," and how he was able to find and support imperiled ground troops, even when his flight leader could not. He enjoyed escorting helicopters but one of those flights gave him big trouble when he rolled in to the target and an aileron on his A-1 Skyraider malfunctioned.
A-1 Skyraider pilot Charles White, Jr. worked several search and rescue operations, and in most, the pilot was confirmed dead and he couldn't help. However, his friend LLoyd Duncan survived when he was shot down over Laos. He was dragged to safety by his Laotian crew mate and nearly lost a leg, but he made it home.
Pilot Charles White, Jr. describes a complex operation designed to free POW's in North Vietnam that failed. The prisoners were gone and another mission was planned for the Hanoi Hilton. He was slated for the possibly suicidal flight, but the go-ahead was never given, so he survived to become an instructor and pioneer the use of the internet in pilot training.
