Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
8:27 | Rick Goddard describes his arrival to Vietnam and the men in his squadron. Flying the F-100 allowed him to traverse wide swaths of the country in order to bring support to troops on the ground with the help of the Forward Air Controllers.
Keywords : Saigon Tuy Hoa Forward Air Controller (FAC) danger close air support night mission
Rick Goddard graduated from the University of Utah as the Vietnam War came into full swing. He’d always had an interest in aviation and the Air Force gave him the opportunity to start flying fighters, more specifically the F-100.
The Vietnam War had claimed a large number of casualties by 1968, and Rick Goddard knew that was where he needed to be instead of an assignment to Germany. He recalls the Escape and Evasion training he had to do before even reaching Vietnam.
Rick Goddard describes an event where at Forward Air Controller suffered a midair collision with a Fighter Pilot. The airspace over Vietnam was hectic and very dangerous.
Flying over the Ho Chi Minh Trail was a very dangerous. There was a large number of heavy guns on the ground that could fill the sky with tracers and could bring down jets going over 400 knots. Rick tells the stories of some of the men that were lost bombing the Trail, and those lost to accidents.
The protocol for getting awards was based on having your actions corroborated by officers, and Rick Goddard recalls some men not getting their full recognition for what they did in Vietnam.
Coming home is a memorable moment for all veterans, especially those coming back from Vietnam. Rick Goddard chose to make a career out of the Air Force when he returned and trained new pilots who were on their way to Vietnam.
In his Air Force career, he got to fly some incredible aircraft, the most advanced of their time. It wasn't a period of low stress, though, as the threat of nuclear war was looming. Rick Goddard describes Operation Looking Glass and the measures taken to train for the event of a nuclear attack.
Rick Goddard discusses the challenges we faced during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. At any moment, they might need to mobilize six planes with nuclear weapons.
