Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
6:39 | It began with a call on a field telephone and an alarm horn. Pilots and ground crews would scramble to get the planes armed and into the air. Pilot John Weinig had three radios in his A-1 Skyraider and he could communicate directly with ground forces on one of them. If the mission was search and rescue, he would supply protection to the helicopters which performed the rescue.
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John Weinig enlisted in the Air Force ahead of the draft so he could choose his branch. After a year of training he was assigned to fly the A-1 Skyraider, a prop plane that was perfect for close ground support and that could carry a lot of varied ordnance. Then it was three different survival schools to prepare for Vietnam.
John Weinig flew the A-1 Skyraider out of Pleiku in the central highlands of Vietnam. The missions were either close support for units on the ground or search and rescue missions. They were in the air every day, even if just waiting for a call.
The engine in the A-1 Skyraider was a beast, a huge piston engine with gallons of oil and a one ton propeller. Absent enemy fire, it was the most likely source of problems for pilot John Weinig. He praises his ground crews, dedicated men who kept the plane armed and flying. On search and rescue missions, he supported helicopters which did the actual rescue. One model could outrun his prop plane. Now that's embarrassing.
Pilot John Weinig didn't venture off base very much in Vietnam. When he moved to Da Nang, he would go with some buddies to China Beach sometimes and they always took along a soldier with an M-16 to ride shotgun. He went through a few rocket attacks and says you just got as low as you could as fast as you could.
Pilot John Weinig had tremendous respect for the Special Forces and relished the opportunity to provide air support to them. On one mission, a team was surrounded in rough mountainous terrain. He followed a Forward Air Controller down to the site and used up all his ammunition keeping the stranded team safe. When it came time to leave, the FAC was nowhere to be found and he didn't know the way out. He said a prayer and pulled on the stick.
A-1 Skyraider pilot John Weinig dropped a lot of napalm in Vietnam. It was a fearsome and effective weapon. He describes one close air support mission for an Australian commander where they used constant communication to coordinate the drop as close as possible.
He was hit by ground fire eight times in Vietnam, but A-1 Skyraider pilot John Weinig managed to avoid any serious problems. He did have one problem related to his diet which earned him an unprintable nickname. And then there was that incident when he started receiving ground fire from both sides and froze.
What was the most difficult thing about flying combat missions in Vietnam? According to A-1 Skyraider pilot John Weinig, it was returning home and getting spit on in San Francisco. He was so proud and then to have to face that. He is grateful that things have changed.
