In April of 1972, SEAL Lieutenant Tom Norris risked his life in an unprecedented ground rescue of two American airmen who were shot down behind enemy lines in North Vietnam, a feat for which he would be awarded the Medal of Honor--an award that represents the pinnacle of heroism and courage. Just six months later, Norris was sent on a dangerous special reconnaissance mission that would take his team deep into enemy territory. On that mission, they engaged a vastly superior force. In the running gun battle that ensued, Lieutenant Norris was severely wounded; a bullet entered his left eye and exited the left side of his head. SEAL Petty Officer Mike Thornton, under heavy fire, fought his way back onto a North Vietnamese beach to rescue his officer. This was the first time Tom and Mike had been on a combat mission together. Mike's act of courage and loyalty marks the only time in modern history that the Medal of Honor has been awarded in a combat action where one recipient received the Medal for saving the life of another. By Honor Bound is the story of Tom Norris and Mike Thornton, two living American heroes who grew up very differently, entered military service and the Navy SEAL teams for vastly different reasons, and were thrown together for a single combat mission--a mission that would define their lives from that day forward.

At the height of the Vietnam War, Lt. Colonel Gene Hambleton's memory was filled with highly classified information that the Soviets and North Vietnamese badly want. When Hambleton was shot down in the midst of North Vietnam's Easter Offensive, US forces placed the entire war on hold to save a single man hiding amongst 30,000 enemy troops and tanks. After other missions fail, Navy SEAL Thomas Norris and his Vietnamese guide, Nguyen Van Kiet, volunteer to go in on foot. Talty describes the riveting story of one of the greatest rescue missions in the history of the Special Forces. -- adapted from jacket

The history of a near-century of combat search and rescue, with an account of how the discipline was created and how it is administered—or neglected—today.

In 1968, during a forty hour period, the Air Force flew 189 sorties to rescue a Navy A-7 pilot, call sign Streetcar 304, in one of the largest rescue efforts of the Vietnam War. Before it ended, four pilots had ejected, seven planes were lost or heavily damaged, and, at one point, seven airmen awaited rescue behind enemy lines. Streetcar 304 now provides his personal narrative about the event.On his very first combat mission, Fields catapulted off the USS America, flew to Laos, dropped his bombs in the midst of an enemy trap and was shot down. Streetcar describes his last tearful farewell night at home with his wife, his tracer ridden bomb runs and a last moment ejection. Cringe when he describes being shot at while floating down in his parachute. Ride along in the cockpit of two rescue pilots as enemy tracers zoom upward and shoot each one down. Feel your heart skip a beat as Streetcar and one Air Force pilot separately evade numerous close encounters with Phatet Lao guerillas, are nearly killed time and again by friendly bombs, and deal with the stress of jungle animals and lack of sleep. Suffer with his wife when she receives word that he is down, fate unknown, and then describes her own forty hours of suspense. Relate to the pilots who are ordered to make one final rescue attempt. Shed a tear with Streetcar when one rescuer is captured by the enemy. Experience the final harrowing rescue attempt during which Fields is wounded by a friendly bomb.

On Easter Sunday, 2 April 1972, Lt Col Iceal "Gene" Hambleton was shot down just South of the demilitarized zone in Vietnam. Six days of massive effort to extract him with conventional air rescue forces failed. For five more days, he evaded the enemy on a course relayed to him in the disguise of golf course holes. His saga ended with a daring special forces rescue, but also with an enormous cost in men and material. These events, their cost, and the lessons learned from them are all detailed in this case study. The case study is built on official documents and publications, plus an oral history interview with Colonel Hambleton. The lessons learned range from individual preparation, to the requirement tor better aircraft capabilities, and the need for better decision making processes for the combat search and rescue mission. A review of current rescue concepts is undertaken and compared to the historical context of Hambleton's incident. Observations are made that mission and capability may be mismatched at present, and that conventional search and rescue task force operations may be prohibited by future battlefield environments. A review of both the book and file made about Colonel Hambleton's story is appended, as is a transcript of the above mentioned interview.

When his electronic warfare plane--call sign Bat 21--was shot down on 2 April 1972, fifty-three-year-old Air Force navigator Iceal “Gene” Hambleton parachuted into the middle of a North Vietnamese invasion force and set off the biggest and most controversial air rescue effort of the Vietnam War. Now, after twenty-five years of official secrecy, the story of that dangerous and costly rescue is revealed for the first time by a decorated Air Force pilot and Vietnam veteran. Involving personnel from all services, including the Coast Guard, the unorthodox rescue operation claimed the lives of eleven soldiers and airmen, destroyed or damaged several aircraft, and put hundreds of airmen, a secret commando unit, and a South Vietnamese infantry division at risk. The book also examines the thorny debates arising from an operation that balanced one man’s life against mounting U.S. and South Vietnamese casualties and material losses, the operation’s impact on one of the most critical battles of the war, and the role played by search and rescue as America disengaged from that war.

The Greatest Navy SEAL Stories Ever Told is the first book to place side by side extraordinary stories of SEALs who put their lives on the line, and then go out and do it again the next day. They illustrate the SEAL maxim, “The person who will not be defeated cannot be defeated.” SEALs in action - men of courage and ingenuity, from the rice paddies and hills of Vietnam to the plains and mountains of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan - appear in these pages. These stories cover the most significant overt and covert operations conducted since the U.S. Navy established Sea Land and Air Teams (SEALs) established in January 1962. The one common denominator in these chapters is the courage and ingenuity of those who proudly call themselves Navy SEALs. Sometimes SEALs and other participants in these stories recall differing versions of the same events, as recounted here for the reader to make his own judgments. So far as I know, no previously classified or sensitive information is revealed in these pages.

Jerry Thigpen's study on the history of the Combat Talon is the first effort to tell the story of this wonderfully capable machine. This weapons system has performed virtually every imaginable tactical event in the spectrum of conflict and by any measure is the most versatile C-130 derivative ever produced. First modified and sent to Southeast Asia (SEA) in 1966 to replace theater unconventional warfare (UW) assets that were limited in both lift capability and speed the Talon I quickly adapted to theater UW tasking including infiltration and resupply and psychological warfare operations into North Vietnam. After spending four years in SEA and maturing into a highly respected UW weapons system the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) chose the Combat Talon to lead the night low-level raid on the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay. Despite the outcome of the operation the Talon I cemented its reputation as the weapons system of choice for long-range clandestine operations. In the period following the Vietnam War United States Air Force (USAF) special operations gradually lost its political and financial support which was graphically demonstrated in the failed Desert One mission into Iran. Thanks to congressional supporters like Earl Hutto of Florida and Dan Daniel of Virginia funds for aircraft upgrades and military construction projects materialized to meet the ever-increasing threat to our nation. Under the leadership of such committed hard-driven officers as Brenci Uttaro Ferkes Meller and Thigpen the crew force became the most disciplined in our Air Force. It was capable of penetrating hostile airspace at night in a low-level mountainous environment covertly to execute any number of unconventional warfare missions.

Presenting a fascinating insider's view of U.S.A.F. special operations, this volume brings to life the critical contributions these forces have made to the exercise of air & space power. Focusing in particular on the period between the Korean War & the Indochina wars of 1950-1979, the accounts of numerous missions are profusely illustrated with photos & maps. Includes a discussion of AF operations in Europe during WWII, as well as profiles of Air Commandos who performed above & beyond the call of duty. Reflects on the need for financial & political support for restoration of the forces. Bibliography. Extensive photos & maps. Charts & tables.