Category Archives: War and Remembrance

Christmas ’72 Stories: (4) Snako’s Two Night LB II Hat Trick

One of the motivators for Remembered Sky is that the writing about USS Midway and her airwing/squadrons is piecemeal. Some histories and stories barely mention Midway and some have completely left her out, particularly related to Linebacker II. This despite … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (2) Night time in the Red River Valley

Linebacker II from 18-29 December 1972 is commonly understood as the B-52 strikes over Hanoi that brought the NVN back to the negotiating table in Paris, leading to the end of the war, a treaty- The Paris Peace Accords – … Continue reading

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Christmas ’72 Stories: (1) The “Ornaments” from Ghosts of Christmas Past

With this post I begin a multi-story process centered on Linebacker II and Christmas 1972 as part of Remembered Sky’s overall reflection on the 40th anniversary of the end of that war and USS Midway/Carrier Air Wing Five’s war cruise in the … Continue reading

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ALPHA Strike (Part 3): Snako’s MiG Kill

My MIG Kill at Kien An Airfield Continuing excerpts from Not on My Watch, by Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly Despite the official story, I did ‘kill’ a MIG.  (And I have photographic evidence to back it up!)  There is, however, some … Continue reading

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ALPHA Strike (Part 2): Snako and Boris doing “Bidness” on same strike near Hanoi

Continuing excerpts from Not on My Watch, by Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly The following are some of my more memorable Alpha Strikes of the 1972-73 cruise. Remembered Sky Note: On 22 July 1972, Schoolboy launched a major 30 plus plane Alpha … Continue reading

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Smokey- For love of the game

This post was originally done for Memorial Day 2012. It includes a link to  the eulogy to Smokey, read into the Congressional Record by another of  my VA-56 pals, and another of Smokey’s great friends, Max Carey. I have brought it … Continue reading

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Schoolboy: Essence of Winning and Losing (6/6)

Just a little bit of repeat by way of summary to make sure a point or two gets highlighted: Twilight Launch by Jim Horsely, VA-115 pilot  On the “day after” – morning of 25 October – USS Midway launched strikes into … Continue reading

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Schoolboy – stories from the night of 24 October 1972 (2-5/6)

The stories of the A-6 accident on 24 October 1972 were originally posted on the Project White Horse FORUM beginning with Naval Aviation 100 Years – Part 1: A Bad Night for Schoolboy – A Self-designing, High Reliability Organization. These … Continue reading

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Stories of the Carrier – A Bad Night for Schoolboy (1/6)

To this day I can’t watch – actually hear – the scene in A Christmas Carol where Marley is about to appear to Ebinezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve without recalling that night. The junior officers of Attack Squadron 56 (VA-56) … Continue reading

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ALPHA Strike (Part 1)

On May 10th, three and a half years after Lyndon Johnson called a halt to the Rolling Thunder campaign, Richard Nixon authorized the full-scale resumption of bombing operations against North Vietnam.  the new operation was called Linebacker and the rules of … Continue reading

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