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Not On My Watch
by Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly Prologue This is a memoir of my personal experiences in Naval (carrier) Aviation and my short but intense involvement in the Air War over Vietnam. Admittedly my perspective is somewhat limited. My tours were at the end of the war with North Vietnam, and I was near the bottom of the Navy’s chain-of-command. I was, however, at the ‘pointy end of the spear’ as part of a medium attack squadron during two deployments of the aircraft carrier, USS MIDWAY from 1971 to 1973. (The second cruise) When the war abruptly heated up in early ’72, we [...]
The “War and Remembrance” Thread
This is a quick follow on description of plans for the “war and remembrance” thread that began with Air War Vietnam: Remembrance at 40 Years – All Days Come From One Day and continued with Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part #1 – Sandy Superb, and Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part # 2 – Wolf FAC. It’s main purpose is as a lead-in and an intro to upcoming excerpts from Dave Snako Kelly’s book, Not On My Watch. As Midway departed earlier than expected in April ’72, Dave would begin his second war cruise, eventually accumulating over 200 combat missions in the [...]
Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines: Heroes & Relics
Believe that some good thing is possible, find the principle that makes it so, put the principle into practice, there you have it - Freedom Richard Bach As related in the previous two posts, Remembered Sky certainly flows from my own personal experiences with aviation, but its future depends heavily upon the people either in or related to those stories to expand the storyline on the basis and through their own perception, and then on relating their further adventures. In a sense the site is a series of branches and sequels, but it requires firm grounding in the history [...]
Story Telling
Richard Bach -“Paradise is a personal thing.” Once taken on, flying runs deeply and permanently in one’s blood, and I find that since I can’t “do” anymore, I need to remember and to “tell” and have some fun doing it. I’ve been working on this notion since before opening the Project White Horse website and thinking about the possibility of a book. Also as you know I have occasionally posted pieces on the FORUM, particularly in light of Memorial Day, Veterans Day, 4th of July, and then throughout 2011 – Naval Aviation’s 100 year anniversary. There were also posts in regard [...]
Remembered Sky: Gift of Wings
Throughout our lives we receive multiple gifts, many simply because we are loved. Whether private, commercial or military, aviators are given the gift of wings only if they earn the right and persist in a pursuit of perfecting the gift. My intent after posting several articles was to explain my vision for Remembered Sky. As in Ghosts of Christmas Past, it seemed a wiser choice to defer to those who’ve already said the words. And so, airplanes, adventure, mission, country and people. The Airplane: A Gift of Wings by Richard Bach And like no other sculpture in the history of art, the [...]
Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part # 2 – Wolf FAC
Introductory note: Before we tell Hippo’s story and complete the telling of the rescue of a downed Air Force Wild Weasel crew well inside North Vietnam in November 1972, I think it necessary to provide a short comment on how I anticipate Remembered Sky to playout over time. The next post will provide more on the framework and goals and types of things the reader can expect, but for now let me just say that the intent is not to be a vehicle for me to tell my own stories, nor is it to be just a re-telling or link [...]
Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part #1 – Sandy Superb
Few missions are more dangerous than rescue of a downed aircrew behind enemy lines. Needless to say, a slow moving helicopter is an easy target. The aircrew location must be exact, few search planes escaped damage, suppressing enemy fire critical. Losses could escalate immediately, yet no matter the threat, no effort is left undone, if there’s even the slightest change of getting one of our own out before they can be captured. Many of the most heroic events of the Vietnam war were rescue missions. These were the Sandy missions and in 1972 included the Air Force A-7D Corsair II and the [...]
James Tiberius Kirk, Where Are You?
Ask any pilot, why or how they got into flying and you’ll find multiple answers, many will overlap but some will be unique, but all will be a personal thing long remembered. […]
Air War Vietnam: Remembrance at 40 Years – All Days Come From One Day
Note: This article was originally posted April 10, 2012 on the Project White Horse Blog On April 10, 1972, Midway steamed under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, bound on a 7800 mile voyage to the Vietnam War Zone. This in itself was not uncommon. What made this cruise different from proceeding ones in the ship’s history was the fact that Midway was deploying over seven weeks in advance of the scheduled departure date with less than one week’s notice, with a vastly abbreviated training period, and with the additional handicap of a short, three day load out. Shouldering [...]
Sticks & Wires & Cloth
“An airplane is just a bunch of sticks and wires and cloth, a tool for learning about the sky and about what kind of person I am, when I fly. An airplane stands for freedom, for joy, for the power to understand, and to demonstrate that understanding. Those things aren’t destructible.” Nothing by Chance, Richard Bach Nanna by Kristin Hill That quote also serves as the first words in Sticks & Wires & Cloth by Anne Hopkins. Then in the closing chapter she begins: “Someday I will discover that climbing into Nana’s cockpit takes too great a toll on [...]
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Not On My Watch
by Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly Prologue This is a memoir of my personal experiences in Naval (carrier) Aviation and my short but intense involvement in the Air War over Vietnam. Admittedly my perspective is somewhat limited. My tours were at the end of the war with North Vietnam, and I was near the bottom of the Navy’s chain-of-command. I was, however, at the ‘pointy end of the spear’ as part of a medium attack squadron during two deployments of the aircraft carrier, USS MIDWAY from 1971 to 1973. (The second cruise) When the war abruptly heated up in early ’72, we [...]
The “War and Remembrance” Thread
This is a quick follow on description of plans for the “war and remembrance” thread that began with Air War Vietnam: Remembrance at 40 Years – All Days Come From One Day and continued with Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part #1 – Sandy Superb, and Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part # 2 – Wolf FAC. It’s main purpose is as a lead-in and an intro to upcoming excerpts from Dave Snako Kelly’s book, Not On My Watch. As Midway departed earlier than expected in April ’72, Dave would begin his second war cruise, eventually accumulating over 200 combat missions in the [...]
Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines: Heroes & Relics
Believe that some good thing is possible, find the principle that makes it so, put the principle into practice, there you have it - Freedom Richard Bach As related in the previous two posts, Remembered Sky certainly flows from my own personal experiences with aviation, but its future depends heavily upon the people either in or related to those stories to expand the storyline on the basis and through their own perception, and then on relating their further adventures. In a sense the site is a series of branches and sequels, but it requires firm grounding in the history [...]
Story Telling
Richard Bach -“Paradise is a personal thing.” Once taken on, flying runs deeply and permanently in one’s blood, and I find that since I can’t “do” anymore, I need to remember and to “tell” and have some fun doing it. I’ve been working on this notion since before opening the Project White Horse website and thinking about the possibility of a book. Also as you know I have occasionally posted pieces on the FORUM, particularly in light of Memorial Day, Veterans Day, 4th of July, and then throughout 2011 – Naval Aviation’s 100 year anniversary. There were also posts in regard [...]
Remembered Sky: Gift of Wings
Throughout our lives we receive multiple gifts, many simply because we are loved. Whether private, commercial or military, aviators are given the gift of wings only if they earn the right and persist in a pursuit of perfecting the gift. My intent after posting several articles was to explain my vision for Remembered Sky. As in Ghosts of Christmas Past, it seemed a wiser choice to defer to those who’ve already said the words. And so, airplanes, adventure, mission, country and people. The Airplane: A Gift of Wings by Richard Bach And like no other sculpture in the history of art, the [...]
Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part # 2 – Wolf FAC
Introductory note: Before we tell Hippo’s story and complete the telling of the rescue of a downed Air Force Wild Weasel crew well inside North Vietnam in November 1972, I think it necessary to provide a short comment on how I anticipate Remembered Sky to playout over time. The next post will provide more on the framework and goals and types of things the reader can expect, but for now let me just say that the intent is not to be a vehicle for me to tell my own stories, nor is it to be just a re-telling or link [...]
Dangerous Sky – Combat Rescue: Part #1 – Sandy Superb
Few missions are more dangerous than rescue of a downed aircrew behind enemy lines. Needless to say, a slow moving helicopter is an easy target. The aircrew location must be exact, few search planes escaped damage, suppressing enemy fire critical. Losses could escalate immediately, yet no matter the threat, no effort is left undone, if there’s even the slightest change of getting one of our own out before they can be captured. Many of the most heroic events of the Vietnam war were rescue missions. These were the Sandy missions and in 1972 included the Air Force A-7D Corsair II and the [...]
James Tiberius Kirk, Where Are You?
Ask any pilot, why or how they got into flying and you’ll find multiple answers, many will overlap but some will be unique, but all will be a personal thing long remembered. […]
Air War Vietnam: Remembrance at 40 Years – All Days Come From One Day
Note: This article was originally posted April 10, 2012 on the Project White Horse Blog On April 10, 1972, Midway steamed under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, bound on a 7800 mile voyage to the Vietnam War Zone. This in itself was not uncommon. What made this cruise different from proceeding ones in the ship’s history was the fact that Midway was deploying over seven weeks in advance of the scheduled departure date with less than one week’s notice, with a vastly abbreviated training period, and with the additional handicap of a short, three day load out. Shouldering [...]
Sticks & Wires & Cloth
“An airplane is just a bunch of sticks and wires and cloth, a tool for learning about the sky and about what kind of person I am, when I fly. An airplane stands for freedom, for joy, for the power to understand, and to demonstrate that understanding. Those things aren’t destructible.” Nothing by Chance, Richard Bach Nanna by Kristin Hill That quote also serves as the first words in Sticks & Wires & Cloth by Anne Hopkins. Then in the closing chapter she begins: “Someday I will discover that climbing into Nana’s cockpit takes too great a toll on [...]