War and Remembrance
BLOWN SLICK: the People, the Stories, the Perspective – the Book
Perspective of the last 12 months of the air war over Vietnam based on the experiences of those who flew into combat from USS Midway’s flight deck. Published April 2026. First off, My book Blown Slick has been privately published as of April 2026. Initially intended for a select group of 50 +/_ aviators, family and close friends the order grew to 100 all gone. I now have requests for more and a second printing is underway. This book is 8.5 x 11, soft cover and 248 pages with significant color and superb art work by Peter Chilelli. The cover [...]
Midway – 4 June 1942 – “Remembered Sky Day” Reflections
1942 - The Year of the Aircraft Carrier Please note the six new options on the Home page to allow quick access to the major subject matter threads for RememberedSky As a wingman on an "Alpha strike" to targets in North Vietnam during Linebacker I in 1972 - with 30 -40 A-7s, A-6’s, F-4’s, bombers, fighters, Iron-Hand, MiG Cap, tankers, Electronic Warfare birds and an E-2 control, inbound was both a time of anticipation and building tension, and additionally, a period of just waiting and thinking. Over several dozens of these Alphas in an 11 month cruise, I don’t [...]
December 7, 1941 – a day for remembrance and teaching
Good Saturday morning December 7, 2024. . . Over the last 32 years I have asked my students of all ages what happened on this day in History and I have found that as the years went by fewer and fewer of them knew what this date meant or even what Pearl Harbor was all about. Very discouraging. History is something that you need to remember so you will not make the same mistakes again. I fear we are still doing that today. Skip Leonard.. The List This day in Naval and Marine Corps History 1941 – In [...]
Battle of Midway – The Legacy
… a fundamental transformation in naval power had just taken place. Carriers usurped the prime strategic role of battleships in that their principal opponents were their enemy counterparts, and they should only to be committed to battle in the proper circumstances .. Lundstrom, John B. Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway & Guadalcanal Attack on the Akagi by R.G. Smith On the anniversary of the Battle of Midway (June 4-5 1942) , Rememberedsky offers some reflection on the battle particularly in context of sea-based airpower given current tension and potential conflict in the South China [...]
Hymn to a Humble Hero
Testimony of Pilot # 35 https://youtu.be/mgkqWsGGUwY
National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day -Reflections
Testimony of Pilot #34 War and remembrance No matter the old, “smart” decision makers No matter the politics Or “statecraft” of the DC pundits It was our war We fought it Some lost years Some lost lives Some lost family As young’uns we never set out to buy but still … We own it Band of brothers and sisters WE SHALL EVER BE National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day is today, March 29th, and it is also the 50th Anniversary of this special memorial observance. This is the purpose: “As we observe the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, we reflect [...]
H-Grams – The Easter Offensive—Vietnam 1972
War and Remembrance The actions of Navy aircraft and surface ships in defeating the NVA offensive arguably represent one of the U.S. Navy’s finest hours since World War II. Rear Admiral Samuel Cox (USN, Ret), Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command VA-115 Intruder preparing to launch from USS Midway for a night mission into Vietnam during Linebacker. Painting by 115 pilot Jim Horsely Remembersky was first posted ten years ago with intent to fill in a perceived gap in Vietnam War stories in regard to USS Midway, Carrier Airwing Five, and in particular the air-ground missions in response [...]
Flight Into Remembered Sky
Testimony of Pilot #31 Once at a dinner party I was asked by a woman what on earth I had ever seen in military life. I couldn’t answer her, of course. I couldn’t summon it all, the distant places, the comradeship, the idealism, the youth. I couldn’t tell about flying over the islands long ago, seeing them rise in the blue distance wreathed in legend, the ring of white surf around them… I couldn’t tell about Mahurin being shot down and not a soul seeing him go… I couldn’t tell her about brilliant group commanders or flying with men who [...]
TAILHOOK…A Gift
Testimony of Pilot # 30 The organization of carrier aviation – Tailhook – held its annual convention in Reno Nevada 9-11 Sept. As indicated above, this year’s focus was on the Vietnam war. The comments below – indeed the moving testimony of a Vietnam era Naval Aviator’s son – are, I submit, well worth a read! Tailhook -21 – My debrief by Rodd KarpI was given the gift to attend Tailhook this year by Richard ‘Smokey’ Powell. I didn’t know what to expect, and as we’ve heard described by those with much more experience than ourselves, regarding Junior Officers and [...]
Phantoms to WartHogs
Testimony of Pilot # 29 ‘Dogfighting makes movies. Close air support wins wars,’ Colonel Steve Ladd (USAF, Ret) recently published From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog; Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot, and has graciously provided RememberedSky with a key excerpt particularly pertinent to RS’s major thread of air-ground or attack missions recently catalogued and highlighted in the post Anthology – RememberedSky Vietnam Airwar ’72-73 Stories. Note that definitive of US Air Force usage, despite half of Steve’s 4000+ hour career in the A-10 attack aircraft, he refers to himself as a fighter pilot, and indeed in both the [...]
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War and Remembrance
BLOWN SLICK: the People, the Stories, the Perspective – the Book
Perspective of the last 12 months of the air war over Vietnam based on the experiences of those who flew into combat from USS Midway’s flight deck. Published April 2026. First off, My book Blown Slick has been privately published as of April 2026. Initially intended for a select group of 50 +/_ aviators, family and close friends the order grew to 100 all gone. I now have requests for more and a second printing is underway. This book is 8.5 x 11, soft cover and 248 pages with significant color and superb art work by Peter Chilelli. The cover [...]
Midway – 4 June 1942 – “Remembered Sky Day” Reflections
1942 - The Year of the Aircraft Carrier Please note the six new options on the Home page to allow quick access to the major subject matter threads for RememberedSky As a wingman on an "Alpha strike" to targets in North Vietnam during Linebacker I in 1972 - with 30 -40 A-7s, A-6’s, F-4’s, bombers, fighters, Iron-Hand, MiG Cap, tankers, Electronic Warfare birds and an E-2 control, inbound was both a time of anticipation and building tension, and additionally, a period of just waiting and thinking. Over several dozens of these Alphas in an 11 month cruise, I don’t [...]
December 7, 1941 – a day for remembrance and teaching
Good Saturday morning December 7, 2024. . . Over the last 32 years I have asked my students of all ages what happened on this day in History and I have found that as the years went by fewer and fewer of them knew what this date meant or even what Pearl Harbor was all about. Very discouraging. History is something that you need to remember so you will not make the same mistakes again. I fear we are still doing that today. Skip Leonard.. The List This day in Naval and Marine Corps History 1941 – In [...]
Battle of Midway – The Legacy
… a fundamental transformation in naval power had just taken place. Carriers usurped the prime strategic role of battleships in that their principal opponents were their enemy counterparts, and they should only to be committed to battle in the proper circumstances .. Lundstrom, John B. Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway & Guadalcanal Attack on the Akagi by R.G. Smith On the anniversary of the Battle of Midway (June 4-5 1942) , Rememberedsky offers some reflection on the battle particularly in context of sea-based airpower given current tension and potential conflict in the South China [...]
Hymn to a Humble Hero
Testimony of Pilot # 35 https://youtu.be/mgkqWsGGUwY
National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day -Reflections
Testimony of Pilot #34 War and remembrance No matter the old, “smart” decision makers No matter the politics Or “statecraft” of the DC pundits It was our war We fought it Some lost years Some lost lives Some lost family As young’uns we never set out to buy but still … We own it Band of brothers and sisters WE SHALL EVER BE National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day is today, March 29th, and it is also the 50th Anniversary of this special memorial observance. This is the purpose: “As we observe the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, we reflect [...]
H-Grams – The Easter Offensive—Vietnam 1972
War and Remembrance The actions of Navy aircraft and surface ships in defeating the NVA offensive arguably represent one of the U.S. Navy’s finest hours since World War II. Rear Admiral Samuel Cox (USN, Ret), Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command VA-115 Intruder preparing to launch from USS Midway for a night mission into Vietnam during Linebacker. Painting by 115 pilot Jim Horsely Remembersky was first posted ten years ago with intent to fill in a perceived gap in Vietnam War stories in regard to USS Midway, Carrier Airwing Five, and in particular the air-ground missions in response [...]
Flight Into Remembered Sky
Testimony of Pilot #31 Once at a dinner party I was asked by a woman what on earth I had ever seen in military life. I couldn’t answer her, of course. I couldn’t summon it all, the distant places, the comradeship, the idealism, the youth. I couldn’t tell about flying over the islands long ago, seeing them rise in the blue distance wreathed in legend, the ring of white surf around them… I couldn’t tell about Mahurin being shot down and not a soul seeing him go… I couldn’t tell her about brilliant group commanders or flying with men who [...]
TAILHOOK…A Gift
Testimony of Pilot # 30 The organization of carrier aviation – Tailhook – held its annual convention in Reno Nevada 9-11 Sept. As indicated above, this year’s focus was on the Vietnam war. The comments below – indeed the moving testimony of a Vietnam era Naval Aviator’s son – are, I submit, well worth a read! Tailhook -21 – My debrief by Rodd KarpI was given the gift to attend Tailhook this year by Richard ‘Smokey’ Powell. I didn’t know what to expect, and as we’ve heard described by those with much more experience than ourselves, regarding Junior Officers and [...]
Phantoms to WartHogs
Testimony of Pilot # 29 ‘Dogfighting makes movies. Close air support wins wars,’ Colonel Steve Ladd (USAF, Ret) recently published From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog; Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot, and has graciously provided RememberedSky with a key excerpt particularly pertinent to RS’s major thread of air-ground or attack missions recently catalogued and highlighted in the post Anthology – RememberedSky Vietnam Airwar ’72-73 Stories. Note that definitive of US Air Force usage, despite half of Steve’s 4000+ hour career in the A-10 attack aircraft, he refers to himself as a fighter pilot, and indeed in both the [...]