Snako Archive
Not on My Watch – In Memory of Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly
I attended the Celebration of Life for Dave Snako Kelly on Saturday 3 May on-board USS Midway.Hot afternoon but not nearly as hot and humid as it was 42 years ago in the Gulf of Tonkin. Dave and all the rest of us were about to learn about real air war over North Vietnam. We were about to become “these good men.” Dave was a great friend, superb Naval Aviator, member of VA-115 flying the A-6 Intruder off of Midway on the ’72 war cruise. He is also the author of the recently published story of his flying years Not On [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (8) “A-rab Beeper, come up voice.”
Professional history of war mostly addresses major battles, the dates, the generals, the admirals, tactics and technology, and then analysis of results, all for obvious reasons. But significant detail is invariably lost particularly when one event leads to a most significant occurrence -the end to the conflict. Almost without exception, this thread – the ending of Linebacker II with the agreement by the North Vietnamese to return to the negotiations in Paris on 2 January 1973, leading to President Nixon’s announcement on the 23rd and formal end of the Vietnam war on 27 January, and finally the return of our POWs – constitutes the concluding remarks of the [...]
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 the fact that Midway/Airwing Five set the record for most number of days “on the line” in the Vietnam war and were one of only four carriers in the whole war to be awarded the unit equivallent of a Navy Cross – the Presidential Unit Citation. Kelly Note: Interestingly, history hasn’t recorded MIDWAY’s participation in the Linebacker II. Some official [...]
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 background information that predicates this story. There has always been strife between the Attack and Fighter communities within Naval Aviation. The fighter pilots have their inflated self-image, as ‘cold-blooded, steely-eyed killers’. They feel their purpose in life is to kill MIGs, and anything that prevents them from fulfilling that destiny is a ‘senseless activity’. Unfortunately in the real world periodically [...]
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 Strike to the Ca Chau buried petroleum facility just across the Red River from Hanoi. CDR Neil Harvey, Commanding Officer of the VA-56 Champs was the strike leader. Myself and Smokey Tolbert were his wingmen. Given the buried and hidden nature of the target, each pilot was given an aim point so as to cover the whole of the suspected area. [...]
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 engagement were different. Excerpts from Chapters 30-33 Not on My Watch, by Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly The U.S. had halted bombing of the North Vietnam in 1968. In early 1972, when the decision had been made that we wanted to end the damn war, air power was selected as the weapon of choice. (RS note: As discussed in a previous post, [...]
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 [...]
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Snako Archive
Not on My Watch – In Memory of Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly
I attended the Celebration of Life for Dave Snako Kelly on Saturday 3 May on-board USS Midway.Hot afternoon but not nearly as hot and humid as it was 42 years ago in the Gulf of Tonkin. Dave and all the rest of us were about to learn about real air war over North Vietnam. We were about to become “these good men.” Dave was a great friend, superb Naval Aviator, member of VA-115 flying the A-6 Intruder off of Midway on the ’72 war cruise. He is also the author of the recently published story of his flying years Not On [...]
Christmas ’72 Stories: (8) “A-rab Beeper, come up voice.”
Professional history of war mostly addresses major battles, the dates, the generals, the admirals, tactics and technology, and then analysis of results, all for obvious reasons. But significant detail is invariably lost particularly when one event leads to a most significant occurrence -the end to the conflict. Almost without exception, this thread – the ending of Linebacker II with the agreement by the North Vietnamese to return to the negotiations in Paris on 2 January 1973, leading to President Nixon’s announcement on the 23rd and formal end of the Vietnam war on 27 January, and finally the return of our POWs – constitutes the concluding remarks of the [...]
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 the fact that Midway/Airwing Five set the record for most number of days “on the line” in the Vietnam war and were one of only four carriers in the whole war to be awarded the unit equivallent of a Navy Cross – the Presidential Unit Citation. Kelly Note: Interestingly, history hasn’t recorded MIDWAY’s participation in the Linebacker II. Some official [...]
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 background information that predicates this story. There has always been strife between the Attack and Fighter communities within Naval Aviation. The fighter pilots have their inflated self-image, as ‘cold-blooded, steely-eyed killers’. They feel their purpose in life is to kill MIGs, and anything that prevents them from fulfilling that destiny is a ‘senseless activity’. Unfortunately in the real world periodically [...]
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 Strike to the Ca Chau buried petroleum facility just across the Red River from Hanoi. CDR Neil Harvey, Commanding Officer of the VA-56 Champs was the strike leader. Myself and Smokey Tolbert were his wingmen. Given the buried and hidden nature of the target, each pilot was given an aim point so as to cover the whole of the suspected area. [...]
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 engagement were different. Excerpts from Chapters 30-33 Not on My Watch, by Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly The U.S. had halted bombing of the North Vietnam in 1968. In early 1972, when the decision had been made that we wanted to end the damn war, air power was selected as the weapon of choice. (RS note: As discussed in a previous post, [...]
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 [...]