"Earthman zero one, this is Paddy - go ahead with your BDA, over." We were 'feet wet' off the cost of Vietnam and climbing through the black night to the cooler air above when Paddy called. The mission was basically over and in the cockpit we turned our attention to getting back home, concerned now with more mundane matters such as fuel and weather. The crew had removed their helmets and flack-vests, preparing for the 2-hour ride back to Cam Ranh Bay, while the B/N called in our Bomb Damage Assessment to Paddy, the GCI controller for IV Corps.

It had been another good mission. We arrived at our initial point south of the Mekong just before midnight and started our search of the canal system below. Using the low light level television system, the B/N spotted a clump of bushes at the intersection of two canals, but the forward looking infrared sensor showed that the area was 'hot' - a camouflaged emplacement of some sort. As we turned-in to investigate, the Plane Captain stationed in the Plexiglas bow started to call-out ground fire locations, but the streams of tracer arcing past the cockpit had already gotten our attention. The B/N announced his intention to put a 'nape' on the target and the flight director on the pilot's instrument panel jumped to life giving the pilot steering commands to the release point. The 500-pound napalm released automatically after a brief run-in, and we extended for 60 seconds past the target before starting our turn. The dark sky behind us burst into an orange glow and the plane shook with a staccato rhythm as the tail gunner squeezed-off a series of 3-second bursts with his dual 20 mm's.

Our arrival had been a rude wake-up call for the VC down below. For years it had been common knowledge that the ARVN support forces controlled the countryside during the day, but the VC owned the night. They concealed their caches during the day and remained hidden from the Swift boats and aircraft that patrolled the rivers and canals, then resumed their activities after dark, unmolested and uncontested. All that changed with the arrival of the invisible airplanes that could see at night.

For the second pass the B/N selected a couple of Mark 82's, 500-pound bombs with snake-eye fins and daisy cutter fuses. The flames from the burning napalm made an easy aim-point and the B/N held his crosshairs right on the center of the target as we started our run. They were ready for us this time, and as we passed over at 1500 feet everybody on the ground who had ammo opened-up on us. We countered with a long burst from the downward-firing 40 mm's and both window gunners joined the tail gunner in spraying the area as we extended once again. We felt the reassuring concussions from the two bombs exploding behind us, and the 'whoops' over the intercom told us that the bombs had found their target.

Normally we would have left the area at this point and gone looking for other targets, but the crew was calling 'secondary explosions' and we knew from experience that a well defended position usually indicated a major supply point. We decided one more pass was in order and positioned ourselves to come in from a third direction. This time the B/N used 250-pound Mark 81's. As we approached the burning area we started the wing-mounted SUU-11 gattling guns and walked them into the middle of the flames, nudging the rudders to spread the lead around a little. The bombs released cleanly and we finished-off with another long burst from the 40-mikes as we passed over, followed by a parting salute from the 20's. Another cache of fuel and ammo had been destroyed and there would be a few less Viet Cong in the morning.

The aircraft described above was an AP-2H flown by men of Heavy Attack Squadron 21. VAH-21 was commissioned in September 1968, in Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of South Vietnam, and decommissioned in June of the following year. The unit, first known as Project TRIM, went "in country" as an operational evaluation of a night interdiction system while assigned to Weapons System Test, Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, MD. The system was so effective that the Navy decided to form a new squadron around the TRIM group. A total of four SP-2H's were modified by Lockheed at the Burbank, California, facility and accepted into Heavy-21. In addition to the armament and sensor systems described above, the heavily armored planes were fitted with state-of-the-art electronics systems, air conditioning, and a special escape system. No planes were lost in the squadron's brief history, but battle damage from ground fire was a routine problem. Earthman-01 has been restored and is on display at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona, site of Heavy-21's 30 year reunion this September. - Story submitted by Capt. Ron Whittaker