This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected.
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Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title. One last time. Unforgettable and got you marginal.
To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. Whether it's help with hormone therapy, weight management, or sexual health, every woman should have access to affordable prescription medication and personalized care that understands the whole woman. Join me, Dr.
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your nearest shell station is closer than you think. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. You're about to hear one of the most extraordinary survival stories that ever came out of the Vietnam War. Joining us is Joe Baumgarten to tell the story of Bat 21 Bravo. Let's take a listen.
Somewhere over the green hills of Wang Chi Province, South Vietnam. Easter Sunday, nineteen seventy two. A 53-year-old band. named Gene Hamilton. fell out of the sky.
He was alive. was alone. and he was surrounded by thirty thousand enemy soldiers. What happened next would be the longest, largest, and most complex search and rescue operation in the entire history of the Vietnam War. The year is 1972.
In less than three years, South Vietnam would no longer exist. North Vietnam was prepared to wait until the United States tired of the war and went home. Time was on their side. The situation that spring was not at all like the picture that most Americans have of the war. Gone was the massive American ground combat presence of earlier years.
Under extreme pressure from the American citizens, President Richard Nixon instituted a policy he termed Vietnamization. U. S. combat troops would be steadily withdrawn from South Vietnam. Handing the burden of the ground war back to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.
American air power, however, remains a formidable presence. In addition to running many bombing missions, the Air Force also maintained a considerable search and rescue force. Its motto was that others may live. and its mission was to search for and recover downed personnel in friendly or hostile environments spanning over 1.1 million square miles in Southeast Asia. Sensing that a victory was at hand, the North Vietnamese Politburo ordered a major multi-divisional assault.
30,000 men of the North Vietnamese Army. boldly cross the DMZ, rushing into South Vietnam. they were well equipped with Soviet tanks and heavy artillery. They also possess the fearsome SA-2 surface-to-air missile. It is a weapon the size of a telephone pole carrying a proximity fuse warhead that was lethal within 150 feet.
Lieutenant Colonel I. Cele Jean Hamilton is not a young man by military standards. At 53 years of age, he was more than twice the age of most of the men he served with. In his 20 years of service, he was a radio operator in the Army Air Force during World War II. He flew 43 combat missions as a navigator over Korea.
And spent the 1960s working on some of the most classified ballistic missile programs in the American arsenal: the Jupiter, the Titan I, and the Titan II. He knows missiles, and he knows them better than almost anyone alive. He was also due for some R ⁇ R. His wife, Gwen, had plane tickets to meet him in Thailand the following week. She was probably already thinking about what she'd pack.
On the same day that those tickets arrived in her mailbox, Gene Hamilton was shot down. It is Easter Sunday morning, the 2nd of April, 1972. The North Vietnamese Army has just launched the Win Hue Offensive, also called the Easter Offensive. It is the largest combined arms assault of the entire Vietnam War. Into this cauldron two U.
S. Air Force EB sixty six electronic warfare aircraft are sent as protection for a sale of B 52 bombers. Gene Hamilton is the mission navigator aboard one of the EB-66s with the call sign of Bat 21. The EB-66 crews knew their job. their planes were designed to trawl for enemy radar.
to lure Sams into locking on. Then breaking free with a violent punishing maneuver that the missile's guidance system couldn't follow. The SA II's guidance failed at two g-forces. the EB66 could pull five. They had done this a hundred times.
But this morning is different. The North Vietnamese 365th Air Force Division fires two volleys of SA-2s at the American plains. The first volley is defeated, but then they change tactics. They point their missiles visually, firing first, then activating their radar guide system after the launch. Using this technique, the target aircraft warning systems can't detect the threat until it's almost too late.
When Bat-21's crew spots the missiles coming, the pilot makes a split-second decision. he banks right, away from where he assumes they were fired. One of the electronic warfare officers shouts, Negative, negative, move left, move left. The pilot rolls the plane hard the other way. It isn't enough.
The first missile detonates immediately beneath the aircraft at 29,000 feet. Gene Hamilton was positioned directly behind the pilot, which meant that he was first in line to eject. The pilot gave the signal. Hamilton pulled the handle. He made eye contact with the pilot as his seat rocketed out of the dying plane.
A moment later, a second SA-2 struck BAT-21 and it exploded. Five other men were aboard. Major Wayne Boltey, Lieutenant Robin Gatwood, Major Henry Sarex, Lieutenant Colonels Gianal Jelly and Levas. None of them got out. Uh Sheen Hamilton drifted down through the morning sky beneath a parachute.
Pieces of the stricken aircraft were falling down around him. A forward air controller in a small O-2 spotter plane, Lieutenant Bill Jankowski, saw Bat-21 explode and heard Hamilton's emergency radio beep to life. He was astonished to look up and find Hamilton above him still descending. Chankovsky followed him down. Hambleton was alive, but suffering from shrapnel wounds, a ripped finger, and four compressed vertebrae from the force of the ejection seat.
The low, dense fog that had grounded that morning's bombing runs and hid the North Vietnamese movement now saved Hamilton's life. he had landed in a dry rice paddy with the North Vietnamese troops less than 100 meters away. Following standard operating procedures for downed airmen, Hamilton was now referred to as BAT-21 Bravo. BAT 21 for the call sign of the plane that he came from. and Bravo for his position in the aircraft.
Bat 21 Bravo crawled into a clump of bushes and lay still. That 21 Bravo had nine months until retirement. That 21 Bravo decided he was going to make it. When we come back, more of this remarkable story here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the stories we tell about this great country and especially the stories of America's rich past, know that all of our stories about American history, from war to politics to innovation, culture, and faith, are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all the things that are beautiful in life and all the things that are good in life.
And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to hillsdale.edu to learn more. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected.
That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at let's get real about skincancer.com. Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa. witness an MMA Legends final fight.
Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title? One last time. Unforgettable end.
An unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. IceCube's big three season has come down to this. The big three championship is coming to Charlotte, who will be crowned the big three season nine champion.
Plus the big three all-star game, the biggest names in the game, all on one court one more time. Two games of the most physical, competitive, and non-stop three-on-three action. The gameplay the way you love. Watch live Saturday on CBS at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m.
Pacific, and catch replays Monday on BET. Presented by iHeart. I'm going to talk about money. And that can stress people out, understandably, because there's always something. Rent, mortgage, kids, student loans, the future.
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Ally Bank, member FDIC. And we return to our American stories. When we last left off, Gene Hamilton had survived a crash in enemy territory in Vietnam in 1972, but he was stranded deep in enemy territory with North Vietnamese troops. hovering and closing in. Let's return to the story.
Here again is Joe Baumgarten. Gene Hamilton wasn't just a navigator. He held top secret access to Strategic Air Command operations. He was one of the most knowledgeable missile and electronic countermeasures expert in the entire theater of operations. He knew targeting systems of America's nuclear arsenal.
He knew the vulnerabilities in Soviet surface-to-air missiles. He knew things that no prisoner should ever be allowed to tell. And the North Vietnamese may have known exactly who he was. Intelligence analysts believe the North Vietnamese forces were being assisted by Soviet advisers. who could decrypt American communications.
It is now known that at this time, U.S. Navy warrant officer named John Anthony Walker. Had given the Soviets a radio cipher card and other high-volume intelligence.
Soviets may have been able to read American message traffic almost in real time. If Gene Hamilton was captured, The information he carried would deal a devastating blow to the American air power around the world. Hamilton himself understood this. He said after the war that he was certain if they had taken him prisoner, he never would have been brought to the prisoner of war camp in Hanoi. He would have disappeared somewhere far quieter.
far more permanent. The order came down almost immediately. Bring him out. Whatever it takes, bring him out. Uh The rescue effort began within hours of Hamilton hitting the ground.
and from the very first moment, it was a disaster. Captain Don Morse, call sign SANDY seven, Was one of two A1 Skyraider pilots who scrambled to cover Hamilton's position. Sandy 7 was a grizzled, experienced pilot who had flown plenty of hot landing zones. He thought that since Hamilton had come down in South Vietnam, this shouldn't take long. When he got over Hamilton's position, the ground fire was unlike anything he had seen in four years of combat.
Some pilots said it was equal to the defenses around Hanoi itself. Hamilton, meanwhile, was doing something remarkable. From his hiding place in a clump of bushes, wounded, surrounded, with North Vietnamese soldiers barely a hundred meters away. He was calmly radioing coordinates. He could see the enemy.
He was watching the American Ordnance land. He was directing corrections. Forward air control pilots who worked with him in those first few hours would later say that they were all amazed at his composure. But composure wasn't enough to stop what happened next. The call went out for emergency helicopter support.
A UH1H Huey. Blue Ghost 39. was in the area. Piloted by First Lieutenant Brywyn Cullen. He raced toward Hamilton's position, skimming just 50 feet above the Myojang River.
A Cobra gunship, Blue Ghost 28, followed behind and above. The moment they crossed the river, they flew into a wall of fire from every direction. Coulin's helicopter was hit multiple times. He tried to turn back south. He didn't make it.
Blue Ghost 39 crash landed in an area full of North Vietnamese soldiers. The only mobile survivor was a wounded door gunner named Jose Ostroga. He couldn't free the others from the wreckage. A few moments later, Advancing North Vietnamese soldiers fired on the wreckage, and the fuel tank exploded. Brian Cullen was killed.
Two other crew members died with him. Astorga was captured. That was day one. Hundreds of miles away in Saigon, the commander of the 7th Air Force was completely unaware of the major offensive that the North Vietnamese had launched. Once the Central Joint Search and Rescue Command learned of Hamilton's situation, they establish a no-fire zone.
A circle of protected airspace with a radius of 17 miles centered on his position. No artillery. No davel gunfire. No airstrikes without special approval. The idea was to protect the downed pilot and the rescue operation.
What it also did was paralyze the South Vietnamese 3rd Division, which was fighting for its life against a massive North Vietnamese assault. Three North Vietnamese divisions were attacking.
South Vietnamese troops in the area couldn't call in artillery. they couldn't call in airstrikes. For the next few hours, the no-fire zone handed the initiative to the enemy. Thousands of North Vietnamese troops poured through the gap unimpeded. One American advisor later wrote, When viewed in relation to all of the events of the day, a worse decision could not have been made.
But the rescue went on because that's what they did. That's what they always did. Mm-hmm. On April 3rd, day 2 A full rescue team launched at first light. two H H fifty three.
Jolly green giant helicopters. four A1 Skyraiders.
Solid overcast. visibility. The North Vietnamese, who had been monitoring American radio communications, knew that they were coming. They had positioned anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles. around Hamilton's position deliberately.
using the downed airman as bait. The rescue aircraft flew into a trap. Both Jolly Green helicopters were badly shot up. One limped to safety with its instrument panel destroyed. the pilot flying by visual reference alone.
The second got hit within a hundred yards of Hamilton before the ground fire became overwhelming. Ten North Vietnamese tanks on the ground. below unleashed a hellish firestorm. that, in the pilot's own words, was coming from everywhere. The OV-10 FAC aircraft, Dale thirty-eight.
piloted by Captain William Henderson, was shot down. Henderson was captured and became a prisoner of war. Uh is co-pilot First Lieutenant Mark Clark. parachuted to the south side of the river and evaded capture.
Now there were two men stranded behind enemy lines. The North Vietnamese were aware that both Hamilton and Clark were on the ground and using their radios to guide bombing runs against them. They were also aware, however, that the two downed flyers were taking the U.S. focus away from the war in that area. They fully intended to keep the Americans pinned down and to extract whatever price they could for them.
On April 4th, ten A1 Skyraiders. half of all the A1s available in South Vietnam. tried to clear a path for the rescue. Eight of the ten were damaged, too severely. Uh On April 5th, bad weather shut everything down.
On April 6th, another full rescue attempt. Eighty Sams were launched by the North Vietnamese in the surrounding area. 80. Three more rescue aircraft were shot up. And then the unthinkable happened.
And you've been listening to Joe Baumgarten tell a harrowing story. Of the rescue mission involving downed pilot and not just an ordinary pilot. Gene Hamilton. That twenty-one Bravo. As he was identified, and he was pinned down, and the Vietnamese troops were sort of enjoying it, using him as bait.
To create more American casualties, and of course, divert them from the core and primary task. which was helping the South Vietnamese troops. defend themselves. When we come back, more of the story of the rescue of Gene Hamilton here. on our American stories.
Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs.
Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at Let's Get RealAbout SkinCancer.com. Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title.
One last time. Unforgettable and got you. To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa.
IceCube's big three season has come down to this. The big three championship is coming to Charlotte, who will be crowned the big three season nine champion. Plus the big three all-star game, the biggest names in the game, all on one court, one more time. Two games of the most physical, competitive, and non-stop three-on-three action. The game played the way you love.
Watch live Saturday on CBS at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, and catch replays Monday on BET. Presented by iHeart. I'm going to talk about money.
And that can stress people out, understandably, because there's always something. Rent, mortgage, kids, student loans, the future. What you need is something to bring the financial stress levels down a notch. What you need is Ally Bank. A bank that looks out for your money and you.
With Ally Bank, there's no tricks, no hidden fine print, no jumping through hoops for better rates. They're a bank that wants to take care of your money and help you. Help you spend smarter by automatically analyzing spending to find surprise savings. Help you save faster with great rates and smart savings tools for the things that matter to you, like travel or a new home. help you by elevating your banking without adding anything to your plate.
Ally is designed for people like you, for how you actually live. No tricks, no hidden fees, banking built for life today. Ally Bank, member FTIC. And we continue with our American stories and with the story of the rescue of Gene Hamilton. Call signal BAT 21 Bravo.
Let's return to Joe Baumcarten. with more of the story. Captain Peter Chapman had volunteered to pilot Jolly Green 67. even though he was due to rotate home very soon. He didn't have to be there.
He chose to be. As Jolly Green 67 crossed the Miyo Shang River, it began taking fire from all sides. The crew called for Hamilton to pop his smoke grenade. to show them exactly where he was. Hamilton hesitated.
The helicopter took hit after hit. They tried to pull away. It was too late. Jolly Green 67 staggered east deeper into enemy territory. Then it turns southeast.
a fire broke out in the left engine. pieces of the tail rotor flew into the main rotor. the aircraft rolled and came down on its left side, burning. The entire crew was killed. Captain Peter Hayden Chapman, Captain John Henry Call, Technical Sergeant Willem Pearson.
Technical Sergeant Alan Avery. Technical Sergeant Roy Pratter. Sergeant James Alley. Six men. The fire burned so hot that it melted parts of the aircraft.
It burned for three more days. The wreckage came to rest approximately three hundred yards from where Gene Hamilton was hiding. He had been on the ground for five days. Five aircraft had been lost trying to reach him. Eleven men were dead.
He was fifty three years old, wounded, exhausted, slowly starving. And now he had watched six men die within sight of his hiding place, trying to save his life. he considered surrendering. But the on scene commander, Captain John Van Etten, Call sign nail32. reached him on the radio.
He told Hamilton flatly, people have died trying to get you out. If you stand up now and get captured, Their sacrifices mean nothing. Haywiltson thought about it. Then he said, Hell, I'm going to get out of this regardless. he camouflaged his hole.
He laid down. He waited. After five days, five aircraft lost and 11 mid dead or missing. The decision came down from the top. No more air rescue attempts.
General Creighton Abrams, the overall American commander in Vietnam, was briefed on the losses. The air approach was not working. A new plan was needed. A Marine colonel named Al Gray suggested a covert ground extraction. Lieutenant Colonel Andy Anderson, commanding the Joint Personnel Recovery Center, ordered it.
Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Norris had been on tour in South Vietnam training the Vietnamese in sea commando operations. By April of 1972, he was one of just three SEAL officers still in Vietnam. In three more months, he was due to finally return home. When Anderson asked him if he would lead a team of Vietnamese frogmen in a pilot rescue operation, he said yes without hesitation. They traveled north to the forward operating base near the Miojang River.
and set up a position near the riverbank. the same river that separated Hamilton and Clark from safety. The North Vietnamese answered their preparations with mortar rounds and rockets. The senior American advisor was wounded, the senior Vietnamese commando was killed, and another was seriously wounded. All the Vietnamese officers had to be evacuated.
Norris was left with three Vietnamese commandos who spoke almost no English. He decided to go anyway. Mark Clark had been on the run for five days with almost nothing to eat. He was close to the river, closest to the team's position. Norris would get him first.
The plan? have Clark get in the river after dark and float down stream. while Norris's team moved upriver to intercept him. Anderson ordered Norris to go no more than a kilometer forward and wait. Norris turned off his radio and went twice that far.
He moved through North Vietnamese patrols. Through columns of trucks and tanks. in the pitch dark. with three men who barely spoke his language. At around 2 a.m., Norris heard Clark's heavy breathing somewhere on the river.
He was about to move out from cover to pull Clark to shore, When a six-man North Vietnamese patrol walked directly between them. Norse froze. He kept the team hidden. he knew that Clark's breathing might give them away. He knew that firing their weapons would expose their position to hundreds of enemy soldiers within earshot.
The patrol passed. Clark had floated downstream. Norris left his team. Alone, he swam downstream for several hours in the dark. Searching.
Near dawn, he found Mark Clark hiding in a sandpan. along the riverbank. You had to coax him out. Clark was barely coherent. exhausted to the bone.
Norris persuaded him, got him moving. They linked back up with the team. They brought Clark home. On April 9th, Gene Hamilton's eighth day on the ground. the rescue planners faced a new challenge.
Hamilton had a more difficult journey to make than Clark. he needed to cross several kilometers of North Vietnamese occupied territory. Past villages, past gun emplacements, through minefields, to reach the Biaojiang River. How do you guide a man through enemy territory over an open radio channel when the enemy is listening?
Someone asked, what does Gene Hamilton love? Golf. Gene Hamilton was one of the best amateur golfers in the Air Force. He had played courses all over the world and could recall every hole in detail. the yardage, the direction and the terrain.
so they built him a coat. They radioed him with a message that made no sense to anyone listening. You're going to play 18 holes. The round starts on number one at Tucson National. Hamilton's first reaction, what have you been smoking?
Then it clicked. He figured it out in thirty minutes. Hole number one at Tucson National Golf Club runs 480 yards southeast. They were telling him, move southeast. 480 yards.
Each hole on the course he had memorized gave him a new bearing, a new distance. Of course. would lead him to the water, to the river. He began to move, slowly, at night. through a landscape of ruins and soldiers.
At one point, he was following the coat through an abandoned village. when he came face to face with a North Vietnamese soldier. In hand-to-hand combat, Hambleton killed him with a knife. He kept moving. He was hungry, desperately thirsty.
The rescue team's coded message directed him to a refreshment stand. where he'd have to cap his own keg. He found a banana plantation. He tapped the trees for water. He got lost briefly.
He fell off a cliff and broke his arm. He kept quick. By the time he reached the river, he had been on the ground for almost two weeks. He had eaten four small ears of corn in twelve days. He had lost forty-five pounds.
He sat in a clump of bushes by the river bank and waited. And you've been listening to Joe Baumgarten tell the harrowing tale of Gene Hamilton's rescue. And my goodness, the number of Americans dead. 11 men dead or missing, six in sight of his hiding place alone. One other aviator who had attempted to save him got rescued.
But the tougher rescue mission involved Hamilton himself due to his position and the surrounding troops. The air attempts were over.
Now it was time to bring in a ground attempt with a small crew, one Navy SEAL and just a couple of South Vietnamese troops to try and extricate Hamilton from his position. When we come back, we'll learn the rest of this story: the story of Gene Hamilton's rescue. here on Our American Stories. Before we had ATT business wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once, our driver had to do a 14-point turn to get back on route.
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Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at Let's Get RealaboutskinCancer.com.
Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight for a cyborg. One of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer. In the sport. Defends her PFL world title one last time.
Unforgettable and got you! To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. IceCube's big three season has come down to this.
The big three championship is coming to Charlotte, who will be crowned the big three season nine champion. Plus the big three all-star game, the biggest names in the game, all on one court one more time. Two games of the most physical, competitive, and non-stop three-on-three action. The game played the way you love. Watch live Saturday on CBS at 1 p.m.
Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, and catch replays Monday on BET. Presented by iHeart. And we continue with our American stories and with the story of the search and rescue operation of Bat 21 Bravo, aka Gene Hamilton. Let's return to Joe Baumgarten.
with the rest of the story. April 12th. The second rescue attempt for Hamilton. Tom Norris led his remaining men upriver more than four kilometers in the dark. The North Vietnamese presence was overwhelming.
During the search, two of the commandos refused to go any further. They said flatly they would not follow an American just to rescue another American. Norris looked at them. He told them, the only way any of us gets home tonight is if we stay together.
So they stayed. They searched for two hours. They found nothing. They went back. April 13th Norris didn't dare to take the two men who had faltered the night before.
he considered going alone. then Petty Officer Third Class Wyn Vong Khiet, step forward and volunteer. A South Vietnamese Navy frogman. 20 something years old. He knew the odds.
Tom Norse told him bluntly, I'm not sure either one of us will come back. Wynne said yes. Together, they moved upriver in the dark. They found an abandoned village. They found clothing.
they found an old sampan, a flat-bottomed river boat. They put on Vietnamese peasant clothes. They became fishermen. They rode quietly upriver through dense fog and darkness. And even through the fog, they could see shapes of North Vietnamese soldiers and tanks along the shore.
Both banks of the river, as far as they could tell, were occupied. At one point Norris stopped to check his map. You looked up. Two North Vietnamese soldiers were sitting approximately thirty feet away. They were asleep.
Thoris and Wynn did not move. They barely breathed. Then slowly, silently, they continued up river. They had been rowing for hours when Norris realized they were under the Camblo Bridge. They had broken out of the fog and passed Hamilton's position more than 30 minutes ago.
They turned around. Working their way south along the bank, they went ashore and began searching on foot. And then they found him. Bat 21 Bravo was sitting in a clump of bushes. He was delirious, barely recognizable.
He had been shot at, rained on, hunted. alone and afraid for eleven days and nights. he had watched men die trying to reach him. He had killed a man with his bare hands. But he was alive.
Sunrise was approaching. Norris knew they should wait until dark to move, but Hamilton was too far gone. They couldn't wait. They hid him in the bottom of the sandpan and covered him up with bamboo. Then they started back downriver.
Almost immediately, North Vietnamese soldiers spotted them and opened fire. Norris and Wynne. could not shoot back. not without revealing themselves and drawing the full attention of everything around them. They paddled furiously.
They used the river current and the dense foliage along the banks to shield themselves. They outran the soldiers. Then they rounded a bend. a heavy caliber machine gun opened up on them. They pulled the sandpan to the bank, whipped it over, and sheltered beneath it.
High above, FAC pilot Harold Ike, Ilk 11, had been in contact with Hamilton and was tracking their position. he called in air support. Five U.S. Navy A-4 Skyhawks from the carrier USS Hancock rolled in and killed the machine gun position. Two A1 Skyraiders dropped smoke bombs, laying a curtain of white smoke across the river.
Under that cover Three men climbed back into their boat. They made it to the south bank.
South Vietnamese soldiers met them on the shore. They carried Hamilton. He couldn't walk. to a bugger. An M113 armored personnel carrier carried them to brigade headquarters.
Jean Hamilton was going home. When the rescue team arrived at Dong Ha, A reporter pushed forward through the crowd and said to Tom Norris, It must have been rough out there. I bet you wouldn't do that again. Norris looked at him. An American was down in enemy territory, he said.
Of course I'd do it again. Five aircraft were shot down. Eleven men were killed. Two were captured. Sixteen additional aircraft were seriously damaged.
Over 800 airstrikes were called in in direct support of the rescue. As many as 90 sorties a day were flown over Hamilton's position. Gene Hamilton knew what it had cost. From his hospital bed he wrote I had to stand by and watch six young men die trying to save my life. It was a hell of a price to pay for one life.
I'm so very sorry. He later said, If the taxpayers and my neighbors knew what it had cost to pull me out of there, they'd probably shoot me. The remains of his crew Bolt. Gatwood, chin jelly. Bevi's, Cerix were never recovered.
They are still missing in action. The bodies of the helicopter crew of Jolly Green 67, Chapman, Call, Pearson, Avery, Protter, and Alley. were returned to the United States in 1997. 25 years after the crash. They were given full military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery.
A single headstone commemorates all six men. Marine Lieutenant Larry Potts, who had been directing naval gunfire from the spotter plane during the operation. was captured on his 25th birthday. He died in a North Vietnamese prison. FAC pilot Henderson survived captivity and came home in 1973.
In the years that followed, the rescuers were recognized. Tom Norse was recommended for the Medal of Honor. He initially declined to submit the paperwork. He was eventually persuaded. He received the medal from President Gerald Ford on March 6, 1976, in a White House ceremony.
Standing beside him that day was another Navy SEAL named Michael Thornton. Who, just six months after the Bat-21 rescue, had saved Norris's life on a separate mission in North Vietnam. Norris readily supported the nominations of Wynne Von Khet. the Navy Cross. the highest award the U.S.
Navy can give to a foreign national. Van Kiet received it. He was the only South Vietnamese sailor to receive the Navy Cross during the entire Vietnam War. The man who rowed upriver through the dark with a stranger under enemy fire in a stolen fishing boat. to pull a dying man out of the mud.
Gene Hamilton received the Silver Star. the distinguished Flying Cross. the air metal. the Meritorious Service Medal, and a Purple Heart. He recuperated for a month at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.
He retired from the Air Force nine months later. Right on schedule. Fifteen years after the rescue, the Air Force held a reunion at Nellis Air Force Base. All of the key participants were invited. John Van Etten, nail thirty two.
the on-scene commander who had talked Hamilton out of surrendering. had never met Hamilton in person. wholly over the radio. He walked up to Hamilton and put out his hand. Hello Gene, I'm John Van Etten.
Jin Hamilton looked at him. No, you're not, he said. You're nail 32. I would recognize that voice anywhere.
Okay. The rescue of Bat-21 Bravo changed the United States Air Force. In the aftermath, the U.S. Air Force concluded that if a search and rescue mission was predestined to fail, if the threat environment was simply too dangerous, It should not be attempted. other operations had to be considered.
They improved helicopter night vision capabilities. they developed better close air support aircraft. they rethought how rescue assets were deployed and commanded. In the shadow of this one terrible, costly, extraordinary operation. the modern military's approach to personnel recovery was born.
During the entirety of the Vietnam War, search and rescue forces saved 3,883 lives. The cost? Seventy one rescuers killed. 45 aircraft lost. in that brutal arithmetic, the rescue of a single man had consumed a disproportionate share of everything.
But here is what the commanders who authorized those missions understood. what General John Voight articulated plainly. When he sent 119 aircraft to rescue another downed flyer just a few months later. The one thing that keeps our boys motivated is the certain belief that if they go down, We will do absolutely everything we can to get them out. If that is ever in doubt, Morale would tumble.
So they sent helicopters, they sent skyraiders, they sent Jolly Greens into a curtain of fire. they sent two men in a fishing boat into the dark heart of enemy lines. because that is what you do. because no one gets left behind. Because a 53-year-old man was lying in a hole in the mud.
surrounded, alone, starving. and he was one of ours. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Madison Derricott. And we'd like to thank Bill Dane, who listens on WHO in Des Moines and submitted this story idea to our crew. And he had his friend, Joe Baumgarten.
Tell the story.
So thank you, Bill. Thank you, Joe. This is a beautiful story about American soldiers. The beautiful ethos of never leaving a fellow warrior behind. The story of Gene Hamilton here.
on our American stories. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter.
Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at Let's Get RealaboutskinCancer.com. Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport.
Defends her PFL world title one last time. Unforgettable and got you! To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa.
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The Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card. Visit wellsfargo.com/slash active cash. Terms apply. IceCube's big three season has come down to this. The big three championship is coming to Charlotte, who will be crowned the big three season nine champion.
Plus the big three all-star game, the biggest names in the game, all on one court, one more time. Two games of the most physical, competitive, and non-stop three-on-three action. The game played the way you love. Watch live Saturday on CBS at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m.
Pacific, and catch replays Monday on BET. Presented by iHeart. Yeah.
