The South Vietnamese Pilot Who Stole a Plane to Save His Family

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See website for details. Modo.us. And we continue with our American stories. Today we have a history story brought to us from the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. In April of 1975, the United States was engaging in an evacuation of Saigon, which at the time was the capital of South Vietnam. This evacuation plan known as Operation Frequent Wind came as the North Vietnamese were closing in on South Vietnam.

Here's historian Hill Goodspeed with the story. So there were US nationals who were still in Saigon and there were also other people wanting to get out. And the embassy, of course, needed to be evacuated. So the US Navy sent a fleet of ships and they operated off the coast of South Vietnam. And there was pretty much an aerial shuttle is the best way to describe it of Marine Corps and Navy helicopters flying in country and landing primarily on the grounds of the US embassy to pull people out. Amidst this operation, there was one man, a South Vietnamese pilot, who decided to take into his own hands the safety of his family.

Major Bong Le. During the long involvement of US forces in Vietnam, there was a training program that existed to integrate South Vietnamese personnel and military forces into US operations. Certainly a big part of that was training pilots to fly various missions and they formed the South Vietnamese Air Force. There was also a group called the ARVN, which is Army of the Republic of Vietnam. And so these individuals served alongside American forces, US advisors during the course of the Vietnam War. And he was at the time of the fall of Saigon, he came up with the idea that he needed to get out and especially with his military affiliation and with the ability to fly, he commandeered an aircraft, which is in South Vietnamese Air Force markings.

I mean, it's still displayed in the museum in those markings. He commandeered that aircraft and loaded his wife and five children on board. And it was a two seat aircraft. The aircraft is a light observation plane.

So it's not unlike the small civilian aircraft you see flying around small airports or around the country here in the United States. Being only a two seater, the children were stuffed back into the fuselage of the airplane behind the cockpit area. And so I can't even imagine what it must have been like for them being so young in this really chaotic scene to be all of a sudden find themselves in a just stuffed into a darkened compartment and off they go into the air. I mean, I'm not sure whether any of them had ever even flown before. I mean, he may have been the only one aboard the aircraft that had been in the air before.

I'm not certain. And then off they went with only a promise of something that might happen. I can't even imagine you're flying out over the water and there was no guarantee he could land on a ship out there or no guarantee of what the future held.

But it just goes to show whatever uncertainties lay in the future, it was better than the situation that awaited them if they stayed behind. As he flew out over the Pacific, he eventually happened upon the US fleet of ships. And one of the ships there was the USS Midway, which is an aircraft carrier. And it's actually a ship that is still in existence.

It's a floating museum in San Diego. But he came upon the USS Midway and he flew he flew low over the deck and he dropped a note to onto the deck, which was routine at that time from a low flying aircraft and a very slow aircraft like that. You could deliver messages in those way in that way. And the note, luckily for for those on board the Midway, they were evacuating a lot of Vietnamese nationals.

There was no problem getting the note translated as to what he wanted to do. And he indicated essentially that I want to land. I've got here's who's aboard this airplane.

And here's who I am. And I would like to land on the USS land on the ship. And at that point, the commanding officer had a decision to make. And the commanding officer was a guy named Captain Lawrence Chambers. And he was actually the first African American to command a US aircraft carrier. So he was pretty unique and in history at that time. And but you if you look at what his situation he faced, he had the array of helicopters coming in and landing on his ship.

Just I mean, it was a constant stream of them. A carrier flight deck, even though it looks really big, is a relatively limited space. If you compare it to, say, an airport airfield. So space is at a premium and you have to clear a certain amount of space to operate aircraft. And so he had a decision to make on how he was going to try to meet the wishes of this individual who wanted to land. And first of all, he had to have concern that this individual's never landed on an aircraft carrier before.

I don't know what his proficiency is, whether he'll be able to do it or not. It could it could be dangerous to those on the deck. Maybe I'll have him ditch the airplane in the water and we can send some send a boat or send a helicopter to go rescue the family. But the problem with that is the 01 bird dog is an airplane that has fixed landing gear for one. And when you land, when if you would have tried to ditch the airplane in the water with fixed landing gear, that landing gear would have dug into the water as it as it hit it and probably would have flipped the airplane over on its back.

So you have a situation where the kids stuffed in the back of the fuselage, there would be a big a good chance that they may not be able to make it out of the airplane. Then he had to consider. So that was an option that even though he considered it was one that was that was not going to bring the result that needed to be, that was going to be a positive result. So then his next decision was to was to to clear the deck. He was going to have to push some of the helicopters over the side.

And there may have been some expense to that. But with all that was going on, a lot of the military equipment being used, I mean, it was it was a minor expense to pay in his mind to save the lives of some individuals. So he ordered some helicopters pushed over the side to clear space. And then most aircraft or all aircraft generally have to land on an aircraft carrier, they have to be brought to a stop with a tail hook that is located on the underside of the fuselage and it engages a wire that is strung across the deck. Well, in this case, this aircraft was so light, he wouldn't need a way to he wouldn't have to stop it in that manner. He brought the airplane in after he received word that he could land. When it hit the deck, he was able to bring it to a stop in a relatively short distance. He was also aided by the fact that the aircraft carrier was turned into the wind.

So there was wind coming across the deck and that helped slow him as well. And the crew ran out, was able to help bring the airplane to a stop. And there's a famous photograph that was taken on the deck. You can see him emerging from the airplane, you can see his wife as well.

And there's a throng of crewmen surrounding this tiny airplane on the flight deck. And it's a real inspiring shot to see because of one, just the smiles that are on the crew. I mean, it was such a momentous moment for them because and really the whole time and that their whole day had been spent. Normally the crew would be launching combat aircraft into action, but here they were that whole day, they knew that they were literally the passage to freedom for a lot of people. And to see, you could just see the looks of joy on their faces in this particular case of what this family did to and what they accomplished to get out of South Vietnam that day. And a special thanks to Madison on the storytelling and the interviewing and on the production. A special thanks to Faith and also a special thanks to Historian Hill Goodspeed, who tells this remarkable story of American generosity and heart in the end.

The story of Major Bunley, also the story of Captain Lawrence Chambers, who issued that order here on Our American Stories. Roku has what you need to make your college home away from home feel more like your own. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV or bring a Roku streaming stick to easily access all your favorite free and premium content like iHeartRadio. Stream your favorite playlist with the Roku vibe setting smart light strips to sync your music to millions of colors and make your dorm feel more like you. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV, streaming players and smart lights.

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