"When a man is down, you don't leave him there." *

Well....With any luck, Mrs J and I will have slept in our own beds last night having arrived in our home port and having dropped Little J and LJW off at Houston International for their trip back to the Sandbox.

Not being a gifted reader of the future, I can't pre-post any current events that may have gone on while I was pouring wine, so I'm going to dig deep into my minuscule mental reservoir of historical stories for this week's posting.

Sarge did a post on this guy in one of his (much missed) Friday Flyby's, and I'd mentioned him in a posting about "First" Air Force Medal of Honor Recipients. Today we'll focus on him.

Major Bernard "Bernie" Fisher (Pronounced Burr-nerd) was born in 1927 in California, but his family moved to Idaho almost immediately thereafter.  He joined the Navy at the very end of WWII, then got out and went to school.  He joined the Idaho Air National Guard in 1947, was commissioned in 1951 and sent to Pilot Training.  After getting his wings, he flew Air Defense Interceptors until 1965 when he volunteered to go to Vietnam to fly the A-1E.  Although the aircraft was officially named Skyraider, it was commonly referred to as Spad.

In early March of 1966, an Army of Vietnam (ARVN) camp with about 400 ARVN Soldiers augmented by 17 Green Beret was attacked by ~2000 North Vietnamese in the A Shau Valley on the border of South Vietnam and Laos.

The line just to the right of the yellow marker is named Ho Chi Minh Trail.  That would explain its importance.

 

The initial attack was defeated with the support of Spads and Spooky's (AC-47 Gunship.  An old DC-3 with 3 x7.62mm  which gave it the capability to put a round in every 6' of a 50 yard diameter circle in 3 seconds.  This would be known as a "lot of hurt".)

Source

However, overnight the weather got worse and subsequent attacks penetrated the perimeter.  On March 10th, Major Fisher is an Element Lead in a flight of 6 Spads tasked with supporting the defenders.  The weather in the area is canine feces, but they manage to find a hole and enter the valley.  OK, entering a hole in a cloud in a cloud filled mountain valley?  They're not called "sucker holes" for nothing. That scares me just thinking about it.

Still, riding to the sound of the guns is what Heroes do.

They come out underneath and assess that the weather, while not optimum, is workable.  So, they begin attacking positions as requested by the folks on the ground.  The North Vietnamese have brought AAA with them.  I believe Sarge's saying of "Metric Crap Ton" is a reliable measure in this case.

As they're attacking and re-attacking enemy positions, Major Fisher's wingman, Major D. W. "Jump" Myers, who had received word the night before that he'd been selected for Lt Colonel, is hit by AAA and crash lands on the runway.  The A-1E is fueled with 120 Octane Aviation Gasoline which burns extremely well, and does so in this case.  Major Fisher's initial report is that the aircraft has crashed in a fireball and it's unlikely Major Myers has survived.  However on his next pass, Major Fisher sees Major Myers exiting the aircraft and sprinting into a nearby ditch.

Major Fisher informs, not asks, the command post that he is going to land and pick Major Myers up.  At this point, the North Vietnamese are less than 200' from Major Myer's position.  Major Fisher asks the command post what is the length of the runway and is informed 3500'.  Knowing that the A-1E can land and takeoff in 3000' he starts his approach.  Plants the landing and hits the brakes, but quickly realizes he's not going to get it stopped.  Stands on the brakes and swings the aircraft around (being in a tail dragger is handy sometimes).  Later he would find that the actual field length was 2500'.

This was the actual aircraft he flew on the mission.  It shortly thereafter was shot down and badly damaged but was recovered, refurbished and now is on display at the US Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB. Source

He then begins taxiing back to where Major Myers is hiding.  Arriving, Major Myers jumps on the wing, but can't get in the aircraft.  Major Fisher then sets the parking brake, unstraps and exits the aircraft to help his wingman in.

Did I mention the North Vietnamese are still shooting at them? and not missing?

Finally, Major Myers is in the aircraft so Major Fisher jumps into his lap, takes off the parking brake, cobs the power to the engine and takes off.

The return flight was uneventful.

Cheated death? Yeah, pretty sure I'd be smiling also.
Source

There's another piece of remarkable coincidence with the story.  It turns out that a similar rescue had taken place in WWII near Ploesti.  Captain Dick Willsie and Flt Officer Dick Andrews were flying P-38's when Willsie was shot down, crash landing in a field.  Andrews landed his P-38 in the field and took Willsie aboard, successfully returning with him to base. The coincidence is that  Willsie was the Spad Squadron Commander during Major Fisher's rescue and Andrews was one of the other Spads in the formation.

 There are several videos of this sortie on YouTube.  This one, I think, is the best.

If that doesn't bring some moisture to your eyes, we can't be friends.

 Major Fisher's Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On that date, the special forces camp at A Shau was under attack by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army regulars.

Hostile troops had positioned themselves between the airstrip and the camp. Other hostile troops had surrounded the camp and were continuously raking it with automatic weapons fire from the surrounding hills.

The tops of the 1,500-foot hills were obscured by an 800 foot ceiling, limiting aircraft maneuverability and forcing pilots to operate within range of hostile gun positions, which often were able to fire down on the attacking aircraft.

During the battle, Maj. Fisher observed a fellow airman crash land on the battle-torn airstrip. In the belief that the downed pilot was seriously injured and in imminent danger of capture, Maj. Fisher announced his intention to land on the airstrip to effect a rescue.

Although aware of the extreme danger and likely failure of such an attempt, he elected to continue. Directing his own air cover, he landed his aircraft and taxied almost the full length of the runway, which was littered with battle debris and parts of an exploded aircraft.

While effecting a successful rescue of the downed pilot, heavy ground fire was observed, with 19 bullets striking his aircraft. In the face of the withering ground fire, he applied power and gained enough speed to lift-off at the overrun of the airstrip.

Maj. Fisher's profound concern for his fellow airman, and at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

 Major Fisher was the first person to receive the Air Force Medal of Honor, up to this point previous recipients received the Army Medal of Honor.  Navy and Marine recipients receive the Navy Medal of Honor.

Major Fisher passed away in 2014 at age 87.

Rest in Peace, Warrior!

* His response to a question in the mission debrief as to why he took this action.