Word: squadrons
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...spent the last two weeks at Travis Air Force Base, Ga., on his first summer stint with the 133rd Nation al Guard Tactical Fighter Squadron, where his regular assignment was to work in a clerical section under a Negro master sergeant. His superiors and buddies alike were unanimous in pronouncing him a regular guy and a hard worker. He handled requests for interviews by not giving any. He was photographed on KP duty, and pictures of Nugent tromping down garbage and washing dishes got wide circulation...
...last October, when his F-8 Crusader was hit by a Russian SAM missile. "I held my breath for a second and the airplane kept flying," he recounts, "but I knew that I was hurt bad, so I leaned on the stick and turned and headed out to sea." Squadron Commander Richard ("Belly") Bellinger, 42, yelled for him to eject, but Adams' radio had quit-though he probably would not have listened anyway. Within seconds, says Adams, "I could see the flames in my mirror, crawling up the side of the airplane. I flew for a couple of more...
...plane apart and triggered the ejection mechanism. Adams floated safely down into the South China Sea with nothing worse than burned hands. Bellinger, riding shotgun overhead, drove off a nearby North Vietnamese fishing junk; minutes later, a rescue helicopter ferried Adams to his carrier, the U.S.S. Oriskany, where squadron 162 ("The Hunters") greeted him with a paper missile and a 2-oz. glass of Napoleon brandy, a cherished ritual after a particularly hazardous mission. To his parents in Minneapolis, Adams sent a laconic wire: "Unscheduled swim. Everything...
...directions from his pocket radio and scooped him to safety. No other American has been rescued so close to North Viet Nam's main population center. Four and a half hours after takeoff, Adams-fondly nicknamed "Bulb" because of his prematurely receding hairline-was back aboard the Oriskany. Squadron 162 greeted him with pistols raised in mock salute-and two ounces of Napoleon brandy. To Minneapolis, Adams wired: "Would you believe it? I did it again...
...Prying Camera. Thanks to the Recce men, Viet Nam has become the most photographed war in history. Starting from scratch, the wing has made complete photo maps of all potential target areas and all possible enemy infiltration routes into South Viet Nam. Every month its 13th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron ("Recce Tech") processes and interprets an astounding 250,000 feet of film. Speed is the keynote. If pictures reveal a "hot" target, a strike can be ordered 20 minutes after the photo plane lands at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airfield-and can be carried out almost instantaneously...