by C. R. Ryder
Still they were planning on using the beast. That was clear from the extensive mapping that took place during the buildup. Unlike a ballistic missile, the Tomahawks required a full flight plan like an airplane to reach a target. So the Defense Mapping Agency spent the time from the beginning of the embargo to the first week of January working 24-hour days producing digital maps of Vietnam. The missile relied on terrain mapping. It was a limitation of the weapon. The Tomahawk required every target area to be comprehensively mapped from space. Without that prior research, the Tomahawks could not be used at all.
Staff Sergeant Gerald Zachary
Combat Arms
Andersen AFB, Guam
We arrived in Guam just in time to miss Christmas with our families. I am not complaining. There were so many soldiers, airmen and marines on Okinawa the entire island was in danger of sinking into the sea. We had it good on Guam. We were on American soil. There were American stores and fast food right outside the gate. We were all bunked on the gym floor in the Andersen Air Force Base fitness center.
There were worse places to be.
The 16 January deadline was for the folks back home. It was not for us. I mean we are already here ready to go. It’s not like waiting until after Christmas let us be home with our families. The press would have everyone thinking the entire armed forces were enjoying their last days at home over the holidays. The truth was that who was going to fight was already in place.
It was all for the taxpayers and voters. That way they could enjoy their Christmas and maybe get in a little after Christmas shopping in before the bullets started flying. The economy depended on Christmas. A fact I never understood until after 911.
The chow hall at Andersen did not messing around. If you walked in there with flip flops on and they kicked you out. If you walked in there with your PT gear on and you’re sweaty and they kicked you out. I watched these little islander ladies kick out full bird Colonels before.
The President and some of the Joint Chiefs were working the chow line on Christmas Day. It was a big public affairs campaign, but it meant good food for us and maybe a chance to be on television. They had things backwards, probably because the DVs were doing the serving, and you started with the cranberry sauce and worked your way up to the turkey.
They had a NCO food services guy working the knife on the turkey. I wondered if the Secret Service had to vet the guy with that big a knife right next to the most powerful man in the world. Probably not. I suppose you’ve got to trust somebody sometime.
Anyway the President was working the mashed potatoes. He slung the chow like he’d been doing it all his life. He even put a little dent in the top of the potatoes before he put the gravy on.
You can’t teach that.
Major Wesley Clinton
B-52 Aircraft Commander
Andersen AFB, Guam
“Ladies and gentlemen our business is killing and business is good!”
That’s how the general started his brief. It got us pumped up.
The entire room cheered.
“I won’t lie to you about what we’re up against. This is going to be the hardest fight of your life.” He said.
Okay I’m listening.
“Look to the man sitting on either side of you.” When we saw that he was serious we all did so. Maybe we were going to hug it out next. “One of you will be dead when this whole thing is over.”
What the fuck?
I looked over at my copilot Rogers and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.
I never claimed hero status, but this was the first time that I started thinking about getting shot down.
“We’ve got our guys doing the math at Hickam at the command center based on the expected Vietnamese defense and I got to tell you it isn’t pretty. I gave it to the tanker bubbas straight and I’m going to do the same for you. I told them to expect 20 percent losses on the first night. Your unit can expect to lose at least eight aircraft.”
Everybody looked pretty confused and frightened.
Gee thanks General. Great pep talk. I feel much better now.
Major Leonard Armstrong
KC-135 Aircraft Commander
Kadena AFB, Japan
The general said what?
My biggest problem leading up to the war was how to get all the furniture home that my crew had bought in Okinawa. I got a hand carved dining room table that I could not fit into the plane.
I’m glad I hadn’t heard that twenty percent business. It’s bad enough riding a flying gas tank with no guns without hearing crap like that.
Lieutenant Colonel Carol Madison
Air Force Intelligence Officer
Pacific Command Operations Center
I got leave in order to go home for Christmas. I should say I barely got leave. Everything was pretty tight to the chest right now. It would be the last time I would see my family for six months.
When I returned to Hawaii things were as chaotic as ever.
“Oh by the way they finally landed on an operation name.” Lt Col Elway told me when I returned.
“What did the generals decide on? Valiant Fury? Infinite Justice?”
“They’re calling it Jungle Storm.”
Table of Contents
EMBARGO
BUILD UP