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A Miracle of the Internet, Four Decades Later
by
Jim Hooper
INTRODUCTION:
There are moments when the miracle of the Internet lands smack on top of you. The odds of my brother Bill listening to a life-changing moment in his life four decades after the event would surely be close to zero without it. When Gary Huber contacted me with the following I was astonished. When I made contact with Jim Paschall, I knew this was a piece of history worthy of special attention. The sequence of events and message traffic provide the details.
Jim Hooper [author of A Hundred Feet Over Hell]
THE MIRACLE:
Gary Huber:
I was looking for some events (rocket attacks, counter battery missions, etc.) at the "Guns Of The DMZ" website for a friend´s VA claim. The 8th Bn, 4th Field Artillery at Dong Ha was the 175 mm artillery battalion, that [the Catkillers] often used to destroy the NVA´s Russian-built 130 mm guns and other high value targets north of the DMZ. At any rate, I just happened to check the guest book archives which often provide leads and right at the top of the page, Archived Guest Messages, the second entry was:
"Name: Jim B. Paschall LTC USAF Ret. Message Date: 02/01/10 E-Mail Address: jimfarmersc@gmail.com Comments: Sometime in the Summer of 69 I overheard, and taped, the MAYDAY call of Katkiller 12 who announced that his arm was shot off. I would share the tape with the pilot and Whiskey if I had contact."
I immediately recognized the KatKiller 12 as Catkiller-12 and had an "ah—ha!" moment, knowing that it was a significant moment for Bill and perhaps details long forgotten might be soon come to light when he heard his Mayday call. I also wondered if I could/should contact Jim Paschall as some 18 months had passed since he had made his Guest Book entry, but he answered my email and you have the rest of the story.
The actual mayday call recording from Jim Paschall, a USAF F-4D pilot flying out of Thailand, is a shortened version to remove unnecessary audio but contains all pertinent traffic:
From Bill Hooper to Jim Paschall:
"Dear Jim,
Saturday I got a call from my brother Jim, giving me the heads up on your posting found by Gary Huber (married to our cousin). My first response was, "Well, perhaps we are about to find out how good my memory was." Reflecting on that day, I have often wondered how our lives are much determined by fate. As a brief history to that recording, I had been watching a build up of some very large NVA installations for a week or two and, though well camouflaged, after flying over the same real estate 6 or 7 hours a day you got pretty sensitive any changes on the ground. My problem was the weather. Though it was getting to the end of the monsoons the weather was still not suitable for running the air (we were all TACA qualified) that would be needed. While we did have 8" artillery available, the topography worked against that solution. The targets were on the north face a steep east-west ridge line and the artillery was located southeast of the target, so the rounds would be landing down slope making it tough to penetrate the cover. Since I needed air to effectively engage the target I waited for the weather to clear.
On the 26th the weather broke and I decided to engage the next day if it held. When it did, as the section commander, I switched assignments and took the mission that covered that area (there goes that pesky fate thing). Not to belabor the point, the mission started out well with lots of secondaries and lots of ground fire. We were using the 8 inch air—bursts to suppress that ground fire between air strikes. With the last of four rounds exploded, I drifted in over the target (and a bit too low, I might add) for my back seat to get a better look. A a piece of shrapnel from one of the rounds impacted my front windscreen and hit my right biceps. I was in slow flight (about 85 knots) and my hand was knocked off the stick. At first I didn´t even know I was hit but knew I had lost control of the plane but didn´t know why. The credit for our survival goes entirely to my back seat, Capt Bill Norton, who regained enough control to keep us in the air long enough for me to regain my wits. I got us turned south and headed for Dong Ha, got the plane trimmed up and put out my Mayday. By that time the arm had turned a deep blue black, had no feeling, so I was convinced of its loss. Fortunately I was wrong on that count.
Editor''s Note: A break in Bill's email to Jim Paschall is necessary to show three sequenced photos taken at Dong Ha by Jim Lawrence, a Marine Aviator from VMO-6, who just happened to be in his aircraft as the incident unfolded. Although not clear, the photos show where Bill landed that day and where he began to receive immediate medical attention and evacuation to Quang Tri:
So here we are, two guys 42 years later coming together because you cared enough to post a message and a most detailed researcher, Gary Huber, found your posting and he cared enough to pass it on. Remarkable when you contemplate the whole thing. So if you get the chance to forward the recording I will owe you dinner if you ever visit Florida. I trust and hope all is well with you and your family.
All the best,
Bill Hooper
Once upon a time, Catkiller 12"
Editor''s Note: Captain William W. "Bill" Norton was the backseat artillery adjuster that day, and although now deceased his calmness in the midst of this event and follow-on actions clearly support Bill Hooper's statement that their survival was directly and substantially influenced by this cool-thinking backseater. He helped Bill by giving him time to recover before landing:
From Jim Paschall: Gentlemen; INCOMING:
What a wonderful trip down memory lane it has been for the past two weeks. An itch that has been persistent for 42 years is satiated. When I first heard Bill's call over Guard Channel, I was mesmerized by the horror of his situation and the helplessness of my inability to assist. He disappeared off of my electronic encounter with him — leaving me to wonder all these years as to his fate. His voice was permanently scored on the hard-drive of my brain. Due to the efforts of Gary and Jim I was overwhelmed to hear that voice once again and to learn that my worst fears were for naught.
Sometimes you eat the Bear; sometimes, the Bear eats you.
I read the book. I am impressed!
thanks,
Jim Paschall
Gary Huber to Jim Paschall and Hooper brothers:
Jim,
Thank you for the note; I am so happy that you and Bill were able to reconnect under much more peaceful circumstances. I also appreciate Jim´s efforts to get Bill´s story published. Fate and marriage has intertwined our experiences in an unimaginable way. When I married their cousin, Linda, shortly after returning to CONUS after a tour in Germany I knew little about Jim and Bill. When I went to Vietnam and served in Quang Tri, I knew nothing of Bill´s support of 5th Infantry Division ground units. And then nearly thirty-three years later I run across Jim´s request for more information from participants of the Battle of Kinh Mon and we connect. This latest happening, seeing your post on the 8th Bn 4th FA Regiment web-site, is just fate or good luck.
I believe each of us has gotten some closure, I know I have.
Best regards,
CSM(r) Gary Huber - AB9M
Reflection of Jim B. Paschall on the events surrounding the flight of Catkiller 12 on 27 March 1969:
On the afternoon of 27 March 1969 I took off from Udorn RTAFB as number 2 in a two ship F-4D flight on a scheduled combat mission in Laos with a Nail FAC. We were each carrying ten (10) 500# slick bombs. This was a Flight Lead checkout mission for Decor 1.
Not long after takeoff, I turned a cassette tape recorder on to record 30 minutes of the mission. I usually timed the turn on point to record the actual "engaged" portion of the mission but on this occasion I turned it on early as there was a lot of chatter on GUARD channel revolving around an attempt to rescue HOBO 63 who was shot down on the 060 degree radial off of CH 89 at 35 NM. His parachute was in sight and the downed pilot was talking to HOBO 62 overhead. Decor flight was busy refueling with tanker Peach 32 at this time. While we were on the tanker, Oxford (F4C Recc) came up on GUARD channel announcing that he was over the Plain de Jars and was hit. Sandy 5 contacted him with a safe route to fly and announced he was on his way to assist if needed. Well, it was getting exciting early on in the mission and I was sure we were going to be involved in a rescue mission. My guy in the back seat indicated to me that we were sure getting a lot of hits lately.
We finished our refueling and flew East over Laos while checking in with Invert for mission following. After cycling through Sycamore we wound up back on Invert with Crown 2 for SAR of HOBO 63.
Not long after we checked in with the SAR controllers—up on GUARD channel comes "Catkiller 12."
I never got around to turning the cassette tape over for the next 30 minutes of recording because we got involved in the SAR for HOBO 63. As I recall we finally put our slick bombs on the downed pilot´s location to stop the gomers from climbing up the hill where he was located. I believe the SAR was successful. Also, as a tidbit, Oxford made it back to Udorn.
Jim Paschall
8/27/2011
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