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NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y., (Oct. 2, 2019) — More than 40 New York Air National Guardsmen who fought in the Vietnam War with the 107th Tactical Fighter Group gathered for a first ever reunion at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, Sept. 14-15, 2019.
The group which is now the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Attack Wing, deployed it’s 136th Tactical Fighter Squadron to Tuy Hoa Air Base in what was previously South Vietnam during 1968 to 1969. 50 years after their deployment, the Airmen gathered to share their experiences of the war where they flew close air support, reconnaissance, patrols and a variety of other missions.
“What you got to do, you got to do. We just went,” said Paul Sorci, a sergeant who was assigned to the armaments shop. “Though I was married and had a seven month old son.”
The squadron left for Vietnam in June of 1968, reinforcing the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing. It participated in some of the largest campaigns of the war, including the Tet Offensive and Seige of Khe Sanh.
“It was a long trip,” said Sorci about the journey to Vietnam.
“We left here about midnight,” said James Goetz, a sergeant who was assigned to the armaments shop. “Flew all night to California as the sun was coming up. The sun didn’t go down again until we landed in Vietnam.”
Crossing the international date line and not knowing exactly what day it was, the first impression of Vietnam was a stark comparison to life in Niagara Falls. It was hot, Goetz and Sorci both said laughing, followed by the first order of business which was finding a place to sleep.
“One year is what they said,” said Sorci about how long they would be in country.
“There was always rumors they were going to send us home in three months,” said Goetz. Until then, the 136th got straight to work.
A local Army veteran who fought in the war at the same time the 136th was there was invited to the reunion to share a point of view that the Airmen haven’t often heard.
“To quote a phrase, it was kind of just a normal day for us,” said Ed Jackson, who was a Spc. 5 assigned to Bravo Company, an Army Spc. 5 assigned 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
Jackson was drafted into the Army in 1968 and found himself in Vietnam the month before the 136th arrived. “I landed in Vietnam six months to the day I was inducted,” he said.
“We were out on a patrol and all of a sudden we got ambushed,” said Jackson. “We were pinned down pretty bad and we called for artillery support which was the normal first thing you called for but it wasn’t helping much at all.”
Once the artillery proved to be ineffective, Jackson explained that the next thing to do was to call for air support.
“They came in and dropped their ordinance and they more no more than 10 yards away from me when they dropped their cluster bombs,” said Jackson. “When they dropped we were down on the ground and leaves were shaking and everything else.”
That air support made the difference, as most of the firefights in the area subsided and Jackson’s unit was then able to sweep the area. His unit ended the day with around three killed in action and six wounded, which could have been worse he explained had it not been for the fighters that he would see again later that night.
“Back at our night defensive position they flew in at tree top level and they did kind of a victory roll,” said Jackson. “When they came back around they came in inverted and I remember seeing on tail, the 107th.”
As it happened Jackson explained, the 136th went into action that day early enough into their deployment that their F-100 Super Sabres had not yet been painted with camouflage colors and new tail markings and therefore still had the 107th identifiers on their tails. Later on, the aircraft would simply say “SG,” one of many identifiers used in Vietnam to denote what base an aircraft was stationed at in country.
Jackson grew up in Lockport, and shortly before he deployed he remembered it made local news that elements of the 107th were being activated and would be getting deployed. He explained that he never would have imagined running into them in country, and when he heard about the reunion he wanted to take the chance to finally say thank you for that day five decades ago.
“That was a long year,” said Sorci.
“We had to turn around airplanes and we only had so much time to do it,” said Goetz. “There was always somebody yelling, ‘faster, faster’ but we fell into a routine.”
Each fighter squadron in Vietnam had to being on an alert status, which meant that at all times aircraft had to be ready to fly in a moments notice.
“We worked all night,” said Goetz. “Every squadron had to take a chance and have two alert birds ready 24 hours, if we got the call we knew someone was in trouble.”
The hardest part of the year was simply being there, the two explained. They said that leaving behind families was the toughest part of the deployment, despite continuous dangers such as mortar attacks on their base.
“That was kind of a bad night,” said Sorci, laughing, about one of the largest attacks on the base.
“Yeah we didn’t have any fun that night, we thought it was something else,” Goetz added. “They called Tuy Hoa the safest base in Vietnam. Not anymore.”
“It took out a bunch of C-130 Hercules, a few F-100s, a few guys hurt,” said Sorci.
The year in Vietnam would earn the Airmen numerous awards for their actions during their time in combat. Three Purple Hearts, one Distinguished Flying Cross and 43 Air Medals were awarded, along with one posthumous New York State Medal of Valor, the highest award in the New York National Guard.
“It was sad of course, we weren’t there that long,” said Goetz.
One 136th Airmen didn’t make it home. Capt. Joseph L’Hullier was killed in action on July 25, 1968 when his F-100 took damage while conducting dive bombing in the area of Chu Lai. His ejection was not observed, but he was found within 30 minutes, however, he passed away before he could be hospitalized.
“We don’t know if there was an accident,” said Goetz.
L’Hullier became the first New York National Guardsman killed in action since World War II, and the first for the 107th.
“It’s like losing one of the family,” said Goetz. “Everybody’s a brother.”
Goetz and Sorci said that after something like that happens, there was no time for mourning. The missions didn’t stop, and there were always jets coming in that needed the be armed so all they could do was keep persevering, they explained.
Once they got down to 30 days left in country, Sorci said they started counting down the days that in hopes of once they reached zero, they would be going home.
“In this case they got us out of there on time,” said Sorci.
At the end of May 1969, the squadron started making it’s way back to Niagara Falls. On June 11, it was released from federal active duty and returned to New York State control.
“We landed and the town of Niagara Falls had a band there for us,” said Goetz. “All of our family was there, they played songs for us. We got more than probably a lot of other people got.”
“We came home on a C-141 Starliner which was an adventure in itself,” added Sorci. “Just the feeling of being home though and seeing your family. It’s not like today where you have cell phones and can call home.”
“My kids didn’t know who I was,” said Goetz. “My wife didn’t know who I was,” he added jokingly.
For Goetz, who was in the New York Air National Guard from 1964 to 1970, and Sorci, who was in from 1964 to 1969, they were ultimately glad that they did their part in the war.
“Afterwards yeah, very glad,” said Sorci.
Goetz ended up reenlisting in 1986 after a break in service, and served until 2003.
“I loaded three generations of airplanes,” said Goetz. “F-100s, F-4s and F-16s.”
Despite the passing of time, they still have a soft spot for the F-100s that served them so well in Vietnam. The two give no hesitation in sharing their thoughts on the Super Sabre which saw service in the U.S. from 1954 to 1979.
“Loved it!” said Sorci. “I’d probably still say it’s the greatest plane we ever had. Durable, fast, pilots loved it and it carried quite a payload.”
50 years later however, they have come back to a 107th that now flies the MQ-9, a remotely piloted aircraft that unit started flying in 2015. It is seeing familiar faces for the first time in decades though that is the highlight of the night.
“It sure is different,” said Sorci. “We were basically kids back then, 20 or 21 years old.”
“If I’m with anybody, I’m glad it’s with him,” Goetz said of Sorci.
“I hope we have more of these,” said Sorci.
| Date Taken: | 10.02.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.03.2019 08:52 |
| Story ID: | 345367 |
| Location: | NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 455 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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