On April 2, 1972, Lieutenant col Iceal Hambleton was aboard a United States Airforce EB 66 in the company of two B-52s on a mission to pin down an approaching North Vietnamese Army offensive when they were shot down. He was lucky to parachute to safety but landed in a jungle filled with thousands of enemy troops! The NVA through the assistance of Russia were able to learn he had top secret access to strategic air command operations and was an expert in surface to air countermeasures. His capture would amount to loads of intelligence bonanza to North Vietnam and also to Russia, so troops were deployed to comb the area with the hope of finding him. The US lost 5 war planes while several others were damaged. After 11 KIAs and two additional airmen were taken prisoners, Strategic Air Command opted for a ground rescue operation. Lt Thomas R Norris, a Navy SEAL, recruited five south vietnamese commandoes and it was time to take Hambleton home. The americans were aware their communication traffic was being monitored and knowing their man to be a professional golfer decided to give the NVA and their Russian counterparts some swell in the head. They radioed you are going to play 18 holes and you are going to get in the swanee and make like Esther Williams and charlie the tuna. The round starts on no 1 at tucson national. though Hambleton replied- what have you been smoking? He was able to crack the direction code in 30 minutes. The no 1 hole in tucson national was 408 yards running northeast. He was required to move 400 yards in that direction. That course would take him to a river cos Esther Williams was a professional swimmer. 53 year old Hambleton hid himself amidst thousands of soldiers seeking his capture for 12 days armed with only two radios, a map and a .38 calibre pistol! Norris and a vietnamese commando disguised as native fishermen were able to find him but not without an intense gun battle! When they arrived in camp, a reporter asked Norris- it must have been very tough out there. I bet you would not want to try that again. He replied- an american was down in enemy territory, of course I did do it again!
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:48:55 +0000
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