John Morse NKP Missions

"Search and Rescue at NKP"
by
John H. I. Morse, Sr.

My primary purpose is to generate the story of SAR at NKP. I believe it starts with HH-43s in 1964. Within that story I want to include the organizations concerned, hopefully showing the Det 1, 40ARRSq accomplishments as separate from the 40th ARRsq per se. As the history develops we can get into details such as missions, crews and so on to make it a meaningful story.

If you have information pertaining to any SAR operations at NKP, please contact me either by email or at my home address.

Home address:	Home email:
225 So. Arlington Av Springfield, Ohio 45505	jhimsr@attglobal.net

Stories

With the addition of Ken Franzel's letter about HH-43s at NKP we have an excellent picture of how it all began. Now we need similar personal narratives of

a. HH-43 missions, especially missions out of FOLs like Lima Site 36. Here's a handwritten note (author unknown) I ran across while at NKP:

"24 Jan 67. Talked to Doctor Little about the bodies lying around at FOB (sic). He said they presented no special hazard to health if we observe the usual sanitary precautions. The flies should be kept away, if possible. The odor is liable to last for a couple of months."

b. Arrival of and personal mission narratives about the CH-3C used in SAR at NKP. My research indicates that two were sent to NKP in 1965. The story elsewhere in this JG website by Berkley Naugle speaks of a CH-3C flying out of Udorn. Perhaps it was another example of first basing at Udorn, then moving to NKP???

Read on about the HH-43s........................

As it was in the beginning

The start of night rescue operations in SEA. The bigger story is about how night rescue developed as the war went on. Your experiences with the LNRS and stories about the development of tactics would be a welcome addition to my story.

Night Rescue in SEA

The following table represents one type of summary that would be a part of the whole story. The numbers in the far left column represent the number of saves made by NKP crews. A vigorous "Changing the Numbers" came to be a tradition at the OClub bar after each save.

Save #	Location	Survivor's Call Sign	Survivor	Aircraft/Unit	Base	Date of Rescue	Jolly Call Sign	Jolly Crew
317	NVN	PANDA	Maj Hanna	F105/333TFS	Takhli	15 Jul 68	JG 37	Cpt Heft, Cpt Gibson, T/S Peale, Sgt Lombard
318	NVN	CARTER 02	Cpt Wilson	F4/555 TFS	Udorn	1 Sep 68	JG 36	Cpt Heft, Maj Silver, Sgt Gallagher, S/Sgt Beasley
319	Laos	BARRACUDA	Cpt Tribble	F105/355 TFW	Takhli	14 Sep 68	JG 20	Cpt Harwood, Maj Silver, Sgt Anderson, A/1c Cobb
320	Laos	THERMAL	Cpt Leighton	RF4/11 TRS	Udorn	17 Sep 68	JG 16	Maj Silver, Maj Reagan, S/Sgt Price, A/1c King
321	Laos	HOBO	Maj Bagwell	A-1/601 SOS	NKP	22 Oct 68	JG 17	L/C Brown, Cpt Lintner, Sgt Burnett, A/1c Horka
322	NVN	MANUAL	Lt Richardson	F4/390 TFS	Danang	25 Oct 68	JG 16	L/C Brown, Cpt Heron, M/Sgt Maples, A/1c Hebert
323	Laos	NAIL	Cpt Grenoble	O-2/23 Tass	NKP	18 Nov 68
324	Laos	Litter	Cpt Welch	F-100/309 TFS	Tuy Hoa		JG 15	L/C Brown, Cpt Wheate, Sgt Hannegan, T/Sgt Farrior
325	Laos	WOLF	Lt Boone	F4/497 TFS	Ubon	19 Nov 68	JG 15	Maj Sancton, Cpt Mckinley, Sgt Berry, A/1c Horka
326 & 327	Laos	TAMPA	Maj Gallagher Lt. Chastain	F4/497 TFS	Ubon	4 Dec 68	JG 17	Cpt Harwood, Maj Warwick, Sgt Burnett, T/Sgt Beasley
328	Laos	DALLAS	Cpt Walker	F105/357 TFS	Takhli	6 Dec 68	JG 36	L/C Brown, Maj Weeden, M/Sgt Maples, A/1c King
329	Laos	RIDGE	Cpt Drewery	F4/11 TRS	Udorn	12 Dec 68	JG15	Maj Reinhardt, Cpt Gibson, Sgt Gallagher, A/1c King
330	Laos	CANDLESTICK	Lt Turner	C123/606 SOS	NKP	13 Dec 68	JG 16	Cpt Harwood, Maj Warwick, Sgt Scott, T/Sgt Widener,
331	Laos	LITTER 81	Maj Fenn	F100/306 TFS	Tuy Hoa	21 Dec 68	JG 36	Lt Eagan (USCG), L/C Morse, M/Sgt Maples, A/1c Sully
332	Laos	BISON	Maj Thompson	F105/	Takhli	12 Jan 69	JG	L/C Brown, Cpt Gibson, T/Sgt Casey, A/1c Samuelson
333 & 334		HONDA 3B HONDA 3A			Ubon	24 Jan 69	JG 17	Maj Eagan, Cpt Gibson, M/Sgt Krum, A/1c Horka, T/Sgt Widener
335 & 336		WOLF 02A WOLF 02B		F4/	Ubon	28 Jan 69	JG 36	L/C Brown, Cpt Lintner, M/Sgt Krum, T/S Widener, A/1c Harris
337	Laos	PINTAIL	Lt Breault	F$/497 TFS	Ubon	15 Feb 69	JG 37	Cpt Harwood, Cpt Gibson, S/Sgt Anderson, Sgt Caffall, A/1c Hebert
338	Laos	NAIL 77	SM/Sgt Morrell(foto)	O-2/23 TASS	NKP	28 Feb 69	JG	Maj Silver, Cpt Wheate, Sgt Hunt, A/1c Sorenson
339 & 340	Laos	HOBO 63 HOBO 63	Cpt Gilmore Lt Fass	A-1/601 SOS	NKP	26 Mar 69	JG 17	Maj Smith(40th), Cpt Wheate, Sgt Jordan, T/Sgt Widener, A/1c Sully
341	Laos	CUPCAKE	Lt Ricci	/CVA 63		3 Apr 69	JG 36	Maj Smith (40th), Cpt Nash, Sgt Brown, A/1c Samuelson
342	Laos	CUPCAKE	L/Cdr Reddin	/CVA 63		3 Apr 69	JG 19	Cpt Carty (40th), Cpt Gibson, Sgt Burnett, A/1c Harris, A/1c Davisson
343 & 344		PINTAIL	Maj Winkels Cpt Anderson	F4/25 TFS	Ubon	16 Apr 69	JG 17	Cpt Heft, Cpt Nash, Sgt Scot, A/1c Harris

Notes:
- The names of the flight crews for most of the missions are available. They are listed here in order of Pilot, Copilot, Flight Engineer and PJ.
       - Maj Smith and Cpt Carty from 40^th ARRSq, Udorn (HH53Bs) during pilot shortage @ NKP
       - #318 L/C Jones (SANDY) CMH mission
       - #331 was #1500 rescue in SEA

13 Feb 69 – In-country pickup – Hot Rod 01, Maj Colassis (F105) fell off tanker and ejected supersonic. Taken to Ubon, died en route BKK. JG 37, pilot L/C Morse

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"Search and Rescue at NKP" by John H. I. Morse, Sr.

Stories

"Search and Rescue at NKP"
by
John H. I. Morse, Sr.