"That's right Bob. I can't top that one."

This is a true story.

PART I

17 July 1972. The flight started out as an RPI Owl FAC mission. They found some targets, advised ABCCC and requested ordinance. None was available. Before heading back to the 497th TFS, Gordie Breault and his GIB Warren Bowman got a call to head south to MR1. After refueling their F-4D, they rendezvoused with a flight of two Navy A-7s and led them on a straight and level bomb delivery pass (Loran pathfinder). Before they could escape the area, a second flight of three A-7s was inbound for a repeat performance.

This time was different. Immediately after the three A-7s released their MK-82 bombs Gordie knew he'd been hit. His first thought was that it was a midair collision. The call came "Lead, you're on fire". It didn't take long for Gordie and Warren to figure out which 'Lead' it was. Yellow caution and red warning lights glowed back at them. The sickening red fire lights for both engines lit up the cockpit. The hydralic pressures went to zero. The controls froze and the Phantom started a left climbing turn.

Twenty nine miles west of Hue, like too many River Rats before them, Gordie and Warren were headed to Vietnam via nylon. Gordie could see Warren's chute illuminated below him. Then his own chute hung up in the trees. Radio contact was established. It was 1945. And it was dark

(What had happened was that one or more of the bombs detonated immediately after release. Gordie would later learn that two of the Navy A-7s were also lost to the explosion.)

At first light Gordie released his parachute risers and climbed out of the trees. His position was above the cloud bases on the side of a mountain. SAR forces were overhead. Warren was about 2 miles away, on the ground in the valley below. He was hurt and couldn't move his legs. The first rescue attempt was unsuccessful for two reasons: strong winds and enemy groundfire. About two hours after the rescue helicopter left Warren's position, Gordie heard gunshots from that direction. Warren was never heard from again.

At 1645, 21 hours after ejecting, Gordie was safely aboard a Jolly Green. (Another Sierra Hotel job by the 37th ARRS!) Sadly, he was going back to Ubon alone. Warren was the only aircrew member lost on that mission. Probable cause: AK-47. Warren left behind his wife, Sue, and a five-month old baby girl, Karen Lynn.

22 April 1995. Twenty-two July 17ths had come and gone, an anniversary that Gordie mourned in silence. This night he was back at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas for the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots (a/k/a River Rats) Association reunion. He treasures this special time. Being with many of the people he cares about most, truly an extended family. Sharing the excitment of flying fighters and the envy for the guys that still do. There is a lot to be said of this exceptional bond of brotherhood. He was about to take his seat at the Saturday night banquet and at that moment all was right in his world. He didn't know what was about to happen would have an impact on his life.

Apparently no one else knew either. The Saturday reunion ritual includes the River Rat Scholarship Program and a few comments from two of 'our kids' (scholarship recipients). As Gordie was about to sit down, newly elected ViceCinc Steve Morgan, another 497th Nite Owl, ran up to him. WARREN'S DAUGHTER AND WIDOW WERE HERE! Over the years Gordie had made donations to the scholarship fund in memory of Warren, never knowing that his daugther would be a scholarship recipient. Now Karen was somewhere in this ballroom! Overwhelmed with emotion Gordie broke into tears. Across the ballroom Karen was crying too. Steve had just met her and told her that her Dad's pilot and other squadron mates were in the room. (Karen would later say that when she came to thank the River Rats for the college assistance she had no idea that she would meet anyone that flew with her Dad, much less the pilot on that fateful day. You see, both of her parents were Army brats. In fact, Warren started out his military service in the Army. Karen didn't get the chance to grow up in the world of fighter pilots.)

Bob Gold, Rat Scholarship Director, was quickly approached. Was he aware there was a connection between Gordie and scholarship recipient Karen Bowman? That Gordie was the AC on the mission her father was lost, and that they had never had any form of communication between them? How incredible that they would meet for the first time in front of 500+ Rats and ladies!

Dinner was uncomfortable. Gordie wondered aloud what he could say, what could he do. He couldn't eat, which for those who know him, says alot. At another table Karen was just as nervous.

The program was near the end. The one millionth scholarship dollar had been awarded! The other recipients had spoken. Bob Gold introduced Karen, who is barely 5 feet tall. This is what she said:

"I always wish they'd have these (podium mics) much shorter for those of us who are 'vertically challenged'! I am Karen Bowman, the only daughter, only child of Warren G. Bowman II who has been listed as Missing in Action since July 17, 1972. I became a Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association scholarship recipient last year, or for the '94-'95 school year, and I can't tell you how much it has contributed to my coming (edited) graduation which is three weeks from today. I plan to take my RN State Boards at the end of May or the beginning of June and I am currently processing for selection in to the (edited) Nurses Corps. "

Karen paused and then her voice quivered.

"Two hours ago this pretty much might have summed up my thank you to all of you and to the River Rats. But there was a little surprize waiting for me this evening. A long wished for surprize. This is the first time ever I have met other members of my father's squadron and Gordie Breault who was the pilot of my father's plane the night he went down.

You've given me a gift tonight that can never be measured in monetary words! So many questions that I've had for 23 years and tonight maybe I will be able to get some answers or at least some reassurance. I was born in February and my father went down in July so I never got to know him. Only through your tales and your experiences can I somehow relate to my children what their grandfather was and how much he meant to all of you and the people who knew him. Thank you."

Bob Gold offered Karen a hug. Then Gordie came up from the audience and gave her an embrace. This meeting was long overdue and was for him as much relief as anything. There were many in the back of the room who couldn't quite see what happened next. Gordie hadn't worn it in years, but for some unknown reason for this reunion he was wearing his Owl FAC ring. This is what he gave to Karen! (The next day she could be seen with both her Dad's and Gordie's rings on her necklace.) Somewhat at a loss for words, emcee Ralph 'Frick' Schmidt summed it up best: "That's right Bob. I can't top that one. " For the moment silence fell over the ballroom.

Gordie stayed with Karen and her Mom until 0300, reliving that fateful mission with intimate detail. There were lots of tears to go around. Yes, Warren 'had done it right'. No, nothing more could have been done to save him or the aircraft. Other Nite Owls and surrogate fathers stepped in. Steve Morgan brought over a book which referenced her Dad. Another Rat gave her his scarf. It was an unforgettable evening!

Now Karen wants her fiancee, Bryan, to meet her 'extended family' and she is already planning to attend the '96 reunion. She and Gordie have kept in touch. A few weeks later she told him that perhaps their chance meeting "gave everyone a sense of purpose as to why they were there". The River Rats were doing one of the things they do best...taking care of their own.

The scholarship program brought them together. But what the River Rats gave Karen most was their time, their love and a part of themselves. They believed. And that night they remembered why they came.

When life shuts a door, God really does open a window. There's more to this story. To be continued ...

Sondra Phares Breault

May, 1995

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