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ISSUE
122 - June 2010
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| SEQUENCE |
By David Rose,
Contributing Editor
San Diego, California |
Events, which at the time seem so removed
from our lives, will sometimes lead us to our most memorable
encounters.
Such an event in my life occurred over North Vietnam
early in 1965. Two North Vietnamese MIG fighters attacked a
pair of returning F-105 Fighter Bombers. The incident caused
a flurry in Washington as it highlighted increased involvement
on the part of the North Vietnam Air Force in the air war. |
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| The immediate reaction
was to deploy air superiority fighters to provide top cover
for the daily fighter bomber raids being conducted over North
Vietnam. |
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First choice? F-104’s.
(Painting
above by Don Feight at www.feightstudios.com/starfighter.htm)
At the time
the Air Force operated roughly 300 F-104A’s and F-104C’s
with the A’s being dedicated to Air Defense Command (ADC)
as interceptors and the C’s being operated by the Tactical
Air Command (TAC) in an air superiority and close air support
role. The F-104C’s were stationed at George AFB in California
and split into three squadrons which rotated as the Alpha Squadron,
or immediate response unit, and my squadron, the 476th, which
just happened to be Alpha Squadron at the time, was deployed
to the DaNang Royal Vietnam Air Force Base 400 miles North
of Saigon. Virtually days after the MIG activity which prompted
the move, we found ourselves living in tents at the edge of
DaNang’s single runway and flying two, four hour flights
a day over North Vietnam keeping the MIG’s at bay. |
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 DaNang
would eventually become a sprawling base serving every type
of fighting aircraft operating in the northern sectors, but
very early in 1965 there was little activity there. The daily
weather recy (weather reconnaissance flight) over North Vietnam
was flown out of DaNang and there were close air support missions
being flown by F-100’s stationed there. The base was
also used as an emergency recovery field for strike aircraft
returning from missions in the North but that was about the
extent of DaNang’s daily activity. (Photo above:
China Beach)
DaNang’s saving graces? Two things. One, we could go
in to the seaside town of DaNang with it’s incredible
miles of “China” beach and where a great floating
French restaurant was still being operated by a pair of French
ladies whom we assumed to be left over from the French Indochina
war (Unfortunately, the restaurant, heavily frequented by the
Americans, disappeared late one May night in a huge explosion
which we all attributed to the Cong sending a message to the
locals.)
DaNang’s second saving grace? The DaNang Officers Open
Mess. The DOOM Club. There we could go day or night to find
really good food and perhaps as importantly, a great bar where
drinks were a quarter, except during happy hour when they were
free. The cafeteria style dinning area had two inch thick Australian
steaks laid out for us which we would take out on the patio
and grill to perfection. After dinner, what was there to do
but retire to the bar and drink for a while. The place closed
down at midnight, leaving an early morning wake up for the
first mission still at least a few hours away.
It was in the
club one night that this sequence of events would bring me
to one of my most memorable moments. The events of that evening
are still with me and I recall that Ray Holt, Tom Delashaw,
Harry Martinez, pilots from my squadron, and I had eaten dinner
together and then proceeded to the bar. We shook the dice for
who was to pay the dollar for four drinks, and having lost,
I was the last to leave the bar. As I approach the crap table
to which the others had migrated, I saw our squadron commander
seated at a table with a woman.
Due to the fact DaNang was
so far North, and that the DOOM Club had great food and free
drinks, it often looked like the Star Wars bar, frequented
by all manner of combatants from the surrounding areas. You
found Marines from the chopper outfit across the base there,
Special Forces types and MAG (Military Assistance Group) guys
who flew with the Vietnamese. Even mercenary looking guys who
fought with the Montagnard tribesmen would come down from the
mountains for a good meal and a drink. With so diverse a bunch
always present you expected the unusual, so I can be forgiven
for not recognizing her at first. |
|
 She
sat there in fatigues wearing the rank of Colonel on her lapels
and a green beret over her disheveled hair. It wasn’t
until my squadron commander asked if I’d like to sit
down with he and Martha Raye that I recognized her, wide eyed,
her grin spread all the way across her face and her hand outstretched
to greet me.
Now in 1948 my Dad had been the first person on the block to
buy a television set. That little twelve inch black and white
screen opened my life up to ‘Lucky Pup with Foodini the
magician’, Burr Tillstrom’s ‘Kukla, Fran
and Ollie, and ‘The Texaco Star Theater’ with Uncle
Milty, who often had Miss Raye on as a guest singer/comedian
and where I saw her for the first time. And here she was, only
one of 5559 USO performances who eventually volunteered to
come to South East Asia in support of the troops.
 But Miss
Raye was special among so many. She had been doing this for
the troops since North Africa in the early 40's. She had made
untold numbers of trips to war zones the world over. Where
ever our troops were, she was there. And not just entertaining,
but joining in the life of the troops and helping whenever
and where ever she thought she would be a help. Tending the
wounded, nursing casualties, changing dressings, loading medivac
choppers, even washing cloths and cooking. Whatever and where
ever, she was in there helping
 There
are countless stories of her up at the front lines, in harms way and refusing
to leave when she thought she could help. She wore a Colonels uniform with the
Special Forces green beret. She actually did hold some rank in the reserves,
but it didn't matter, I suppose she should have worn five stars; she was so much
larger than life you expected supreme rank.
I won't forget my chance to spend a little time with her. She was so engaging
and personable; so outgoing and genuine; so funny and irreverent. I can't relate
the conversation which followed; just that she was one of the most remarkable
persons. She had given, and continued to give of herself in so many ways all
her life. “Col. Maggie”, as the men of the Special Forces christened
her when giving her their Green Beret, would return to Vietnam many times after
that visit. She kept returning there for nine years and once spent six months
'in country'. She was seen in more "A" camps and jungle outposts than
any general and boosted the moral of more troops in isolated areas than all the
other entertainers combined. "At the front" she would say when refused
access by well meaning officials "is where they need me the most".
They would always relent and Miss Raye, dropping in by helicopter would get to
visit even the secret SOG "Studies and Observations Group" Special
Forces Recon Team bases. The Special Forces tell how once, when the unit she
was with came 'under fire', she went into nurse mode helping the medical team
and comforting the wounded.
|
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| They affectionately nicknamed her the "Meanest
Mother in the Valley". “Col. Maggie”. She
was an honorary member of the Special Forces from whom she
received her Green Beret. There’s even a Special Forces
Association Chapter (XXVII) named for her. The title of Lieutenant
Colonel came from President Johnson himself. For fifty years
our sons and fathers, mothers and daughters have delighted
in the lift this woman gave them. |
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| “Colonel Maggie” isn’t
with us anymore or she would be in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or
where ever our troops are in harms way and needing a lift.
Martha Raye received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993
and in honor of her service to the military a special exception
was made allowing her to be buried in the military cemetery
at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, among the military she so loved
and served. |
You'll find her on veterans web sites
everywhere. Reward yourself and honor a gallant lady by visiting
some of them and reading her full story.
www.colonelmaggie.com/vets.htm
www.vietnamexp.com/morestories/MarthaRaye.htm
www.usa-patriotism.com/gap/raye_m.htm
www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11537 |
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