Vietnam: "The US would have likely won the war had it implemented El Paso."

Via Terry via  Knuckledraggin' My Life Away 

 

 

29 May 1973, Saigon, South Vietnam: North Vietnamese Lt. Col. Bui Tin (r), official spokesman for the N. Vietnamese delegation to the JMC, shakes hands with unidentified American Airforce SGT. at the departure of the last American servicemen from Vietnam, as the US role in Vietnam officially ended 3/29. 5/29/1973

According to *Colonel Bui Tin, the US would have likely won the war had it implemented El Paso.

*Colonel Bui Tin (b. 1927) was a former colonel in the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) during the Vietnam War. After the war, he served as the vice-editor for the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He became disillusioned with Vietnamese communism and since 1990 has lived in Paris, France. Tin has also been actively involved in Vietnam War POW/MIA issues

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From the American perspective, General William Westmoreland was once heard to say: "I'd like to go to Tchepone but I haven't got the tickets." 

The December 2004 edition of Military Officer magazine summoned all former Blind Bats to Biloxi, Mississippi from April 28-30, 2005, for a "Batfest" reunion. "Blind Bats"? Who? Well, that's what we wanted to know.
The journey to learn about the Blind Bats is a journey back through history to the beginnings of the Vietnam War, to a time when secretive, covert US military operations were going on with a greater assortment of odd-ball aircraft and daring crews than you can shake a stick at.

More @ Talking Proud

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Like the C-130 Blind Bat, the B-57's initial operation in Vietnam was cloaked in secrecy. The US supplied a few B-57Bs to the South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF), a violation of the Geneva Accords that prohibited introduction of jet aircraft into the region. We'll show you three photos

 

 

B-57B Night Intruder in VNAF colors. These bombers were under the operational control of the USAF's 8th and 13th Bomber Squadrons, but were piloted by all-VNAF crews. This picture was taken at Da Nang in October 1965. After several accidents the B-57B was withdrawn from VNAF service. Photo credit: R. Mikesh, presented by VNAF.net

 

B-57B s/n 52-1532 in three-tone SEA camouflage scheme. Quite a few B-57Bs were assigned to the VNAF, but never more than four at any one time. Photo credit P. Q. Khiem, presented by VNAF.net

 

                                            Closer view of the VNAF markings.

The US trained South Vietnamese aircrews secretly at Clark AB in the Philippines in 1964, and then moved to Tan Son Nhut AB in Saigon, South Vietnam. The US formally announced that the aircraft had been given to the South Vietnamese in 1965. The VNAF flew the aircraft or sat in the second seat, but with an American in the other seat. The VNAF did get aircraft with their own markings which they alone could fly, but they were under USAF operational control.