The Hanoi Jane Mission
by Peter Chilelli
Title
The Hanoi Jane Mission
Artist
Peter Chilelli
Medium
Digital Art
Description
The story behind the mission on September 12th 1972.
With the talks in Paris regarding peace in Vietnam teetering, in part due to false accusations by Jane Fonda and her sources, that claimed the United States was bombing the dike systems of North Vietnam. The US Navy was called upon to provide reconnaissance evidence of some 28 waypoints along the Red River system, to the contrary. While there is proof dike bombing was considered by Nixon and his staff, as well as use of nuclear weapons, neither would come to fruition. It was in fact a severe Monsoon Season, and the flooding in the North was NOT due to raids from the American Navy/Air Force.
Picture the Strike Operations Room of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga in the Gulf of Tonkin. Inside it, are most of the top brass from Pacific Fleet and Carrier Division, preparing to brief the combat hardened F-4J Phantom and RA-5C crews, of VF-31 and RVAH-1. On the table in this room is, the phone that never rings. Phantom pilot Lt. Al Cisneros, couldn't help but notice this was no routine mission briefing so he settled in the chair next to his Commanding Officer. As tension and smoke from cigarettes grew thicker... that phone rings. Who was on the that call is a mystery. It could have been Laird, Kissinger, or even Nixon but with the room filled with many stars something urgent was conveyed on that call.
The mission would require one RA-5C Vigilante to fly straight and level to photograph the waypoints while the F-4J Phantom provided escort cover. In essence, the F-4 would draw and break any missile lock by performing a constant figure eight around the Vigi. This kind of mission was flown regularly by the crews of the Tomcatters and the Smokin Tigers. The big difference on this day was the weather was awful. Cloud cover and rain would force the aircraft below 1000 feet for much their flightpath, bringing flak and small arms fire into play during ingress. With 12 of the waypoints in the infamous Happy Valley, all in the room knew this was an extremely dangerous mission and were thankful it was voluntary.
First up to volunteer was Vigilante pilot CMDR Mick Miefert of RVAH-1, who had but one request. He asked the Admiral if he could pick his escort of choice for the mission. Permission granted, was the reply. Right about this time eye contact with the F-4 pilots became scarce, including the eyes of Lt. Cisneros. A nudge and a whisper from Al's CO came, Al look up. Even if aw shit was racing through his mind, Al stood and replied, Yes Sir!, to the request that he fly the escort. Mick understood Al was very proficient at flying cover for these missions. So, the team would be Miefert and his LAN Lt. Larry Poli and Cisneros and his RIO Lt. Steve Miller. With the conclusion of the briefing the two aircraft were launched and headed into the pea soup over North Vietnam.
For the enemy, these conditions were ideal to bag a jet or two. The thick clouds would not only keep flak dense and contained like a wall, small arms and AAA rounds would be a real threat at low level versus a normal recon mission altitude. SAM use would always be possible during both ingress and egress but less effective than the above mentioned, on this mission. Their route was south to north towards Hanoi as they clicked off the first 10 waypoints. With weather going from bad to worse a bang and shutter rocked the underside of the F-4 of Cisneros. Miefert made the decision to return to Saratoga and hope the weather cleared. The two aircraft in formation then went belly up to Hanoi and headed east to the Red River Valley and got in 8 more waypoints. Later that day with improving weather and a completely different mission route, a second recon-team collected images of the remaining waypoints. The crews of both teams were recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Uploaded
October 28th, 2016
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