His fighter pilot service in WW2, Korea and Vietnam and later, especially 10 March, 1966
On 10 March 1966, He flew a USAF A1-E Skyraider propeller-driven ground attack fighter, with his wingman to the A Shau Valley in west central Vietnam, where about 200 Army Special Forces and Hmong tribesman fighters in a camp held out against over 1,000 North Vietnamese Army regulars. Major "Jump" Myers and his flight joined up with 4 fighter planes from another base, Major "Bernie" Fisher and his wingman, and two WW2 vet pilots, all in Skyraiders. They flew in above thick clouds that rose from about 800 ft over the camp to about 1500 feet above.
Their mission was to drop bombs, white phosphorus bombs, and to machine gun the North Vietnamese attacking the US Army Green Beret Camp.
First, they found a clearer hole in the clouds, and Bernie Fisher led them all down to clear air. They then had to fly a mile down a mountain valley while under fire from 10 North Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns who shot down at them from the higher mountains on both sides. They were constantly taking gunfire hits while approaching the camp, shooting enemies around the camp, tightly turning, and coming back for more. The second time by, Jump Myers airplane engine was destroyed and set on fire. He couldn't even see where he was, because of smoke inside his cockpit. He and Bernie Fisher talked on the radio, and they knew that Jump's only chance was to crash land, because he was to low to bail out with his parachute. So, with Jump steering his plane only by what Bernie told him, he actually crash landed on a short 2,500 ft. abandoned runway that was completely surrounded by North Vietnamese. Just before he landed, Bernie told Jump to drop all his bombs and outside gas tanks to keep from exploding in fire when landing a heavier plane, and Jump did that just before the runway, but the full gas tank on the airplane belly didn't drop. When Jump landed, it exploded into fire. Jump, whose worst nightmare was crashing and being on fire, opened the cockpit canopy on the left to jump out, but the fire was out-of-control. He had to get rid of all his survival gear, which would hold him up while climbing out the right side, which he figured had to be better than the left side was. A whole minute went by while the smoke covered the plane and the fire roared. Even Bernie Fisher couldn't see whether Jump was even alive, but he got out the right side and jumped to the ground, then ran through the fire to hide under the cut bank that the bulldozers had made to make the flat runway.
Jump knew he was surrounded, that the enemy never took prisoners while fighting a battle, and that no helicopter could survive all the gunfire to rescue him...But Bernie Fisher saved him.
....but that's another story, for later...including the Congressional Medal of Honor
Their mission was to drop bombs, white phosphorus bombs, and to machine gun the North Vietnamese attacking the US Army Green Beret Camp.
First, they found a clearer hole in the clouds, and Bernie Fisher led them all down to clear air. They then had to fly a mile down a mountain valley while under fire from 10 North Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns who shot down at them from the higher mountains on both sides. They were constantly taking gunfire hits while approaching the camp, shooting enemies around the camp, tightly turning, and coming back for more. The second time by, Jump Myers airplane engine was destroyed and set on fire. He couldn't even see where he was, because of smoke inside his cockpit. He and Bernie Fisher talked on the radio, and they knew that Jump's only chance was to crash land, because he was to low to bail out with his parachute. So, with Jump steering his plane only by what Bernie told him, he actually crash landed on a short 2,500 ft. abandoned runway that was completely surrounded by North Vietnamese. Just before he landed, Bernie told Jump to drop all his bombs and outside gas tanks to keep from exploding in fire when landing a heavier plane, and Jump did that just before the runway, but the full gas tank on the airplane belly didn't drop. When Jump landed, it exploded into fire. Jump, whose worst nightmare was crashing and being on fire, opened the cockpit canopy on the left to jump out, but the fire was out-of-control. He had to get rid of all his survival gear, which would hold him up while climbing out the right side, which he figured had to be better than the left side was. A whole minute went by while the smoke covered the plane and the fire roared. Even Bernie Fisher couldn't see whether Jump was even alive, but he got out the right side and jumped to the ground, then ran through the fire to hide under the cut bank that the bulldozers had made to make the flat runway.
Jump knew he was surrounded, that the enemy never took prisoners while fighting a battle, and that no helicopter could survive all the gunfire to rescue him...But Bernie Fisher saved him.
....but that's another story, for later...including the Congressional Medal of Honor
