Carolina Blue

Wings of Gold, Winter 1998 by Stuart, Fred, Harris, Lee

Carolina Blue. The Carolina Blue Squadron of Sanford, NC featured ADM Jim Busey, USN (Ret.) as a prime speaker at its August meeting. The former Vice Chief of Naval Operations, FAA Administrator, and ANA Executive Board Member fielded questions from the audience. In response to a query about Vietnam combat operations, Busey, who flew A-4s, said, "The only way the pilots gained experience was on the job." His squadron, the Saints, and its sister squadron, the Ghostriders, lost five Skyhawks in their first week on the line in 1967. One was captured.

John McCain, now a U.S. Senator from Arizona, was in Busey's squadron. The TV-guided smart bomb, Walleye, was in service. The Saints used Walleye to destroy the Hanoi Thermal Power Plant. Six Skyhawks with Crusaders flying cover were on the mission. Busey locked his Walleye onto the target but suddenly his airplane lost lock-on and Busey found himself upside down. He immediately righted his A-4, regained a lock-on on the power plant and released the weapon. As he did so, he saw two SAMs and his right wing on fire from AAA. He climbed, dodging missiles, and made his way back to Oriskany. After landing, he discovered he had 127 holes in his airplane. Busey and Bryan Compton earned Navy Crosses for this mission.

Said the Admiral, "By the end of the 1967 deployment one in three pilots of the Saints had died in combat or been captured. Of their original planes, not one remained. In the three years of Operation Rolling Thunder, the Oriskany lost 38 pilots and 60 planes, including 29 Skyhawks, the highest loss rate of any carrier in the war. Busey is in first pic.

At the September meeting, LCDR Rob Roy "Mac" Converse, USNR (Ret.), whose uncle and father were WWI pilots, and who flew fighters in WWII himself, described duty in VF21 at Guadacanal flying cover for B24s. During six weeks of combat his unit scored 60 victories against the Japanese. He later went to CIC school, learned a lot about radar and served on USS Monterey with friend (and later President) Gerald Ford.

During a typhoon, with 100-knot winds and 70-foot swells Converse recalled, "I was starting up to the flight deck when I realized the ship was on fire and the engines had stopped. Planes had torn loose from their lashings and were crashing into each other on the hangar deck. Sparks had touched off gasoline and the whole hangar deck was in flames. The fire was subdued by dawn after causing considerable damage.

That's Converse at the mike with framed photo of Monterey at left, R.G. Smith painting of WWII fighters on the right, and behind him, a picture of the famed General Billy Mitchell who married into the Converse family.

At the squadron's 5th Anniversary Dinner, October 30th, CDR Joe Algranti, USN (Ret.) of the squadron spoke about his professional life as Chief Pilot for NASA/Houston for 30 years. More than 60 Carolina Blues attended. Joe test flew an early model of the Lunar Lander. Due to a system failure while flying it, he had to eject. Fortunately, he survived without serious injury. He also piloted the modified 747 with the space shuttle strapped piggyback to it. He said the combined aircraft flew well despite the light turbulence experienced during landing. He also mentioned the zero gravity tests in a modified KC-135. The tests were designed to give astronauts their first taste of relative weightlessness. The plane was sometimes referred to as "the vomit comet."

At the anniversary dinner, CDR Algranti is shown at the podium and then awarding Dave Arnold a coffee mug for achievement as one of the squadron's seven regional coordinators - and for perfect attendance at meetings. This is followed by a photo of ADM Busey with wife, Jean, and RADM Jack Calvert with wife, Sharon. Next are CAPT Tom Thamm, CAPT Fred Hollick and wife, Jeanne, CAPT R.A. "Bob" Hillick with wife Alyx, and Mrs. Tom Thamm. In the final view are Mary Tetlow with husband George, Lee Harris, Carolina Blue CO, and LT Dick Emrey with wife, Virginia. (All photos by Bill Miller. CAPT Fred Stuart, USN (Ret.), and Carolina Blue CO, Lee Harris contributed to this article.)