Paveway Revenge
On one bright clear Thailand morning, Joe was tasked to lead a three-ship Paveway mission to the Barrel Roll area in Laos. The flight was loaded with two 3000 pound and two 2000 pound laser bombs. Joe was the designator.
Shortly after takeoff there was a Mayday call from Gary Rubus, a squadron mate, and Dan Druen, his wingman and the 4th Wing DO, that he was hit badly by ground fire and was proceeding to DaNang so that he could bail out over water.
Joe called ABCCC, told them the type ordnance he was carrying, and asked if he could assist in silencing the triple-A. He was told there was a FAC on the scene waiting. The FAC marked the general location of the anti-aircraft battery. It was hidden in the trees and camouflaged.
Gary Bendlin, the best designator in the squadron, was in Joe’s back seat. He put a 3000 pounder down to get rid of the camouflage and expose the revetments.
Gary then put the first 2000 pounder directly on top of the firing gun and a second 2000 pounder in the ammo bunker – what a fireworks display! Direct hits!
We had the tremendous satisfaction of knowing that the guns that just shot down our squadron mates had been blown away! A good day for the Paveway Team!
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