100 Missions Up North

DAYTON, Ohio - Capt. Richard “Dick” Rutan’s boonie hat (front left). In 1968, he flew 105 F-100F Misty FAC missions. During his tour, he was shot down, but was recovered. In 1986, Rutan, along with Jeanne Yeager, flew the Voyager aircraft on the first, non-stop, unrefueled flight around the world. Col. Larry Bogemann, an F-105 pilot in the 34th TFS, 388th TFW, kept track of his missions on this boonie hat (back left). Capt. Robert Bradshaw, an F-105 pilot in the 354th TFS, 355th TFW, decorated his hat with metal pull tabs from beverage cans (back right). During his tour from September 1966-May 1967, he flew 108 combat missions. The “6A” was for missions near Hanoi in Route Pack 6A, “NVN” was for missions in other parts of North Vietnam, and “NC” meant “non-counters” in Laos. The monkey pin was for good luck, and it related to an invincible white monkey in an ancient epic Thai tale. Lt. (later Major) Ed Rasimus, an F-105 pilot in the 421st TFS, completed his 100th mission over North Vietnam on November 3, 1966. The red hash marks were originally intended “to signify the days that were just a bit more intense than they should have been.” However, there were so many that he ended up using them to signify every tenth mission. Rasimus completed over 250 combat missions in Southeast Asia, and his second tour in F-4Es is the top row of hash marks (and Laotian missions are on the back) (front right). (U.S. Air Force photo)