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  • Igloo White

    Using the cover of darkness, dense jungle and bad weather, North Vietnamese trucks carried critical supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail nearly undetected. Since large numbers of American ground troops were not permitted into neutral Laos to stop the trucks, the U.S. Air Force deployed a system of

  • Misty FACs

    Misty FACs (forward air controllers) flew at low altitude, spotting and marking enemy targets in heavily-defended areas in Laos and North Vietnam. This all-volunteer group had a quarter of their number shot down during these extremely hazardous missions. U.S. Air Force FACs normally flew slow,

  • Col. George “Bud” Day: Misty 01

    A veteran of three wars and the first commander of the Misty FACs, Col. George "Bud" Day is one of the most highly-decorated Airmen in USAF history. After being shot down in 1967, Day persistently defied his captors, for which he was mercilessly tortured. Day received the Medal of Honor and Air

  • Laos: The Panhandle and the Ho Chi Minh Trail

    THE TRAILThe confused situation caused by the civil war in Laos permitted North Vietnam to use southern Laos -- known as the "Panhandle" -- to move troops and supplies to South Vietnam. In 1959 the communists began traveling along the same network of paths through the Panhandle's mountains and

  • Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger: Belated Medal of Honor

    Through the long night, Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger repulsed enemy assaults. He saved the lives of others by sacrificing his own. Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger was one of the most highly trained radar technicians in the U.S. Air Force. A highly-effective and well-liked leader, he was

  • COMBAT SKY SPOT

    The enemy moved and attacked under the cover of monsoon rains, low-laying clouds and darkness. The U.S. Air Force was hampered during these times by a limited all-weather and night bombing capability.The U.S. Air Force adapted an existing system to address this problem. To train its crews, the U.S.

  • LS 85: In the Jaws of the Enemy

    "... it appears we may have pushed our luck one day too long in attempting to keep this facility in operation ..."- Cable from William Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, to the U.S. State Department, March 11, 1968In the fall of 1967, the U.S. secretly put a modified COMBAT SKY SPOT radar on a

  • Laos: Plain of Jars

    THE SECRET WARIn response to a Laotian request for assistance, the U.S. initiated covert operations to keep "neutral" Laos from falling to the communist offensive across the Plain of Jars. The U.S. ambassador in Laos assumed control of all US operations in northern Laos, including the CIA-operated

  • Laos

    OVER THE FENCE In 1954 the Geneva Peace Accords established Laos as an independent state led by the Royal Lao government. Shortly thereafter, opposing groups, including the North Vietnamese-supported communist Pathet Lao, started a civil war. The U.S. sent a small number of advisors to assist the

  • Forward Air Controller: O-2A Under Heavy Ground Fire in Southeast Asia

    This painting, by Andrew Whyte, depicts the museum's Cessna O-2A Skymaster (serial number 67-21331) on a forward air control (FAC) mission during the Southeast Asia War. To avoid being located, the enemy normally did not fire on FAC aircraft, but once discovered, they shot at the FAC with everything