An excellent description of the capability of the F105 and its pilots is found in "Vietnam Voices". A flight of F105s is described by British Consul-General John Colvin in Hanoi, 1967. "As we stood there, seven or eight United States F105 Thunderchief fighter bombers, flying at scarcely more than roof-top height and no more, it seemed, than 100 yards away, shot across our vision at what appeared - so tight was the space in which the whole incident was framed
between houses and sky - enormous speed. They had come on us suddenly out of nowhere, the hard, gray, sleek aircraft, in superb formation at approximately 600 mph... As they had hurtled past us, so close it seemed we could almost touch them or call to the pilots, we had seen the rockets fired from the pods under their wings. Almost simultaneously, such lights as were on in the apartment went out, the fan stopped turning, and a column of dust, smoke and flame rose from the direction of the power station..(leaving)..fists.. shaken at the sky (and) little groups of civilians whispering. (The planes had penetrated the city's defenses by coming in under radar, and the first antiaircraft batteries opened up not only after the raiders were about 20 miles away.)
Pitman and Stewart were skilled pilots, and dedicated to their jobs. It is not known if they survived or died. The Vietnamese probably know what happened to them, but they are not saying. Since the end of the war, the U.S. has received thousands of reports of Americans alive in the hands of the Vietnamese. Peter
Pitman and Robert Stewart could be among them. It's time we brought them home.
Peter P. Pitman was promoted to the rank of Major and Robert A. Stewart to the rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained missing. |
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