"Thud Ridge" by Jim Laurier. On July 27, 1965, 45 Republic F-105D Thunderchiefs from Korat RTAFB and Takhli RTAFB, Thailand, made the first official attack of the Vietnam War on a SAM (surface-to-air missile) site. The site, just 10 - 15 miles west-northwest of Hanoi, North Vietnam, near the Red River, turned out to be a "dummy." A half dozen Thunderchiefs were lost in the raid. Captain Charles Horner (later the General of Desert Storm fame) was one of the attackers that day and remembers the mission as "chaotic and poorly planned." The general said, "as my group entered the strike zone at 50 feet above the trees and 650 knots, the other group of Thuds started their attack from the opposite direction -- it was all we could do to avoid collisions with each other." With the AAA (anti-aircraft artillery) extremely heavy, the attacking thuds left the target in afterburner, headed for the safety of Thud Ridge. The 5,000 foot mountain range shown in the painting. It's interesting to note that although the SAM sites were considered a significant threat, only a small percentage of aircraft were downed by SAMS  while 80 percent were downed by AAA. It should also be noted that the F-105 did much of the most dangerous work of the war, particularly in the early years (1964-67), when the going was especially tough.

Page created by:
Patrick Mahon
Vero Beach Fl
dawg@gate.net

For an excellent page in tribute to "Thud Ridge" click here
http://www.oocities.org/Pentagon/7002/

pau