Norman C. Gaddis

In March 1952 Gaddis was transferred to the 309th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Wing at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia where he flew the F-84 Thunderjet. He also attended 6 weeks of Fighter Weapon School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. While assigned to the 31st Wing, which was a Nuclear Weapons unit, he participated in Operation Fox Peter One, the first jet fighter crossing of the Pacific Ocean. This was historic because it included the first mass movement of jet fighters across the Pacific, the first mass mid-air refueling of jet fighters, the longest mass movement of a complete jet fighter wing by air and the longest mass nonstop over water flight by jets (from Travis Air Base in California to Hawaii). This deployment included a 3-month special mission to Chitose Air Base in Japan. The 31st Fighter Wing was awarded the Distinguished Unit Award for this historic flight.

Though officially stationed at Turner, Gaddis spent much of 1953 training at various places including Squadron Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, Nuclear Weapons School at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, survival training in the Okefenokee Swamp in Florida and gunnery training at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. In November Gaddis had a second classified deployment to Misawa Air Base, Japan.

In May 1954 Gaddis was reassigned to the 81st Fighter Wing, RAF Bentwaters, England, as the Wing Standardization Officer. This assignment included duty at Sheppard's Grove flying the F-86A Sabre. While he was there the wing converted to the F-84F Thunderstreak, a nuclear weapons carrier.

In late 1955 Gaddis was transferred to Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Wiesbaden, West Germany. He served as an operations staff officer in the Standardization Division. While there he had temporary duty at Edwards Air Force Base, California, to conduct performance testing on a new airplane, the F-100D Super Sabre. During this time he worked with test pilots Chuck Yeager, Deke Slayton, Ivan Kincheloe, Jim Carson and Lou Shalk.

In May 1957 Gaddis moved to Foster Air Force Base, Texas, to serve with the 450th Fighter Wing as the Squadron Operations Officer.

In April 1958 Gaddis was assigned to the U.S. Air Forces Fighter Weapons School, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where he flew the F-100D as a flight instructor and later served as the Director of Operations and Training. In 1960 he was selected for and attended the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

In July 1961 Major Gaddis was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Air Force Directorate of Operations as a staff officer in the Tactical Division. During this time he had the opportunity to brief the Chief of Staff, General Curtis LeMay.

During the 1965/66 academic year Gaddis attended the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC. From there he transitioned to MacDill Air Force Base, to attend F-4 Phantom II combat crew training. Gaddis was promoted to colonel on October 20, 1966. He also received orders for an assignment as the Assistant Deputy for Operations, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing at Cam Ranh Air Base, South Vietnam. Cam Ranh was a main staging base for 24/7 military airlift flights and support included medical evacuations and civilian contract flights, both arrivals and departures. As a senior officer he also flew combat missions in South and North Vietnam.

Early in 1967 the Viet Cong conducted rocket attacks against the American air bases in South Vietnam. General William W. Momyer, the Seventh Air Force commander, was concerned that some of the senior officers might be injured or killed in the attacks. To become familiar with the flight operations senior officers were temporarily assigned to other bases. As part of this plan Gaddis was sent to Danang Air Base, South Vietnam and Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand to fly missions with the F-4 wing.

While at Danang Gaddis and 11 other pilots were scheduled to fly a mission against a target in the southwest part of Hanoi. After completing a briefing Gaddis began his 73rd combat mission. Lt. James Jefferson was his weapons officer. They took off in the F-4 Phantom at 15:00 on May 12. The pilots proceeded to a rendezvous point with a KC-135 tanker aircraft over Laos. After all the fighters completed their refueling, Gaddis's flight joined with eighteen other aircraft loaded with bombs. Their target was a boat manufacturing plant in the southwest edge of Hanoi near the border of Hà Tây and Hòa Bình Provinces. As the strike forces approached the target, the North Vietnamese began to fire surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns. One of the missiles exploded near Gaddis's aircraft and pieces of metal debris were sucked into the left engine. The engine then exploded and set the aircraft on fire. According to North Vietnamese records, Gaddis' F-4C (BuNo 63–7614) did not fall to a SAM, but instead was shot down by a MiG-17 pilot of the 923rd Fighter Regiment, Ngo Duc Mai.[1][2] The aircraft began to rotate end-over-end. Gaddis ordered the copilot to eject and immediately heard two loud explosions, presumably the sound of the Jefferson's canopy separation and the ejection seat. Gaddis ejected while the plane was upside down. He was captured immediately. During this time, Gaddis did not see Jefferson's parachute. Later, Gaddis was shown Jefferson's nametag, which had been cut from his flight suit, and two other items of flight equipment, his helmet and his clipboard. All items were in good shape without burns or bloodstains. Apparently, he was killed during the ejection or immediately after he landed. Partial remains of Jefferson were repatriated July 14, 1999, and positive identification was announced June 5, 2000.

Gaddis was the first Air Force colonel to survive a bailout and capture in North Vietnam. He was taken immediately to the Hỏa Lò Prison, known as the "Hanoi Hilton." When he refused to give the Vietnamese information he was subjected to brutal torture. After three weeks of interrogation Gaddis was placed in a small cell, seven-feet square, and remained in solitary confinement for 1004 consecutive days. After two years and seven months he was allowed to write a letter to his family and was allowed to receive a package from family containing toilet articles, candy, and some underclothes.

At the end of solitary confinement, another Air Force Colonel was placed in the cell with Gaddis. Four months later these two were allowed to live with two other Air Force colonels in a larger cell. The prisoners were not supposed to communicate with others, but they did so using a Tap code messaging system improvised by the prisoners as well as scratching on the bottoms of containers. They learned that about 200 Americans were being held in the prison.

During this time the American prisoners were not brutally tortured but were slapped, kicked and punched in the kidneys by the guards. The food was limited, and each of the four had lost 30 to 35 pounds since being captured. Occasionally they were allowed packages from their families and these items were shared. If families sent pictures the guards only allowed the prisoners to keep them for a few days; letters were taken in the same manner.

The senior officers at the Hanoi Hilton organized a provisional unit, the 4th Allied Prisoner of War Wing. It was composed of all United States branches - Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps - as well as allied prisoners from South Vietnam and Thailand and was led by Colonels John P. Flynn and Robinson Risner. The groups communicated using tabs, signals and codes.

During this period there were about ten prisons within a 15 miles (24 km) radius of Hanoi. In an effort to consolidate the prisoners for better control approximately two hundred American prisoners were moved to a camp 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Chinese border. The senior officers remained at the Hanoi Hilton.

In November 1970, following the unsuccessful Son Tay Raid, the North Vietnamese consolidated most of the prisoners into the one Hanoi location. This allowed additional contact and it was soon learned that there were almost 500 prisoners, most of them officers.

Twice each day the Vietnamese had a propaganda program on the camp radio. The goal was to convince the prisoners that the Vietnamese were winning the war. From this broadcast the prisoners learned about the Paris meetings between the Vietnamese and Americans. They also learned more about the April 1972 bombing of Haiphong Harbor where Soviet ships were docked. Gaddis and other prisoners were then physically dragged through the Hanoi Museum in July to see some of the bomb casings and other munitions dropped by the bombers.

In August 1972 the prisoners sensed that something positive was happening when they received physical examinations including chest x-rays. The prisoners were invited to write a statement detailing their injuries. By this time torture was only given for flagrant violations of camp regulations.

In October 1972 a Vietnamese Political Officer came into the senior officer compound and said that the war would end soon. However, in a blow to prisoner morale, the Vietnamese recalled their delegation from the Paris Peace Talks in early November.

In late November the guards gave each prisoner a notebook and pencil for academic study purposes; it was not to be used for politics. The books were collected every few days to see what the "blackest of criminals" were writing about. The prisoners were also given a Bible to read and study for a week. The prisoners surmised from this generosity that something had to be happening somewhere.

Just after dark on 18 December 1972 the prisoners heard the unmistakable sound of bomb blasts over Hanoi which indicated the start of Operation Linebacker II. The number of blasts and the firing of surface-to-air missiles indicated that these were B-52 bombers. As they began to cheer the crews, the guards burst into the compound and pressed bayonets into their backs ordering them to get under the wooden beds. As soon as the guards left the prisoners were back at the openings. The bombing lasted all night long. At daylight the bombing stopped – but started again the next night. Every night, except Christmas, the bombs dropped until suddenly stopping at midnight on December 29. These raids included up to 129 B-52s. Soon, the camp radio announced that the Vietnamese delegation had returned to Paris.

On Christmas Day 1972 Joe Kittinger, a friend from the days at Neubiberg and internationally known for his balloon jumps as part of Project Excelsior, ended up in the cell for senior officers for a few days. He had been shot down on 11 May 1972.

On 29 January 1973 Gaddis was one of 29 senior officer prisoners brought together to receive a copy of the Release Agreement. For most, this was the first time these officers had actually met each other. According to protocol, the first POWs to be released would be the sick and wounded; however, the Vietnamese would not allow these to be designated by the POWs themselves.

The senior officers made the decision that military bearing, structure and rules would be followed. If any of the prisoners could not walk, they were to be carried by Americans, not the Vietnamese. The release sequence would be by order of capture, starting with the first person. It was mandated that every POW must know the name and capture date of the person ahead of them. If the Vietnamese did not follow sequence, everything would come to a standstill; thus, making sure no one would be left behind.

According to protocol, each group would total about 150 POWs. The first group of POWs would be released on 12 February 1973; the second group released fourteen days later, and so on until the nearly 600 prisoners were released. Navy Captain James B. Stockdale was the senior officer of the first group, and the first POW in the formation was Navy Lieutenant Commander Everett Alvarez who had been captured on 5 August 1964. This first group also included Colonel Risner. The POWs were issued a pair of dark trousers, a lighter colored shirt, a pair of black shoes and a light windbreaker. They had the option of taking their personal belongings, such as letters and pictures, in a small hand bag.

Gaddis was the senior officer of the second group. He was informed that the camp was going to make a special release of 18 POWs in honor of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was at Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi. Based on the Rules Of Engagement set in place by the POW Wing to go out together and without official orders from an American official, Gaddis ordered the men not to leave prison. At noon an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel came into the camp to talk to Gaddis. He confirmed that Secretary Kissinger was waiting for the men to arrive. Gaddis then released the 18 and instructed them to put on their clothes and march out. One of the men, who did not want to be stigmatized as a collaborator by being released early, ran back into the area and asked if he could wait for Gaddis at Clark Air Field in the Philippines. He was told "NO. Now get your ___ on that airplane!" Because of the incident, the next group was delayed six days for what the Vietnamese called noncompliance.

On 4 March 1973 Gaddis's group was allowed to leave the camp. Because Gaddis had caused trouble, he was punished by being placed on the last bus for the trip to the airport. At the airport he resumed his proper military sequence. Upon arrival at Clark Air Base, Gaddis was asked to make a public statement to more than 1,000 greeters. He thanked the President of the United States and everyone responsible for the group's freedom. He also mentioned there were still many prisoners in North Vietnam and that nothing should be said or done to delay their release.

At Clark the group feasted on steak and eggs and started their processing to return to a "normal" lifestyle. Later in the evening of that first day of freedom, Gaddis asked the group to meet in the base chapel for a thanksgiving service. The next stop was Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. On the tarmac to meet the group was General Frederick C. Blesse the flight leader on the 12 May 1967 mission. When the plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, DC, General Daniel (Chappie) James was there to meet them.

The Department of Defense "Operation Homecoming" plan included receiving a handwritten letter from family telling about the significant events that had happened during their internment, a phone call with the family, a physical and dental checkup and a fitting for a new uniform. After being flown home and reuniting with family, they would receive medical treatment and undergo extensive intelligence debriefings.

The following is taken from Gaddis's release statement:

"As things improved we began to see the "light at the end of the tunnel," albeit very dim. Our faith and confidence in our leaders was enhanced. Someday in the not too distant future we knew that America would secure our release with honor. Our job was simple - do always what was best for our country. We should never allow our desires to transcend the interests of our country."
 
I feel that we were fortunate to have a man such as Colonel John P. Flynn as our [POW] leader. His perceptions and persistency caused us to constantly re-evaluate our goals and our policies. And it is my belief that our [professional military] image at the time of the release could be attributed to John Peter Flynn.

 To all of you who have made our return possible, to all who helped our families, to all who prayed for our safe return, to all who waited faithfully and patiently, to all who shared our woes, to all who supported our nation, to all whose loved ones have not returned - I trust that the Divine Providence will bless you and give you strength. God Bless you!"