1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
Cherry 2’s EWO actively jammed North Vietnamese
GCI controller frequencies as did the Navy
A-6s over Haiphong. Consequently, MiG pilots
could not receive instructions from their controllers
to complete their air-to-air intercepts. 80
At H+ 10 minutes the assault force commander
advised “negative items [POWs] at this time.” Immediately
after this call, Colonel Simons advised
his force to “prepare to withdraw for LZ extraction.”
There were no prisoners at Son Tay. Apple
1 was called in from its logger location at H+ 14
minutes, and Apple 2 at H+ 22 minutes. As Apple
2 arrived, Colonel Simons directed demolition of
the disabled HH-3 (Banana 1). At H+ 27 minutes
Apple 2 departed Son Tay with all remaining
forces on board. 81
As the assault force headed west, single-ship
Cherry 2 remained in orbit near Mount Ba Vi
jamming GCI controller frequencies. Apples 3, 4,
and 5 departed to the west, followed by the A-1s
and the overhead F-4s and remaining F-105s. As
the force cleared the objective area, Cherry 2 departed
westward following them. Over the Plain
of Jars in northeastern Laos, two survival bea -
cons were picked up from the downed F-105 crew.
Colonel Blosch proceeded to the area at 8,500 feet
and established an orbit while running his Fulton
STARS checklist. He reasoned that there was a
possibility that the two crew members might need
immediate extraction, so he was prepared to get
them. Concurrently, Apple 4 and Apple 5 refueled
from the HC-130P over Laos and established an
orbit over the downed crew members. At first
light, with Colonel Blosch’s Talon orbiting near
the downed crew members, Apple 4 picked up the
front-seat pilot, and Apple 5 picked up the backseat
EWO. The two HH-53s, along with Colonel
Blosch’s Combat Talon, then returned to Udorn
RTAFB and landed without further incident. 82
At Udorn RTAFB Major Franklin and the entire
raiding force had landed by the time Colonel
Blosch and the two HH-53s arrived. General
Manor had flown by way of T-39 from Da Nang
AB to meet Colonel Simons and his troops when
they landed. Although everyone was exhausted, a
formal mission debriefing was held, and a detailed
“summary of operations” message was prepared
by General Manor and Colonel Simons for
transmission back to the Pentagon. The message
was transmitted at 0915Z, but for unexplained
reasons it was never received by JCS. The two
commanders were ordered to fly back to Washington
immediately, and by late morning they were
on their way. At 1500Z on 23 November, they
landed at Andrews AFB, Maryland, aboard an Air
Force KC-135 Looking Glass aircraft. 83 As it turned
out, their immediate return had been directed by
President Nixon, who wanted to personally decorate
the two in a special White House ceremon y.
After the hot wash at Udorn RTAFB, the Talon
crews returned to Takhli RTAFB for much needed
rest. Redeployment to the United States retraced
their deployment route earlier in the month with
departure from Takhli RTAFB on 22 November
and arrival at Norton AFB on 25 November. At
Norton AFB the two Talons were turned over to
LAS Ontario on 26 November for removal of the
FLIR. Aircrew and en route support items were
returned to Pope AFB by way of TAC C-130 on 26
November. 84 Colonel Blosch and Major Franklin
flew on to Eglin AFB to assist in writing the after
action report. Over 90 days had passed since they
had reported to Eglin AFB for training the previous
summer.
Aftermath
After the rescue attempt at Son Tay, the North
Vietnamese consolidated the American prisoners
in the Hanoi area and closely held secret their
exact locations. Although there was some planning
for a follow-on operation, consolidation of
the prisoners in Hanoi effectively eliminated another
rescue attempt. The consolidation, however,
had a positive effect on the overall condition
of the prisoners. Before the raid many prisoners
had been held in remote rural areas, under primitive
conditions. Most had been kept in solitary
confinement for years, with no contact with others.
Immediately before the raid, several had died
after years of torture and captivity. Bringing
them all to the Hanoi area caused an overcrowding
of existing facilities. To house all the prison -
ers, North Vietnamese authorities had no choice
but to put them in common cells. The American
prisoners were finally able to talk openly with
each other, and they met friends from their old
units. Those in bad shape were nursed back to
health by their fellow prisoners. Morale soared
as word trickled in that the United States had
attempted to rescue some of them from Son
Tay. 85 US fears that the remaining prisoners
would suffer because of the raid did not materialize.
Rather, their overall condition improved
dramatically over time.
There was much speculation by the media regarding
why the prisoners were not at Son Tay.
The failure was blamed by most media reports on
poor intelligence and, perhaps, even a breach of
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