Article & Pics of U-2

[Brill]

Interesting quick read on the U-2...good luck not getting sucked into the other articles about aircraft!

The veteran spy plane too valuable to replace

Satellites – and drones – were intended to replace it. But the 65-year-old Lockheed U-2 is still at the top of its game, flying missions in an environment no other aircraft can operate in.

 

[Kraut783]

Back when I was a young child, my father was stationed at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon, AZ. There was a U2 sqaudron there....you could watch them take off....it was incredible, they would go verticle so fast!

Such an intresting aircraft, great article lindy.

 

[Gunz]

One of those got shot down over North Vietnam. The pilot bailed and was rescued far from the crash site. The plane itself came down in South Vietnam near the Laotian border. MACV sent Bo Gritz and a team with some counterparts to recover the black box. They got inserted by helo, trudged around in the jungle near Laos until they located the wreckage...but the box was gone.

So then they ambushed an NVA patrol in an attempt to get a prisoner, killed most of them but managed to bash one real good with a blackjack...and even though he'd been shot, too, and was in serious pain, he was alive. They told him they wouldn't help him with the pain or give him medical aid unless he talked, which he did...and he said the box had been taken to a basecamp not too far away. So they raided the basecamp, killed a bunch of VC/NVA and managed to recover the black box.

Then they had a running gunfight, off and on, through the jungle for a few days until they finally reached a suitable exfil site and were picked up.

I know there's not much respect for Bo Gritz in the SF community because of his post-war activities, but I always thought that story was pretty cool. Hope I've remembered it correctly.

BTW The wounded POW was taken to a military hospital in Saigon...and when he was better he just walked out and disappeared.

 

[Kraut783]

"MACV sent Bo Gritz and a team with some counterparts to recover the black box. They got inserted by helo, trudged around in the jungle near Laos until they located the wreckage...but the box was gone.

So then they ambushed an NVA patrol in an attempt to get a prisoner, killed most of them but managed to bash one real good with a blackjack...and even though he'd been shot, too, and was in serious pain, he was alive. They told him they wouldn't help him with the pain or give him medical aid unless he talked, which he did...and he said the box had been taken to a basecamp not too far away. So they raided the basecamp, killed a bunch of VC/NVA and managed to recover the black box.

Then they had a running gunfight, off and on, through the jungle for a few days until they finally reached a suitable exfil site and were picked up."

No big deal, run out, ambush a patrol, attack a base camp...same old thag.......my God....things like that are just incredible, the more I read about MACV, SF, SOG, LRRP, and other such units during that time....I am just amazed.

Thanks for sharing Gunz!