As Major Hathorn was getting used to missions, he discovered the brutality of the war down in Laos. The fast movers would not hesitate to bail out of the plane but the FAC pilots knew that if captured, their survivability was zero. You were to fly your plane till it crashed. In 1968 and 1969, the air war was at its pinnacle and the US had total air superiority which meant we were just bombing the hell out of them. Major Hathorn would be visited by the International Control Commission. Even though they wouldn’t fly, they had to be fools to not see the signs of warfare that had been happening there. As Major Hathorn was amassing missions, he started to prefer flying by himself, even taking out his passenger seats hoping to give him the odds of losing the extra weight. The Major was not liked by his superiors because he was crazy on one occasion going head to head with an anti air gun.
In conclusion, the war for Major Hathorn consisted of going on over 229 top secret combat missions in Laos as a forward air controller from the period of 1968 through 1969. His call sign was Nail 31, and he flew what was not supposed to be combat plane, the O-2. In his O-2 he started off conducting day missions, and he later conducted both day and night missions. He then went to all night missions, given he felt more comfortable doing those missions. Major Hathorn used a variety of air craft in his destruction of the enemy and guided many through the thick of battle. Major Hathorn started working with the regular air force then found himself on special assignment where he worked with CIA and Special Forces in an area we were not even supposed to be in. When I started reading this book I had some doubts about the Major, given he was an officer that flew in a little dinky plane, but he was a solid guy and it changed my view of the Air Force.
References
Hathorn, Reginald. Here There are Tigers, The Secret Air War in Laos, 1968-1969. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008.
References: Hathorn, Reginald. Here There are Tigers, The Secret Air War in Laos, 1968-1969. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008.
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