Operation Flaming Dart

 

On 8 February 1965.with operation Flaming Dart I, for the first time the US targeted North Vietnamese army bases north of the DMZ. The U.S. Navy launched 99 fighter-bombers from three aircraft carriers— USS Hancock, USS Coral Sea, and USS Ranger. While the naval aircraft bombed Chanh Hoa, the Vietnamese Air Force and the U.S. Air Force attacked Chap Le. The VNAF used 28 propeller-driven A-1 Skyraider (among the pilots was Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, then a member of Vietnam's ruling junta), while the USAF had an equal number of jet-powered F-100 Super Sabres from the 3^rd TFW at Danang AB. I was a young 19 year old airman at Danang without a clue as to the quagmire we had just started.