Crews from the 41st flew three missions of Commando Lava. I piloted the lead ship in all three missions. The first was out of Udorn, Thailand. The target was a hillside road in Laos, part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The spooks (CIA) flew me and our Nav (Dick Paprowitz) and CP (Jack Schofield) in a twin engine Beech to scout the trail in Laos the day before the mission. The spook misjudged the gas required and we had to land in Laos to refuel on the way back. That caused a huge international hue and cry, since we were in our flight suits and no Americans were ever to admit being in Laos. The next day we flew the mission, coming in at low level parallel to the ridge line and below the crest. The NVA gunner on the ridge woke up and opened fire with 12.7mm (as I recall) but was firing over the top of our three ship because he couldn't depress the barrel of his gun. Our A1E escorts made quick work of the two gun emplacements on the ridge. We dropped our loads, which was an agent that, when mixed with water, would break down the chemical bond that held the soil together and create mudslides. In other words, it was SOAP. The success of the mission depended upon a good rainfall after the drop, and we lucked out--it rained heavily that day and the whole road washed out down the hill. The spooks (and Secord) were elated. We had a big party with all the spooks at a local hangout that night. Our stop in Laos the day before seemed to be forgotten.
The next mission was out of Cam Rahn Bay and the target was the road at the northern mouth of the Ah Shau valley. We were un escorted on that mission and received only light arms ground fire. The mission was unsuccessful because it didn't rain and the NVA sent crews out to scrape the soap compound off the roads.
The third, and final (as far as I know) mission was a bit north of the second drop, up more on a hillside. We were escorted by F4s from Cam Rahn who made sweeping passes on either side as we made our run in. The only damage my aircraft experience was a stray CBU ricochet that punched halfway through the windscreen exactly lined up with the flight engineers (Msgt Shea) forehead. The first two Herks made it through and dropped no problem, but as Col Butterfield's aircraft came off the drop zone, he was hosed down pretty good, and had to shut down one engine (the inboard right, as I recall). We all rejoined and headed to the coast in the direction of Da Nang. I put John in the lead so we could do a battle damage check, and while doing that (and filming it also (Mike Babler was giving me a check ride), we noticed the thin blue flame coming from the wing. We were just abeam Chu Lai about then, and John swooped in for an emergency landing. By the time I landed, they had put the fire out. I think they flew back to Cam Rahn with us, but I'm a little hazy on that. As far as I recall, we were told that the main wing spar had been so deformed by the fire that the wing was a total loss. I think they just class 26ed the airplane. As far as the 41st was concerned, that was our last mission.
J.P. Morgan
LTC, USAF, Ret
