OPERATION THUNDERHEAD, North Vietnam, June 1972:
A highly classified mission to rescue U.S. POWs after they escaped from a Hanoi prison and the first combat-use of a mini wet-submersible SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV). Launching from USS
Grayback
, a submarine converted to support clandestine operations, the SDV met with a stronger current than expected, draining the SDV batteries and forcing the four-man element to the surface in enemy territory well short of its destination. In a valiant effort to avoid detection and preserve operational security, the officer-in-charge, Lt. Melvin S. Dry, swam out to sea with his team and scuttled the inoperable SDV. Dry and his team swam for eight hours until daylight, when they were picked up and extracted to the USS
Long Beach
. Determined to complete his mission and rescue the escaped servicemen, the following night, Dry and his team attempted a rendezvous with the
Grayback
by jumping out of a helicopter into the water in complete darkness. However, the reported conditions for the jump were fatally inaccurate. Dry was killed and two others were injured, one severely.
For his leadership, valorous actions, and determination to complete the mission, Lt. Dry is awarded the Bronze Star Medal with valor.
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With the award, Lieutenant Dry's name was added to the honor roll of Academy graduates who lost their lives in combat for their country. Among the dignitaries, family, and friends who attended the ceremonyâincluding Admiral Michael G. Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, as well as a member of the Class of 1968; Rear Admiral Joseph D. Kernan, Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command; Richard Hetzell, Robert Hooke, and Frank Sayle of Alfa platoon, SEAL Team One; and most of the surviving Naval Academy Class of 1968âwas Colonel John A. Dramesi, USAF (Ret.).
[CHAPTER 30]
FINAL RETURN
There was a failure of the leadership of the prison camp that neither the SEALs nor anyone in higher command had any knowledge of. In spite of Dramesi and the other members of the escape committee having met all of the requirements put to them, permission to conduct the escape was denied. The SRO of room #7 had noted the activity and excitement of Dramesi and the men around him. That greatly concerned the man and he investigated the situation. In part, that was how he learned of the planned escape.
The SRO of room #7 immediately got in contact with the senior ranking officer of the prison camp. He pointed out what was going on and the repercussions that could come down on the other prisoners in room #7, and even those in the rest of the camp, if an escape took place. He reminded the senior of just what had happened only a few short years earlier when Dramesi and Atterberry had escaped, how the consequences of that action had made life a literal hell for most of the American prisoners in North Vietnam. The possibility of retribution by the North Vietnamese and the return of torture as a punishment was a very real threat. The prisoners had all suffered enough.
In spite of the escape attempt having been approved by outside authority, by the manner of the message of the highest authority, the SRO of the camp reversed his earlier decision. He ordered the escape committee to stand down. There would be no escape from Camp Unity or any other section of the Hanoi Hilton. Operation Diamond was over before it had really begun, and there was no means to inform the outside world of the situation quickly enough to prevent Operation Thunderhead from going forward.
On February 12, 1973, only eight months after the events of Operation Thunderhead, a new operation took place. Operation Freedom was the return of the POWs held by the North Vietnamese. Out of the 725 individuals known to be captured or interned by the Communist forces of Vietnam, 660 were eventually returned to U.S. custody. Sixty-five individuals died while prisoners, some from the injuries received while ejecting or being taken prisoner, others from the abuse and neglect of the North Vietnamese and their allies. Many more individuals were lost and listed as missing in action. Some had been simply obliterated by the violence of war. Others disappeared, and concern for them continues to this day.
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On board the freedom bird flying back from North Vietnam, the cameras showed a shouting, happy bunch of POWs. One smiling man lifted up a small cloth to face the camera. That man was John Dramesi, and the object he was holding was the American flag he had so carefully made and defended.
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Colonel Leo K. Thorsness, USAF (Ret.), was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for six years. He received the Medal of Honor while a POW for the actions he took in order to save others on the day he was shot down. The award was made in secret by President Richard Nixon so that the information couldn't be used against Thorsness by his North Vietnamese captors while still under their control.
In a conversation made during the research for this book, Thorsness remarked on a dream that many of the POWs had while they were being held. The dream was about the day that their cell door was kicked open by an armed green-clad American soldier. He would reach his hand out and say: “I'm here to take you home.”
One of the SEAL operators who remained on the
Grayback
during the SDV insertion also made a remark that would have been well received by Colonel Thorsness. The man said simply: “If I had known about the prisoners, I would have swum up the Red River to go get them.”
And Lieutenant Dry would have led them there to kick open the doors.
[APPENDIX]
Alfa Platoon Roster, SEAL Team One, 1972
Lt. Melvin Spencer “Spence” Dry
Lt. ( j.g.) Robert. W. Conger
EO1 S. E. Birky
MMC Phillip L. Martin
PH3 Tim R. Reeves
RM3 Richard C. Hetzell
YN3 E. A. Knudson
RM3 M. J. Shortell
RM3 D. R. Hankins
RM3 B. S. Steele
ETR3 J. M. Davis
ADJAN Robert M. Hooke
RMSN Frank H. Sayle
HM2 W. B. Wheeler
Underwater Demolition Team Eleven SDV Detachment (
Grayback
)
Lt. ( j.g.) John Lutz
Lt. (j.g.) Bob McGrath
Tom Edwards
Steve McConnell
Jim Couzins
Tony Drake
Scott Shaw
[INDEX]
A1 Skyraider “Sandy,” 41-43
A6A Intruder
A-12
Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
air raids/strikes
civilians avoided by U.S.
Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)
Dramesi and
Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)
Operation Thunderhead and Hanoi
Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)
air support and infantry, integrating
Alcatraz Prison
Alfa Platoon, SEAL Team One.
See also
Navy SEALs; Operation Thunderhead
American Civil War and POWs
American Fighting Man (Articles I and IV, Code of Conduct)
American Flag by Dramesi
Andersonville (Georgia)
antiaircraft cannons
antiwar movement in U.S.
Articles I-VI, Code of Conduct.
See
Code of Conduct
Atterberry, Edwin Lee (POW )
Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)
Zoo Annex Prison
Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)
Â
B-29
B-57
“bad treatment” camp
ballistic missiles
balloons (zeppelins) as military aircraft
bamboo club torture
Bataan Death March
Battle of Okinawa
Baugh, William (POW )
Birky, Sam E. (Navy SEAL)
Blackbirds (SR-71).
See also
Operation Thunderhead
A-12 (predecessor)
altitude for operations
“Booming the Hanoi Hilton,” 230-232
CIA-run overflight program
cost of
crew
Blackbirds (SR-71) (
continued
)
defense against
engines (Pratt & Whitney J58)
Habus
“I” in International Morse Code
mission approval
NASA and
North Vietnamese knowledge of
Operating Location 8 (OL-8)
Operation Black Shield
Operation Kingpin
pilot
Rapid Rabbit
(SR-71 #978)
reconnaissance systems operator (RSO)
retirement of
SA-2 “Guideline” missile vs.
secrecy of
selection board for crew
sensor systems on
Son Tay camp raid
speed (Mach 3 to Mach 3.5) of
stealth aircraft and
titanium alloys
Blackwell, Reggie (Captain)
Boink, Louis (Navy SEAL)
“Booming the Hanoi Hilton,” 230-232
bowing demands by North Vietnamese
brainwashing of POWs
Briarpatch Prison
Bright Light operations, Navy SEALs
Bronco OV-10
Bronze Star Medal recipient
Brown Water Navy
“Bug” (torturer)
Bushido code of moral principles
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Camp America.
See
Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)
Camp Unity.
See also
Blackbirds (SR-71); Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison); Operation Thunderhead
American Flag by Dramesi
Caucasian moving unnoticed through Asian population
communications link between POWs and U.S.
escape committee
George G. McKnight (POW ) and
George T. Coker (POW ) and
interrogation sessions
James H. Kasler (POW) and
lack of torture
map of Hanoi
mistakes made by Atterberry and Dramesi in escape
morale boosters
movement of POWs by North Vietnamese
90 percent chance of escape success order by SRO
Operation Diamond
opposition to escape
outside support required for escape attempt
permission to escape
resolve of Dramesi
senior ranking officer (SRO) at
sympathy, snack packs, and sports (“Ss”) for POWs
casting technique
casualties
Navy SEALs
POWs
World War I
Caucasian moving unnoticed through Asian population
cell doors
chain dragging to detect submarines
Chamberlain, John (Commander)
Chambers, Carl (POW)
“Chico” (torturer)
CIA operations in Laos
CIA-run overflight program, Blackbird (SR-71)
civilian display of POWs
civilian populations, avoided by U.S.
Cobb, Darrel (Lieutenant Colonel)
Code of Conduct.
See also
prisoners of war (POWs)
Article I (American Fighting Man)
Article III (resistance, escape, special treatment not accepted)
Article II (surrender, never voluntary)
Article IV (do no harm to fellow POWs, leadership)
Article VI (American Fighting Man)
Article V (name, rank, and serial number)
Executive Order 10631
North Vietnamese knowledge of
training soldiers
Coker, George T. (POW )
Camp Unity
Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)
Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)
Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)
“Colt .45” (guard)
communication among POWs
Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)
link between POWs and U.S. (Camp Unity)
Zoo (Cu Loc Prison)
Communist China
Conger, Robert W. (Navy SEAL)
Coronado (California)
Couzins, Jim (UDT)
cover stories for Operation Thunderhead
“criminal” accusations by North Vietnamese
Crusades and POWs
Cuban Program
Cu Loc Prison.
See
Zoo
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“danger close” distances
dau
(“pain”)
Davis, J. M. (Navy SEAL) and
Day, Bud (POW )
Demilitarized Zone
Detachment 10 of Helicopter Support Squadron Seven (HC-7)
“diehard,” Dramesi as
Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)
air strikes
Caucasian moving unnoticed through Asian population
cell doors
civic duties performed by POWs
civilian display of POWs
closing of
Dirty Bird Annex, Dirty Bird West (“Doghouse,” “Foundry”)
disguises of Coker and McKnight
escape by Coker and McKnight
food (starvation diet)
George G. McKnight (POW) and
George T. Coker (POW ) and
heat misery at
leg irons on POWs
medical care
recapture of Coker and McKnight
security upgrades at
disguises of escapees
Atterberry and Dramesi (Zoo Annex Prison)
Coker and McKnight, Dirty Bird (Yen Phu Prison)
darkening skin
Dramesi's first experiences
Dockery, Kevin
“Doghouse” (Dirty Bird Annex, Dirty Bird West)
Dong Hoi
do no harm to fellow POWs (Article IV, Code of Conduct)
Do Son Peninsula
Douglas A1 Skyraider “Sandy,” 41-43
“down on the deck,” 28
“downtown,” going
Drake, Tony (UDT)
Dramesi, John (childhood and youth)
Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
education
family
patriotism
pilot, desire to be
Scarlet Rifles close-order drill teams