"And I would do a lot of pull ups because I was always fearful that I would get shot down in North Vietnam and not be able to hold on to the line coming from the helicopter. So I wanted to be able to do that with one arm, and I was able to do that with one arm."
Description of Interview:
John Flournoy grew up in Columbus, Georgia. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was commissioned in the Marine Corps through OCS at Quantico in 1958. After flight training at Pensacola, Florida and Kingsville, Texas, and after earning his carrier qualification, Flournoy was assigned to an attack squadron in Cherry Point, North Carolina. In 1966, he deployed to Chu Lai, South Vietnam with Marine Air Group 12, and began flying reconnaissance, bombing, and close air support missions for the Army, Marine Corps, and ARVN in an A-4 Skyhawk. Flournoy remembers seeing Marines killed by friendly fire, protecting vastly outnumbered Marines on hilltops, and perfecting the use of VT fusing. He recalls tailhooks, “meatballs,” and controlled "crash" landings. He humbly submits that we could have ended that war in a matter of six or eight months, had we been allowed to. Flournoy flew 226 combat missions in Vietnam.
Key Words: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, OCS, Quantico, flight training, Pensacola, Florida, Kingsville, Texas, Cherry Point, North Carolina, carrier qualification, nuclear qualified, close air support, Marine Air Group 12, Chu Lai, South China Sea, DMZ, North Vietnam, Laos, Ho Chi Minh Trail, sensors, A-4E Skyhawk, 226 missions, Hill 880, VT fusing, radar controlled fusing, Catch-22, crash landing, ordnance officer, Tiger Division, Australians, Chinese, Russians, SAM sites, Peacock, C-130, intelligence, debrief, Iwakuni, Japan, South Carolina, F-8 Crusaders
Key Names: LBJ, General H. R. McMaster
Read the Complete Transcript of this Interview.