This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SMSgt R. Hensel (Bob / Ole Buck)
to remember
Kearns, Joseph Thomas, Jr. (Joe), Lt Col.
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On June 3, 1967, Major Theodore Springston Jr.. pilot, and then Capt. Joseph T. Kearns, navigator, comprised the crew of a B-57B, call sign "Tanner", on a solo armed road reconnaissance mission. Their flight path was from Phan Rang Airbase to the target area and back to Phan Rang. The intended target was any target of opportunity in Route Package 1, the southern most section of North Vietnam.
Tanner flight rondezvoused at a prearranged location with Alleycat flight, the on site airborne control aircraft. At 1945 hours, Alleycat cleared Tanner flight into North Vietnamese airspace to begin their mission. The last contact and known position placed Major Springston and Capt. Kearns in the area of Ron Ferry located approximately 2 miles inland from the coastline, 3 miles south west of Vinh Son and 32 miles north-northeast of the major North Vietnamese port city of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam.
When Joseph Kearns and Theadore Springston failed to make further contact with the airborne controller, an electronic and visual search was initiated. No emergency beeper signals were heard and no parachutes or wreakage was found. Because the loss was deep within enemy held and heavily populated territory, no formal search and rescue (SAR) operation was possible.
Both Joe Kearns and Ted Springston were immediately listed as MISSING IN ACTION.
Other Comments:
This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.
Joe Kearns Diary, December 29,1966
Perhaps now I've been here long enough to be able to describe Phan Rang and my reactions to it.
We have no sewage, and have to use out-houses. We wash and shave outdoors, with cold water in a dishpan. Our shower is a large, public, plywood affair, equipped with warm water about half the time. We live seven and eight to a room, in one-room cabins called "hootches". The flight line is several miles from our quarters and we make the trip on back of a pick-up truck. Our operations building is an undersized quonset hut powered by a kerosene generator which roars all the time, even louder than the MD-3 power carts which use to shatter my nerves at Griffis. Most of the roads on base are unpaved and bumpy. The dust blows so thick in the air that we chew it, breath it, comb it out of our hair, and blow it out of our noses. In short, I love it!
Thats right, I think this place is great! I don't know why, but I enjoy it here. Maybe its because we have a job to do and we're doing it. Perhaps its because shaving with cold water and chewing dust are not really so bad as I expected. Maybe the reason is that life is rather simple here, without the traffic jams, petty regulations, requirements, obligations,and other ulcer makers of our complex civilized life. Now I'm not implying that this is how I would spend my whole life! The point is that it's really not that bad here, and its good to get away from the neuroses of civilization for awhile.
Made available by: Mary Jo Kearns (sister), POW Network and NJVVMF
Description This period was from June 29, 1966-March 8, 1967.
On June 29. 1966. the USAF bombed petroleum storage and distribution facilities for the first time in the immediate vicinity of Hanoi and Haiphong, after political leaders authorized limited and specific strikes within the buffer zones for these cities. Gen. William W. Mornyer replaced General Moore as Seventh Air Force Commander on July 1. The United States expanded the Rotuvo Tttunoca campaign as of July 9 to include petroleum targets in the northeast and rail lines and highways between China and Hlanoi. although the buffer zone on the border limited targets. American aircraft also flew armed reconnaissance over North Vietnam.
On July 30, 1966. the USAF bombed targets in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to counter the build-up of North Vietnamese forces there. By September the U.S. air campaign against North Vietnam had destroyed or damaged two-thirds of the enemy's petroleum storage capacity.
Several thousand trucks and watercraft, hundreds of rail ears and bridges and numerous ammunition and supply storage areas. Beginning on February 14, 1967. USAF aircraft hit additional strategic targets in North Vietnam, knocking out major power plants. and railyard repair facilities. But these results had little effect on the enemy’s ability to carry on the war, because the country possessed only a small industrial base and imported most of its military materiel.
In the face of extensive air attacks. North Vietnam further strengthened its air defenses. By January 1967, the United States had lost 455
aircraft within 2 years. Antiaircraft guns and SAMs accounted for most of the losses, but MiGs continued to challenge U.S. air strikes. On January 2 the Seventh Air Force enticed a large MiG-21 force over North Vietnam into battle against F-4s. The USAF pilots destroyed 7 MiGs within 12 minutes without a loss. Four days later, on January 6. the Seventh destroyed 2 more MiGs. and the North Vietnamese temporarily abandoned aerial combat to regroup and retrain.
In South Vietnam Allied forces continued search and destroy operations. blunting new Viet Cong and North Vietnamese offensives. Between July I4 and August 4, 1966. U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese troops battled North Vietnam Army forces near Quang Tri. 20 miles south of the DMZ. Later. between October I5 and November 26. the Allies engaged in a major battle with Viet Cong and NVA forces northwest of Tay Ninh. near the Cambodian border. 60 miles northwest of Saigon. Enemy resistance was light at first. but on November 4th as ARVN and U.S. troops approached storage areas. the Viet Cong and NVA counterattacked. The Allies responded by airlifting more troops, including elements of the U.S. Army's 1st' 4th, and 25th Infantry Divisions. and the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The USAF provided close air support. and between November 8 and 25. B-52s bombed targets in the area. The Allies drove the enemy from the region temporarily. seizing weapons. ammunition. food. and other supplies that the Communist forces left behind.
The next year. between February and May 1967, U.S. Army units joined ARVN forces to return to Tay Ninh Province. about 50 miles north of Saigon and 15 miles northeast of Tay Ninh. Seventh Air Force C-130s dropped American paratroopers near the Cambodian border to cut off the Viet Cong retreat. The airlifters also flew reinforcements and supplies to the ground troops during this operation. With the help of forward air controllers flying O-1s. Air Force F-100 and F-4 pilots provided close air support. and AC-47 gunship crews illuminated targets and conducted air strikes at night. Again, the enemy withdrew into Canbodia. Leaving behind weapons, supplies. and ammunition.
In the panhandle of Laos, the USAF pounded enemy forces on the l-lo Chi Minh Trail. while in northern Laos U.S. pilots supported Allied forces under attack. By August 1966 Laotian troops fighting Pathet Lao insurgents had advanced. with the aid of U.S. close air support. to Nam Bae. only 45 miles west of the North Vietnamese border and about 55 miles northeast of Luang Prabang, an ancient city on the Mekong River some 130 miles north of Vientiane. The Laotian gains were short lived, however, and by February 2. 1967, the insurgents had regained lost territory and were in a position to attack the airfield at Luang Prabang.