This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SMSgt R. Hensel (Bob / Ole Buck)
to remember
Mascari, Phillip Louis (Phil), Maj.
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On May 2, 1969, then 1Lt. Phillip Louis Mascari was the pilot of an O-2A, call sign "Nail 110" on a Forward Air Control (FAC) mission. The mission identifier was Steel Tiger. He departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand, on his 33rd mission at 1200 hours and proceeded to Sector 5 of Steel Tiger. At the conclusion of this mission, he was to return to Ubon.
The last radio contact with 1Lt. Mascari was at 1455 hours. At that time their was no indication of any trouble. He was due to make radio contact again at 1600 hours, but it was not made. No undue concern was felt when Phillip Mascari failed to report in as scheduled because radio contact was frequently lost when aircraft were flying low in mountains.
When the Command and Control Center suspected Nail 110 might be in trouble, extensive visual and electronic search and rescue (SAR) efforts were immediately initiated. During the search, no trace of the aircraft or its pilot was found. No ground search was possible because of the lack of knowledge of a specific loss location. By 1800 hours, when the fuel in the aircraft would have been exhausted, Phillip Mascari was listed as Missing In Action (MIA).
Sal and Jeanne Mascari believe their son could still be alive. In 1970 they traveled to Paris to try and meet with the North Vietnamese. In 1973 and again in 1975, Sal Mascari traveled to Laos to see what he could learn about his son. What he saw on his second trip disheartened him. Sal Mascari was able to travel to within 15 miles of the spot his son was lost, in dense, triple-canopy jungle. But traveling to a Lao village with Phils potograph, two natives identified the picture. One claimed to have buried Phil, another said he had taken his boots. Sal Mascari didn't know what to believe.
This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii with another memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.
Other Comments:
He loved music and everyone he met. We had a memorial service for him at St. Aloyisius Church in Caldwell N.J. They had a parade and planted a tree in memory of him at Caldwell College, and one in front of the police building. They named a street Mascari Lane and all of Caldwell adopted him. One thing I know, he died doing what he loved, flying. Mrs. Jeanne Mascari, Mother
Subject:...... I Knew Jeanne & Sal
I knew Jeanne and Sal Mascari. They lived near me for years. They were a loving couple. They devoted decades to seeking information on Philip. I attended Phillip's Memorial Mass in Caldwell, NJ. Most of the town attended his Mass. The POW / MIA Flag flies on the flag poll on the Green in the center of the town of Caldwell New Jersey in Philip L Mascari's honor.
Description Operation Steel Tiger was a covert U.S. 2nd Air Division, later Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction effort targeted against the infiltration of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) men and material moving south from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV or North Vietnam) through southeastern Laos to support their military effort in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during the Vietnam War.
The operation was initiated by the 2nd Air Division on 3 April 1965, continued under the direction of the Seventh Air Force when that headquarters was created on 1 April 1966, and had a subsidiary operation code-named Operation Tiger Hound. The purpose of Steel Tiger was to impede the flow of men and materiel on the enemy logistical routes collectively known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route to the North Vietnamese).
Bombing of the trail system had begun on 14 December 1964 with the advent of Operation Barrel Roll. Due to increasing U.S. intelligence of the build-up of regimental-size PAVN units operating in South Vietnam, the increased American military presence in that country, and the initiation of Operation Rolling Thunder, American planners in Washington and Saigon decided that the bombing in southeastern Laos should be stepped up. On 11 November 1968 Steel Tiger and Tiger Hound were combined and renamed Operation Commando Hunt.
It was estimated by U.S. intelligence analysts that, during 1965, 4,500 PAVN troops were infiltrated through Laos along with 300 tons of materiel each month. From April to June 1966, the U.S. launched 400 B-52 Stratofortress anti-infiltration sorties against the trail system. By the end of 1967 and the absorption of Steel Tiger operations into Commando Hunt, 103,148 tactical air sorties had been flown in Laos. These strikes were supplemented by 1,718 B-52 Arc Light strikes. During the same time frame, 132 U.S. aircraft or helicopters had been shot down over Laos. The actions implemented aircraft of the Air Force, Marines, and Navy flying from carriers in the South China Sea as well as bases in South Vietnam and Thailand. While B-52 bombers accounted for a majority of the strikes, the most effective aircraft were fixed wing gunships, including the AC-47, the AC-119, and the AC-130.
Operation Steel Tiger, Operation Tiger Hound, and Operation Commando Hunt inevitably slowed the flow of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong men and supplies into South Vietnam and required them to divert a multitude of assets to keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail in serviceable condition, however airpower was never able to completely close the trail during the war.