Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1/swsii.zip/swsii/009/C442.ZIP/C442

Text File | 1990-04-18 | 7KB | 119 lines

CROSS, JAMES EMORY

Name: James Emory Cross
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 22 June 1944
Home City of Record: Warren OH
Date of Loss: 24 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193458N 1033059E (UG444658)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: U-17B
Other Personnel in Incident: Gomer D. Reese III (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 with the assistance of
one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the U.S.
Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S. air
strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens". This book contains the following account of the
loss of Captains James E. Cross and Gomer D. Reese III:

"Volunteer Ravens presented a problem opposite that facing most military
commanders--they needed to be held back, not egged on. It was the Head Raven's
job to spot the signs of combat exhaustion among his men before it killed them.

"One of the Ravens [the Head Raven] felt needed to be watched was Jim Cross.
[The Head Raven] ordered Cross to stay out of the combat zone and restricted his
flying to checking out new pilots. Cross moved down to Vientiane and busied
himself buying stereo gear and bamboo furniture to ship back to the States.

"One of the newcomers Cross was supposed to check out was Dave Reese, an amiable
young man distinguished by a scar across his nose. Cross had been instructed to
check out the new Raven in the Vientiane area and then fly on up to Alternate
[Long Tieng]. On the way Cross thought he would take Reese out onto the Plain of
Jars, as they were flying in the long-range U-17, and keep on going until they
reached the Ban Ban valley.

"Mark Diebolt was out on the Plain of Jars in a T-28 when he heard Cross's
Mayday distress signal. Unknown to the pilot, the NVA had moved a mobile 37mm
antiaircraft gun into the Ban Ban valley--always a potential flak trap because
of the number of guns positioned there--and the U-17 had taken three hits. One
shell had blown a massive hole in the wing. 'I've got full trim--everything's
jettisoned,' Cross said over the radio. Moments later he made his final
transmission: 'I can't hold it--it's going down.'

"The plane had lost all power, glided into some trees, and exploded. Diebolt
flew over the wreckage and saw the great gaping hole in the right wing made by
the shell. It had been yet another of those deadly Old Head-FNG checkout rides,
where the combination of over-confidence and inexperience had proved fatal."

Cross and Reese are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of these men as
prisoners, not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today.

The Ravens were extremely dedicated to the freedom-loving people of Laos and put
their very lives on the line for them. They believed in America and the job it
was trying to do in Southeast Asia. They were also quite insistant that each of
their own were accounted for, dead or alive. While Cross and Reese may not be
among those thought to be still alive, one can be certain that they would be
among the first to volunteer, in the Raven spirit, to assist them to freedom.