F-105 Combat Operations
Stationed at Takhli RTAFB, Thailand, 29 January 1966 – 10 December 1970
Part of the 357th was at Takhli RTAFB on temorary duty when the 355th TFW was assigned there PCS. By the beginning of February 1966, the rest had arrived and were checked out to assist the massive wing effort aimed at destroying the North Vietnamese ability to wage war.
Diving through flak considered to be the worst in world history, the squadron bombed railyards, storage areas, iron and steel foundaries, and other vital targets in the Hanoi/Haiphong area.
To carry the load of 16 to 20 sorties per day, the number of “Dragons” increased from 22 to 32 pilots. Several “Bears” (Electronic Warfare Officers) were added as the squadron received the Wild Weasel aircraft in 1967.
Like the 354th TFS, the Licking Dragons also had a Medal of Honor winner of their own, although it took till 1973 for Major Leo K. Thorsness to receive this highest U.S. Military award. Shot down on 30 April 1967, he and his backseater, Capt. Harold E. Johnson, spent the remainder of the war as POWs.
After the 1968 bombing halt, the emphasis of the war shifted to Forward Air Controller (FAC) oriented strikes. Although less impressive targets, the narrow mountain roads and forest covered supply dumps in other parts of SEA were just as vital as those in the North, and in many ways more challenging. The pilots of the 357th flew missions in support of U.S. troops in contact. Supply trucks and the roads that let them through the rugged mountains and jungles became common targets. The “M in the River” and the “Dog’s Head” became the new land marks for the Dragons. The names “Bird’s Head” and the “H” came to mean flak as heavy as was ever seen anywhere but downtown Hanoi.
As the war cooled down, the “Long Tongue Lickers” found themselves the high profile squadron. The became known for their “Klong” parties at the Ponderosa and at the club, the yellow suited “Canaries” held many an infamous Sawadee party.
Squadron photos
