Bob Jasperson

Deployed to Vietnam on April Fool's Day

Vietnam veteran Bob Jasperson remembers his service in Vietnam, beginning with a deployment from Korea to Danang, Vietnam on April Fool's Day, 1972. He spent a hot, humid summer as a GIB- Guy in the Back- on 103 combat missions over Vietnam.

Black and white photo of pilots on an airplane in a hanger

Bob was based at Danang, nicknamed "Rocket City." He says, "Four or five times a week, it could be expected that the base would be hit with rocket fire. So we slept with flack jackets."

His time in Korat, Thailand was completely different. With AC and an Officer's Club, it seemed like a country club.

It was at the heart of the Vietnam War. I had no desire to go to Vietnam but I thought I'd be clever enough to avoid that.

MORE ABOUT BOB:

One of the Air Force's youngest world-wide and air drop-qualified C-141A Starlifter navigators in 1970, Bob Jasperson was one of the first selected for training as a Weapons Systems Officer in the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jet fighter.

He arrived at Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea in December 1971 as part of the 35th Tactical Fighter Squadron, based first at DaNang, South Vietnam and then at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base.

Bob flew 103 combat missions into South Vietnam and North Vietnam that included Route Package 6, the area around Hanoi and Haiphong recognized as one of the most highly defended areas in the history of aerial warfare.

He is among a very small group of American aviators who downed enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat during the Vietnam War, and was honored with the Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Silver Star.