Category Archives: Combat

A Day in the Life….

Posted on March 29, 2017 by

Today is Vietnam Veterans Day — March 29, as such I thought about how I would have spent this day during the war. Most days in combat began early. There was what we called an “0 Dark Thirty” wake up. … Continue reading →

Posted in 13 TFS, American History, Combat, F-4 Phantom II, F4 Phantom II, Fighter Aircraft, SEA, Udorn RTAFB, Vietnam War | Tagged , | Leave a comment

How does it feel…?

Posted on June 7, 2015 by

So there I was flying combat missions daily in the F4 over Cambodia in 1973 and a letter comes from my sister and she asks “How does it feel to kill someone?”  To say it pissed me off at the time … Continue reading →

Posted in 13 TFS, Air Force, American History, Combat, Norvell Family History, NY, Thailand, Veterans, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

News from Afar: With Gilligan and Spiro Agnew in China

Posted on May 21, 2015 by

In the fall of 1973, as a member of the 13th TFS,  I had the opportunity to ferry an F4 from Udorn RTAFB in Thailand to Tainan, Taiwan, China.   The Air Force used a system of central depots to … Continue reading →

Posted in 13 TFS, Air Force, American History, Combat, F-4 Phantom II, Fighter Aircraft, Military history, SEA, Thailand, U Dorn RTAFB, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lipscomb Norvell and the Seige of Charleston

Posted on April 22, 2015 by

The Siege of Charleston  in 1780, during the American Revolution,  marked a British shift of focus towards southern colonies. After failing to achieve any advantage in the north, in 1779 the British government sent a combined military and naval expedition … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Colonial History, Combat, Military history, Norvell Family History, Revolutionary War | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

John Mason Norvell’s Civil War Memoir 8

Posted on March 21, 2015 by

John Mason Norvell, the son of Michigan U.S. Senator John Norvell (1789-1850) and his third wife, Isabella H. Norvell (1804-1873), was a career soldier. He prepared this memoir in 1866 His story continues to the climax of the war at … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Battlefields, C.S.A., Civil War, Civil War Battles, Combat, Michigan History, Military history, Norvell Family History, Veterans | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

John Mason Norvell’s Civil War Memoir 3

Posted on March 11, 2015 by

  John Mason Norvell, the son of Michigan U.S. Senator John Norvell (1789-1850) and his third wife, Isabella H. Norvell (1804-1873), was a career soldier. He prepared this memoir in 1866, his story continues during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, C.S.A., Civil War, Civil War Battles, Combat, Genealogy, Michigan History, Michigan History, Military history, Peninsular Campaign Civil War, Union Army, US Army | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Letters from the War – Thailand 8

Posted on January 11, 2015 by

The following excerpts are from  letters that were written to my wife and others during the Vietnam War, while I was stationed in Thailand. Because of the nature of the events, the letters seldom told the entire story to loved … Continue reading →

Posted in 13 TFS, American History, Cambodia bombing 1973, Combat, F4 PhantomII, Fighter Aircraft, Fighter pilot lingo, Fighter pilot slang, U Dorn RTAFB, Vietnam War | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment