December 8th 17, 03:17 PM
Matt - Are you still looking for information about Bob Hymel and Brent Diefenbach?
On Saturday, January 20, 2001 at 1:03:31 AM UTC-5, Mathew Hamer wrote:
> Probably some of the long time RAM poster's know the story, but here is the
> story below is the "official" version.
>
> I believe I read that Captain Diefenbach was actually charged or
> court-martialed for leaving U-Tapao to rescue Lt. Hymel, (incredible as it
> seems) but the USAF withdrew the charges in the face of an uproar, and
> later, begrudingly awarded the medal.
>
> Can anyone posting to RAM shed any light on this? And what became of Capt.
> Diefenbach & Lt. Hymel? And why didn't Captain Diefenbach get a Medal of
> Honour for this?
>
> Regards, Matt
>
> (article follows)
>
> Linebacker II, the 11-day bombing campaign of December 1972 that persuaded
> North Vietnam to sign a cease-fire, had been halted on Christmas Day. Now it
> was the night of Dec. 26 and the operation was on again. The B-52 with Lt.
> Robert Hymel as copilot was assigned a target near Hanoi.
>
> Everyone knew the North Vietnamese had used the bombing break to restock and
> repair their Surface-to-Air missile sites. It was going to be a rough night.
>
> As Hymel's B-52 dropped its bombs and turned off target, the rear gunner
> called two SAMs coming up. Despite evasive action by the B-52, the missiles
> exploded just to the right of the bomber, wounding the gunner, knocking out
> two engines, and causing major fuel leaks and other undetermined damage. The
> aircraft commander headed for an emergency landing at Da Nang, then decided
> that, with several refuelings, they could make it back to their base at U
> Tapao, in Thailand. The wounded gunner would have better medical treatment
> there.
>
> Shortly after midnight, the BUFF started a straight-in approach to the Thai
> base. Capt. Brent Diefenbach, a B-52 aircraft commander who had just
> returned from a mission in the North, sat in a crew bus, waiting to cross
> the end of the runway as Hymel's battle-damaged bomber neared the runway
> lights. The approach didn't look or sound right. Suddenly, the aircraft
> veered to the left and the engines roared as power was added for a
> go-around. Diefenbach watched, horrified, as the big bomber pitched up,
> plunged to earth about a mile beyond the runway, and exploded in a ball of
> fire.
>
> Diefenbach later remembered the compulsive thought that he had to get to the
> crash site. "It appeared obvious to me that no one was alive, but something
> kept drawing me to go." He knew he had to get there fast. Jumping off the
> bus, he went out an entrance gate and climbed aboard a Thai bus that was
> headed in the direction of the crash. When the driver refused to go farther,
> Diefenbach ran down the road toward the burning B-52 until he spotted a path
> in the tall grass that seemed to lead to the aircraft.
>
> "For a second," Diefenbach recalled, "I thought, 'Why go on? No one is alive
> in that inferno.' " But again he felt impelled, almost against his will. He
> approached the wreckage, shouting to see if anyone was alive. To his
> surprise, he heard a voice inside the bomber calling for help. Rolling down
> the sleeves of his flight suit for protection against the heat, he entered
> the burning plane amidst a fusillade of exploding ammunition and pressure
> lines. There was no way of knowing if bombs were still aboard.
>
> Diefenbach followed the cries-the only sign of life-through a pall of smoke
> to find copilot Hymel, badly injured, crumpled in a position that prevented
> him from unbuckling his seat harness and with one fractured leg trapped in
> the wreckage. Diefenbach remembers accusing Hymel of not helping and of
> falling asleep-"anything to keep him conscious." In desperation, Hymel told
> his rescuer to cut off the leg if he had to. Finally, working together for
> what seemed an eternity, they were able to free the injured man. "By that
> time, the explosions [and] the heat were nearer than I care to think about."
>
> Diefenbach dragged Hymel out of the fuselage and carried him away from the
> blazing wreck just as a helicopter and fire trucks arrived. The rescue crew
> was unable to approach the B-52, now engulfed in flames.
>
> Hymel was air evacuated to Clark AB in the Philippines, then to a hospital
> in the States where he eventually recovered from multiple fractures and
> lacerations.
>
> After Diefenbach had reported details of the rescue to the wing commander
> and his staff, he was taken to the base hospital "for some minor repairs and
> bandages." Some time later, he discovered there were "a lot of thank you's
> in order for the Chief Pilot in the Sky." He had extricated the copilot from
> an armed ejection seat. That it had not fired in the struggle to free Hymel
> was a miracle within a miraculous and heroic rescue, for which the commander
> in chief of Strategic Air Command, Gen. John C. Meyer, presented Diefenbach
> the Airman's Medal.
On Saturday, January 20, 2001 at 1:03:31 AM UTC-5, Mathew Hamer wrote:
> Probably some of the long time RAM poster's know the story, but here is the
> story below is the "official" version.
>
> I believe I read that Captain Diefenbach was actually charged or
> court-martialed for leaving U-Tapao to rescue Lt. Hymel, (incredible as it
> seems) but the USAF withdrew the charges in the face of an uproar, and
> later, begrudingly awarded the medal.
>
> Can anyone posting to RAM shed any light on this? And what became of Capt.
> Diefenbach & Lt. Hymel? And why didn't Captain Diefenbach get a Medal of
> Honour for this?
>
> Regards, Matt
>
> (article follows)
>
> Linebacker II, the 11-day bombing campaign of December 1972 that persuaded
> North Vietnam to sign a cease-fire, had been halted on Christmas Day. Now it
> was the night of Dec. 26 and the operation was on again. The B-52 with Lt.
> Robert Hymel as copilot was assigned a target near Hanoi.
>
> Everyone knew the North Vietnamese had used the bombing break to restock and
> repair their Surface-to-Air missile sites. It was going to be a rough night.
>
> As Hymel's B-52 dropped its bombs and turned off target, the rear gunner
> called two SAMs coming up. Despite evasive action by the B-52, the missiles
> exploded just to the right of the bomber, wounding the gunner, knocking out
> two engines, and causing major fuel leaks and other undetermined damage. The
> aircraft commander headed for an emergency landing at Da Nang, then decided
> that, with several refuelings, they could make it back to their base at U
> Tapao, in Thailand. The wounded gunner would have better medical treatment
> there.
>
> Shortly after midnight, the BUFF started a straight-in approach to the Thai
> base. Capt. Brent Diefenbach, a B-52 aircraft commander who had just
> returned from a mission in the North, sat in a crew bus, waiting to cross
> the end of the runway as Hymel's battle-damaged bomber neared the runway
> lights. The approach didn't look or sound right. Suddenly, the aircraft
> veered to the left and the engines roared as power was added for a
> go-around. Diefenbach watched, horrified, as the big bomber pitched up,
> plunged to earth about a mile beyond the runway, and exploded in a ball of
> fire.
>
> Diefenbach later remembered the compulsive thought that he had to get to the
> crash site. "It appeared obvious to me that no one was alive, but something
> kept drawing me to go." He knew he had to get there fast. Jumping off the
> bus, he went out an entrance gate and climbed aboard a Thai bus that was
> headed in the direction of the crash. When the driver refused to go farther,
> Diefenbach ran down the road toward the burning B-52 until he spotted a path
> in the tall grass that seemed to lead to the aircraft.
>
> "For a second," Diefenbach recalled, "I thought, 'Why go on? No one is alive
> in that inferno.' " But again he felt impelled, almost against his will. He
> approached the wreckage, shouting to see if anyone was alive. To his
> surprise, he heard a voice inside the bomber calling for help. Rolling down
> the sleeves of his flight suit for protection against the heat, he entered
> the burning plane amidst a fusillade of exploding ammunition and pressure
> lines. There was no way of knowing if bombs were still aboard.
>
> Diefenbach followed the cries-the only sign of life-through a pall of smoke
> to find copilot Hymel, badly injured, crumpled in a position that prevented
> him from unbuckling his seat harness and with one fractured leg trapped in
> the wreckage. Diefenbach remembers accusing Hymel of not helping and of
> falling asleep-"anything to keep him conscious." In desperation, Hymel told
> his rescuer to cut off the leg if he had to. Finally, working together for
> what seemed an eternity, they were able to free the injured man. "By that
> time, the explosions [and] the heat were nearer than I care to think about."
>
> Diefenbach dragged Hymel out of the fuselage and carried him away from the
> blazing wreck just as a helicopter and fire trucks arrived. The rescue crew
> was unable to approach the B-52, now engulfed in flames.
>
> Hymel was air evacuated to Clark AB in the Philippines, then to a hospital
> in the States where he eventually recovered from multiple fractures and
> lacerations.
>
> After Diefenbach had reported details of the rescue to the wing commander
> and his staff, he was taken to the base hospital "for some minor repairs and
> bandages." Some time later, he discovered there were "a lot of thank you's
> in order for the Chief Pilot in the Sky." He had extricated the copilot from
> an armed ejection seat. That it had not fired in the struggle to free Hymel
> was a miracle within a miraculous and heroic rescue, for which the commander
> in chief of Strategic Air Command, Gen. John C. Meyer, presented Diefenbach
> the Airman's Medal.