The following comes from a Chiver:
“My Grandfather recently passed away,
so I felt like sending in some pics to show-off what a bada** he was.”
Lt Col Al Rutherford flew the F105 “Thunderchief” for the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron based in Yokota, Japan.
Although originally stationed out of Japan (for the Korean War), during the Vietnam War their team was rolled into the 34th TFS and deployed to the Korat Royal Thai AF Base in Thailand.
During the Vietnam War, USAF fighters flew into many countries out-side of ‘Nam to stop the flow of weapons.
These missions often go forgotten yet they were just as dangerous as any mission over the Vietnamese main land.
While engaging an enemy railroad he was shot down but later rescued by a HU-16.
A month later he was flying again.
The original F-105 fighter-bombers had a single seat layout and was designed for supersonic flight speeds (Mach 2). The earlier Thundercheifs had the ability to attack with nuclear weapons.
However, with the later variants such as the F-105G a second seat was added to focus on attacking surface-to-air missile sites.
This was the 34th TFS crew’s primary missions during the Vietnam War.
The crazy ride in shot-gun of the duel-seaters earned the nickname “Wild Weasel”.
But the crews had their own nickname from their bombing-runs; “Thud”.
During a mission to attack more sites near an enemy railroad “Shotgun 01”, they were given the objective to take out more sites along NE railroad.
The day was clear but…
…on the roll in from the South, he faced the most complete coverage of fire he had seen.
After being hit by 85mm twice he kept on and delivered his “750’s” or M117 bombs.
Later he had to eject because of low hydraulic pressure but was rescued again.
“What a badass. He received the Purple Heart twice but didn’t talk about his experiences much with us younger ones. “
During the time between 1966-68, aircrews of 34th TFS flew over 100 missions.
Marking this mile-stone, they received the unofficial award of having their names placed on the “Flying Snoopy Scarf”.
In addition the guys built a mission wagon with the Flying Snoopy on top.
From the out-side looking in, this may seem insignificant but these small achievements help these guys deal with the hell of war during Vietnam.
(screen shot from names on 100 mission Snoopy Scarf)
Full list of F-105 pilots on list Here.
“We all still miss him a ton. (Lt Col Al Rutherford) was a Grandfather, Father, and Husband.”
“Even though he took his final flight only a few weeks ago we still know he is cruising around on Full AB somewhere in the heavens.”
