Captain Reginald Maisey, US Air Force, killed in action January 1968 (Maisey family photo)
(Thanks for much of this report from background stories by Mike Campbell, 11th Wing Public Affairs, stories linked below) While searching for a phone number, came across this recent and quite interesting USAF news release about the rededication of a building on Bolling Air Force Base in DC , where much of the Air Force headquarters functions operate. A former colleague of mine, LtCol Joe Siedlarz, spearheaded an effort to make a much more visible tribute to Captain Reginald V. Maisey, an Air Force Security Police commander who led the defense of Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam. Captain Maisey was killed during the 1968 Tet Offensive during the Battle of Bunker Hill 10 (full story here) and was the first non-flyer to be awarded the Air Force Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor.
Most people don’t realize how severe the attacks were against air bases during the war in Southeast Asia. The book, Air Base Defense in Vietnam, 1961–1973 by Lt Col Roger P. Fox, USAF (with a discussion relating Vietnam to today here ) which is the best work to date on the subject, lists 475 separate attacks, with fairly staggering losses, especially by today’s standards,. Adding together US and Republic of Vietnam losses, here is the list:
--300 Troops killed, over 1200 wounded--100 Aircraft destroyed, 1200 damaged
Can you imagine the hue and cry that would erupt if even one of our bases was attacked today with loss of a couple of aircraft or even a few killed or wounded?
As I wrote here and here about the need for Air Force personnel to be prepared to defend the bases from which they live and operate, this Air Force Magazine article by Sig Christenson discusses the lengthening of Air Force Basic Training and adding all sorts of military training including scenarios where infiltrators get inside a base and begin shooting the place up, while the trainees must react. Spot on. Look at this quote from the above linked article by Lt. Colonel Miller, Maisey’s second in command that day:
A startling revelation
Forty years after the Battle of Bunker Hill 10, Colonel Miller provided new insight into the enormity of the stakes at Bien Hoa, for those who weren't there or had other ways of acquiring such information. "If they had gotten past us, the other airmen on the base were not armed," he said. "No weapons had been issued; everybody had a bunker to go into, and the senior NCO in each bunker had an M-16. But if they had gotten through our lines, they had not only grenades but a whole lot of dynamite sticks they could have just thrown into bunkers and killed our troops by the 20s and 30s." About 2,500 unarmed Airmen were stationed at Bien Hoa at the time of the attack, Colonel Miller said.
Think about that for a moment, 2,500 unarmed airmen attacked by what retired Colonel Jerry Bullock, the executive director of the Air Force Security Police Association said was nearly 1,000 attackers. Over 130 enemy troops died that day with 25 captured. The US fatalities were Captain Maisey and a K-9 handler Airman 1st Class Edward G. Muse, his dog initially alerted to warn the USAF Security Police. Airman Muse’s radio call was simple: “My God, they’re Everywhere” Once again, this calls to mind, those immortal words by Prime Minister Winston Churchill regarding air force personnel and their role in the defense of the air base, from the incredible book The Grand Alliance, Volume III in his immortal WWII classic series.
- Every man in air force uniform ought to be armed with something – a rifle, a tommy gun, a pistol, a pike, or a mace; and everyone, without exception, should do at least one hour’s drill and practice every day. Every airman should have his place in the defense scheme. At least once a week an alarm should be given as an exercise (stated clearly beforehand in the signal that this is an exercise) and everyman should be at his post. Ninety per cent should be at their fighting stations in five minutes at the most, it would be understood by all ranks that they are expected to fight and die in the defence of their airfields. Every building which fits in the scheme of defence should be prepared, so that each has to be conquered one by one by the enemy’s parachute or glider troops. Each of these posts should have its leader appointed. In two or three hours the troops will arrive; meanwhile every post should resist and must be maintained—be it only a cottage or a mess – so that the enemy has to master each one. This is a slow and expensive process for him.
Which brings us full circle to Bolling AFB. I had no idea why the base was named this until researching this post. It turns out that in 1918, while scouting locations for his Air Service aircraft, Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling and his driver came under attack by German forces, they fled the vehicle and Colonel Bolling pulled his pistol, shot a German officer, and was then struck down by the enemy fire. Bolling’s story written about here could be a Hollywood movie: a Harvard graduate, famed corporate lawyer, wrote a Bill for Congress for aircraft manufacturing, and even led a commission to Europe to evaluate aircraft production. He gave all of that up to serve on the front lines as an Air Service officer and was one of the highest ranking US servicemembers killed in World War I. 90 Years ago this year, Colonel Bolling gave his life for his country and 40 years ago Captain Maisey and Airman Muse lost theirs, all Airman serving on the ground. We’ll end this with a quote from Colonel Bolling and a picture of his statue:
- "Let's look inside and remember that it's our ideals, our endeavors, our affections and love that are the realities in Life."
Colonel Bolling statue in Greenwich Connecticut