Stories of Suspense, War : Vietnam Air War Drama Unfolds in Pilot’s Tale

Retired Air Force pilot and Vietnam veteran G.I. Basel was unhappy with the way military people are often portrayed in books and films. So he did something about it--he wrote a book based on his experience as a fighter-bomber pilot in Vietnam.

“Pak Six,” a Jove paperback published by Berkley, centers on Basel’s experiences in the air war over North Vietnam, especially in the Hanoi-Haiphong area that became the most heavily defended territory in the history of aerial conflict.

Basel, 52, who retired as a lieutenant colonel after 23 years of service, disagrees with the depiction of those who fought in Vietnam as being so callous that they didn’t care if they killed women and children.

“In my experience, no one felt that way,” he said in an interview. “The pilots I knew worked extra hard to make sure their bombs didn’t go where they weren’t suppose to.”

He especially disliked the way jet pilots were portrayed either as super heroes or robots. In his book Basel wrote, “Pilots are real people. They are ordinary men who have been well-trained, and who work very hard to learn to fly these complex machines.”

Basel’s given names, Gene Ivan, quickly evolved into G.I. after he entered the Air Force. During the Vietnam War he flew F-105 fighter-bombers. Nicknamed the Thud by its pilots, the F-105 was the largest single-engine, single-seat combat aircraft ever built. (A two seat-version came later but was less common.)

Rugged Aircraft

Because of its rugged construction, high speed at low altitudes and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load, the Thud was given one of the most demanding roles in the war, attacking strategic ground targets in North Vietnam.

The author is a Seattle native who enlisted in the Air Force in 1956 after 2 1/2 half years at the University of Washington studying aeronautical engineering. He qualified for the Aviation Cadet program from the enlisted ranks and went on to earn his wings and a commission.

“I didn’t care one way or the other about the officer bit,” he related in “Pak Six,” “but I always wanted to fly.”

During his first 11 years as a pilot, Basel flew several different fighters, the last being the F-100 Supersaber. In 1967, Basel, then a captain, was ordered to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for flight training in the F-105.

His next stop was Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base and the war.

The generals running the air war against North Vietnam divided the country into different areas known as “Route Packages.” Beginning with Route Package One, which was just north of the DMZ separating North and South Vietnam, the packages escalated in importance into the heart of the Red River Delta around Hanoi--the major league of air combat.

The title for Basel’s book comes from the name of this division. He wrote, “Pak Six contained all the good stuff--the air fields, the main industries, the underground military headquarters and the capital city, Hanoi.” The city itself was never hit, he said, just military targets in the area.

Vivid Memories of Mission

The mission he remembers most vividly was the first, Basel said during the interview at his El Cajon home. “Even though that flight didn’t get shot at much, it’s the one that is still with me.”

When Basel talks about what he recalls with pride he doesn’t mention flying through intense flak, dog fighting with MiGs, or striking heavily defended targets. Pride for Basel is having flown with men who never said no.

“No one ever refused to go. No one tried to get out of anything,” he said. “It wasn’t because they weren’t afraid. No one was eager to go, that was scary stuff, but they did it any way.”

Air Force pilots were given credit for a completed tour when they had flown 100 combat mission over North Vietnam. Basel said. “We were all there for the big prize, 100 missions. Once that was reached, we could sew on the coveted red, white and blue patch and go home with honor.”

“Pak Six” puts the reader in the cockpit, planning flights, refueling in the air and choosing mission tactics.

Of the flying around Hanoi, Basel wrote, “Almost daily, one could witness high altitude explosions of crimson and black, the sky laced with the squiggly trails of soaring SAMs (surface-to-air missiles), blazing aircraft tearing across rooftops, dog fights on a grand scale--MiGs and Thuds and Phantoms, locked in a dazzling death struggle.”

This book goes beyond just combat. Basel related the day-to-day humor that kept the men going and tells of “snake school” in the Philippines, where pilots were taught to survive on the ground if they were shot down down over enemy territory. And he recounted that, even in the midst of war, pilots were never able to completely escape the burdens of military bureaucracy--the paper work, training and additional duties.

Occasionally there were time outs: R&R; in Japan or a weekend in Bangkok. And there was always “the club,” the officer’s club where pilots gathered after each day’s flying to talk, to joke, to relieve tension and anxiety, and to celebrate being alive one more day.

Shot Down MiG

Thuds were usually no match for North Vietnamese MiG fighters. That job was left to swifter and more agile F-4 Phantoms. But the war was full of surprises. On one mission, while pulling up from a bombing run, Basel found himself behind two MiGs. “They didn’t see me. I whispered ‘Jesus’ and filled the sky with 20 millimeter bullets.”

It all happened so fast that he wasn’t sure if he’d hit anything. “With everything else that was happening on that mission, I forgot about it,” he said. It wasn’t until gun-camera film was reviewed that he was told he had shot down one of the MiGs. Even then, he didn’t see it as a big deal. “Considering everything that went on, I don’t think of that one pull of the trigger as a major aerial victory,” he said.

Others saw it differently. For that action Basel was awarded one of the four Silver Stars he received during his tour. He also earned five Distinguished Flying Crosses, nine Air Medals and a Purple Heart.

The Purple Heart is the reason Basel never got his 100 mission patch. In February, 1968, after 78 missions, he was assigned to fly support for U.S. Marines during the siege of Khe Sanh. In “Pak Six” he writes how, on his second pass during a mission, “I rolled in . . . feeling almost guilty. No ground fire. There hadn’t been many milk runs such as this. It didn’t seem fair.”

Milk Run Soured

But then the milk run soured in “less than a heartbeat.” As the bombs fell from his plane, a hidden gunner opened up. Basel felt the hit; saw fire warning lights flash on. As he tried to escape, he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw a blazing inferno behind the cockpit.

He ejected just as the Thud exploded. He parachuted into a hostile jungle area and was hung up in a tree--in great pain with two broken legs--for more than an hour.

Luckily a helicopter rescue team spotted Basel him and pulled him out.

A few days later, some friends came to the hospital and gave him a patch they’d had made that read “78 1/2 missions.”

Basel spent more than a year in two hospitals while his legs mended. During the long months that he was confined to hospital beds, Basel began writing diary-style notes about what he had seen. It wasn’t until later that he developed a notion of turning the notes into a book.

Eventually Basel returned to active duty and flying. He flew F-105s until most were phased out of the Air Force, and later the A-7 attack bomber.

During that time he took a lot of kidding about “all those medals.” He knew it was mostly good humored ribbing, “but after a while it got old.” He felt a need to tell those who hadn’t been there what it was all about.

In 1975, during an assignment in Panama, he got out the notes he had made while in the hospitals and started writing again. He finished the first draft of “Pak Six,” and submitted it to three publishers. “When it was rejected by all, I put it away and decided to forget it.”

In 1979, Basel retired. His parents had lived in San Diego during most of the time he’d been in the Air Force and he decided to settle in the area.

Went Back to College

He went back to college on the GI Bill, studying geology at San Diego State University but soon found his interest shifting to writing courses.

With the help of Charles Brashers, a creative writing professor, Basel went back to work on “Pak Six,” and, “in a six-month burst of creativity,” finished it.

In 1982, after several more rejections, Basel, with Brashers’ help, decided to publish the book himself. He was pleasantly surprised when the first printing of 700 copies sold out. He eventually published 1,400 copies for approximately $1,000 and “I made a little money.”

He also submitted copies of the book to eight publishers. A little over a year ago it was accepted. The Jove paperback edition went on sale in bookstores in late June.

Basel is at work on a new book. “This one is fiction, based on a lot of fact,” he said. “It deals with the problems of readjustment to the civilian world faced by a career military man after the war is over.”