A Sense Of Duty

I just put up my advertisement page for the book "A Sense Of Duty" by Quang X. Pham. He has become a friend of my family, and as my ad page points out, my father rescued his father during the Vietnam War. It is one of those tales that spans generations, and oceans, a great read. I'm proud to brag about my signed copy from Quang, and to be able to relate the things he said during my brief time with him. He and Lt. General Jack Woodmansee were both present at my fathers funeral a year ago.

Quangs book contains a lot of information about the South Vietnamese Air Force, and Squadrons, aircraft models assigned to each. It's obvious he has done his research in writing the book. He also honored my father at his book signing in California with a plaque and picture. Funny thing was that the story of the rescue and so much more, on the web page for Do Xa, my father relays that when he came up on the airplane he had landed on a dirt runway gear down, he got out of the aircraft by himself, and limped over to the helicopter, assisted by the gunner. In a CH-34 the pilot sits up top, and it is difficult for him to get out of the aircraft. My father never left his seat. The Washington Post obituary reads that he pulled Hoa Van Pham from the burning airplane... funny how those kinds of stories get started, I guess that's poetic license on the part of the Washington post journalist that wrote the obituary.

A brief of the story is, Quang’s father Hoa Van Pham served as a pilot in the VNAF. The early part of his career was spent in fighters, and later he served as a transport pilot, earning the rank of Colonel and command of a VNAF Transport Squadron.

Photo above, Quang and Jack Woodmansee at my fathers funeral a year ago.

When Saigon fell in 1975, he put his family on an airplane out of Vietnam, and stayed behind, only to end up in a communist re-education camp, delaying his entry to the US until 1992, when he finally was able to reunite with his family. Quang had asked his father several times over the years since his return about his participation in the Vietnam war, he never really responded to him, until some time before his passing in 2000 when he gave Quang a box of records, pictures, and tapes containing details about his experiences during the war and after. Only after his passing did Quang finally dig into the box, and it was there he found the details of his fathers life as a pilot.

Reviewing the information, Quang discovered that his father had been shot down during a joint Marine, ARVN, Army, and VNAF strike mission on a Vietcong strong hold at Do Xa on April 27th 1964. At the time, part of the Marine Corp tactics is to leave a helicopter circling above the landing zone, with spare parts and supplies, giving them the ability to pull out downed helicopters, crews, and the wounded. When Van Hoa was hit, the pilot flying the CH-34 that day, flew to the rescue of the downed pilot.

The man flying the CH-34 on April 27th 1964 was my father Colonel John R. Braddon.

I grew up knowing the date of April 27th 1964, and the name Do Xa because that was the day my father earned a Silver Star for his bravery in combat, dropping in under fire repeatedly to pull out the crews of downed helicopters and the wounded.

I hope in writing this blog, that those that read it, take the time to go to my web page, and read my more personal article, and possibly even buy and read the book!

Enjoy