Sharkbait

In early 1966, Dr. Guy Clark received orders to go to Vietnam, and upon arrival that June was assigned to be a flight surgeon at Cam Ranh Bay Air Force Base, on the South China Sea. Thus began a year-long assignment that would find Clark flying more than ninety bombing missions over Vietnam in the Phantom F4-C, plunging deep into the Viet Cong-infested jungle with a gaggle of Republic of Korea Marines in search of the remains of two lost Phantom pilots, and tending to the medical needs of the pilots he flew with.

Sharkbait, A Flight Surgeon’s Odyssey in Vietnam tells these stories and more, including Clark’s survival of “Jungle Survival School” in the Philippines, and temporary assignments at Vung Tau (the “Riviera” for servicemen in Vietnam), Binh Thuy, and other Air Force outposts in Vietnam. Along the way, Clark introduces readers to arrogant and clueless military brass, and courageous pilots who day after day fly into the danger and uncertainty of a war that was becoming increasingly unpopular at home.

Guy Clark’s experiences as flight surgeon and doctor to the pilots who flew bombing missions every day were very different from the ground troops and helicopter pilots, many of whom have written eloquently about their own war experiences. Clark was a physician who dreamed of high adventure, and flying with the Phantom F4-C pilots was the ultimate high. 

Contents

Prologue 9

Introduction 11

Orders to Go to Vietnam 17

Arriv al in Saigon 22

Cam Ranh Bay 30

Back in the Air! 58

Flying the Phantom 76

Preparing for Flight in the Phantom 96

First Strike Missions 117

Strafi ng Targets—and Meeting Sally 122

Wear and Tear 139

End of My First Month 144

Tiger Hound Country 159

Comes the Monsoon 168

Close Calls 181

A Small Thing 193

Binh Tuy 210

Leavi ng Binh Tuy 235

Jungle Surviv al School 252

Survivi ng Surviv al School 265

Return to Cam Ranh 276

After the Crash 287

Taking Over—Dealing wi th Grief 297

Acci dent Investigation Board 308

Another Loss 325

First Attempt to Enter Dec. 6 Crash Site 335

Changing of the Guard 349

The Search 363

The Mountain 390

Relief! 403

Welcome Christmas Gif t 411

Politic s and Polic y 427

Nha Trang…and the South 437

Return from R&R 448

Vung Tau 467

Sex, Lies and VD 484

Leavi ng Vung Tau 500

Return to Cam Ranh Bay 509

Humanity Calls 522

Hypocrisy and the Vagaries of War 534

Saying Goodbye 554

Offici ally FIGMO 567

Epi logue 577

Acknowledgments 591

About the Author 592