"Ghost Squadron" heroic efforts secret no longer

40 years later, a heroic and fatal mission is top-secret no more
By Martin Finucane
Globe Staff / May 14, 2008
Paul Donato was a city kid from Roslindale who loved to work on cars, a tough young man who wasn't afraid of anyone or anything, his brother said.

"That's just the way he was," said Joseph Donato. "He felt that when God wanted him, when God called, he was going to die. And that's the way he kind of lived."

So it made sense, Joseph Donato said, when he learned that his brother, who was declared missing in action 40 years ago during the Vietnam War, was a member of a top-secret Navy air squadron that flew highly dangerous missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

"I said, . . . 'That's Paulie all the way,' " said Donato, 62, of Canton.

Observation Squadron 67, known as the "Ghost Squadron," was recently awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for "extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance of duty." Today, Joseph Donato and Paul's two other brothers, along with other family members, will attend a ceremony honoring the unit at the United States Navy Memorial's Naval Heritage Center in Washington.

The squadron's planes, flying at extremely low altitudes, dropped sensors that were intended to track the movement of enemy troops and supplies. The intelligence provided by the sensors enabled US forces to prevent the Marine base at Khe Sanh from being overrun during the Tet Offensive in 1968, helping to save "countless lives," the citation said.
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