Rescues in Vietnam focus on Air America quiet heroes

Symposium to illuminate Vietnam rescues

By Jeff Carlton - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Apr 14, 2009 17:53:55 EDT

DALLAS — Now 71 and a retired rear admiral, Don Boecker isn’t too proud to say he was “scared out of my wits” on that July 1965 day in Laos when he dangled by one arm from a helicopter while enemy soldiers took aim below.

Boecker had spent the longest night of his life in the thick jungle, evading capture and certain execution while awaiting rescue. The Navy aviator had ejected after a bomb he intended to drop on the Ho Chi Minh trail exploded prematurely.

His rescuers that day, however, weren’t from the American military, who couldn’t be caught conducting a secret bombing campaign in Laos.

They were civilian employees of Air America, an ostensibly private airline essentially owned and operated by the CIA.

Boecker plans to tell the story of Air America’s heroics on Saturday at a symposium to be held at the University of Texas at Dallas. The conference should present a fuller account of the role played by Air America, an outfit whose alumni say is still misunderstood by the American public.

It coincides with the CIA’s release of about 10,000 previously classified Air America records, which will be turned over to UT-Dallas’ aviation collection.
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