Dennis Bourn
Former Flight Radio Operator
VXN-8
Patuxent River, Md.

To be honest, I did not have anything to do with the "Backend" crew (T.V. techs) or 
the operation of the T.V. broadcast.

My job was that of "Flight Radio Operator". My position in the aircraft was in the 
cockpit (behind the pilot).

I would basically call back to our ground crew via radio and get signal quality info 
from the ground crew who were watching T.V. at the time and relay that info to the 
back end techs so they could make any adjustments needed.

We normally flew to the same area each night and flew an elliptical orbit, at about 
5000 feet, which would cover a large area in and around Saigon. There was some 
scuttlebutt that the signal was even seen in Cambodia (???). Can't verify that one...

I would occasionally go back aft to observe the operation as the T.V. techs did 
their magic and the AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) announcers 
would do their LIVE broadcasts of the daily local and International news in our on 
board studio.

We would often see ground fire directed toward us from the VC (Viet Cong) and once 
one plane had to return to base and another Blue Eagle aircraft took it's place 
with a standby crew. We always had one "Go" plane and one standby plane ready for 
unforeseen problems.

I spent 3 - 6 month tours in VN and loved everyone of them.

The only bad experience was during the TET offensive where the North Vietnamese 
infiltrated the base at Tan Son Nhut, lobbed mortars onto the base and hit one of 
our aircraft (after that night's mission) and did extensive damage to it. The other 
two aircraft were also damaged, but we were able to patch and repair most of the 
damage and I think we only lost one night of broadcasting (Don't quote me on that!!). 
The mortar that hit the one plane tore a hole in the top of the plane just forward of 
the diesel generator which was in the aft part of the plane. That generator supplied 
all the power to the T.V. equipment aboard the aircraft. There was also a fuel tank 
close to the generator that fortunately didn't get hit. Also, some T.V. techs were 
performing repairs or some calibration (not sure what) on the equipment when that 
happened, which as you can imagine scared the BEJESUS out of them, but they safely 
got off ok. In addition the ground crew was fueling the plane at the time and they 
said that when the mortar hit, they and the gas truck driver headed for the bunker ASAP.

After it was determined that we were going repair the badly damaged aircraft and 
return it to service, all hands turned to and we got it back in service very quick 
along with the minor repairs that the other two aircraft suffered.

I remember having to go down in the forward baggage compartment and repairing some 
broken wires with little to no air conditioning. We could only spend a short amount 
of time down there because of the heat and humidity in Saigon during that time of year. 
The main cabin had an outside Air Condition Unit attached to the aircraft so when the 
T.V. techs were working on any problems after the flights, they could do them without 
sweating their "cojones" off...

During the mortar attack (I had already finished my duties at the flight line and 
was back in the barracks asleep) I was woken up by the sound and concussion of the 
mortars as they were also being directed toward the sleeping quarters among the Air 
Force huts that were assigned to us. We all immediately headed toward the bunkers 
outside the barracks and WAITED.

Everyone was thinking the worst and worried that the VC would be coming through the 
main gate, which was just about a block from our hut and attack us and everyone around us. 
Some of the guys were planning out what they were going to do if we were attacked. 
(Maybe 1 or 2 of those of us in the hut had firearms). Some guys were saying that the VC 
were in a graveyard just outside the main gate, close enough that we could spit at it. 
I can't say that I remember being scared, but I was definitely worried and thinking the 
worst and how my parents would be reacting if I were killed. (Crazy!!)

Eventually, the all clear came through and we were allowed back into our barracks where 
I don't think any of us slept the rest of the night.

I have to give credit to the Air Force Security Forces for keeping our area safe from 
attack by the VC ground forces.

The next day is when we went down to the reventment and saw what the damage was.

It was determined shortly after that we would take the 2 remaining flyable aircraft to 
Cam Ranh Bay (North of Saigon, on the coast) and wait until things settled down in Saigon 
and fly missions out of there.

Cam Ranh was a beautiful place with white sand beaches where we had picnics (more like 
beer busts). Ha! We weren't allowed to go out in town due the the aftermath during TET, 
so there wasn't much for us to do as far as "Liberty" goes.

According to my flight log, I show that I flew out of there off and on for about 2 months.

After that we went back to Saigon and resumed normal operations.

That was my 3rd and final 6 month tour.

Other than the TET Offensive, I thoroughly enjoyed my tours in Vietnam. I met my wife there 
(later we got back together after the war) and we have been together for almost 35 years now.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed Vietnam. The people for the most part were great - as 
much as can be expected when AMERICANS are in your country tearing it up, but I found that 
to be the case in all countries that I have been to. The "UGLY AMERICAN" is true no matter 
which country you visit. We are such dunderheads sometimes....

You know, before I started delving into Project Jenny, I really didn't know much about the 
whole project or the equipment involved, but after years of gathering bits and pieces of info 
I can see where it was a really big enterprise for the Navy, TMC and RCA.

That's kind of how the Navy worked back then. We would get assigned to a squadron, not 
knowing anything about it and then when we checked into the outfit we would be told what 
was going on and what our job was.

I was fortunate in all my assignments and flying duties in the Super Constellations I flew 
on and enjoyed each one. I saw the world (or 3/4 of it, anyway) and met many people of 
different countries and beliefs and learned from each one, which I had hoped to do when 
I joined the Navy in the first place.

So, John, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it", as they say. Hope you got some more 
insight as to what we did in Vietnam.