36. Top Secret Courage
Explicit content warning
10/30/20 • 54 min
In 1968, Chief Master Sergeant Richard "Dick Etchberger was part of a covert CIA and USAF team working out of a small radar site on a remote mountain in Laos called Lima Site 85. He was part of a highly-classified operation called "Project Heavy Green." At this time, Laos was a neutral country, so it was illegal for either the United States or North Vietnam to have military forces in the country, so, Chief Etchberger and his team had to "voluntarily" resign from the Air Force and become civilians. As "employees" of the Lockheed Corporation, the Lima Site 85 crew directed USAF bombers to their targets in North Vietnam using mobile, computer-linked radar. However, what started as a mission to link bombers to targets in North Vietnam, soon moved closer to "home", as Lima Site 85 started directing strikes in Laos as the People's Republic of Vietnam Army moved closer and closer to their position. With the enemy at their doorstep, top brass considered evacuating Lima Site 85, but they were a day late and a dollar short as a group of specially-trained North Vietnamese Dac Cong sappers attacked the site on the evening of March 10, 1968. And the only thing between the Dac Cong and the crew of Lima Site 85 was Chief Dick Etchberger. This is his story.
Joining us on this podcast is our buddy and friend of the show, Christof Ambrosch. Christof is the producer and host of the Tales of Honor Podcast, a bi-weekly podcast where the true stories of every recipient of the Medal of Honor are told. Christof is on a mission to tell them all and there are more than 3,500! Christof’s show is in our podcast playlist and we recommend you add it to yours, too!
Show notes at https://thedigressionpodcast.com/36
Sound Off! With a comment or a question at https://thedigressionpodcast.com/soundoff
Support the show and share our podcast with a friend!
In 1968, Chief Master Sergeant Richard "Dick Etchberger was part of a covert CIA and USAF team working out of a small radar site on a remote mountain in Laos called Lima Site 85. He was part of a highly-classified operation called "Project Heavy Green." At this time, Laos was a neutral country, so it was illegal for either the United States or North Vietnam to have military forces in the country, so, Chief Etchberger and his team had to "voluntarily" resign from the Air Force and become civilians. As "employees" of the Lockheed Corporation, the Lima Site 85 crew directed USAF bombers to their targets in North Vietnam using mobile, computer-linked radar. However, what started as a mission to link bombers to targets in North Vietnam, soon moved closer to "home", as Lima Site 85 started directing strikes in Laos as the People's Republic of Vietnam Army moved closer and closer to their position. With the enemy at their doorstep, top brass considered evacuating Lima Site 85, but they were a day late and a dollar short as a group of specially-trained North Vietnamese Dac Cong sappers attacked the site on the evening of March 10, 1968. And the only thing between the Dac Cong and the crew of Lima Site 85 was Chief Dick Etchberger. This is his story.
Joining us on this podcast is our buddy and friend of the show, Christof Ambrosch. Christof is the producer and host of the Tales of Honor Podcast, a bi-weekly podcast where the true stories of every recipient of the Medal of Honor are told. Christof is on a mission to tell them all and there are more than 3,500! Christof’s show is in our podcast playlist and we recommend you add it to yours, too!
Show notes at https://thedigressionpodcast.com/36
Sound Off! With a comment or a question at https://thedigressionpodcast.com/soundoff
Support the show and share our podcast with a friend!
Previous Episode
35. White Feather
He's the most famous sniper you’ve probably never heard of. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Carlos N. Hathcock II was a Marine Scout Sniper who served two tours in Vietnam, first in 1966 and returning in 1969. Until the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq he held the record for the most confirmed kills in the United States military. During the course of his two tours in Vietnam he recorded 93 confirmed kills and over 300 unconfirmed kills, building a reputation that was so renowned the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong placed a bounty on his head that was equal to three years pay or approximately $30,000. He was known by the army he hunted as "White Feather" for the single white feather he kept tucked in a band on his bush hat. His exploits against such deadly adversaries as "The Apache," "The Cobra," and "The General" were the stuff of legend!
Show notes at https://thedigressionpodcast.com/35
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Next Episode
37. Pilot Protection Program
IN THE NEWS: Podcaster Stories; Space command gets a home; Space policy czar; Schriever Exercise; Space warfare and the secret X-37B space plane; Robots or Astronauts?; Space Force boot camp; International Space Station turns 20; DOD leaders acting like douchebags; Exercise in USFK; Welcome home troops; Like father, like son in the AOR; The United Federation of Planets is born; Taliban reset; Tuition assistance cuts; Pilot Protection Program; Bomb trucks and Military Minions; Army goes green; AWOL update; WTF Fort Hood?; Seal Team Six baby!; Blue Angels new ride; Unequal justice in the ranks; Vets visit national parks for free; Finding Faces; 100 and flying solo; Farewell to a Doolittle Raider.
Show notes available at https://thedigressionpodcast.com/37
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