F-9F Attack on Korean Bridges, movie clip

[Texas Star]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF-SC-9b7tc[/ame]


We've had some good topics this week on fighters of all eras. Here's a clip from, "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," with F -9F Panthers attacking a vital location of North Korean bridges.

The one flown by the hero, played by Wiliam Holden, is hit and has to crash land. This is some of the best movie footage ever of fighter planes at war. And it shows how fragile a plane can be to AA fire.

Look at the knives on the vests of the two pilots talking. One has a Western "shark knife" and the other a PAL RH-36, I think. Both are typical of what pilots would buy then. Both companies are gone now.

This is S&W related: if you continue to watch to the end, you'll see Holden's Victory Model .38 in use. In the book, he hadn't fired more than a cylinderful or so of ammo in practice, and had very poor handgun skills, typical of most pilots.

 

[BigBill]

Micky Rooney in his top hat.

 

[walkin jack]

This is one of my all time favorite war movies. I'm not a Mickey Rooney fan but he stole the show in this'n. When Brubaker and Thorny are in the ditch trying to get away from the commies this was almost unbearable for me to watch. Rooney and Holden were brilliant.

BTW My dad was a B-29 pilot and he was a crack shot with a hand gun. Once while visiting relatives on their Dairy farm we were in the feed lot and a small rabbit ran out of the barn and was running flat out across the lot, about 30' away from us. Dad was holding his Colt 1903 and the instant he saw that rabbit he pulled up and shot one time. Hit that little rabbit smack in the ear and rolled him like a golf ball. He never even twitched. We have been to the range together many times and he could always easily out shoot me. I'm a pretty good shot on most days.

 

[Texas Star]

This is one of my all time favorite war movies. I'm not a Mickey Rooney fan but he stole the show in this'n. When Brubaker and Thorny are in the ditch trying to get away from the commies this was almost unbearable for me to watch. Rooney and Holden were brilliant.

BTW My dad was a B-29 pilot and he was a crack shot with a hand gun. Once while visiting relatives on their Dairy farm we were in the feed lot and a small rabbit ran out of the barn and was running flat out across the lot, about 30' away from us. Dad was holding his Colt 1903 and the instant he saw that rabbit he pulled up and shot one time. Hit that little rabbit smack in the ear and rolled him like a golf ball. He never even twitched. We have been to the range together many times and he could always easily out shoot me. I'm a pretty good shot on most days.

My dad didn't fly B-29's, but he built them before getting his draft notice. A petroleum engineer by profession, he worked for Boeing for a time.

He went to Okinawa, but the battle was over by then and all he shot were a few mongooses. I didn't have any good stories to tell of his war service, unlike other boys I knew. My Cub Scout den leader had been an infantry company commander in Europe. I felt that my dad wasn't too heroic compared to him. No Japanese guns or swords to show, either, like other boys had at home, or German ones.

I guess that I should just be grateful that he didn't go through Hades in combat and that he made it home okay. He died at 93. He did take me hunting and fishing a few times. And he bought me some of my first guns, although he wasn't really an enthusiast and just owned a few for protection and a limited amount of hunting.

He wasn't much into planes, beyond getting a private pilots license. I was the only one in the family who researched aircraft and built models. I'm glad that my son shares those interests with me.

I'm no Rooney fan, either, but he did okay here. My favorite actor in the film was Wm. Holden. And it had Grace Kelly! Holden hunted in Africa and I think owned an interest in a famous safari lodge in Kenya. Grace Kelly hunted there with Clark Gable after they completed a movie together. Not long after, she married Prince Ranier and became Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. I think this is the only literal case of "Hollywood royalty." Jamie Lee Curtis is or was married to a baron, but being a baroness makes her nobility, not royalty.

No extra charge for the non relevant trivia...it 'll probably interest someone here.

 

[Murphy's Law]

The ship he takes off on is the "USS Oriskany CVA-34". How do I know, I served on her 1964-1967 off Viet Nam in the Gulf of Tonkin". She still had wooden flight decks. When the Enterprise first came over to WestPac, she tried landing some F4's on her, but because they came in so fast for landing, and weigh so much,(much more then our A3' & A4's), it started peeling up the flight deck. Air Boss call ALL further landings OFF immediately and that was that! Was aboard when she had a big ordinance fire and lost 54 good sailors along with many others injured. Life magazine did a big article but now, just a few paragraphs in some history book.

 

[BB57]

Look at the knives on the vests of the two pilots talking. One has a Western "shark knife" and the other a PAL RH-36, I think. Both are typical of what pilots would buy then. Both companies are gone now.

I noted the knives right away the first time I saw the movie.

Neither of them would still be there after an ejection.

 

[walkin jack]

My dad didn't fly B-29's, but he built them before getting his draft notice. A petroleum engineer by profession, he worked for Boeing for a time.

He went to Okinawa, but the battle was over by then and all he shot were a few mongooses. I didn't have any good stories to tell of his war service, unlike other boys I knew. My Cub Scout den leader had been an infantry company commander in Europe. I felt that my dad wasn't too heroic compared to him. No Japanese guns or swords to show, either, like other boys had at home, or German ones.


I guess that I should just be grateful that he didn't go through Hades in combat and that he made it home okay. He died at 93. He did take me hunting and fishing a few times. And he bought me some of my first guns, although he wasn't really an enthusiast and just owned a few for protection and a limited amount of hunting.

He wasn't much into planes, beyond getting a private pilots license. I was the only one in the family who researched aircraft and built models. I'm glad that my son shares those interests with me.

I'm no Rooney fan, either, but he did okay here. My favorite actor in the film was Wm. Holden. And it had Grace Kelly! Holden hunted in Africa and I think owned an interest in a famous safari lodge in Kenya. Grace Kelly hunted there with Clark Gable after they completed a movie together. Not long after, she married Prince Ranier and became Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. I think this is the only literal case of "Hollywood royalty." Jamie Lee Curtis is or was married to a baron, but being a baroness makes her nobility, not royalty.

No extra charge for the non relevant trivia...it 'll probably interest someone here.

Your dad served his country and is a hero as much as any one who served. We can't all go charging the enemy with a BAR under each arm. You should be proud of your dad he was part of the solution and not part of the problem.

My dad was a flight instruction in Enid Oklahoma. Point of interest (depending upon your age) one of his cadets was a comedian named George (Lonesome George) Gobel.

He got promoted to Captain in the old Army Air Corps and was assigned a B-29 and told to pick a flight crew. They began training to go to Japan and were still in the process of training when the Japanese surrendered so he never got/had to go to any bombing.

I asked him one time how he felt about that. He was real quiet for a time and then he told me that he had mixed emotions about it. He and his crew wanted to go and were very excited at the prospect. When he heard that the war was over he was initially very disappointed. But at some point he admitted to himself that it may well have been for the best that he missed out on it. He retired as a major.

My Uncle now was a totally different story. He served in the Army infantry in Germany (And I thin Italy too) and came home with a foot locker full of weapons and uniforms and helmets and a myriad of other German militay artifacts. I once asked him how he got all that stuff and he just grunted and said. Well, I didn't buy it at the PX. I couldn't get him to say any more about it but it isn't too hard to figure out. He was one tough ******* and not inclined to back away from unpleasantness.

 

[the ringo kid]

The ship he takes off on is the "USS Oriskany CVA-34". How do I know, I served on her 1964-1967 off Viet Nam in the Gulf of Tonkin". She still had wooden flight decks. When the Enterprise first came over to WestPac, she tried landing some F4's on her, but because they came in so fast for landing, and weigh so much,(much more then our A3' & A4's), it started peeling up the flight deck. Air Boss call ALL further landings OFF immediately and that was that! Was aboard when she had a big ordinance fire and lost 54 good sailors along with many others injured. Life magazine did a big article but now, just a few paragraphs in some history book.

Not sure what time Ordy served on it but, you two may have been shipmates.

 

[the ringo kid]

Love this movie but, for mre excellent combat footage (this time Mustangs attackiing various Germanntargets) try: Fighter Squadron. It shows actual footage from Green Red and Blue-nosed squadrons.

 

[medic15al]

What is the helicopter that Rooney's character is flying?

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Haven't seen that movie for a while, but I think it was this R5.

 

[Texas Star]

I noted the knives right away the first time I saw the movie.

Neither of them would still be there after an ejection.

How would pilots back then have worn their knives to avoid losing them on ejection? What knife was issued, if someone didn't want to buy his own? A Mark 1? Did aircrew have to buy all their knives?

In the film, Lt. Brubaker ditched the plane, so ejection didn't apply.

One good picture of a WW II pilot with knife showed the leading ace, Maj. Richard Bong, a P-38 driver, with a Randall Model 1 or 2 with probably eight-inch blade on his waist belt. He wore a .45 auto in a shoulder holster. But the P-38 didn't have an ejection seat. Those didn't arrive until jets did.

I've wondered if any airmen ever lost a gun or knife after bailing out of a prop-driven plane. Paratroopers didn't seem to have a major problem, but strapped everything on pretty tight.

I've seen .38 holsters made for aircrew during the Viet war with double retaining straps, in hopes that at least one would keep the gun in place on an ejection.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I wore my knife in a pocket on the thigh of my G-suit.
Apparently not everybody did.
Some AF folks wore them up high, as the Navy often did.
Robin does appear to have it tied in.

 

[Texas Star]

I wore my knife in a pocket on the thigh of my G-suit.
Apparently not everybody did.
Some AF folks wore them up high, as the Navy often did.
Robin does appear to have it tied in.

That'd be Col. Robin Olds, a famous pilot. If you see the pics of his holster, it was one of those swivel rigs, worn on his right side. I've seen a photo of him and other pilots with those holsters on as they went to their planes. Looked like the same as issued to AF cops, although as one of those, I bought my own holsters. No one ever cared. Famous holster maker Chic Gaylord wrote that he made one of his basic thumbsnap holsters for a USAF pilot, who wanted an added strap to retain his Colt Official Police .38. That holster fit the body snugly and was less likely to be lost on ejection than was the official model.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Have posted it before -
This is the one I wore.

 

[Dennis The B]

...

He went to Okinawa, but the battle was over by then and all he shot were a few mongooses. I didn't have any good stories to tell of his war service, unlike other boys I knew. My Cub Scout den leader had been an infantry company commander in Europe. I felt that my dad wasn't too heroic compared to him. No Japanese guns or swords to show, either, like other boys had at home, or German ones.

I guess that I should just be grateful that he didn't go through Hades in combat and that he made it home okay. He died at 93. He did take me hunting and fishing a few times. And he bought me some of my first guns, although he wasn't really an enthusiast and just owned a few for protection and a limited amount of hunting.

He wasn't much into planes, beyond getting a private pilots license. I was the only one in the family who researched aircraft and built models. I'm glad that my son shares those interests with me.

I'm no Rooney fan, either, but he did okay here. My favorite actor in the film was Wm. Holden. And it had Grace Kelly! Holden hunted in Africa and I think owned an interest in a famous safari lodge in Kenya. Grace Kelly hunted there with Clark Gable after they completed a movie together. Not long after, she married Prince Ranier and became Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. I think this is the only literal case of "Hollywood royalty." Jamie Lee Curtis is or was married to a baron, but being a baroness makes her nobility, not royalty.

No extra charge for the non relevant trivia...it 'll probably interest someone here.

All gave some; some gave all. Your dad served.

My dad never got out of Virginia (Camp Allen). His twin brother served on what's now an AKA, in the Pacific (Tarawa, Iwo, Okinawa). My grandfather died in an industrial accident in 1942, and Dad was exempt until early 1945 (helping support my grandmother), when he was drafted into the USNR.

 

[Texas Star]

Have posted it before -
This is the one I wore.

What was your career field? That's the holster I described above as having two retaining straps. I think these were intended for aircrew, but others probably had them. The usual ground version didn't have the strap over the trigger guard.

But maybe half of my fellow sky cops wore privately owned holsters, some sort of buscadero rigs bought in Vietnam being pretty common. I liked Bianchi's Model 5 and Safariland's Model 29.

 

[rwsmith]

The difference.....

BTW My dad was a B-29 pilot and he was a crack shot with a hand gun. Once while visiting relatives on their Dairy farm we were in the feed lot and a small rabbit ran out of the barn and was running flat out across the lot, about 30' away from us. Dad was holding his Colt 1903 and the instant he saw that rabbit he pulled up and shot one time. Hit that little rabbit smack in the ear and rolled him like a golf ball. He never even twitched. We have been to the range together many times and he could always easily out shoot me. I'm a pretty good shot on most days.

The difference between a 'good shot' and a 'REALLY good shot'.

 

[Texas Star]

Love this movie but, for mre excellent combat footage (this time Mustangs attackiing various Germanntargets) try: Fighter Squadron. It shows actual footage from Green Red and Blue-nosed squadrons.

Is this the one where Sterling Haydon's character got shot down in Italy? If so ,those were P-47 Thunderbolts, not Mustangs. And, yes, they used some footage of real P-47 squadrons based on Corsica. I've seen that footage elsewhere, too.

I saw the movie as a kid and have the VHS tape somewhere now. Good movie.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I own the DVD of the Bridges at Toko-Ri...great movie about men at war. Holden was superb, as usual. It was interesting that for this movie, he was re-united with Robert Strauss, who played "The Animal" alongside Holden's "Sgt. J.J. Sefton" in Stalag 17...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQh3qoGYVTg[/ame]