Air America: Upholding the Airmen’s Bond

AFIO-Weekly

A symposium acknowledging and commemorating
Air America’s rescue efforts during the Vietnam WarApril 18, 2009
1 pm – 5:30 pm
The University of Texas at Dallas Conference Center Auditorium
Reception and viewing of
CIA and UT Dallas exhibits to follow     

Quietly and courageously throughout the long and difficult Vietnam War, Air America, a secretly-owned air proprietary of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), remained the indispensable instrument of CIA’s clandestine mission.  This legacy is captured in a recent CIA Director’s statement that the Agency’s mission is to “accomplish what others cannot accomplish and go where others cannot go.”  While some of Air America’s work may never be publicly acknowledged, much of the company’s critical role in wartime rescue missions can now be revealed.  This joint symposium with the CIA and The University of Texas at Dallas provides a forum for the release of thousands of pages of heretofore unavailable documents on Air America’s relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency.  Moreover, the symposium brings together many Air America veterans, a number of men rescued by Air America, and the CIA “customers” who often placed their lives and missions in the hands of this once-secret air proprietary.

Air America crews were not required to monitor military emergency radio calls, fly to the location of military personnel in distress, or place their lives at risk of enemy ground-fire and possible capture.  They received no extra compensation for rescue work and sometimes lost wages for their efforts.  However, in their flying community it was enough to know that a downed aviator was in trouble and that airmen should always come to the aid of other airmen.  It was simply the Airmen’s Bond.

To help commemorate Air America’s rescue efforts during the Vietnam War, the symposium will include the following speakers and panel members:

Mr. Jim Glerum – Senior Operations Officer, CIA, Retired
Dr. Timothy Castle – Noted historian and author, CIA

Panel Discussion: Laos Rescues – Lima Site 85 and other Military   Rescues

John Daniel – USAF Retired, Site 85 survivor, rescued by Air America
Loy “Rusty” Irons – Air America flight mechanic on Site 85 rescue helicopter
John “Woody” Spence – Paramilitary Officer, CIA Retired, Site 85 survivor, rescued by Air America
Admiral Donald Boecker USN Retired – A6 pilot, shot-down July 1965, rescued by Air America
Sam Jordan – Air America Pilot, Participated in rescue of Admiral Boecker

Panel Discussion: The Final Days: 1975 – Rescue Efforts during the fall of South Vietnam

Dr. John F. "Joe" Guilmartin – Professor, Ohio State University.  Former USAF “Jolly Green” combat rescue pilot
Ed Adams – Air America Pilot.  Conducted rescue operations in Laos and South Vietnam.
Marius Burke – Air America Pilot.  Conducted rescue operations in Laos and South Vietnam.

Additional speakers planned include senior CIA officials speaking on the importance of openness and the release of declassified documents, senior military officers, pilots, and aviation historians.

Reception: The reception will include an opportunity to personally meet and talk to many Air America pilots and employees, those who worked with Air America, and those rescued by Air America, as well as the opportunity to view Air America exhibits from the CIA and UT Dallas.  This reception is being sponsored by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.

Booklet and DVD: Each attendee will receive a commemorative booklet highlighting the symposium.  The booklet will include articles on Air America, photos, and a selection of recently declassified documents that include first-hand accounts of rescues and evacuations, letters of thanks from President Nixon and others, The Airmen’s Bond, and the article Why We Care by L. Michael Kandt, chaplain and general secretary of the Air America Association, Inc.

Each attendee will also receive a DVD containing electronic copies of the entire collection of newly declassified and heretofore unavailable documents.  The DVD will also contain video interviews of Air America pilots, rare footage of Lima Site 85, and photos from the CIA and McDermott Library collections.

Declassified Research Documents: In conjunction with the symposium, The UT Dallas McDermott Library will receive copies of approximately 10,000 of the recently declassified CIA documents on Air America, which will be added to the University’s History of Aviation Collection.  These government papers augment existing Air America archives given to the University by the Air America Alumni Association.  Now with the addition of the CIA materials, this collection is destined to become one of the finest sources in the nation to study this fascinating period of Cold War history.