Скачать или смотреть The Costliest Rescue in US History: One Man Against 30,000 NVA!

War History Wednesday:
This video recounts the incredible, high-stakes rescue of Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Iceal "Gene" Hambleton, callsign Bat-21 Bravo, during the intense 1972 Easter Offensive in Vietnam.

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Shot down behind enemy lines and surrounded by 30,000 North Vietnamese troops, Hambleton carried vital classified US missile strategy in his head. After initial, costly air rescue attempts resulted in nine American deaths and thirteen damaged aircraft, leading Colonel Moorhead to suspend operations, the mission shifted to a daring ground operation.

Faced with intense enemy presence and a controversial 27-kilometer no-fire zone that hampered allied forces, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Andy Anderson and Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Norris devised a unique plan.

Using coded messages based on Hambleton's photographic memory of golf courses, they guided him through minefields and enemy-occupied villages. The rescue saw Norris, alongside South Vietnamese Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet, undertake a perilous sampan journey disguised as local fishermen.

Kiet's extraordinary calmness under pressure and quick thinking were crucial as they evaded patrols and dodged heavy enemy fire to extract the severely weakened Hambleton.

This monumental effort, though costly in American lives and potentially thousands of Vietnamese lives due to the no-fire zone, underscored the unwavering American principle of "no man left behind".

The mission culminated in the Medal of Honor for Lieutenant Tom Norris and the Navy Cross for Nguyen Van Kiet, who later became a US citizen. Decades later, American veterans would return to Vietnam to share their stories of this historic rescue.

Chapter Markers:
0:00 Introduction to Adversity and Heroism
0:10 The Easter Offensive Begins
0:58 Lieutenant Colonel Hambleton Shot Down
2:23 Disastrous Initial Air Rescue Attempts
3:58 The Controversial No-Fire Zone
4:47 The Shift to Ground Rescue: Plan B
5:39 Coded Golf Course Communications
6:22 The First Ground Pickup: Lieutenant Mark Clark
7:25 Hambleton's Worsening Condition
7:47 Nguyen Van Kiet Steps Forward
8:14 Norris and Kiet's Daring Sampan Mission
8:54 The Perilous Extraction and Evasion
10:05 Hambleton Rescued and Aftermath
11:27 The Staggering Cost and Enduring Principle

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#VietnamWar
#NoManLeftBehind
#NavySEALs
#MilitaryHistory