The Boi Loi Woods Fiasco

submitted by: Alva Leon Matheson


I guess it was around May of 1965. I was flying O-1Fs out of Bien Hoa with the 19th TASS. I got tasked to mark a spray mission for the Ranch Hands at the Boi Loi Woods, a VC stronghold about half way between Bien Hoa and Tay Ninh. The missions were always at first light, which meant an O-dark-thirty takeoff. I flew three missions. The object of the operation was to defoliate then burn the woods. It had been dreamed up by the resident FAC at Tay Ninh, Howie Shook. He was attached to the SF B Team at Tay Ninh.
The usual procedure was for the FAC to mark the start and end points of the spray; no mean feat when the O-1 could barely make 90 knots on a good day. As a result, we usually had one FAC positioned at the start-point and another at the end-point. The C-123 spray planes were always accompanied by a couple of flights of A- 1Es for ground fire suppression. In due time, the missions were concluded, and sure enough the bushes and trees turned brown.
The next phase was to burn the woods. The plan was to launch everything in III Corps that could fly and could carry and drop fuel drums. This included all the A-1Es, T-28s, and C-123s from Bien Hoa and Tan Son Nhut, and, believe it or not, some C-47s.
The leader of the gaggle was Colonel Bill Bethea, the Commander at Bien Hoa. He told every one before the mission to be sure and check and double check their arming switches and to be sure they didn’t drop any external fuel tanks. If they did, they would buy the beer!
It reminded me of WW II films, seeing all those planes circling Bien Hoa for the join up. They proceeded to fly in trail to the drop point and dump their loads. Then an A1-E dropped a full load of napalm on top of all the fuel on the ground. The resulting fire was spectacular, at least for a while. It was so hot, in fact, that the rising air generated a huge thunderstorm. It rained in torrents and put the fire out. So much for that idea. By the way, guess who bought the beer? Yup, old Bill.
The above is true I swear by my tattoo. The mission, fire, and rainstorm were written up in National Geographic some years ago.
In the days that followed, we struck the Woods with B-52 Arclight missions. In fact, in subsequent days and years, we more or less continuously bombed the Boi Loi Woods, but the VC never really stopped using them. Nevertheless, for several days following this particular mission the distinct stench of the dead was overwhelming, even at 1,500 feet.