Considered by many to be the 30 most dangerous hours on board the aircraft carrier USS Midway, Operation Frequent Wind was one of the largest rescue missions in US history. As the communist-led North Vietnamese Army invaded Saigon, the US Navy was called in to rescue thousands of South Vietnamese citizens trapped in the capital city. Among them was an eight year-old girl trying to escape with 16 members of her family. The dramatic events that ultimately brought them to the deck of the USS Midway are those reserved for Hollywood scripts. Waiting for them on the USS Midway was Vern Jumper and then Captain Larry Chambers who worked tirelessly to save thousands of lives. Operation Frequent Wind brought an end to the Vietnam War, providing the punctuation to a conflict that ultimately cost the lives of over 57,000 U.S. service members. But for Courtney Hermann, it brought her to freedom and a new life in America.
You need 120,000 gallons of aviation fuel and 120,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and you need it fast. Also, you’re thousands of miles away...
Hear His Story →
Keep your head on a swivel: wise words for those working in Flight Ops on the USS Midway. Here, young men worked on the edge...
Hear His Story →
Cramming an entire city into an aircraft carrier is no small feat. Add the citizens, 4,000 19-year-olds from everywhere you can imagine, and things get really interesting.
Hear His Story →
As workplaces go, the USS Midway was one of the more intense, and dangerous, of all time...
Hear His Story →
Just who is in charge of a floating city? What qualities should captains of a huge aircraft carrier possess? What kind of grace under pressure...
Hear His Story →
Over its 47 year career, the aircraft carrier USS Midway became one of the most famous ships in the United States Navy. Commissioned just...
Hear This Story →
On August 23, 1958 the communist-led Chinese forces launched a massive artillery barrage of two small islands off the coast of Taiwan, where...
Hear This Story →
Over the 47 years serving in the United States Navy, the USS Midway was active for the entire length of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Hear This Story →
While the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an ‘Invisible War’ regional players took advantage of the vacuum this created. Enter Saddam Hussein.
Hear This Story →
After 47 years of legendary service in the United States Navy, it was time for the USS Midway to face its final challenge… retirement.
Hear This Story →
The combat missions seemed endless. First, he and his co-pilot shot down two North Vietnamese fighter jets only minutes apart...
Hear His Story →
He was responsible for all the supplies aboard a floating city of 4,500 voracious young men. From eggs to pens to equipment weighing tons...
Hear His Story →
As Saigon collapsed around her, she and her family ran to a rescue helicopter destined for the USS Midway. Stephanie experienced firsthand...
Hear Her Story →
The shortest flight of his career was over in “10 or 15 seconds” — when a botched catapult launch dumped Herb Zoehrer's aircraft...
Hear His Story →
He defied the odds to make sure that Navy aircrews could rely on their 75 planes during combat missions...
Hear His Story →
The son of a fisherman, he was an enlisted man who “came up the hawsepipe” to become Chief Warrant Officer aboard Midway...
Hear His Story →