The F-4 Phantom is a two seat, long range fighter bomber used most extensively in the Vietnam War. It was initially designed as a Navy Fighter, a role that a quick study of current military aircraft found was lacking. In the 1950’s McDonnell Douglas had several trainer type aircraft that were immediately tapped for redisign. The plane that eventually became the F-4 was the F3H Demon, after extreme makeovers.
The F3H Demon was a single engine Navy fighter designed for launch from aircraft carriers. It served until the mid 60’s in that role. When McDonnell Douglas began to redesign the Demon to meet their initial pre-conceived specifications, they were up against several already established Navy supersonic fighters: the A-4 Skyhawk and F-8 Crusader. After some deliberation, four Navy officers approached the offices of McDonnell Douglas and presented an entirely new spec sheet that they would have to meet.The role for the to-be-designed fighter was as an all-weather fleet defense interceptor.
The newly redesigned prototypes were to feature 2 seats, with the second pilot operating a powerful radar system. In addition, the engines were placed low in order to maximize fuel capacity while allowing the intake of air into low sitting air intakes. The first prototypes were named the XF4H-1, delivered to the Navy, and took their maiden flight in 1958. Besides for a hydralic failure that prevented the retraction of the landing gear, the fight and each successive flight went smoothly. In fact, a few records were broken during the testing of the XF4H-1.
The most famous use of the F-4 was during the Vietnam war in the 60s. The F-4 earned many nicknames, among them “Rhino”, the “Flying Anvil”, “Flying Footlocker”, “Lead Sled”, the “Big Iron Sled” and the “Louisville Slugger”. They were first used by the Navy, as they were intended, but soon trickled down into Marine Corps and Airforce roles. The F-4 shot down the majority of MiG’s over Vietnam during the 1960s for a grand total of 107 kills. The most common weapon of destruction was the AIM-7 Sparrow, which was a medium range, radar homing missile. The F-4 could carry 4 AIM-7 Sparrows at a time, which meant that while they would often miss their targets, another missile was usually ready to fire directly after.
During much of the fighting in the Vietnam War, chemical agents were used by the United States to defoliate the landscape. Although many different chemical agents were used, the most infamous was most decidedly “Agent Orange,” one of the “Rainbow Herbicides.”
Project AGILE, Subproject VI investigated in the 1960s the use of herbicides in warfare. Corporations like DOW Chemicals and Monsanto were given the task of developing the herbicides for defoliation purposes. The chemicals developed during this time were referred to as the “Rainbow Herbicides.”
The “Rainbow Herbicides” were a collection of six formulas put into production by the United States during the Vietnam War. Agent Pink, Green, Purple, Blue, White and Orange were all especially potent defoliants designed to strip leafy cover that the guerrilla fighters depended on to remain hidden. While not especially harmful, the defoliants were contaminated with the by-product polychlorinated dibenzodioxins or dioxin. Dioxin is produced as a by-product with the active chemicals in “Agent Orange” that, in contrast, are relatively safe to humans but deadly to plants. Dioxin is extremely harmful and dangerous to humans and is listed as a carcinigen. It is widely considered a very serious pollutant and the active component in “Agent Orange’s” infamous toxicity.
The chemicals, such as “Agent Orange” were used most infamously in Vietnam as a part of “Operation Ranch Hand.” Millions of people were effected and are being effected today. It is estimated that over a half of a million Vietnamese children have been born with birth defects that can be directly attributed to dioxin poisoning, dioxin being a prime contaminant of “Agent Orange.”
Several lawsuits have been filed against DOW and Monsanto for their role in the production of the various chemical defoliants. Several lawsuits were settled out of court without an admission of liability on the corporations part. Most notably, in 1984, the represented companies paid $180 million into a fund for disabled veterans that were impacted by the use of “Agent Orange.”
The mistakes made in Vietnam reflect the important nature of the roles of chemicals in warfare and civilian life alike. Care must be taken to ensure that the effects resulted are always the same as effects intended.
The build-up of war in Vietnam was peculiar, for a while, politicians seemed to want nothing to do with Vietnam before pouncing on it as a chance to stop communism. Under JFK, the Americans were helping the South Vietnamese by training them but not fighting outright. After JFK’s assassination and the somewhat questionable “attacks” on USS Turner Joy and Maddox, the US turned its collective eye to-wards Vietnam.
On March 2, 1965, bombing campaign “Rolling Thunder” commenced. It was designed to cripple military infrastructure in North Vietnam. The campaign eventually lasted for a grand total of three years. Millions of tons of weaponry were unleashed upon Vietnam by thousands of aircraft, some of them the gargantuan B-52.
The first Americans to fight were the Air Force, as operation Rolling Thunder was well under way by January 1965. Over forty American F-105 were scrambled into Danang AFB and operated for several months, remarkably without ground protection. In March of 1965, the Marines landed to help protect Danang AFB. In contrary to later public opinion, early public opinion was in overwhelming support of the move. This marked the beginning of the ground war in Vietnam for the Americans.
The deployment of Marines was increased to 200,000 as attacks upon South Vietnam increased in severity. While the policies implemented were strictly defensive, the frustration felt by the South was strange as a losing trend was obviously developing. A three point plan was conjured to help combat the North. First was the commitment to win. Second was major offensives to halt the losing trend. Third was basically a clean phase. President Johnson approved the three point plan in late 1965, and the Vietnam war began in earnest.