An interview with Vietnam War ace Charles B. DeBellevue

Gerrity Chapter Member Col. Charles DeBellevue
(Ret) recalled his missions in an F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam War at an Air & Space Forces
Association Gerrity Chapter event September 8, 2022.
Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Lt. Gen. David
Deptula (Ret) moderated the conversation.
DeBellevue is one of only five Americans who earned flying ace status
during the Vietnam War, and was the first to do so as an Air Force weapons
system officer.
He earned the title in 1972 with a total of six MiG kills, which
is the most earned by any U.S. aviator during the Vietnam War. This
discussion took place 50 years after his final kill.

[@teeken8850]

Awesome, Thank You! from a kid who's fist conscious recollection of watching a tv (a Black & White on Chrome colored TV stand) I was 3 Maybe it was Walter Cronkite with two main topics Vietnam and body bags and the something on space...Even then i knew it was a bad time.... Proud of you guys, I am now a Barber and One of my customers was a Vietnam era F4 pilot Bill was a Marine..he complained his F4 had no cannon.. My Father served 2 tour a critical burn unit in Vietnam and his second term he was pissed they stationed him in South Korea where they flew out the burn patients...he finished up at Sam Huston. The F4 was and is my idea of a cool craft...I fly a sim that has the most realistic f4 simulation ever created a F4 Block 45MC...

[@user-qp4sy2dp5b]

I cant get no comments, I mean this man deserves a thousand comments as a top RIO of a Phantom. I guess father time people forget, but if you were there in country, you never forget. His skill, smarts, balls, which the last is what lacks today. He is so confident, that's contagious! Great job, you did a job way above a RIO service. Sorry for your loss of room mate. I know you live for him. Good luck, and again, You were a compltete asset in the air in North Vietnam. Your one of many who made the Phantom so great.

[@thomasfx3190]

Sir, thank you so much for what you did defending us all from communism in Vietnam. By the time you got to Southeast Asia, I was 3 years old, but as a GenX member I signed up for ROTC and became an Army artillery officer. I enjoyed your presentation!

[@user-qp4sy2dp5b]

Also sorry, the steel mills...I knew a gppd man in a f-105, the steel mills were a very bad no man land, but great job, many didnt get back on the mill missions.

[@user-qp4sy2dp5b]

PS...No sympathy for the crew on the oppising side. They knew exactly who they had in the cockpit behind them.