Wednesday's Internet Edition, March 10, 2010.
last out
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| A fighter pilot with 100 missions over North Vietnam, Bob Dorrough of Clemmons displays his Silver Star medal. He has given a plaque to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. |
The Clemmons Courier - When he was a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, Bob Dorrough of Clemmons had the unenviable job of trying to draw the fire of anti-aircraft missiles. He was part of the Wild Weasel squadron and flew his F-105 in 100 missions over North Vietnam.
“They always got the first shot,” Dorrough said last week. The pilots had to dodge the missiles they had just provoked.
The Wild Weasels’ task was to make the pathway safer for a squadron of bombers flying behind them.
“We were the first in and the last out.”
The exloits of Col. (Ret.) Robert “Bob” Dorrough, recipient of the Distinquished Flying Cross and the Silver Star, are now featured in a major new exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The permanent exhibit, titled “100 Missions Up North,” opens to the public on March 19 in the Modern Flight Gallery and portrays the story of airmen who flew missions in the deadly skies above North Vietnam during the Southeast Asia War.
Dorrough, an F-105 Wild Weasel pilot, donated a 100 mission plaque for the display.