Norman Carl Gaddis (September 30, 1923 – February 13, 2024) was a United States Air Force officer, fighter pilot and prisoner of war. At the time he was shot down over North Vietnam, Gaddis was the most senior United States Air Force officer (Colonel).
Early life Norman was born September 30, 1923, on his grandparents' family farm in Dandridge, Tennessee. His early years were affected by the Great Depression including frequent moves by his parents, Bruce and Allie, to find work and suitable housing. His mother was hospitalized for tuberculosis in 1928 and in order for his father to continue to work, Gaddis; his 7-year-old brother Ralph; and 1-year-old sister; Opal, were placed in an orphanage until the sanatorium had an apartment for the family.
Military service in Army Air Corps During his time at Knoxville High School Gaddis was very involved in Junior ROTC. Because of the Pearl Harbor bombing in December 1941 his older brother, Ralph was drafted in July 1942. On October 29, 1942, he volunteered for active military service and was sworn in at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. He was issued uniforms and shoes and moved to his first duty station at Page Field Army Airfield in Fort Myers, Florida. While his first assignment included being a mechanic for the B-26 Marauder airplane, his duties also included the typical soldiering activities. His first flight was as a passenger in the B-26. His wing moved to Avon Park AAF (present day Avon Park Air Force Range) in Avon Park, Florida, before the end of the year.
In 1943 Gaddis was accepted into the aviation cadet program. After training at Biloxi, Mississippi; State Teachers College at Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and Ryan School for Aeronautics and Cal-Aero Flying Academy, both in California, Gaddis was sent to advance training in the T-6 Texan aircraft at Williams Army Airfield, Arizona. In November 1944 Gaddis graduated from pilot training and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps Reserve.
On January 10, 1945, Gaddis married Hazel Lee Ketner, his high school sweetheart, in the study of the First Baptist Church in Panama City, Florida.
His first assignment was at Luke Army Airfield, Arizona, flying the P-40 Warhawk. In 1945 he was transferred to Dale Mabry Army Airfield, Florida, and then on to Bartow Army Airfield, Florida. He flew the P-40 and the P-51 Mustang. At the end of World War II he was released from active duty.
Civilian Life in Tennessee The Gaddises returned to Knoxville in November 1945. Gaddis enrolled in the pre-med program at the University of Tennessee, served in the Army Air Forces Reserve, and worked part-time in a large drugstore. The Reserve unit aircraft included the C-47 Skytrain and the P-51 Mustang. After their first child was born in March 1946, Gaddis found the schedule extremely demanding. There were several opportunities for him to return to active duty, especially with the establishment of the US Air Force in September 1947; however, even with almost 500 hours of flight time, he did not meet the criterion of a college degree.
Military service in the Air Force Gaddis was recalled to active duty in February 1949. He served three years as a pilot with the 86th Fighter Wing at Neubiberg Air Base, West Germany, a suburb of Munich. The 86th Fighter Wing was engaged in flying escort missions into and from Berlin during the airlift, typically flying the P-47 Thunderbolt. During this time Gaddis was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and earned the call sign "Snapper" because of his execution of a "snap-roll" maneuver as he flew a P-47 at and 300 mph across the Fürstenfeldbruck airfield.
Operation Peter Fox One In March 1952 Gaddis was transferred to the 309th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Wing at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia where he flew the F-84 Thunderjet. He also attended 6 weeks of Fighter Weapon School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. While assigned to the 31st Wing, which was a Nuclear Weapons unit, he participated in Operation Fox Peter One, the first jet fighter crossing of the Pacific Ocean. This was historic because it included the first mass movement of jet fighters across the Pacific, the first mass mid-air refueling of jet fighters, the longest mass movement of a complete jet fighter wing by air and the longest mass nonstop over water flight by jets (from Travis Air Force Base in California to Hawaii). This deployment included a 3-month special mission to Chitose Air Base in Japan. The 31st Fighter Wing was awarded the Distinguished Unit Award for this historic flight.
Though officially stationed at Turner, Gaddis spent much of 1953 training at various places including Squadron Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, Nuclear Weapons School at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, survival training in the Okefenokee Swamp in Florida and gunnery training at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. In November Gaddis had a second classified deployment to Misawa Air Base, Japan.
Europe Duty In May 1954 Gaddis was reassigned to the 81st Fighter Wing, RAF Bentwaters, England, as the Wing Standardization Officer. This assignment included duty at Sheppard's Grove flying the F-86A Sabre. While he was there the wing converted to the F-84F Thunderstreak, a nuclear weapons carrier.
In late 1955 Gaddis was transferred to Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Wiesbaden, West Germany. He served as an operations staff officer in the Standardization Division. While there he had temporary duty at Edwards Air Force Base, California, to conduct performance testing on a new airplane, the F-100D Super Sabre. During this time he worked with test pilots Chuck Yeager, Deke Slayton, Ivan Kincheloe, Jim Carson and Lou Shalk.
In May 1957 Gaddis moved to Foster Air Force Base, Texas, to serve with the 450th Fighter Wing as the Squadron Operations Officer.
In April 1958 Gaddis was assigned to the U.S. Air Forces Fighter Weapons School, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where he flew the F-100D as a flight instructor and later served as the Director of Operations and Training. In 1960 he was selected for and attended the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
In July 1961 Major Gaddis was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Air Force Directorate of Operations as a staff officer in the Tactical Division. During this time he had the opportunity to brief the Chief of Staff, General Curtis LeMay.
Vietnam During the 1965–66 academic year Gaddis attended the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC. From there he transitioned to MacDill Air Force Base, to attend F-4 Phantom II combat crew training. Gaddis was promoted to colonel on October 20, 1966. He also received orders for an assignment as the Assistant Deputy for Operations, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing at Cam Ranh Air Base, South Vietnam. Cam Ranh was a main staging base for 24/7 military airlift flights and support included medical evacuations and civilian contract flights, both arrivals and departures. As a senior officer he also flew combat missions in South and North Vietnam.
Early in 1967 the Viet Cong conducted rocket attacks against the American air bases in South Vietnam. General William W. Momyer, the Seventh Air Force commander, was concerned that some of the senior officers might be injured or killed in the attacks. To become familiar with the flight operations senior officers were temporarily assigned to other bases. As part of this plan Gaddis was sent to Danang Air Base, South Vietnam and Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand to fly missions with the F-4 wing.
While at Danang Gaddis and 11 other pilots were scheduled to fly a mission against a target in the southwest part of Hanoi. After completing a briefing Gaddis began his 73rd combat mission. Lt. James Jefferson was his weapons officer. They took off in the F-4 Phantom at 15:00 on May 12. The pilots proceeded to a rendezvous point with a KC-135 tanker aircraft over Laos. After all the fighters completed their refueling, Gaddis's flight joined with eighteen other aircraft loaded with bombs. Their target was a boat manufacturing plant in the southwest edge of Hanoi near the border of Hà Tây and Hòa Bình Provinces. As the strike forces approached the target, the North Vietnamese began to fire surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns. One of the missiles exploded near Gaddis's aircraft and pieces of metal debris were sucked into the left engine. The engine then exploded and set the aircraft on fire. According to North Vietnamese records, Gaddis' F-4C (AF Ser. No. 63–7614) did not fall to a SAM, but instead was shot down by a MiG-17 pilot of the 923rd Fighter Regiment, Ngo Duc Mai.Toperczer (2001), p.44-45Toperczer (2015), p.79, 235 The aircraft began to rotate end-over-end. Gaddis ordered the copilot to eject and immediately heard two loud explosions, presumably the sound of the Jefferson's canopy separation and the ejection seat. Gaddis ejected while the plane was upside down. He was captured immediately. During this time, Gaddis did not see Jefferson's parachute. Later, Gaddis was shown Jefferson's nametag, which had been cut from his flight suit, and two other items of flight equipment, his helmet and his clipboard. All items were in good shape without burns or bloodstains. Apparently, he was killed during the ejection or immediately after he landed. Partial remains of Jefferson were repatriated July 14, 1999, and positive identification was announced June 5, 2000.
Internment as a POW Gaddis was the first Air Force colonel to survive a bailout and capture in North Vietnam. He was taken immediately to the Hỏa Lò Prison, known as the "Hanoi Hilton." When he refused to give the Vietnamese information he was subjected to brutal torture. After three weeks of interrogation Gaddis was placed in a small cell, seven-feet square, and remained in solitary confinement for 1004 consecutive days. After two years and seven months he was allowed to write a letter to his family and was allowed to receive a package from family containing toilet articles, candy, and some underclothes.
At the end of solitary confinement, another Air Force Colonel was placed in the cell with Gaddis. Four months later these two were allowed to live with two other Air Force colonels in a larger cell. The prisoners were not supposed to communicate with others, but they did so using a Tap code messaging system improvised by the prisoners as well as scratching on the bottoms of containers. They learned that about 200 Americans were being held in the prison.
During this time the American prisoners were not brutally tortured but were slapped, kicked and punched in the kidneys by the guards. The food was limited, and each of the four had lost 30 to 35 pounds since being captured. Occasionally they were allowed packages from their families and these items were shared. If families sent pictures the guards only allowed the prisoners to keep them for a few days; letters were taken in the same manner.
The senior officers at the Hanoi Hilton organized a provisional unit, the 4th Allied Prisoner of War Wing. It was composed of all United States branches - Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps - as well as allied prisoners from South Vietnam and Thailand and was led by Colonels John P. Flynn and Robinson Risner. The groups communicated using tabs, signals and codes.
During this period there were about ten prisons within a radius of Hanoi. In an effort to consolidate the prisoners for better control approximately two hundred American prisoners were moved to a camp from the Chinese border. The senior officers remained at the Hanoi Hilton.
In November 1970, following the unsuccessful Son Tay Raid, the North Vietnamese consolidated most of the prisoners into the one Hanoi location. This allowed additional contact and it was soon learned that there were almost 500 prisoners, most of them officers.