A Pilot in Civilian Clothes: Lt Col Greg Wilson

A Pilot in Civilian Clothes: Lt Col Greg Wilson

Author: Evergreen Podcasts | The Honor Project October 24, 2024 Duration: 50:07
Lieutenant Colonel Greg Wilson served in Vietnam & Laos as a Forward Air Controller. As a Forward Air Controller, it was his job to coordinate airstrikes, and ensure that no friendly troops were hit. After less than six months in Vietnam, he joined the classified Steve Canyon Program (Project 404), also known as the Ravens.  Laos was technically neutral during the Vietnam war, and no foreign troops were supposed to be in the country. Nonetheless, the North Vietnamese continued to use Laos in order to import supplies via the Ho Chi Minh trail. Needing to stop the flow of enemy supplies, the USAF began secret airborne operations, targeting enemy vehicles, ground troops, and weapon systems.  The Raven program was eventually developed in order to better execute these operations. Raven pilots wore civilian clothes, and their job was to mark targets with smoke rockets, and direct air strikes onto them.  In this interview, Lt Col Wilson talks about his experience as a FAC and a Raven. He tells this story about first joining the Ravens: “So, I went out for a flight with one of the Ravens, Erik Erikson, and he was in the backseat…He gave me a set of coordinates. I said, ‘Well, there's got to be something. There's got to be a trick here, because this coordinate is right in the middle of a map. I don't have to piece them together.’ So, I flew to those coordinates, and he said, ‘What do you see down there?’ So, I looked down and I said, ‘Well, it looks like a crashed 0-1.’ He said, ‘You're right. What else do you see down there?’ I said, ‘Well, I can't be sure, but I'd say that it looks like skeletal remains.’ And he said, ‘You're right again. You're his replacement.’ So, that was kind of my wakeup call that they figured I was a rookie. And they also, wanted to let me know that this was the real game, that there was threat here. And that if you were shot down in this environment, you were not going to be captured, you were not going to be a POW, you were going to be a fatality.” Learn more about Wilson here. Check out the Documentary.tv YouTube Channel to see incredible stories like this combined with rare, authentic battlefield footage to create riveting film documentaries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a profound difference between reading about history and hearing it told by the person who lived it. Warriors In Their Own Words | First Person War Stories bridges that gap entirely, presenting an unbroken narrative of modern conflict through the voices of those who served. This isn't a commentary or an analysis; it's the raw, direct testimony that forms the bedrock of our understanding. The podcast draws from a remarkable archive, beginning with century-old recordings of veterans from the First World War and extending to contemporary conversations with service members from recent conflicts. Each episode is a standalone account, a deeply personal window into experiences that range from the trenches of France to the mountains of Afghanistan. You'll hear the subtle pauses, the inflections, and the emotion that text alone can never convey. Produced by Evergreen Podcasts in partnership with The Honor Project, the series is committed to preservation without polish, offering the unsanitized truth of military service. Listening feels less like studying an event and more like sitting across from someone as they share a pivotal part of their life. The cumulative effect is a powerful, human-centric tapestry of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, ensuring these essential perspectives are not lost to time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Warriors In Their Own Words | First Person War Stories
Podcast Episodes
Combat Medics in Vietnam: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:13
Combat Medics courageously fought to save lives as the war raged around them in Vietnam. Helicopters became virtual hospitals in the air, buying the medic valuable time to heal the wounded. Max Cleland, a future US Senat…
Tunnel Rats in Vietnam: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:12
The Tunnel Rats were courageous soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. American and Australian troops uncovered the enemy's intricate network of tunnels while conducting la…
Snipers in Vietnam: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:15
Military snipers were trained sharpshooters assigned to kill a man with one perfect shot. These highly disciplined marksman often stalked a target for days waiting for just the right moment to squeeze the trigger. Lurkin…
SOG Covert Task Force in Vietnam: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:27
Studies and Observations Group (SOG) was a highly classified, special ops unit that conducted unconventional warfare during the Vietnam War. SOG carried out the capture of enemy prisoners, rescued downed pilots, and cond…
Wild Weasels in Vietnam: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:49
The Wild Weasels of the United States Air Force were some of the most courageous pilots in Vietnam. In a deadly game of cat and mouse, they flew fighters like the F-100, F-105 and F-4s deep into hostile airspace to coax…
Bat 21Rescue in Vietnam: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:17
On Easter Sunday, April 2, 1972, two EB-66 aircraft, call signs Bat 21 and Bat 22 were flying pathfinder escort for three B-52s, which were assigned to bomb the two primary access routes to the Ho Chi Minh Trail through…
Forward Air Controllers in Vietnam: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:52
Forward Air Controllers or FACs choreographed this skies over the battlefield in Vietnam. They courageously flew low, slow and unarmed over enemy territory in small, propeller driven aircraft like the Cessna 0-1 Bird Dog…
Vietnam Forward Observers: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:05
During the Vietnam War, all too often the chaos of battle found Allied forces trapped and facing annihilation. The situation called for courageous men to carry out some of the deadliest missions in the history of warfare…
Iwo Jima: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:28
The battle for Iwo Jima in World War II became the bloodiest in U. S. Marine Corps history. But for survivors like Chuck Tatum, it also represents the best, the Marines and the United States has to give. For despite the…
Marine Raiders in the Pacific: From the Archive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:27
The Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corp during World War II to conduct special amphibious assault missions, operating behind the lines. The Raiders were created by an order from P…