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Lt. Col. John Seuell stands over the seal of the 13th Fighter Squadron and an F-16 Fighting Falcon May 28, 2013, at Misawa Air Base, Japan. Seuell and his late father, Capt. John Wayne Seuell, both have ties to the 13th FS. John Wayne Suell was shot down in North Vietnam June 6, 1972 and flew with the 13th FS as well. Colone Suell is the 35th Operations Group deputy commander. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Derek VanHorn)
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MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS) -- They shared the same name. They
flew and fought the same types of Wild Weasel fighter jet missions.
They looked alike and the family says they even displayed the same
mannerisms. It's a fascinating tale of a father and son who lived
the same life, complete with a sobering twist.
They never
met.
Forty years ago, aptly named John Wayne Seuell was living a
real-life war movie, flying F-4D Phantoms over hostile Vietnamese
jungles as an Air Force captain. It was almost noon June 6, 1972,
when his parental duty was severed by fate, only days away from
welcoming his only child into the world.
Reports released
from the Pentagon tell a mind-bending story of what are believed to
be Seuell's final moments.
While on a combat air patrol
mission northwest of Hanoi, Seuell was with Lt. Col. James Fowler
and their F-4D was the lead aircraft in a flight of four. All
aircraft arrived in the target area without incident, until the
sortie made its way back toward its base destination in Thailand.
While approaching surface-to-air missile launching sites near
heavily guarded Yen Bai Airfield in North Vietnam, the launch of an
enemy missile was detected.
Although evasive maneuvers were
initiated, it wasn't enough as the missile exploded below the tail
section of Seuell's plane. The aircraft burst into flames, but did
not disintegrate. No canopies or parachutes were seen. About 30
minutes later, flights in the area reported hearing two emergency
signals, but no contact could be made.
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Because the incident occurred deep in enemy territory, no
organized search could be made. Both pilots held the status
of missing in action for many years. The only things that
remained of the crash site were questions.
Two months
following the crash, John David Seuell was
born, unaware of the irrecoverable tragedy surrounding him.
At the time, it was impossible to know the parallels that
would arise between he and his father. But being born into
such a storied pedigree, the telltale signs were always
there.
"I knew about the circumstances (of my father)
growing up," said Seuell, now a lieutenant colonel in the
Air Force and the deputy commander of the 35th Operations
Group. "From the youngest age, I always wanted to be a
pilot. I was surrounded by it; I knew it was what I was
going to do."
Seuell's bloodline is United States Air
Force; he's never known anything else. To take it a step
further, life leading up to his commission was essentially a
formality; he was always going to fill his father's
footsteps. It was just how closely, however, no one could
have foreseen.
While his father's playground was
dense, alien jungle, Seuell started in the sandbox. His
first missions as an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot led him over
Southern Iraq during Operation Southern Watch to fight the
antagonistic presence of Saddam Hussein.
"It was an
eye-opening experience," said Seuell, now an 18-year Air
Force veteran. "It was really a gut check when you get up in
the morning and plan to spend your day far, far away from
anyone friendly."
It was decades later, and the only
thing separating the father and son was time. They were
always fighting the same fight.
Here, the 35th
Fighter Wing is home to the Wild Weasels -- F-16s that
provide lethal suppression of enemy air-defenses across the
globe. The 13th Fighter Squadron, that is part of the 35th
FW, was retained when the 432nd FW was reflagged by the 35
FW during a changeover in the fall of 1994. Colonel Seuell
flew 13th FS aircraft in his primal flying days as a
lieutenant and now still supervises the squadron in his
current position.
While attending training in San
Antonio in his early 20s, Seuell got his hands on an
unclassified report about his father's last flight.
"It described the airplane (my father) was in, and painted
on the side of the intake was a red '13' with a black
panther, which is an indication that it was a 13th FS
airplane," he said with a grin.
As the time passed,
more and more details began to emerge. But one looming
question remained; what exactly happened to his father?
Villagers from small towns near the crash site were
interviewed, along with SAM site operators working that day.
People who claimed to have visited the crash site shortly
after still could provide no concrete answers.
It
wasn't until 1995, in San Angelo, Texas, when Seuell was
perusing through a bookstore and discovered a book titled
"Inside Hanoi's Secret Archives," by Malcolm McConnell.
Scrolling through the index, Seuell said he was taken back
after seeing his father's name listed. Looking further, it
even had his picture inside and definitively listed his
father as killed in action.
It was that moment when
Seuell finally received the answers to all the questions
racing through his head over the years.
"I have no
doubt that this is my dad," Seuell said, pointing to the
pictures he pulled from a 4-inch thick binder full of his
father's heritage. "He was able to exit the aircraft ... but
was unable to survive the ejection."
Having never
been allowed the luxury of meeting his father, Seuell said
the emotions surrounding his death were more prideful than
anything else.
"I've always looked up to the
sacrifice of my father, what he used it for and what he had
given," he said. "He was always a role model and he made
being a pilot more serious. I felt like I knew the
consequences more clearly.
"There really is a more
serious side of sacrifice and knowledge you have to be
willing to give if required."
The more Seuell
unearthed about his father's life and sacrifice, the more
the legacy came bursting through the woodwork. John Wayne
Seuell was in elite company.
During one memorable
flight April 16, 1972, Seuell was in a group of four fighter
jets that recorded two MiG-21 kills that afternoon. During
that flight, he flew alongside decorated Vietnam MiG killers
Fred Olmstead and Jeffrey Feinstein.
That mission,
which has been widely documented and published across the
world, is remembered as one of the more famous dogfights in
Vietnam history. It's known as "Basco Flight", now a staple
call sign in the Wild Weasel lineage.
As an F-16
pilot with ties to the same squadron his father flew with in
his heyday, Seuell flies SEAD missions regularly with the
Wild Weasels. And the call sign of the most recent mission
he flew -- Basco.
"That was pretty cool," Seuell
said. "I grew up flying fighter jets, became a Wild Weasel
pilot and train against the same threats that existed in
Vietnam."
In 40 years, so much has changed. Yet,
still, so much remains the same.
"In some ways it may
be a bit poetic," Suell said. "I am trained to go after the
things that killed my dad."
By USAF Senior Airman Derek VanHorn
Air Force News Service
Copyright 2013
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