Donated by Marius Burke and Boyd D. Mesecher
Account 1
On 12 January 1968, four North Vietnamese Air Force AN-2 Colt biplanes lifted off from an airfield in northeastern North Vietnam and headed west toward Laos. The aircraft were on a mission to destroy a US radar base that was guiding bombers in attacks against targets in North Vietnam. Known to the Americans as Site 85, the radar facility was perched atop a 5,800-foothigh mountain, Phou Pha Thi. Manned by US Air Force volunteers “sheepdipped” as employees of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, the site had been in operation only a few months. The mountain, used for many years as a staging base for CIA-directed Hmong guerilla fighters and American special operations and rescue helicopters, was only 125 nautical miles from Hanoi. Air America, a CIA-proprietary, provided aerial support for the facility, the technicians, and the security forces.
The Colts reached Site 85 early in the afternoon, and two began bombing and strafing passes as the others circled nearby. Coincidentally, Air America captain Ted Moore, flying a UH-1D Huey helicopter carrying ammunition to the site, saw the attack (“It looked like World War I,” he recalled.) and gave chase to a Colt as it turned back to the Vietnamese border. Moore positioned his helicopter above the biplane, as crewman Glenn Woods fired an AK-47 rifle down on it. The pursuit continued for more than 20 minutes until the second AN-2 flew underneath the helicopter. Dropping back, Moore and Woods watched as the first AN-2 dropped and crashed into a ridge just west of the North Vietnamese border. Minutes later, the second Colt hit the side of a mountain three miles farther north. The other Colts escaped, inactive observers throughout. Within hours a CIA-controlled ground team reached the crashed aircraft and found bullet holes in the downed planes.
In the mists of the Annamite Mountains and part of a secret war, Air America employees Ted Moore and Glenn Woods gained the distinction of having shot down a fixed-wing aircraft from a helicopter, a singular aerial victory in the Vietnam War. Two months later, North Vietnamese commandos attacked and destroyed Site 85, inflicting the deadliest single ground loss of US Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War.
On 27 July 2007, CIA officially received An Air Combat First in an event attended by members of the Air America Board; pilot Ted Moore; Sawang Reed, the wife of flight mechanic Glenn Woods; CIA paramilitary legend Bill Lair; and the donors of the painting, former Air America officers Marius Burke and Boyd D. Mesecher.
- Ted Moore CIA Air Americas.jpg (170.94 KiB) Viewed 223 times
Account 2
A singular aerial victory in the Vietnam War serves as a lasting and inspiring reminder of the heroism and courage of Air America employees. The moment is captured in a painting by Keith Woodcock entitled “Lima 85,” which now hangs at CIA Headquarters.
During the war, Air America—a CIA proprietary airline—flew a variety of missions in the Far East. Former Air America employees recently helped unveil “Lima 85,” which now is part of the CIA Museum’s Intelligence Art Gallery. CIA Museum curator Toni Hiley says, “The dramatic imagery of a painting or sculpture can often convey a story with more power than a volume written about the incident. These events in Agency history, dimmed by time, will be brought to life by superb works of art—to inform…instruct…and inspire.”Lima 85 Painting
Lima 85 was a US radar facility that provided critical and otherwise unavailable all-weather guidance to F-105 fighter-bombers flying strike missions against Communist supply depots, airfields, and railroad yards in North Vietnam.
Recognizing the threat posed by this facility, the People’s Army of Vietnam Air Force made an unprecedented effort to destroy the radar equipment. On Jan. 12, 1968, four AN-2 Colt biplanes—painted dark green and modified to drop “bombs” improvised from 122-mm mortars and 57-mm rockets—took off from a North Vietnamese airfield to attack Lima 85.
At about 1:30 p.m., the Colts approached their target and split into two formations. While two of the aircraft circled in the area, the other two turned toward the mountain and conducted separate single bombing and strafing passes.
Air America pilot Ted Moore, in his unarmed UH-1D “Huey” helicopter, saw the biplanes attacking. Moore and his flight mechanic Glenn Woods took chase of the first Colt. Woods pulled out his AK-47 rifle and began firing at the lumbering biplane. The pursuit continued for more than 20 minutes until the second AN-2 flew underneath the helicopter and both airplanes attempted to gain altitude.
Moore and Woods watched as the first AN-2, apparently hit by gunfire, dropped and then crashed into a mountain ridge less than two miles west of the North Vietnamese border. Minutes later, the second Colt hit the side of a mountain located some three miles farther north of the first crash. The two AN-2 Colts circling to the southeast of Lima 85 did not take part in the attack and retreated back to North Vietnam.
The painting captures one North Vietnamese Colt fleeing and the other being pursued by the Air America Huey piloted by Moore, as mechanic Woods fires his AK-47 at the cockpit. This daring action by Moore and Woods gained them—and Air America—the distinction of having shot down an enemy fixed-wing aircraft from a helicopter, a singular aerial victory in the entire history of the Vietnam War.
On March 11, 1968, in a night raid, North Vietnamese commandos overran Lima 85 in the deadliest single ground loss of US Air Force personnel during the Vietnam War. A year later, Woods was killed in action.
The CIA Museum supports the Agency’s operational, recruitment, and training missions and helps visitors better understand CIA and the contributions it makes to national security. The museum’s collection includes material associated with the CIA’s predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services; foreign intelligence organizations; and the CIA itself.
