NWFMOA member John Wambough, Colonel, USAF (RET) says courage and love of country was the glue and inspiration that kept the F-105 fighter jet pilots climbing high in the sky at record speeds over North Vietnam. Retired Colonel John H. Wambough, remembers the heroic past of his pilot friends who daily went into battle facing being shot down, perhaps rescued, killed or falling into the hands of the North Vietnamese. John says he never thought of himself as a hero, though his F-105 took on enemy fire. He says, “The real heroes were those who fought bravely and didn’t make it back safely. Many were unmercifully tortured for years in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” and many never returned.”

John grew up in Glen Cove, Long Island, N.Y. He attended New York University (NYU) and joined the Cadet Corps, became Captain of the Pershing Rifle Trick Drill Team, and Cadet Corps Commander his senior year. Graduating NYU in 1962, he attended Flight School at Vance Air Force Base during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He flew the B52G Bomber during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. He volunteered to fly F-105 Fighters in 1967. During the Vietnam War, John volunteered to fly the F-105 Thunderchief (THUD) and trained at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV.

John flew missions as a part of Operation Rolling Thunder. The F-105 accounted for approximately 75% of the sustained bombing campaign against N. Vietnam during Rolling Thunder. John’s combat tour included strikes into North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, with only a single mission into South Vietnam in support of our troops in contact with enemy forces (Viet Cong).

John loved flying the F-105. He describes it as “fantastic.” The F-105 was the biggest and fastest fighter-bomber ever produced. It could go up to 1,000 mph off the deck. MIGs (fighter aircraft supplied by Russia to the North Vietnamese) couldn’t match its speed.

In September of 1968, John began a tour of duty in the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) at KORAT, Thailand expecting to fly 100 combat missions in 6 months. But due to the high losses of F-105 aircraft during the Vietnam War, in 1969, the F-105s were withdrawn from combat in the 34th TFS and replaced with F-4 fighter aircraft. John went on to an assignment as an Air Operations Officer at 7th Air Force, Saigon, followed by assignment to the 12th TFS at Kadena AB, Okinawa. He retired in 1990 at Hurlburt Field after 27½ years in the Air Force.

Taken in part from FWB Life, April 12, 2025