Thud Pilots (2018)

 

            I have no problem reviewing war documentaries as part of the genre.  It’s just that with so many war movies to get to, I tend to put off watching the better documentaries.  I do have a to-be-watched list, but it’s for the future.  However, I was reminded recently of a war documentary that has a special meaning for me and I kicked myself that I had not reviewed it before.  It is personal because the subject is related to my father.  One of the defining periods of my life was the three years I spent in Japan as a kid when my dad was flying a fighter-bomber in the Vietnam War.  I was not old enough to fully appreciate what was happening. We lived on Yokota Air Force Base, so it was not even like we were living in another country.  I had a happy childhood with no concerns about the safety of my father.  It was only later that I realized that he could have been killed fighting for his country.  When we returned to the States, he stayed in the Air Force and then the National Guard.  I had to wear a buzz cut when everyone else in school had long hair, but I was proud to be a military brat.  My dad was not a drill sergeant.  He was not the Great Santini.  He did not have PTSD (which made him part of the majority of pilots).  He did not mind talking about his experiences, but you had to ask.  I asked and I immersed myself in books about aviation combat.  My favorite plane has always been the one my father flew in Vietnam.  I am looking at two models of it right now in my study.  Officially, the Thunderchief, it was affectionately called the Thud by its pilots.  For those familiar with WWII, the F-105 was the equivalent of the P-47 Thunderbolt (nicknamed the Jug). Both were fighter-bombers that could take a lot of damage and stay in the air.  (One difference is that while the Jug is an ugly airplane, the Thud is beautiful.)

            I learned from “Thud Pilots” and if you are not familiar with the air war, you will learn a lot.  The movie was written and directed by a friend of my father, Vic Vizcarra.  I played with his sons when we lived on the base.  Mark was driven to give recognition to the pilots, like his father and my Dad, who flew the Thuds in the messed up war that was Vietnam.  The film begins with background on the Thud before the war.  The plane was originally designed to be a supersonic nuclear bomb deliverer for the Cold War.  It is still the largest single engine fighter ever built, but very fast.  It set the world speed record in 1959.  In Vietnam, its role was adjusted to fighter-bomber.  It could drop more bombs than a B-17 and hold its own against MiGs.  Unfortunately, the movie makes it clear that the Pentagon took these two roles for granted.  Starting with Operation Rolling Thunder (the sustained bombing of North Vietnamese targets), the Thuds carried a large part of the war effort.  And suffered the losses resulting from that load.  The plane could take a beating and it got it.

            The movie is structured like a traditional war documentary.  There is a narrator to link the interviews and give historical background.  There are interviews with Thud pilots.  And there is footage to support the interviews.  The interviews cover several aspects of being a Thud pilot.  Some describe refueling, hairy missions, encounters with anti-aircraft fire and missiles, getting rescued from being shot down, or being captured.  (Another friend of mine’s father is featured as a POW.)  The interviews are basically in chronological order and fit the historical narrative that covers the early war years from 1965 to about 1968.  The string of interviews builds to the one with Vizcarra himself.  He was shot down and rescued by a chopper crew.

            What separates the documentary apart from most WWII docs, for instance, is its scathing take on the handling of the air war.  This is not “Memphis Belle”.  Vizcarra, by way of the narrator, describes controversies that would be hair-pullingly familiar to Thud veterans, but probably news to their grandchildren.  Special bile is aimed at the “rules of engagement” and the targeting decisions by the politicians.  The rules forbid striking at SAM (surface to air missiles) sites that were trying to kill them and the MiG bases that their adversaries launched attacks from.  The footage includes Pres. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara giving excuses about not wanting to widen the war.  The F-105 pilots were “sacrificial pawns”.  The targeting decisions included hands off of Hanoi and Haiphong harbor, leaving these areas as refuges for the enemy.  Tactically, the use of the warplanes in formations that made them sitting ducks comes under criticism.  Unfortunately, when the gloves were partially loosened in 1966, it did result in heavier losses.  New tactics, like the use of two-seater Thuds (Wild Weasels) to pinpoint and take out SAM sites, are discussed. 

            The theme that comes across is these brave men were misused by their government.  And yet, they served to the best of their ability despite the odds.  One particularly poignant segment is on a pilot who re-upped for a second 100 missions and was shot down on mission #198.  It’s hard not to have the mixed emotions of anger and sorrow while watching this movie.  Unless your father was a dove during the war.  This movie definitely is aimed at the “we should have done whatever was necessary to win the war” crowd.  But we need documentaries that offer the counterargument that Vietnam was a just war and most warriors (especially pilots) believed in what they were fighting for.

            “Thud Pilots” is not just Mark Vizcarra putting together some home movies and talking over them.  It has a professional gloss to it.  It won the Best Film Made by a Veteran or Serviceman Award at the G.I. Film Fest.  The footage is amazing and coordinates with the narrative very well.  Some of the footage is actual footage of some of the interviewees.  The interviews are outstanding.  The men are allowed to talk at length.  There is no interviewer prompting them.  All of the speakers are eloquent.  They are not as bitter as they have the right to be.  That is left to the narrator. In a nice touch, a couple of the veterans are ground crewmen.  I’m sure all Thud pilots will agree they belonged in the film.  

            Although clearly aimed at the Thud community, this movie works well as a Vietnam War air combat documentary.  Since the Thud carried a large part of the bombing effort, the story of the Thud is in many ways the story of the air war.  Especially when it comes to the ROE, the targeting, and the rescue efforts.  F-4 pilots and the various Navy pilots certainly will nod heads while watching.  If I have to offer any criticism, I would say that it could have done without the constant soundtrack.  It is not distracting, but could have been cut for the interviews.  Also, I would have liked to have seen more discussion of the tactics.  For instance, there was a debate within the community over horizontal versus dive bombing.  The movie also forgoes discussion of dogfighting to concentrate more on anti-aircraft and SAMs.  But these are minor quibbles and might be addressed in “Thud Pilots 2”, which I have not seen yet.   

            If you want to know what it was like to fly the most important plane of the Vietnam War, this is the documentary for you.  You don’t have to be invested in it, as I am.  By the way, stick around for the song that closes the film.  No one ever accused fighter pilots of not having a sense of humor.

GRADE  =  A