Chief Master Sergeant Michael I. Lampe Warrior ... - Sgt. Mac's Bar

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no means the “sideshow” some analysts and historians have made it out to be. It was a real war,
played for the highest stakes.” 9
Chief Lampe deployed to Lima Site 20A, Laos, in support of Project 404. There were
seven active duty personnel, and all others were either other governmental employees or Meos
guerilla fighters commanded by General Vang Pao. The commander of the Lima Site 20A was
Capt Ryan, an A-1E pilot that participated in the Son Tay Raid, and included an aircraft
maintenance technician, Charlie Day, with whom Chief Lampe worked with on the airfield.
Chief Lampe was tasked to run the airfield/air traffic control (ATC), train Meos guerillas in
forward air guide (FAG) duties, emplacing navigational beacons to assist aircraft attacking North
Vietnam and loading aircraft ordnance. 10 It was “one team…one fight” environment, and Chief
Lampe exponentially developed during this combat deployment.
Lampe’s airmanship skills flourished with opportunities to fly during occasional rest and
relaxation trips to Vin Chin, Laos. He would ride with a pilot in a T-28, and would fly the
aircraft during the enroute phase of the flight. The pilot handled the aircraft during the critical
phases of flight, but Lampe gained invaluable understanding of aircraft systems and operations. 11
Chief Lampe gained an appreciation for all the aircraft, O-1 Birddogs, T-6 Texans, T-28
Trojans, A-1E Skyraiders, C-7 Caribous and C-123 Providers while working with Charlie Day.
They teamed up on loading and servicing aircraft for the daily missions, which paid huge
dividends during a dangerous ground mishap. On 5 November 1972, a fully loaded O-1 was
taxiing to the runway for take-off when it suffered an electrical system malfunction and fired all
seven of its smoke rockets. The rockets “struck a fully armed and fueled aircraft causing the
cockpit area to burst into flames. One fused bomb was knocked from the aircraft. Sergeant
Lampe immediately recognized that should the burning aircraft or ordnance explode, a probable
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