Media Type

Moving Image

Physical Location

Stacks D29.5G

Number of Media

1

Language(s)

English

Format

DVD

Time - Hr:Min:Sec

01:00:08

Digitized in HD?

No

General Note

One DVD documenting Colonel William Bridgham, Jr.'s USMC service from 1966 through 1992. The documentary depicts Bridgham's experiences in Vietnam with VMFA-542 flying as a Radar Intercept Officer in the F-4B aircraft out of Danang Air Base for two months, and then from Chu Lai Air Base for nine months; flying 4-plane division missions into North Vietnam in Route Package 1, as well as conducting two-plane Close Air Support missions along the DMZ and between Danang and Chu Lai (later expanded to include night escort interdiction and flak suppression missions in North Vietnam and Laos); the buildup of Chu Lai Base facilities; the VMFA-542 flight line; the control tower; Bridgham's living accommodations; Bridgham with his family at Point Mugu, CA; Bridgham's exchange tour with the Navy's fighter experimental squadron (VX-4); Bridgham's reassignment to VMA(AW)-225 and his work as a Bombardier/Navigator flying night interdiction bombing missions into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam, as well as Beacon Bombing missions in remote fire support bases throughout I Corps; Bridgham's post-Vietnam activities including flight testing weapons systems at the Navy's Flight Test Center in Patuxent River, MD, serving as a military observer in Lebanon during the civil war in 1976-1977, and serving as the Commanding Officer of an A-6 training squadron at Cherry Point, NC; and Bridgham's work to achieve a posthumous promotion for a Marine who was killed at the Chosin Reservoir battle during the Korean War.