page_title: Rescue of Bat 21 Bravo
section_title: Commandos cross lines
hierarchical_section_title: Rescue of Bat 21 Bravo / Ground rescue / Commandos cross lines
caption_attribution_description: English: Lt. Thomas R. Norris and Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet went behind enemy lines in a sampan to rescue mission Lt.Col Iceal Hambleton. Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor and Kiet was recognized with the Silver Star.
context_page_description: The rescue of Bat 21 Bravo, the call sign for Iceal "Gene" Hambleton, a navigator aboard an EB-66 aircraft shot down behind North Vietnamese lines, was the "largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue" operation during the Vietnam War. Five additional aircraft were shot down during rescue attempts, directly resulting in the deaths of 11 airmen, the capture of two others, and another airman trying to evade capture.
  On 2 April 1972, the Easter Offensive, the largest combined arms operation of the entire Vietnam War, was in its third day. An early morning flight of two United States Air Force EB-66 aircraft was led by Bat 20, piloted by Lt. Col. Robert Singletary. Hambleton was a navigator aboard Bat 21. The two aircraft were escorting a cell of three B-52s. Bat 21 was configured to gather signals intelligence, including identifying North Vietnamese anti-aircraft radar installations to enable jamming. Bat 21 was destroyed by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile and Hambleton was the only survivor, parachuting behind the front lines into a battlefield filled with thousands of North Vietnamese Army soldiers.
context_section_description: Anderson now planned to rescue Hambleton and Clark. Norris and Anderson called in air strikes in an attempt to weaken the NVA's resistance, but the NVA answered with mortar rounds and B-40 rockets that struck the team's position. Lt. Col. Anderson, the senior American commander, and Lt. Tho Ngoc Vu, the senior Vietnamese commando, and all of the Vietnamese officers were hurt. The wounded Vietnamese troops had to be evacuated. One commando was killed. Norris was left with five Vietnamese commandos who spoke little English.
  OV-10 pilot Clark (Nail 38 Bravo)  was seriously weakened by five days hiding from NVA forces with little to eat. Since he was closest to the team's position, Norris decided to rescue him first. The rescuer's initial plan was to swim upriver and meet Clark, but Norris tested the current and decided it was too strong. Clark was relayed instructions by the FAC controller overhead to get in the water after dark and float downstream where Norris and his team would intercept him. The rescue team would have to insert along the riverbank, a much more hazardous route. Anderson, Norris, and five Vietnamese commandos set up an overwatch position near the Mieu Giang River, which ran near the positions of both downed airmen. Anderson ordered Norris to take his team no more than 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) forward and wait for the survivors to come to them, but after departing, Norris ignored the order and turned off his radio. Traveling twice that distance upriver, he passed through frequent North Vietnamese patrols, truck, and columns of tanks.
  Clark floated down the cold river and at about 02:00 to 03:00, Norris could hear his heavy breathing on the river. Norris was about to leave cover to pull Clark to shore when a six-man NVA patrol walked between them. Norris remained hidden, hoping they wouldn't notice Clark's breathing, and knowing that using their weapons would expose the team's position to the hundreds of enemy troops around them. By the time the patrol passed by, Clark had floated on downstream. Norris radioed Clark and instructed him to get out of the river on the south bank. On his own initiative, Norris left his team and swam downstream several hours looking for Clark. Near dawn, he saw some motion and found Clark hiding behind a sampan on the riverbank. Norris had to persuade Clark to follow him and was finally able to re-link up with the rest of his team. Norris delivered Clark to Anderson at the forward operating base. Clark was transported to the last outpost on the Cua Viet River at Dong Ha by an ARVN M113 armored personnel carrier and then flown to Da Nang.
  On 9 April, Hambleton's eighth day of evading NVA forces all around him, FAC Harold Icke on Bilk 11 kept in constant contact with Hambleton. Icke directed Sandy 01 to drop a Madden survival pack containing food, water, ammunition and extra radios to Hambleton, but it fell 50 meters (160 ft) away, slightly above him, and he was too weak to climb up to it. Icke and the pilots of two A-1 Skyraiders were shocked to see Hambleton come out his hiding place and stand in the open on a sandbar in the river, waving a white flag at them above. Icke knew Hambleton's mental and physical health were precarious. Unknown to him, Hambleton was considerably weakened, having lost 40 pounds (18 kg) in the 10 days since his jet had been shot down.
  On 11 April, Hambleton (Bat 21 Bravo) was too weak to move any farther. Norris was well aware of the overwhelming North Vietnamese presence, but decided to proceed upriver again. Hambleton wasn't transmitting on schedule and his occasional radio calls were difficult to understand. Norris could only follow parts of Hambleton's weak transmissions but knew he would have to go to him. North Vietnamese tanks were spotted at the Cam Lo bridge, and air strikes were carried out to destroy them before the team launched their second rescue mission. The NVA fixed the location of the outpost and poured mortar and artillery fire on the forward ARVN outpost, killing two of the five remaining ARVN Seals. The wounded were evacuated the next 
caption: Lt.Thomas R. Norris and Petty Officer Third Class Nguyễn Văn Kiệt went more than 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) behind front lines disguised as fishermen in a sampan to rescue Lt. Col Iceal Hambleton. Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor and Nguyễn was recognized with the Navy Cross for their actions.