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Part 3
Waiting all night in enemy waters for daylight, they then executed an emergency Helo extraction and returned to the command ship – the USS Long Beach, for debrief.
But Spence* knew he and his Team had to return to the submarine as soon as possible. They had information vital for a back-up team preparing to launch a second attempt, and Spence was determined to see that they got it.
That night the SEALs attempted a midnight link-up with the submarine somewhere off the coast of North Vietnam.*
They were riding a Helo that was trying to locate this submarine operating in the
Tonkin Gulf under strict radio silence… during limited visibility on a very dark night.
Their attempted rendezvous was further complicated by the highly classified nature of their mission, an operation so secret that the submarine* had to remain submerged and undetected even from the US Navy’s own Fleet sailing above on the water’s surface.
Its ships patrolled throughout the area and were completely unaware of any friendly submarines or swimmers operating in their midst. It was reported that a Navy destroyer had already fired on the submarine– the USS Grayback, earlier during snorkeling operations. Fortunately it had missed.
When the Helo pilot thought he had finally spotted the signal light from Grayback, Spence and his men prepared to conduct a night Helo cast * to link-up & lock-in to the sub. When told they were over their objective and it was time to “go”, Spence stepped out of the Helo and the rest of the SEALs rapidly followed…The Helo was too high and too fast for safe entry and the jumpers hit the water hard. Spence was killed and the others injured - two seriously.
There was no submarine – at least in the immediate vicinity for the Team to link up with. So the survivors treaded water until daylight when they were finally spotted and picked up. During the course of the night they found Spence’s body and held it for recovery.
We all knew that given similar circumstances every one of us would have jumped once told the sub had been located and it was time to “go.”
We learned several years later what the “really neat stuff” was that Spence had alluded to in his letter.
Many of the details were later described by Moki Martin* in his on scene account of Operation Thunderhead and published in Orr Kelly’s Book: Never Fight Fair.
Other participants in the operation also revealed additional details.
To sum them up:
Spence and his team had deployed in an attempt to rescue American POWs who were planning to escape from a North Vietnam prison. Spence had died during the course of that attempt. He* would be the last SEAL to die in Vietnam.
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