18 June 1968 Greg Butler tells “a tale of survival under fire and the loyalty of a venerable craft to its former master. Long ago and far away at a base in Germany, Greg [Butler] placed his name on an F-100 that had had a treacherous reputation. Greg tamed the craft and flew it successfully and moved on.
Years later in Viet Nam Greg found himself in another F-100 that had been disabled either by a mechanical malfunction or by enemy ground fire. Another F-100 moved in and circled Greg’s crippled plane to assess the damage and provide protective cover. As Greg pulled the ejection trigger, he noticed the number 950 on the tail of the circling plane. It was his old steed from Germany. The protective cover was successful and Greg was recovered from the battlefield to fight another day. (Source EAA Chapter 286 N. San Diego County, August 2012)
In an excerpt from Greg’s poem titled “Up, Up and Away” he describes the story…
…My first gig was in the 461st Deadly Jesters at Hahn, in the ADIZ chasing Migs
Then off to the 53rd Tigers at Ramstein for boring Victor, but much much nicer digs
Twas there on Old 950 I first put my name
No one else would take her due to her very negative fame
For twenty-one years I zoomed and thundered
In F-84F, A-7D, and mostly F-one-hundred
From Cannon sat Victor Alert with the big bomb
Skipped, dived and strafed in Vietnam
Twas there I jumped from my flaming steed
They called it ground fire but I know it was a hot air bleed
You know, North American built 2300 of the Hun
Well, my Guard wingman, that night was in just one . . . My Old 950 (Very small world)”
For more of the story go to https://supersabresociety.com/biography/greg-butler/