VanLiere, James

Person

Staff Only

Biography

During the ship’s 1967 deployment to Vietnam, four junior pilots in squadron VA-34 – Bernard Fipp, Ben Heald, James VanLiere and Brian Walker shared bunkroom 0111 in the fo’c’s’le (bunkroom was on starboard side, but has been demolished to build stairs). They nicknamed their accommodations “Triple Sticks.” The four men kept a shared diary from 11 May 1967 through 23 Nov 1967 in which they describe their missions, as well as their antics aboard the ship. The diary is a highly opinionated account of their service and their squadronmates. In 2010, Bernard Fipp published a book Triple Sticks: Tales of a Few Young Men in the 1960s, which is based on the diary. The original “Triple Sticks” diary is an invaluable chronicle of the experiences of four Intrepid pilots during the Vietnam War.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Bernard Fipp Oral History

Item

Identifier: OHP 056

Scope and Contents Bernard Fipp served aboard Intrepid as an attack aviator in VA-34, flying A-4 Skyhawks during Intrepid’s second deployment to Vietnam in 1967. Fipp began his interview by discussing his early life in San Diego, California. He then explained his decision to join the Coast Guard in 1963, after graduating from the University of Oregon in 1962. Fipp then stated that he finished his active duty in the Coast Guard, decided to join the Navy, and trained at Pensacola in 1965, under the AOC Program...

Dates: October 9, 2014

Found in: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Online Archives / Bernard Fipp Oral History

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Subject: Aircraft -- Crusader -- F-8 X