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:

Brian Walker Oral History

Item

Identifier: OHP-071

Scope and Contents Brian Walker served aboard Intrepid as an attack aviator in VA-34 during Intrepid’s second Vietnam deployment in 1967. He began his interview by discussing his upbringing in Wisconsin and his interest in flight, which began at an early age. Walker then continued, explaining his decision to join the Navy and describing his experiences in flight training, which involved flying T-34s, T-28s, and F-9s. The interview then shifted to Walker’s time aboard Intrepid, where he flew A-4s, an aircraft...

Dates: February 17, 2016

Found in: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Online Archives / Brian Walker Oral History

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Subject: Gunnery -- Aerial Gunnery X