Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Michael John Heck (born July 12, 1942) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

pilot in the Vietnam War best known for becoming a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

and refusing to continue flying bombing missions over North Vietnamese targets in late 1972. Heck attended Whittier College, which is also then- President of the United States Richard Nixon's alma mater. Though there were four other American pilots before Heck who had refused to fly combat missions over Indochina during the buildup to the war, Heck's case was the first to come to public attention and highlighted the

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

issues of the raids.

Decision and reaction

During Operation Linebacker II (commonly called the Christmas bombings), Heck began to question the morality of the missions. Aged 30, he had already flown 175 B-52 bombing runs and about 100 combat missions in

C-121 The Lockheed C-121 Constellation is a military transport version of the Lockheed Constellation. A total of 332 aircraft were constructed for both the United States Air Force and United States Navy for various purposes. Numerous Lockheed EC-121 Wa ...

s, earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and two Presidential Unit Citations. His doubts continued to grow as the bombing escalated, and on December 26 Heck told his wing commander that he could no longer participate in the campaign. Heck flew his last mission two days earlier over the heavily defended Hanoi- Haiphong region, and had only one more year to serve before his scheduled

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

. In order to explain Heck's decision, a few

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

staffers suggested that he might be suffering from

combat fatigue Combat stress reaction (CSR) is acute behavioral disorganization as a direct result of the trauma of war. Also known as "combat fatigue", "battle fatigue", or "battle neurosis", it has some overlap with the diagnosis of acute stress reaction used ...

. A senior United States Air Force officer implied that Heck was too scared to continue to fly over North Vietnam in light of the heavy losses of B-52s. But Heck said that fear had nothing to do with his decision: Heck's parents were not surprised by their son's decision, as they saw evidence of his feelings in his letters since he returned for his third B-52 tour in September 1972. Heck's father described the Christmas bombing campaign as "the last straw that triggered ichael's decision" In a television interview, Heck's parents told reporters that he never wanted to go to war, but Heck admitted he still would not mind flying cargo planes.

Aftermath

Heck was reassigned to administrative duties immediately following his decision. Instead of resigning, he sought non-combat status as a conscientious objector. When it became clear that the Air Force would not grant non-combat status, Heck issued his resignation. Heck's request for an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

was denied, and an investigating officer recommended that he be

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed. Heck was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and filed a second resignation under other than honorable terms, which was accepted on February 8, 1973. The discharge Heck received was the lowest grade that can be given to an officer without a court-martial. His distinguished career with the Air Force helped him avoid a court-martial.Ripley, Anthony. "Pilot Who Balked Gets A Discharge." New York Times 09 Feb 1973: 73. After arriving back in the United States, Heck held a news conference where he stated:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heck, Michael 1942 births Living people People from Chula Vista, California Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War American conscientious objectors United States Air Force officers United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War Whittier College alumni