Son Tay Raid commander Gen. Leroy Manor dies at 100

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SHALIMAR — Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Leroy Manor, whose distinguished military career included commanding the 1970 training of a task force to liberate American prisoners of war far inside enemy lines in Vietnam, died Thursday at the age of 100.

According to the Son Tay Raid Association, a nonprofit organization that commemorates the raid on the prison camp near Hanoi, Manor died peacefully in his home in Shalimar.

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Manor's 36-year military career included 72 combat missions over Europe in World War II, including flying over Normandy during the D-Day invasion. Manor also flew 275 combat missions during the Vietnam War.

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Training for the raid on the Son Tay prison camp, dubbed Operation Ivory Coast and described as one of the most daring missions ever conducted by U.S. military forces, was held at Eglin Air Force Base, where 170 rehearsals were conducted before the raid. At the time, Manor was commander of the Air Force's Special Operations Force, then at Eglin, and personnel from nearby Hurlburt Field participated in the raid.
Manor and the operation's vice commander, Army Special Forces Col. Arthur D. “Bull” Simons, were given unimpeded authority in selecting personnel, aircraft and equipment for the mission from across all military forces. Ultimately, according to a U.S. Army history of the raid, it "included a U.S. Navy air diversion of fifty-nine aircraft, a USAF force of nineteen fixed-wing and six rotary-wing aircraft, and a fifty-six man Army SF (Special Forces) ground force."

Shortly after arriving at the Son Tay prison camp early Nov. 21, 1970, it became apparent that there were no prisoners there. After encountering small-arms fire and eliminating opposition, Simons ordered his forces to withdraw. It was later learned, in what was termed a failure of intelligence-gathering efforts, that prisoners had been moved from Son Tay a few months earlier.
In this 2017 photo, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Leroy Manor, left, gives takeoff clearance to the first flight controlled out of the then-new control tower at Destin Executive Airport. The tower is named in Manor's honor. Manor, whose 36-year military career included service in World War II and Vietnam, died Thursday at the age of 100.

Nonetheless, as word of the raid spread among American POWs, it boosted their morale. Also according to the Army history, the raid resulted in the closing of some prison camps and the consolidation of POWs, "resulting in better care."

And for the long term, according to the Army history, the raid "demonstrated that well-trained and rehearsed U.S. joint special operations forces could conduct missions even in heavily defended areas."

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Despite its lack of success, the Son Tay raid has been seen as a model for Special Forces operations, according to retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Clay McCutchan, whose career included civil service work as an Air Force historian.

Son Tay "is considered how to do a raid," McCutchan said. The history of the raid is taught even outside the U.S. military, including within the Israeli defense forces, he said.

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