Andrew James John Mackenzie
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Bombs Away! Dropping the Toilet Bombshell


With the Vietnam War escalating still further, bombing missions and the poundage used to obliterate South East Asian villages also increased in tandem. In October 1965, in order to commemorate what would be the six millionth pound of ordnance dropped, Commander Clarence J. Stoddard, Attack Squadron 25 (VA-25) added one extra addition to his armaments – a toilet bowl.
Clint Johnson, Captain, USNR Ret., one of the two VA-25 A-1 Skyraider pilots credited with shooting down a MiG-17 on June 20, 1965, had the following account of this particular incident which reads as follows:

“I was a pilot in VA-25 on the 1965 Vietnam cruise. 572 was flown by CDR C. W. “Bill” Stoddard. His wingman in 577 (which was my assigned airplane) was LCDR Robin Bacon, who had a wing station mounted movie camera (the only one remaining in the fleet from WWII).

The flight was a Dixie Station strike (South Vietnam) going to the Delta. When they arrived in the target area and CDR Stoddard was reading the ordnance list to the FAC, he ended with “and one code name Sani-flush”. The FAC couldn’t believe it and joined up to see it. It was dropped in a dive with LCDR Bacon flying tight wing position to film the drop.

When it came off, it turned hole to the wind and almost struck his airplane. It made a great ready room movie. The FAC said that it whistled all the way down. The toilet was a damaged toilet, which was going to be thrown overboard. One of our plane captains rescued it and the ordnance crew made a rack, tailfins and nose fuse for it. Our checkers maintained a position to block the view of the air boss and the Captain while the aircraft was taxiing forward.

Just as it was being shot off we got a 1MC message from the bridge, “What the hell was on 572’s right wing?” There were a lot of jokes with air intelligence about germ warfare. I wish that we had saved the movie film.”

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