The Air Force-produced film “All For One- Air Force Rescue in Vietnam” portrays the rescue of USAF Captain Gerald Lawrence. On August 20th 1972, Lawrence was flying a single engine Beech QU-22B Pave Eagle reconnaissance aircraft near the Ho Chi Minh Trail when he was shot down. The 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS) based at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) immediately went to work to retrieve Lawrence from the jungle terrain in which he was evading the enemy.
Lawrence was assigned to the 553rd Reconnaissance Wing (later the 554th Reconnaissance Squadron) Vampires. His mission was to orbit near the Ho Chi Minh Trail receiving signals from Igloo White acoustic and vibration sensors on the ground and relaying those signals to the Information Surveillance Center (ISC or Task Force Alpha) at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB. Not long after Lawrence was shot down the Air Force cancelled the QU-22 program.
The film includes footage of interviews with the 40th ARRS HH-53 Jolly Green rescue helicopter pilots and crews as well as A-1 Sandy and OV-10 Bronco “Nail” forward air control (FAC) pilots. There is plenty of live-action footage of the Jolly Greens, Sandys, and Broncos in action as well as radio calls between the aircraft during the actual rescue of Lawrence by an Air Force Jolly Green pararescueman (PJ). After his harrowing experience on August 20th 1972, Captain Lawrence remained in the service until his retirement as Major Lawrence in 1986. Sadly he passed away on July 28th 2012. Thanks to YouTuber PeriscopeFilm for uploading this informative film.
