Bombing Fallout

By the time President Nixon ordered the resumption of bombing over Hanoi and Haiphong on Dec. 18, B-52 Pilot Michael Heck, 30, had racked up more than 150 bombing missions during a number of stints in Indochina, a Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with eleven oakleaf clusters--and an impressive list of reservations about the Viet Nam War. With each new bombing run over the populated cities of the North, those doubts grew. Finally, on the day after Christmas, Heck announced to his wing commander that he could no longer in good conscience participate in the intensified bombing campaign.

According to the Pentagon's records, four other American pilots have refused to go on combat flights since the U.S. began regular bombing missions over Indochina eight years ago; but Heck's case was the first to come to public attention, and it took on special significance because of the moral issue raised by the raids.

The military bent over backward to explain Heck's actions. Some Pentagon staffers suggested that he might be suffering from combat fatigue. A senior Air Force officer implied that the heavy losses of B-52s during the strikes had finally frightened him. "There's some sympathy for that guy Heck," the officer allowed. "He was flying into the hairiest area of the world." But Heck himself said that fear had nothing to do with his decision. "If they tell me now to go on milk runs, the B-52 targets over South Viet Nam where nobody gets shot at, I would feel no different. I would even refuse a ground job of supervising the loading of bombs or refueling aircraft. I can't be a participant." Why? Because, he explained, "the goals do not justify the mass destruction and killing."

As embarrassing as it may have been to the Air Force, Heck's decision neither embarrassed nor surprised his family, who knew his feelings from his letters--and sympathized. Said his father, a real estate broker in Chula Vista, Calif.: "It was not a snap judgment. From about September on--from the time he had to go back to Viet Nam, in fact--we had the feeling that he felt things there were not the way he expected them to be. And then when we had this mass bombing, before Christmas, it was just the last straw that triggered it."

Heck's decision could well place the Air Force in a difficult position. It may have to court-martial him, not something it relishes doing to a highly decorated pilot. Or it may accept his resignation or place him on conscientious objector status. But either course might encourage other pilots to follow suit. Heck's case may also prove a puzzle to President Nixon. In addition to two presidential unit citations, Heck also holds a diploma from Nixon's own alma mater, Whittier College. Last week Heck told TIME's Peter Simms: "This is the first time in my life that I have been able to feel really happy and good, because I have made the right decision."

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