Episode 2400 – Another Vietnam War first – the Toilet Bomb

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Toilet Bomb in Vietnam

Episode 2400 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the momentous event that occurred in the Vietnam War when the first toilet bomb was employed. The featured story comes from the Hot Cars website and is titled: The Reason Why A U.S. Skyraider Dropped A Toilet Bomb During Vietnam. It was submitted by Georgios Mavridis.

In his story, Mavridis tells about how it came about that the historic U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 25, the “Fist of the Fleet” originated the first toilet bomb used in the 1965 during the American Vietnam War. That bomb was delivered by an A-1 Skyraider from the VA-25 squadron. The plane was piloted on that mission by CDR Clarence ‘Bill’ Stoddard.

Mavridis then goes on to describe how two pilots in the same unit today have carried out a déjà vu event. They mounted another toilet bomb on one of their unit’s brand new F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters with block III upgrade package.

The use of a toilet bomb on a modern day F/-18 Super Hornet fighter was to commemorate the first use of such a weapon way back in the Vietnam War days.

The original use of the toilet bomb came about when pilots in VA-25 wanted to mark the occasion of the unit’s use of 6 million pounds of ordnance in the ongoing war.

The VA-25 operated from an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. Being rather isolated on the carrier, the pilots had little access to stores where memorial items could be purchased. Fortunately, a damaged toilet that the crew of the ship planned to throw away presented an excellent solution for their program. The rest is history.

Listen to episode 2400 and discover more about the momentous event that occurred in the Vietnam War when the first toilet bomb was employed.