CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, August 5, 2024

Hidden History: Ike and Gayle vs. Mao

In 2005, we were blessed to have as our house guests Lt. Colonel USAF (Ret.) Gayle Gardner and his lovely wife, Dottie. When we recalled our military careers, I told Gayle and Dottie that because Chairman Mao was about to invade Taiwan I was pulled out of law school in 1958 and, along with dozens of Infantry lieutenants, rushed to Ft. Lewis, WA. But, after awhile, we were told to stand down as if the threat to Taiwan never happened.

Gayle, who had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer told me this story:

"Bill, this all happened almost 50 years ago. It was TOP Secret. So, for now, don’t write about it.

"The Chicoms were shelling and bombing the Chinese Nationalist islands of Quemoy, Amoy, and Matsu in preparation for an invasion of Taiwan. The U.S. was bound by the 1954 SEATO Treaty to come to the aid of Taiwan. That is why Reserve Infantry officers such as yourself and others were suddenly called to active duty.

"Meanwhile, I was ordered to take my squadron of F-100 fighters and sweep the Strait of Formosa free of Chicom MiGs. We shot down almost two dozen MiGs without a single loss. Chairman Mao was so embarrassed that he said nothing. President Eisenhower swore us all to secrecy and that was the end of it, except that Ike remembered my name.

But about a year later, Mao was back to shelling those three islands and gathering amphibious landing craft to invade Taiwan. Apparently, President Eisenhower recalled how he ended the Korean War by secretly threatening the North Koreans with tactical nuclear weapons.

"President Eisenhower ordered me to strap a " nuclear shape" under each wing of my F-100 and toss the shapes onto the Chinese mainland."

Nota bene: A nuclear "shape" is a nuclear weapon that is stripped of its nuclear compacts. A "dummy weapon."

"I flew at night under the Chicom radars. When I flew as far as return fuel would permit, I lofted two nuclear shapes as far inland as I could. The next morning, I suppose come Chinese peasants found the nuclear shapes and reported them up the line. Again, I was sworn to silence.

"Apparently, Mao thought the failure of his radars was a fluke. So, Mao continued to threaten Taiwan. President Eisenhower was pissed. So, he ordered me to loft two more nuclear shapes onto the Chicom mainland. But this time Ike ordered me to do the mission during really, really crappy weather.

"That second time Chairman Mao got Ike’s message: The U.S. could hit Red China with nuclear weapons at any time and in any weather and there was nothing Mao could do about it.

"I recall reading the U.S. newspapers. The foreign policy experts could not figure out why Chairman Mao stopped threatening Taiwan. Only Ike, my crew chief and I, knew why.

"And so, the threat to Taiwan ceased and you were left sitting on your duffle bag at Ft. Lewis," Gayle concluded.

Now, it has been almost 70 years since Gayle’s courageous flights and his story deserves to be told. In retirement, Gayle was President of the U.S. War Veterans Foundation, and an early mentor to former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. In 2016, Colonel Gardner flew West.

©2024. William Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com