I just saw this wonderful and hauntingly honest movie tonight. I, too, was floored by its dedication to J. T. Stadler-- but even more (happily) surprised to see that the review was written by his son.
I was a classmate of J.T.'s in pilot training class 64G at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma in 1963-64. He was by far the best pilot and most respected student in our class; no one would have questioned that.
Although I only flew "bug-smashers" in the Vietnam war (O1 and 02), I was in a position to know just how heroic those F105 pilots were; the Thud virtually was the early air war in SEA, until so many were lost that the F4 was phased in to carry the brunt of both the attack and defense operations (hamstrung though they were by government policy).
I was saddened to learn, only a couple of years ago, that your father had been killed in an accident in, I believe, 1977. That he would be singled out to be memorized in this movie-- among all the other 105 pilots who survived that war-- is itself a testimony to what a special pilot and man he was.
Not a lot of men alive today have a prouder heritage than you; that's for sure.
Fred Lamparter
Review of Thud Pilots
