--- title: "That time this Navy squadron bombed North Vietnam with a toilet" description: "Bombs are shaped and designed to take advantage of their aerodynamics, so that's one good reason we don't drop just anything on the enemy." date: "2021-07-14" modified: "2022-05-10" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/that-time-this-navy-squadron-bombed-north-vietnam-with-a-toilet/" categories: - "History" - "Navy" - "War History" --- # That time this Navy squadron bombed North Vietnam with a toilet ![]() In October 1965, Commander Clarence W. Stoddard, Jr. of the USS Midway carried a special bomb to North Vietnam to celebrate the six millionth pound of ordnance dropped on the Communist country: a ceramic toilet. --- ![]() The event was recounted on [MidwaySailor.com](): The bombing was a Dixie Station strike from South Vietnam. Among the weapons on Stoddard's ordnance list was one code named "Sani-Flush." Sani-flush was a damaged toilet, which was going to be thrown overboard. One of the Midway's plane captains rescued it and the ordnance crew made a rack, tail fins, and nose fuse for it. The checkers maintained a position to block the view of the air boss and the captain while the aircraft was taxiing forward. ![]() The toilet ordnance was dropped in a dive with Stoddard's wingman, Lt. Cmdr. Robin Bacon, flying tight wing position to film the drop. When it came off, it turned hole to the wind and almost struck his airplane, and whistled all the way down. According to Clint Johnson, now a retired U.S. Navy Captain, just as Stoddard's A-1 Skyraider was being shot off, they received a message from the bridge: "What the hell was on 572's right wing?" "There were a lot of jokes with air intelligence about germ warfare," Johnson said. "I wish that we had saved the movie film. Commander Stoddard was later killed while flying 572 in October 1966. He was hit by three SAMs over Vinh." ![]() *Cmdr. William Stoddard (USN)* This isn't the first example of unconventional warfare from U.S. Navy aviators. In August 1952, AD-4 Skyraiders from the aircraft carrier USS Princeton dropped a 1,000-pound bomb with a kitchen sink attached to it. ![]() *(Midway Sailor)* "We dropped everything on them (the North Koreans) but a kitchen sink." Their squadron's executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. M.K. Dennis, told the press, before showing them a bomb with a kitchen sink attached. The admiral was not okay with this, but caved to pressure from American press. The U.S. dropped the kitchen sink on Pyongyang that same month. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIv9ufOofTE ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()