list of pilots shot down in vietnam

Louis Page, Lt. John Smith, Lt. David Batson and Lt. Cmdr. North Vietnam lost 150 170 aircraft and helicopters. After about an hour they went to the rostrum and told their stories by one pilot talking a few minutes then the interpreter doing her work, then the other pilot taking his turn talking with the interpreter doing her work again. Some sources will state . Bob Jeffery and one of his side-kick pals from his Viet squadron days was there and I explained basic differences in US Navy/Marine Corps and US Air Force philosophy/policy/doctrine/viewpoints/ways of doing things to them. [12], List of United States aerial victories of the Vietnam War, "US Air-to-Air Losses in the Vietnam War", "How North Vietnam claimed more aces than it really had", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Vietnam_War_flying_aces&oldid=1101889530, This page was last edited on 2 August 2022, at 09:45. I was lucky to have served with Busch in the 35th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Air Base, Thailand, in 1972. He received the Silver Star for one of his missions, in which he saved several friendly aircraft by his tactical expertise, during a large MIG engagement. In small suburbs and country towns people talked about these men. Everybody has heard by now that John McCain was shot down over North Vietnam, captured, and held as a Prisoner of War; it apparently, to some, is his main qualification to be President. 1961. Home Kent State University How Many Huey Helicopters Were Shot Down In Vietnam? One revealing, and at the same time funny, story was about the lone kill the US got with a Talos missile. Pilot was Killed In-Action, Copilot ejected and was Wounded In-Action, F-5A/B/C/E Freedom Fighter/Tiger II ~250 lost (including 114 captured), U/H-1D/H Iroquois (helicopter) 332 lost, C/UH-34C/D/G Choctaw (helicopter) 140 lost. Brigadier General Steve Ritchie (five MiG kills), Colonel Chuck Debellevue (six MiG kills) and Lt. Click on the hotlinks for more information. During one mission Gary was on the tanker getting gas when his wingman told him to eject while flying at 400 knots. In his emaciated and crippled condition, he overpowered 1 of his guards and crawled into the jungle, only to be recaptured after several hours. At this time the United States and Vietnam had not yet reestablished diplomatic relations. On 27 June 1972, flying as a USAF F-4 Phantom WSO and dropping chaff, my plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) over Hanoi, North Vietnam. At the end of his talk, in whispered tones from the corner of his mouth, he also said, Navy more difficult. This database grants access to U.S. government documents related to American military personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. So he just flew right back to directly overhead the field and ejected. The event opened with a meeting in the conference room of the Holiday Inn Bayside at 0830 on Thursday the 21st. VS-41 at NAS North Island retained four of the borrowed Broncos to be used for training replacement pilots and maintenance personnel. Finding the cave, marking it and setting loose two Navy aircraft on it is a prime example of what a forward air controller did on a daily basis. They literally had to get a piece of the plane theyd shot down. It seems like only yesterday that we were all together, but actually it had been 28 years. I agree with the General. 4,000 dead men (2,000 pilots and 2,000 crewmen (door gunners, crew The Air Force lost 1737, the Navy 530, the Marine Corps 463 and the Army lost 302 (fixed wing). It involved 24 Thuds, six of which were shot down. I just finished episode 7 of Ken Burns series. Jim Fox USN RIO, F-4J Among the Mig pilots were guys who had flown the Mig-17, the 19 and the 21, and among them were three retired Lt Generals. Im cruising along at 37,000 feet some place over Arizona. 5. P.39, Toperczer, Istvan. Here am I. I saw retired Lt General Tom Conant who had been the Commanding General of the Third Marine Air Wing at Miramar a few years back and who is now working for Lockheed Martin in the F-35 program. radio for help only one of the pilots survived. Total helicopter pilots killed in the Vietnam War was 2,165. Regardless of your assessment of the Thunderchief, the odds were always stacked against it. There was also a little red light at the top right of the CRT that had the letters A/S to the left of the light. 7. Richter also shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 on September 21, 1966 using the cannon on his F-105. The three main components of the RHAW system were the threat display unit (TDU), the round cathode ray tube (CRT) and the audio sounds the RHAW system made in the headset. During his intermittent periods of consciousness until his death, he never complained of his physical condition and, on several occasions, spoke of future escape attempts. But like any other aircraft, helicopters were vulnerable to ground fire. https://www.loc.gov/item/powmia/pwmaster_14608/. As we approached the target (we had no clue what the target was) the loran F-4 alerted us to get ready to pickle. Pickle was the term that meant press the bomb release button. (and had to learn to speak Russian) in Russia learning how to fly He said at the end of any sortie where we dropped bombs on what we called trees in contact because there was nothing important down there we would always get bomb damage assessment such as twelve supply sources destroyed, two structures collapsed. He said the BDA was phony, just a waste of time.. I thoroughly enjoyed both the days I spent with the Mig drivers and the events were well planned and superbly executedthe host aircrew did great jobs making things happen behind the scenes. The series clearly said Tet was a major defeat for the north and that the north lost 40,000 58,000 people. Iworked with many AirForceF-4s duringair-to-airengagements. Heh-Heh..Sure. The only thing General Westmoreland cared about was the body count. Time on Target was scheduled for the eight planes at 9:45 a.m. For more read Roger Locher Talks about Getting Shot Down & Evading for 23 Days. I urge you to watch General Steve Richies video in which he describes the loss of Oyster 1 and rescure of Roger Locher. 8. Its also best not to discuss the calamitous employment of the F-105 by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds that ended in a fiery aircraft disintegration on May 9, 1964 at an airshow venue in California. In particular, one group of pilots repeatedly shows up in photos of medal winners and in heroic tales. Each type of radar also caused a tone to be played in the crews headset. Of those servicepeople, 2,382 were killed while serving aboard UH-1 Iroquois, better known as the ubiquitous Huey.. An interesting video on the science of aerial combat, aka dog fighting. See John Boyds Aerial Attack study treatise and the Energy Maneuverability study. 3 crewmen were KIA. God Bless Martin-Baker for my last 45 years!! Matt Connelly USN F-4J, 2 victories. Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (Mit), Missouri University Of Science And Technology, State University Of New York Health Science Center At Brooklyn, Suny College Of Environmental Science And Forestry, The University Of North Carolina At Charlotte, The University Of Texas Health Science Center At Houston, The University Of Texas Health Science Center At San Antonio, The University Of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University Of Texas Medical Branch At Galveston, The University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Uniformed Services University Of The Health Sciences, University At Buffalo Suny School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences, University Of California, Los Angeles (Ucla), University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign, University Of Maryland Baltimore County (Umbc), University Of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, University Of Tennessee Health Science Center, University Of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Of all those shot-down pilots, the experience apparently only made one uniquely qualified to be President. This nine minute video by General Ritchie describes in detail his memories ofthe day Roger Locher and Bob Lodge were shot down and Rogers rescue 23 days later. According to interviewed F-15 pilots, several kills by F-15s were made in a similar manner, with Iraqi aircraft being downed after retreating from Tomcats. I too flew F-4s in Southeast Asia in 1972. Realistically, far too many to tell in a single day. The following text is from the interview: In the Burns and Novick film, McPeak says that U.S. forces faced an impossible challenge in the Vietnam War because we were fighting on the wrong side.. Two of the Lt Gens were aces with six kills each, and the other one had four. Tom Demerly is a feature writer, journalist, photographer and editorialist who has written articles that are published around the world on TheAviationist.com, TACAIRNET.com, Outside magazine, Business Insider, We Are The Mighty, The Dearborn Press & Guide, National Interest, Russias government media outlet Sputnik, and many other publications. If anyone reading this has an opportunity to mix with some former Vietnamese enemies I highly recommend you meet them and get to know them and have fun with themthey arent our enemies any more, Jaybee Souder.somewhere in the free skies above the USA, 1. Edmund Duncan is an education expert and thought leader in the field of learning. More than 5,000 Hueys operated in Vietnam; around 2,500 were lost to enemy fire. Get it at Petes Collectibles. North Vietnam, pre-1975 / Refno 0760-0-01, Post-1975 Vietnam North Vietnam, pre-1975 / Refno 0760-0-01 / DTG 101900ZJAN83, Joint Casualty Resolution Center-Barbers Point, HI, North Vietnam, pre-1975 / Refno 0785-1-01. The facts Im reporting are subject to my diminished hearing and my failing memory. I also wish they had come to the O-Club for reunions with some of our old navy buddies (I saw several from the two reserve F-4 squadrons at Miramar in the early 70s) but they didnt. In retrospect, McPeak edits that comment. Kos Media, LLC. Total non-pilot crew members was 2,712. To increase air support for the SEALORDS Operation in South Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the Navy "borrowed" twenty North American Aviation OV-10A Broncos from the United States Marine Corps. "Statistics About the Vietnam War" has a personnel break down In 1966, an American fighter pilot took off from the USS Enterprise near the coast of Vietnam, only to be shot down and captured by enemy forces. Nine American former pilots and one RIO hosted the meeting with thirteen Vietnamese pilots. I was picked up the U.S. Coast Guard. It takes me back to that period of time and has made me re-examine my feelings about the U.S. involvement in the war. [10] Estimates of North Vietnamese losses range from 131, as documented in North Vietnamese records; to 195, as claimed by U.S. 30 B-52s Only one other B-52 tail gunner had scored a successful kill against a Vietnamese fighter, though more than 30 B-52s had been shot . His military experience includes being Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia (Cycle C-6-1) and as a Scout Observer in a reconnaissance unit, Company F, 425th INF (RANGER/AIRBORNE), Long Range Surveillance Unit (LRSU). I highly recommend the series, but it does bring back the pain of losing 58,200 Americans, 2 million civilians on both sides, 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters and 200,000 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers. Caribou A4-193 was destroyed by mortar fire while taxiing at That Son (near the Cambodian border) on 29 March 1970. 7. Robert Doremus. John Ed Kerr USN F-4J Citing Primary Sources. Its Memorial Day in the United States, part of a long three-day weekend where people in the U.S. reflect on the high cost of freedom and liberty as they remember those who sacrificed their lives for it. Jim George and James Jink Bender talk about the A-1 Skyraider and its role in the Secret War in South East Asia, and the slow, vulnerable Korean War vintage, propeller-driven fighter-bombers they flew on Combat Search And Rescue missions. As soon as Paul disconnected, the aircraft pitched 90 down and began to accelerate, even with the throttles in idle. Lt. Karl W. Richter was shot down on July 28th, 1967 at the age of 24. records. Manuscript/Mixed Material. The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) estimates that over 100,000 helicopter pilots and crew members served during the Vietnam War. Ronald J. Fegan from Fighter Squadron 96 (VF-96), who downed a Chinese MiG-17 while flying from the USS Ranger (CVA-61) in F-4B Phantom II BuNo 151403, callsign Showtime 602. The story behind Murphy and Fegans victory is quite interesting because several details of their engagement are still classified today.. Phm Ph Thi MiG-21 4 victories The 29-year old combat pilot was a member of the 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 388th Tactical Fighter Wing. My dear friend Bob Jeffery was there. I would certainly appreciate it if you would publish this letter or some other suitable notice in your MIG SWEEP as request any of your RRVFPA members who were involved in any of the incidents mentioned herein to contact me. Gary said that when he first started flying north in 1965 North Vietnam did not have any surface to air missiles (SAMS), but the Russians started building SAM sites in 1965. December 21, 1953 Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S. June 7, 1969 (aged 15) An Hoa Combat Base, Qung Nam Province, South Vietnam, The American war effort in Vietnam peaks in 1968 as the American public support takes a huge hit after the Tet Offensive. My squadron was the 35th Tactical Fighter Squadron at at Korat Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand. The four objectives of the operation (which evolved over time) were to boost the sagging morale of the Saigon regime in the Republic of Vietnam; to persuade North Vietnam to cease its support for the communist insurgency in South Vietnam without sending ground forces into communist North Vietnam; to destroy North Vietnams transportation system, industrial base, and air defenses; and to halt the flow of men and material into South Vietnam. The United States, along with their allies (The Republic of Vietnam, South Korean, Australian, Thailand, New Zealand), lost about 12,500 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs. Later, they hit the heights. SAR missions (Callsign Sandy) A-1 Skyraiders were tasked with locating and protecting any pilot who was downed by hostile ground fire, while leading and directing the entire rescue effort. After that session there was a three-hour break before the From Dogfights to Detante night on the USS Midway Museum and another long Q & A session for the public. It was the era of the early U.S. involvement in the air war over Vietnam. Six American former POWs were there too, four Air Force and two navy. We both survived the incident for which I am grateful.. Unfortunately the goal of the U.S. through out the entire nine year war was not to defeat North Vietnam. According to three websites and social media posts, Capt. That F-105 broke apart after receiving initially undetectable damage earlier in its career while midair refueling. In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes, 5,607 helicopters and 578 UAVs ). FLASH BACK: During that first meeting back in Hanoi one of the navy guys had asked the question of the most senior officer in the group, himself a six-kill Mig-21 pilot, Lt General Nguyn c Sot, (pronounced Swat) who were the better adversaries, the USAF or the NAVY. Lien had written a book in Vietnamese about all the air-battles between the US and Vietnamese and had detailed descriptions of each one (at least as detailed as he could get) from combing through tons of official records in Hanoi, American military libraries and books authored by credible American and foreign writers, as well as personal interviews. The commanding general of the Third Marine Air Wing, Major General Wise and CO of the air station, Colonel Woodward, invited the Viets and their hosts to watch the air show in the BIG TENT. He was leading a bombing attack on a North Vietnamese bridge when he was struck by automatic anti-aircraft fire (AAA). Then in October, 1972, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger announced Peace is at hand. Kenny was a pilot flying in the back seat on an orientation mission over the Ho Che Minh trail over Laos on November 18, 1968. Even after years I unearth new names and heroic exploits every week. An icon. What follows is Ray Battles comments on the mission: Kenny Boone and I were flying a fast mover FAC mission along the Ho Chi Min trail in Laos. B-52s dropped 15,237 tons of ordnance on 18 industrial and 14 military targets (including eight SAM sites) while fighter-bombers added another 5,000 tons of bombs to the tally. Siouxs, Chocktaws, Sea Stallions, Jolly Green Giants, CH46s, One segment of Ken Burns series is about the battle for Hill 875. Presidio Press. F-105 Pilots Killed in Action Marker. Major Lodge refused to eject because he had vowed never to become a prisoner of war. Pete Pettigrew USN F-4J, 1 victory The next morning the Jolly Green helicopter dropped Kenny a tree penetrator and lifted him from the trees to safety. I find these stories daily in research about military aviation history. I distinctly remember 8 mm movies Kennys brother showed us taken during some of his FAC missions. How many American bombers were shot down in ww2? Images that shaped my boyhood impression of what it means to be a hero. I worried that the series would be slanted and biased, but so far I think it is evenly balanced. They were the Thud drivers, the pilots of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. The North Vietnamese Air Force began sending it's student jet It was six seconds from the time Gary was told to eject to when his airplane blew up. On May 24, 1996, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed titled Still the Noblest Calling written by F-100 fighter pilot JD Wetterling. Is Brooke shields related to willow shields? That interpreter was a former Mig-21 pilot, now airline Captain Nguyen Nam Lien who flies 787 Dreamliners for Vietnam Airlines. Some sources will state over 5,000 helicopter pilots were Ive decided to write a little recap of the event for a bunch of friends with different backgrounds so the language will vary for the benefit of those who have combat or aviation experience and others who dont. 4. He said dropping bombs in South Vietnam was a waste, but bombing trucks on the Ho Chi Minh trail was very effective. Paul said the stick would not move fore and aft and asked me to pull as well. Twenty-one aircraft carriers conducted 86 war cruises and operated 9,178 total days on the line in the Gulf of Tonkin. despite their oral claim of service there. Demerly studied journalism at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan. The Vietnam War was fought by WWII On a separate note, Gene Doyles son Eric is the commander of the Blue Angels. A number of problems with the F-105 were subsequently discovered and corrected during inspections and the aircraft were returned to service in time for the escalation of the Vietnam War. He was then transferred to another prison camp where he was kept in solitary confinement and interrogated at length. According to what looks like a reasonably well-sourced page on Wikipedia, a total of 3,032 aircraft were lost to hostile action during the Vietnam War (the actual total was considerably higher, as these numbers don't include Army rotary-wing aircraft), which means at least that many pilots were shot down (yes, some were shot down more than once, but they are way more than offset by the many aircraft that had two pilots).

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