The Republic of Vietnam lost 1,018 aircraft and helicopters from January 1964 to September 1973. F-14 Tomcat operational history - Wikipedia Kenny is in the front row third from the left. This meant we killed two people and destroyed four thatched huts and two water buffaloes. The Vietnam War was fought by WWII 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. The Viet pilot was an accomplished combat pilot and took control of the plane. F-105 pilots averaged getting shot down every 33 missions. Iworked with many AirForceF-4s duringair-to-airengagements. Richter also shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 on September 21, 1966 using the cannon on his F-105. Thunderbird pilot Capt. Thereafter, I was moved into a 2060 foot cell with Dave Grant, Bill Beekman, and more than 400 pumpkins. Over 2,000 US helicopter pilots were killed in Vietnam. Elizabeth Hartsook, Stuart Slade. You managed to shoot-down a private pilot. 100 missions in the F-105 over North Vietnam; F-4 pilot; Shot down two MiG-21s in 1972. I worried that the series would be slanted and biased, but so far I think it is evenly balanced. I suspect Jacks work and attention to detail was the primary cause the event went so well and was so much fun for the rest of us. 123 Shot down over North Vietnam. Reeder is being held behind the middle window. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. For those who never dropped dumb bombs from a high speed jet fighter you should know that accurate bombing was very much an acquired skill of each pilot. Paul said the stick would not move fore and aft and asked me to pull as well. Where can you find a List of navy pilots shot down in Vietnam - Answers 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. 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. I too flew F-4s in Southeast Asia in 1972. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I failed to interview Gary, Dan Autrey and Bob Jasperson via Zoom about Garys two MiG kills and another mission where Gary and Dan were attacked by two MiG-21s that fired four Atoll heat-seeking missiles at them 53 miles north of Hanoi. That interpreter was a former Mig-21 pilot, now airline Captain Nguyen Nam Lien who flies 787 Dreamliners for Vietnam Airlines. 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,. Forty F-105 "Thud" fighter pilots were killed in action while flying combat missions to North Vietnam from May 1966 to December 1972. Only 90 of 99 planned B-52s sorties were effective and six BUFFs were shot down. 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. He eventually completed 198 combat missions over Vietnam in a number of aircraft including the F-100 Super Sabre and the O-1A Bird Dog light Forward Air Control (FAC) aircraft. I believe the F-4s purpose in 1972 was to repel the North Vietnamese Armys invasion of South Vietnam in April of 1972. https://www.loc.gov/item/powmia/pwmaster_14608/. Siouxs, Chocktaws, Sea Stallions, Jolly Green Giants, CH46s, What was the life expectancy of a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam? Im headed back to Port Orange after a fantastic adventure in San Diego with some of my old fighter squadron friends and others from my days at NAS Miramar. All told, the U.S. Air Force flew 5.25 million sorties over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, northern and southern Laos, and Cambodia, losing 2,251 aircraft: 1,737 to hostile action, and 514 in accidents. It seems like only yesterday that we were all together, but actually it had been 28 years. [4] 877 Republic of Vietnam aircraft were captured at war's end (1975)[5] Of the 2750[6] aircraft and helicopters received by South Vietnam, only about 308 survived (240 flew to Thailand or US warships[7] and 68 returned to the United States[8]). It was blindingly obvious to me, and to a lot of other people in my squadron, that we were trying to prop up a government that had almost no chance of surviving on its own, McPeak says. For example, the light might be AAA for a gun radar or AI for a MiG radar. He said that was the best advise he had gotten so far and I told him I normally gave out advice too younger and lesser experienced aviatorsand there wasnt even a charge for it. Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . 5. Is It Hard To Get Into Kent State University? 9. 7. Like Burns Civil War history the Vietnam War series also promotes false leftist narratives such as the claim that Tet uprising and the Easter Offensive were American defeats.. 9. Instinctively, I took the stick and throttles in hand and to my amazement, the aircraft as flyable. He flew over 300 combat missions, and crewed an F-4 that shot down a MIG. chopper's crew. Thats when our day went from bad to worse. Later, after meeting up with his leader again he accused him of knowing the missile was coming and had crossed him over in order that the missile would guide on him instead of the leader. Shot Down in Vietnam | Air & Space Magazine| Smithsonian Magazine "It's pretty gruesome. At one point I did hear him say the day at the Miramar air show reminded him of taking the kids to Disneyland. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Here am I. Among the Americans were navy F-4 pilots and RIOs, USAF F-4 pilots and WSOs, F-105 pilots, and two navy guys whod flown the A-1 and A-4. Then, I started swinging back and forth between them. DAmario and five of his fellow crewmen made it safely to the ground. Copyright 2009 - 2017 Richard Keyt | All Rights Reserved, Articles by 35th Tactical Fighter Squadron Guys, Robin Olds, the Fighter Pilots Fighter Pilot, Roger Locher Kills a Mig, is Shot Down & Evades for 23 Days, Joe Lee Burns Shot Down over North Vietnam, Thank You Martin Baker the F-4s Ejection Seat, General MacArthurs Duty, Honor, Country Speech, President Lincolns Letter to Lydia Bixby, Major Sullivan Ballous Last Letter to His Wife, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas on Freedom, : The Story Of Lance Sijan, Hero Of Vietnam, A Sons Tribute to His Dad, Lt. Col. William A. Curnutte, wonderful and very detailed Facebook post, Gary Retterbush 2 North Vietnamese Air Force 0, Gary Retterbush Meets Theo van Geffen, Author of Republic F-105 Thunderchief: Peacetime Operations, Navy Capt Mike McGrath Recalls the Hanoi Hilton, Two A-1 Sandy Pilots Remember the Mu Gia Pass & Rescuing Downed Pilots, Col. Ken Cordier, Vietnam Prisoner of War, 4 Vietnam Air War MiG Killers Answer Questions, Oyster 1 Bravo: Evasion and Escape in Vietnam, the story of Major Robert Lodge and Captain Roger Locher, Roger Locher Talks about Getting Shot Down & Evading for 23 Days, Into the Mount of the Cat: Lance Sijans Heroism, John Boyd Energy Maneuverability Theory, OODA Loop, Thud Pilots Experiences Over North Vietnam in 1965, Major Phil Handleys Supersonic F-4 Shoots Down a MiG-19, Video: 35th Tactical Fighter Squadron TDY to SEA 1 Apr 72, video about the squadrons deployment to Southeast Asia, Navy Red Crown Air Intercept Controller Seeks F-4 Pilots, OSCM Larry ACE Nowell, US Navy (Retired), Story of the 1st MiG Kill of the Vietnam War, Harlan Elseths Video of His 148 Missions in SEA, The honest, personal accounts of four combat pilots during the Vietnam War, after his violent ejection from the dark and smoky cockpit of his Boeing B-52G Stratofortress, During the Vietnam War, Johnstons was the job of a jet fighter pilot blended with a forward air controller, or Fast FAC, F-4 Hit by Flak Lands without Its Backseater, Richard Keyts Thoughts on Ken Burns Vietnam War Series, The tragedy of the PBS-Ken Burns version of the Vietnam War, 13 North Vietnamese MiG Pilots Meet U.S. Pilots in San Diego, The F-4s AN/APR-25 & 26 Radar Homing & Warning System, David Johnson Remembers Ejecting from His Stricken F-4, 100 missions in the F-105 over North Vietnam. Capt. Two were pilots, two Air Force weapon systems officers, and two Navy radar intercept officer; both awarded an aerial-kill claim for each enemy aircraft shot-down. Based on a database received from the Pentagon, we estimate that over 40,000 helicopter pilots served in the Vietnam War. 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.