The first and only fatal crash by an RAAF aircraft in Thailand. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks nothing is worth war is much worse. We knew radio chatter was recorded. Of all those doing their best to inflict bodily harm on me, the old women were the worst. God bless you Joe, hearing the story was very touching. Final loss: C-130E 72-1297 (314th TAW) destroyed by rocket fire at Tan Son Nhut AB on 28 April 1975. I fell into a restless, nightmarish and shivering cold sleep. At the most fundamental level, we failed to evaluate the reasons why Germany, Korea, Vietnam and others were divided at the end of WWII. If you are wondering how this is possible, I will reveal at the outset that it is not possible. Don Ward, came up to me and said words that someone in operations never, ever hears from anybody in maintenance. Joined up and reported a suspected Truck Park near Finger Lakes since we had avoided calling in to Ask Permission and wait the usual half hour to allow the Russian Radar trainers time to get out courtesy of our GD State Dept. God Bless you, Joe, and all those who flew and fought in Vietnam. I wondered what good it did to tell us there were guns, MiGs and SAMs everywhere. I will be forever grateful to all who flew and supported LBII and to President Richard M. Nixon for having the fortitude to send the mighty BUFFs north. In Reply to B. Fearn by the author of Shot Down Over North Vietnam, War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. It was great to get back to the sweltering heat, I gotta tell ya. Binh Duong Province. Soviet General Fesenko, the main Soviet adviser to the North Vietnamese Air Force in 1972, recorded 34 MiG-21s destroyed in 1972. I think of you often and was looking forward to seeing you again. April 26, 1968 : C-130B 60-0298, c/n 3602, of the 773d Tactical Airlift Squadron, shot down dropping load at A Loui, South Vietnam. Joe, thanks for sharing and honoring Scotty. Were B-52 bombers used in Vietnam? Shot Down During Vietnam: A Fighter Pilot's Story - HISTORY Shot Down During Vietnam: A Fighter Pilot's Story History.com Editors TV-14 2:42 In 1966, an American fighter pilot took off. It is awful that people make bad decisions for selfish reasons. We actually believed that the letters U.S. would frighten away any adversary who realized that we were in the confrontation. Daily Kos moves in solidarity with the Black community. The SA-2 brought down many American pilots over North Vietnam. Joe, Of course, things were beginning to wind down in Viet Nam by this time, but it was still mega impressive to see the F-4s light em up and blast off the runway like angry rocket-powered birds of prey searching for their next meal! Richard Armstrong. Source for F-4 losses is Phantom with U.S. Marine Corps (Joe Baugher), others are unsourced, Production of a total of 380 Mohawks ended in December 1970. Final loss: EB-66B 42nd TEWS, 388th TFS lost to engine failure on 23 December 1972 during Operation Linebacker II. Well, at least you tried. The terror I felt just moments before vanished. More aircraft would be shot down and pilots killed or captured. Asia. It is sad that we lost so much blood and treasure in that endeavor. Pavlovs Dog reaction to his Cmon Back, Chief, I got em spotted. (Im a Sioux Indian, Born on a Dakota Rez.) The upper estimate puts it at nearly 260 million! I am proud of you Joe and Scotty for your service and to be part of a community which recognises and should be proud of your example. All this took no more than one second. What? At 10,000 ft, the automatic man-seat separation features operated exactly as advertised. Hi, Joe. At this point I could only pray he would revive by the time he reached the ground. Sadly the other pilot and crew chief and door gunner did not make it. Again- Bless you & Scotty! Now I know a little bit more about what he did. In that instant, I realized how I would die; they were going to slice my head off. While I never got above the Cessna 180 stage of flying, I hold you and your fellow pilots in the highest esteem. 4 of the combat losses were parked aircraft. He wasnt much of a story teller and I didnt think to ask him about his service until after he died. Ill never understand your sacrifice, but want to thank you for it! Your story sheds much light on what his experiences must have been like. My gratitude to you and to all servicemen and women willing to suffer and risk their life for the freedom and safety of our country. A natural reaction. In total, the United States military lost in Vietnam almost 10,000 aircraft, helicopters and UAVs (3,744 planes,[3] 5,607 helicopters[2] and 578 UAVs[1] ). Thank You Sir for your service and sacrifice you gave to our Country! Only those who were there truly know! It was proving a good day for Navy Lt. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, and his back-seat. Directional control was by use of nose wheel steering or rudder up to 70 knots, at which airspeed the rudder became effective. May God bless you, your family and all our vets. Joe I want to start by thanking you profusely for attending and speaking at my brother Johns funeral 3 years ago. I received my draft notice right after I joined the USAF. I looked around me to see hundreds of people, mostly villagers, including old folks and children. I slipped off the right wing of the tanker into a spot 50 feet aft of where Id have to be for the boomer to plug into my receptacle. Jan 12, 06:12 PM. First of all, we only had three airplanes. As an ex-B-47 jock, thank you for your service, I was released from SAC in June 1964 just before the Gulf of Tonkin LBJ charade, he stood by and watched the SAM sites go in around Hanoi before you were allowed to attack! How gracious of you to say semper fi; I believe we are brothers in the F4 community. April 16, 1968 : C-130A 56-0480, c/n 3088, of the 35th Tactical Airlift Squadron, crash landed at Special Forces Camp Bunard, 80 kilometers north of Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. But the effort proved futile. For the briefest moment I contemplated that a right 60 degree turn would take me via the shortest route out of NVN. Hopefully you have not seen this magnificent video I recently came across, and for a man in love with flight like you proved, I hope it will bring back nothing but happy memories https://vimeo.com/199142621 . At Tulsa TRACON, I would have lumped him in with any group you could think of that wouldnt give a damn about anyonehow wrong that lumping would have been. Have not seen him since 1962. Our flight should never have been going into the target. J. W. Newhouse rescued, First loss: EF-105F 63-8286 (13th TFS, 388th TFW) shot down by AAA RP-6 July 1966, Maj. Roosevelt Hestle, Final loss: F-105G 63-8359 (Det.1 561st TFS, 388th TFW) shot down by SAM 16 November 1972, RP-3, crew rescued, First loss: mission-related TFR failure, 66-0022 (428th TFS 474th TFW, Project Combat Lancer), 28 March 1968, Maj. H.E. I was asked the same questions over and over in an attempt to trip me up. Suddenly, I was lifted from the floor. Secondly, everybody else all the other strike flights, 15 of them, one after the other were calling, Outbound for weather meaning the target area was socked in and it would be just plain stupid to drop into the clouds where it would be hard to locate the target and easy to get nailed by a SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile). And Ill always remember how you and Tom Nordberg stood up for me in Anchorage. And Ill salute only with that nickname fondly given him by my children, our Elder Eagle, who flew Linebacker BUFFS, along with numerous other often difficult taskings, during his 28 years in USAF. The Royal Australian Air Force also flew combat and airlift missions in South Vietnam, as did the Republic of Vietnam. We can assume NVN radars were tracking us and if I had disclosed the secret tacan, it would be simple to backtrack to the tacan location. Scotty gave the Phantom back to me and then it was my turn. Reading yours was dismal, doom and gloom. The author, during training on the F-4 Phantom. Call signs for each mission were based on time of day. U-8 losses need added Like the Flat-Earthers who still dont believe we landed on the Moon. This is known as temporal distortion. Both were exactly right because the top of my parachute was practically in the bottom of the clouds right above me. Announcing the 2023 Richard Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots, Flying in paradise: a vacation flight lesson in Maui, Accident report: losing control at 43,000 feet. Theyd blow up on the runway. Meadows AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN DURING THE VIETNAM WAR BY USN/USMC PILOTS. Joe, I fly a POW/MIA flag below Old Glory everydayin honor of you, Scotty, and all the other heroes that sacrificed so much in that war. via Vietnamese News Agency Photo via Bert Hester, www.preservingourhistory.com By Rebecca Grant AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 75 Fogleman became the only Super Sabre pilot ever rescued by riding out on a Cobra helicopter. Its entirely, entirely because of you guys. Do you know how good a F4 sounds from the darn dirt ?!? Even at max takeoff weight, Scotty had to be careful not to exceed the landing gear limit airspeed of 250 knots with both afterburners cooking. From the back seat, I accomplished the fuel on-load at an altitude of 25,000 ft. having to use minimum afterburner on the left engine to stay in position due to the heavy load. Thank you for your bravery and endurance. On August 28, 1972, US Air Force Capt. I think of Scotty Wilson and many others every, single day. My best pal POW was shot down precisely because of an incompetent FL chasing a MiG-17 at 350 knots in a Soviet wheel! I finally got him to talk and he said, Gary, it was just like Vietnam. I thought to myself, Im dead. I just didnt know what the moment of death would be like. Dak Harney Peak who did far less than Dulles. Phew III! Its Memorial Day, 2020. They fixed it. Had it not been for President Nixon and the sheer courage of the B-52 and tactical aircrews, the POWs would never have returned. May God comfort those families who still wait and wonder.]. Thanks for telling our story Joe. 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names of pilots shot down in vietnam