| Date: 2 April 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 60-0426 |
| Military Unit: 13 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Capt John Arthur Dramesi (POW) |
| A flight of F-105s was sent on an armed reconnaissance mission that entailed flying along Route 106 and 107 in Quang Bing province in the southern region of North Vietnam. As the aircraft reached a point about 15 miles northwest of Dong Hoi they came under a hail of anti-aircraft fire. Capt Dramesi’s aircraft (call sign Lover 1) was hit in the tail and with the aircraft on fire he ejected a few minutes later. He twisted his knee on landing and was immediately surrounded by North Vietnamese militia. He shot at them with his revolver but was shot in the right leg and captured. After eight days in his first prison camp he dismantled part of his cell and escaped but was soon captured and stoned and beaten by a crowd of Vietnamese. The next day he was taken to the Hanoi Hilton and then to the Zoo, another prison camp in Hanoi. On 10 May 1969, after months of planning, he and Capt Edwin Atterberry escaped through the roof of their cell but were recaptured 12 hours later about four miles from the prison. Dramesi and Atterberry were beaten and tortured for their escape, Atterberry did not survive and Dramesi was near death when the brutal treatment stopped after 38 days. Dramesi remained in leg irons for six months and the entire POW population was also systematically beaten and tortured as a punishment for the escape. This incident effectively put an end to any further escape attempts as the repercussions were too serious and in any case it was extremely unlikely that an escape and return to friendly territory would ever be successful. However, in June 1972 Capt Dramesi and Maj Kasler were involved in a planned escape, code-named Operation Thunderhead. Despite much planning and assistance from SAR forces in the Gulf of Tonkin, senior POW officers vetoed the escape at the last minute. John Dramesi was released on 4 March 1973 and told his POW story in Code of Honor published in 1975. He was awarded the Air Force Cross after his release and later flew the F-111 with the 366th TFW. |
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