| Date: 8 June 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-4C Phantom |
| Serial Number: 63-7425 |
| Military Unit: 389 TFS, 366 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Victor Joe Apodaca (KIA) |
| 1Lt Jon Thomas Busch (KIA) |
| As dusk turned day into night over the southern part of North Vietnam two Phantoms started an armed reconnaissance mission. As the aircraft were following a broad river valley near Khe Phat, 25 miles northwest of Dong Hoi, they encountered heavy ground fire. Capt Apodaca radioed his leader that his Phantom (call sign Hambone) had been hit and was told to climb and head for the sea. A later radio message told of control and hydraulics problems and this was followed soon after by an emegency signal from a SAR beeper, which indicated that at least one of the crew had ejected. The leader had to return to base to refuel but an electronic search was conducted with no success. Nothing more was heard until the spring of 1988 when remains identified as being those of Jon Busch were handed over, along with a charred map and a battered nameplate bearing Victor Apodaca’s name. The US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii forensically identified Busch’s remains in October 1988. Victor Apodaca was of mixed Spanish-American and Navajo Indian parentage. |
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