| Date: 12 August 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 62-4278 |
| Military Unit: 469 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Thomas Elmer Norris (POW) |
| On the morning of 11 August the huge mile-long Paul Doumer railway and road bridge on the northeastern outskirts of Hanoi was finally released for a major strike. This bridge was of prime strategic importance to the North Vietnamese as it was the only railway crossing point over the Red River into Hanoi for the railways converging from Haiphong in the east, and the lines from China from both the northeast and the northwest. The Doumer Bridge was on the original JCS target list of April 1964 but for political reasons it was not attacked until August 1967. The Doumer Bridge was just one of several targets in and around Hanoi that were released for attack by Washington at this time. The first raid was hurriedly despatched that very afternoon and one span of the railway bridge and two spans of the road bridge were dropped into the water. The Seventh Air Force decided on a follow up raid the next day, led by Col Bill Norris, the CO of the 333rd TFS, who had planned the 11 August raid. This target was psychologically as well as materially one of the most important targets in North Vietnam and the loss of the bridge, even for a short time, would pose a major problem for the North Vietnamese and boost the morale of the US airmen.
As usual the raid was accompanied by an Iron Hand flight to keep the SAM sites occupied. As the Iron Hand aircraft approached Gia Lam Airport, between the city and the bridge, one of the bombers (call sign Cambo) was hit in the rear fuselage by AAA. Capt Norris left the target area in an attempt to get back to base but he had to eject near Phuc Yen, 17 miles northwest of Hanoi, and was captured. Despite the loss of the F-105 and its pilot the raid was a success, causing further damage to the bridge that kept it out of commission until October. Capt Norris was released from captivity on 14 March 1973. Allegedly, Capt Norris’s USAF and Geneva Convention identity cards recently turned up in the hands of a Ukrainian militaria collector. It is not known if this report has been confirmed or if the cards have been returned to the USA. |
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