| Date: 21 August 1967 |
| Aircraft type: A-6A Intruder |
| Serial Number: 152638 |
| Military Unit: VA-196 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Constellation |
| Name(s): |
| Cdr Leo Twyman Profilet (POW) |
| Lt Cdr William Morgan Hardman (POW) |
| Aircraft type: A-6A Intruder |
| Serial Number: 152627 |
| Military Unit: VA-196 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Constellation |
| Name(s): |
| Lt(jg) Dain Vanderlin Scott (KIA) |
| Lt(jg) Forrest George Trembley (KIA) |
| Aircraft type: A-6A Intruder |
| Serial Number: 152625 |
| Military Unit: VA-196 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Constellation |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Cdr Jimmy Lee Buckley (KIA) |
| Lt Robert James Flynn (POW) |
| At exactly the same time as the USAF strike was going in at Yen Vinh, a naval strike consisting of four A-6 Intruders of Milestone flight from VA-196 was being unleashed on the nearby Duc Noi railway yard, five miles northeast of Hanoi. The Intruders were led by Cdr Profilet, the CO of VA-196, and it was his aircraft (call sign Milestone 410) that was hit first. The flight had received several SAM warnings and there was intense anti-aircraft fire in the vicinity of the target. The cloud base was between 3,000 and 5,000 feet and storm clouds were building up. As Cdr Profilet’s aircraft rolled into a 30-degree dive from 7,500 feet, an SA-2 exploded close by, which badly damaged the aircraft’s starboard wing. A few moments later the wing came off and the aircraft cartwheeled towards the ground. The crew ejected and landed close to Hanoi and were quickly captured and taken to the Hanoi Hilton. A total of 51 SAMs were fired at the Constellation’s aircraft during a series of strikes on this day. Cdr Profilet and Lt Cdr Hardman were on their 59th mission together when they were shot down. Leo Profilet was a veteran of the Korean War where he had flown 98 combat missions in the Skyraider. Both men were released from captivity on 14 March 1973.
Of the three remaining aircraft of Milestone flight, two of them, flown by Lt Cdr Buckley (call sign Milestone 401) and Lt Scott (call sign Milestone), became separated from the deputy leader in the other aircraft but were tracked on his radar screen and those of an orbiting E-2 Hawkeye and on the Constellation itself. The two Intruders flew northeast away from the target but instead of turning out to sea they continued heading northeast until they crossed into China, almost 110 miles from Hanoi. It was possible that low cloud and thunderstorms forced them to head further north than had been planned and they apparently missed their pre-planned turning points. Whatever the cause, when the aircraft crossed into Chinese airspace they were attacked and shot down by Chinese MiG-19s, and the event was loudly proclaimed on Peking Radio. Of the four occupants of the Intruders only Lt Flynn survived the incident to be captured. Flynn was well-known throughout his Air Wing for carrying his cornet with him on combat missions with which to sound the US Cavalry charge into a keyed microphone just before roll-in. He spent no less than 2,030 consecutive days in solitary confinement in a Chinese prison but was flown to Hong Kong and repatriated on 15 March 1973. On 16 December 1975 the Chinese Government handed over the ashes of Lt Cdr Buckley. In 1999 a JPAC team, with the assistance of the Chinese government, interviewed a villager who handed over Lt Trembley’s ID tag and a small amount of human remains that he had found at the crash site. The remains were later proved by the use of mitochondrial DNA testing to be those of Lt Trembley and were subsequently buried in Arlington National Cemetery on 1 April 2005. |
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