| Date: 9 November 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-4C Phantom |
| Serial Number: 64-0751 |
| Military Unit: 480 TFS, 366 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Col John William Armstrong (KIA) |
| 1Lt Lance Peter Sijan (POW (died)) |
| As part of the night interdiction effort against the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the CO of the 480th TFS took off to bomb a ford at Ban Loboy in southern Laos, about 25 miles northwest of the DMZ. As Lt Col Armstrong (call sign Awol 1) was making his second pass over the target, his aircraft was engulfed in a ball of flame as it was either hit by 37mm AAA or damaged by the premature detonation of its own bombs. Armstrong probably reckoned that he had a better chance of making it to the Thai border to the west rather than attempt to fly eastwards towards Da Nang. In the event the aircraft crashed a few minutes later near Ban Thapachon about 50 miles short of the Thai border. Lt Col Armstrong was probably killed in the crash but 1Lt Sijan ejected and started an epic struggle for survival that lasted until his death three months later. Four HH-3Es from the 37th ARRS attempted a rescue and were in radio contact with 1Lt Sijan but the helicopters were driven off by heavy ground fire and the rescue mission had to be abandoned when it became obvious that the enemy had set a trap for the vulnerable helicopters. 1Lt Sijan was badly injured when he landed in the Laotian jungle and narrowly missed being rescued by helicopter but managed to evade capture for six weeks despite being unable to walk and while suffering from shock and starvation. Crawling through jungle and rugged terrain his only thought was to reach friendly forces but he was eventually captured around Christmas by North Vietnamese forces and taken to a holding camp in the jungle. Despite his poor physical condition 1Lt Sijan overpowered one of his guards and crawled into the jungle only to be captured again a few hours later. He was transferred to another camp near Vinh and was interrogated and tortured for several days despite his already pitiful condition. He was taken to the Hanoi Hilton along with two other airmen, Maj R R Craner and Capt G D Gruters who had been shot down on 20 December and who cared for Sijan as best they could. Gruters had been in Sijan’s squadron at the Air Force Academy. Sijan told his two cellmates the story of his evasion and capture as they tried to revive him but he succumbed to pneumonia on 22 January 1968. 1Lt Sijan’s remains were returned to the USA on 13 March 1974. Two years later, in March 1976, Lance Sijan was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his invincible courage and extraordinary devotion to duty and the Code of Conduct for POWs. He was the first graduate of the Air Force Academy to receive the Medal of Honor. |
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