| Date: 18 November 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-105F Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 63-8295 |
| Military Unit: 34 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Oscar Moise Dardeau (KIA) |
| Capt Edward William Lehnhoff (KIA) |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 60-0497 |
| Military Unit: 469 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Col William N Reed (Survived) |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 62-4283 |
| Military Unit: 469 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Leslie John Hauer (KIA) |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 62-4221 |
| Military Unit: 34 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Col Edward Burke Burdett (POW (died)) |
| A raid on the MiG base at Phuc Yen turned out to be a disaster for the Korat Wing with the loss of four out of the 16 participating F-105s. This raid was flown in poor weather under the direction of the recently-commissioned TSQ-81 bombing navigation radar site at LS85 on Phou Pha Thi mountain in northern Laos. As usual the strike force was preceded by an Iron Hand flight of F-105F Wild Weasels and F-105D bombers. However, the flight was jumped by MiG-21s, one of which fastened onto Maj Dardeau’s tail. The MiG fired a missile that hit the Wild Weasel (call sign Waco 1) causing it to disintegrate over the village of Van Du near the Song Lo River, some 40 miles northwest of Phuc Yen. It was not known at the time if the crew had ejected but it appears that they did not and their remains were handed over by the Vietnamese on 25 November 1987. As an illustration of the way the return of remains was used as a political tool, the Vietnamese first notified the US that it had located the remains of Dardeau and Lehnhoff in June 1977 and had promised to repatriate them. However, the promise was not fulfilled for another 10 years. Thunderchief 63-8295 was named ‘Mugley Other’ at the time it was lost.
The remainder of the Iron Hand flight was still under attack by MiGs and one of the bombers, flown by Lt Col Reed (call sign Waco 4) , was also hit by an air-to-air missile. Although badly damaged, the aircraft remained flyable and Lt Col Reed headed southwest and crossed into Laos before he was forced to eject about 12 miles northwest of the Pathet Lao stronghold of Sam Neua. Luckily, he was picked up by a HH-3E helicopter (Jolly Green 37) from the 37th ARRS before the Pathet Lao could find him. The next aircraft to fall during this mission was flown by Maj Hauer, leader of Vegas flight, who was shot down as he approached the target from the north. He was preparing to roll in on his target from 16,500 feet when his aircraft (call sign Vegas 1) was hit squarely by a SAM and was blown to pieces. Without the protection of the Wild Weasel flight the SAMs had a much better chance of success. Maj Hauer was seen to eject and a beeper signal was heard as he descended in his parachute about 10 miles northwest of Phuc Yen. His flight lost sight of the parachute as it descended into low cloud and nothing more was ever heard of Maj Leslie Hauer. His remains were eventually located and returned by the Vietnamese on 11 September 1990. Thunderchief 62-4283 was named ‘Miss M Nookie’ during its time at Korat. The fourth and final aircraft lost during this costly raid was flown by Col Burdett, the wing commander of the 388th TFW. Having received numerous SAM warnings he was taking evasive action at 18,000 feet over Phuc Yen when his aircraft (call sign Garage 3) was damaged by a SAM that exploded close by. Col Burdett turned his burning aircraft southwest and ran for home but it crashed about 15 miles west of Hanoi. The pilot ejected and was thought to have been captured but died soon after either from injuries received during the SAM explosion or from the ejection or from torture. The loss of the wing commander and the vice-commander was a crushing blow to the 388th TFW. Edward Burdett’s remains were repatriated on 6 March 1974. Col Burdett’s aircraft was painted as ‘The Fighting Irishman’ and ‘Wild Child’ during its time in Southeast Asia. |
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