| Date: 19 November 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-105F Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 63-8349 |
| Military Unit: 333 TFS, 355 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Takhli |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Gerald C Gustafson (Survived) |
| Capt Russell F Brownlee (Survived) |
| If the 18th was a bad day for the US airmen, the 19th was going to be even worse. The day started badly with yet another Wild Weasel (call sign Barracuda) lost during an attack on a SAM site. An Iron Hand flight was attacking a SAM battery near Cat Ngoi, 7 miles west of Hanoi, when Maj Gustafson’s aircraft was hit by a missile as it was turning near the target at 9,000 feet. Fortunately the aircraft did not catch fire and Maj Gustafson was able to exit the area and head towards home. Escorted by another F-105F flown by Maj Bruce Stocks, he crossed into Laos and he and his ‘Bear’ ejected near the village of Sopka, 20 miles west of Sam Neua. Maj Stocks, despite being injured and his aircraft damaged by a near miss by a SAM, flew cover over Gustafson and Brownlee until rescue aircraft arrived and then refuelled from a tanker before landing his badly damaged Thud at Takhli. An Air America helicopter rescued the two airmen. Maj Gustafson continued to complete 101 missions in Southeast Asia but not before he and Capt Brownlee had to eject from another F-105 on 6 January 1968. Maj Stocks was awarded the Air Force Cross and the Korren Kolligian, Jr. Trophy for 1967 for his actions in protecting his two colleagues. |
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