| Date: 20 December 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-100F Super Sabre |
| Serial Number: 56-4005 |
| Military Unit: 612 TFS, 37 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Phu Cat |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Robert Roger Craner (POW) |
| Capt Guy Dennis Gruters (POW) |
| The third Misty FAC Super Sabre and its crew was lost on the 20th. The aircraft (call sign Misty 3) was shot down by 57mm flak over the Annamites about 25 miles west of Dong Hoi. Craner and Gruters were both captured and imprisoned although Veith claims in Code Name Bright Light that a half-hearted attempt was made by their captors to exchange the crew for a sum of gold. These two airmen looked after 1Lt Lance Sijan during the final few days of his life in the Hanoi Hilton. It was largely due to their testimony that Sijan’s story became known resulting in his posthumous award of the Medal of Honor. Maj Craner and Capt Gruters were released on 14 March 1973. Guy Gruters had been shot down and rescued during an earlier Misty FAC mission on 8 November. His brother, Capt Terrence Gruters, came close to joining him in the POW camp as he was a B-52 co-pilot whose aircraft was damaged during a Linebacker II raid on Hanoi on 28 December 1972. Fortunately the aircraft made it to Thailand where it crashed after the crew had abandoned the stricken aircraft. |
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