| Date: 24 February 1968 |
| Aircraft type: A-6A Intruder |
| Serial Number: 152644 |
| Military Unit: VMA(AW)-533, MAG-12 |
| Service: USMC |
| Home Base: Chu Lai |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Jerry Wendell Marvel (POW) |
| Capt Lawrence Victor Friese (POW) |
| A Marine Corps Intruder was shot down during a night strike on Hoa Lac airfield, 17 miles west of Hanoi. It was thought that the aircraft had probably been brought down by a SAM although this could not be confirmed. Capt Friese, who was on his 138th mission when he was shot down, evaded the North Vietnamese for four days before he was finally caught. Both men were released from captivity on 14 March 1973. Jerry Marvel later became commander of New River MCAS and retired from the Marines as a Colonel but died of a heart attack in 1995. Soon after returning from Vietnam, Capt Friese transferred from the Marines to the Navy and finally retired as a Commander in 1985. |
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