| Date: 9 August 1968 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 62-4292 |
| Military Unit: 357 TFS, 355 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Takhli |
| Name(s): |
| Col David W Winn (POW) |
| The North Vietnamese defences north of the DMZ claimed yet another aircraft on the 9th. A flight of Thunderchiefs was bombing an anti-aircraft gun position but Col Winn’s aircraft (call sign Cookie) was hit by 37mm AAA as it pulled up through 5,000 feet after his attack. The rear of the aircraft started to burn as Col Winn headed for the coast. However, about two miles short of the sea he was forced to eject and landed close to the village of Xom Quan where he was captured. David Winn was the deputy wing commander of the Takhli Wing and was flying with the 333rd TFS in a 357th aircraft when he was shot down. He became one of the most senior officers in the POW camps. Col Winn joined the Air Force in 1943 and flew B-26 Marauders and P-38 Lightnings with the Twelfth Air Force during the Second World War. He flew Hawker Hunters and English Electric Lightnings while on an exchange tour with the Royal Air Force at Leconfield in the 1960s. He had been shot down on 15 April 1968, close to where he came down on 9 August, but his luck did not hold the second time. He was released on 14 March 1973 and resumed a successful USAF career. He served in a number of senior positions in NORAD, eventually commanding the Combat Operations Center at Cheyenne Mountain with the rank of Brigadier General before retiring from the Air Force on 1 July 1978. |
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