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Date: 9 February 1972
Aircraft type: OV-10A Bronco
Serial Number: 155461
Military Unit: VAL-4
Service: USN
Home Base: Binh Thuy
Name(s):
Lt Robert Edward Lutz, Jr. (KWF)
1Lt Eugene D Brindle (USMC) (Survived)

During a Sea Dragon mission a Black Pony OV-10 accidentally flew into the water and was destroyed. Only one of the crew survived the crash. This was the last aircraft lost by VAL-4 during its three year tour of duty in South Vietnam. The Squadron had lost seven Broncos and seven aircrew during this time, all but the last of these aircraft were shot down by ground fire. The Squadron flew its last combat mission on 31 March before it was deactivated on 10 April. It had flown more than 21,000 sorties over the southern provinces of South Vietnam and Cambodia and had dropped about 11,000 tons of ordnance. Lt Lutz was on his third combat tour in Southeast Asia and had flown over 150 missions in the E-2 Hawkeye with VAW-112 on board the USS Enterprise.

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