| Date: 5 October 1965 |
| Aircraft type: F-8E Crusader |
| Serial Number: 150848 |
| Military Unit: VF-162 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Oriskany |
| Name(s): |
| Lt(jg) Robert Frederick Adams (Survived) |
| Lt Adams was Cdr Dick Bellinger’s wingman on a BARCAP mission during a strike on a bridge at Kep. Just as Lt Adams was crossing the coast at 30,000 feet a few miles east of Haiphong while en route to the target, Bellinger saw two SAMs streaking towards him off his port side. He radioed a warning to Adams but the transmission was not heard and Adams saw the missiles too late to avoid them. One of the SA-2s exploded just behind the Crusader (call sign Super Heat 227) causing damage to the tail surfaces and a fire in the aft fuselage. Lt Adams managed to fly his burning aircraft 40 miles out to sea towards two destroyers he had seen on the inbound journey. Eventually the Crusader exploded and Adams ejected through the fireball. He was picked up by a Navy rescue helicopter and taken to the cruiser USS Galveston for medical attention. Lt Adams was shot down again, this time by flak, during a mission on 12 July 1966. |
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