| Date: 11 May 1972 |
| Aircraft type: F-4D Phantom |
| Serial Number: 66-0230 |
| Military Unit: 555 TFS, 432 TRW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Udorn |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Col Joseph William Kittinger, Jr. (POW) |
| 1Lt William John Reich (POW) |
| About 10 minutes after the Wild Weasel went down the MiGs scored another victory. A flight of Phantoms was escorting a raid when they were engaged by several MiG-21s about five miles northwest of Thai Nguyen. Two aircraft were chasing a MiG when Lt Col Kittinger’s Phantom (call sign Gopher) was hit by an air-to-air missile that damaged the starboard wing and set the aircraft alight. The crew ejected a few miles from Thai Nguyen and were soon captured and taken to Hanoi. Kittinger’s wingman, Capt S E Nichols, shot down the MiG they had been chasing. When Joe Kittinger was shot down he was already a living legend in the USAF. He had joined the Air Force in 1949 and eventually became a test pilot. He is best known for his part in Project Manhigh which was designed to test the pressure suit and other equipment that was going to be used in the US space programme. On 2 June 1957 he piloted an experimental balloon which ascended to 96,000 feet. On 16 August 1960 he made another record-breaking balloon ascent, this time to 102,800 feet at which point he climbed out of the balloon in his bulky pressure suit and literally jumped into space. His free fall lasted over four minutes during which he attained a maximum speed of 614 mph. The parachute he was testing had been designed for astronauts in the event of an emergency in the earth’s atmosphere. Joe Kittinger served three tours in Vietnam and had flown a staggering total of 485 missions before he was shot down just seven days before he was due to return home. The red-haired, 43-year old Kittinger had shot down a MiG-21 on 1 March and was known as the ‘Red Baron’ or ‘Grandpa’ in the POW camps. He had been one of the original Farm Gate B-26 pilots and finally retired from the Air Force in 1978. 1Lt William Reich had flown 125 missions before he was captured. Both men were released from Hanoi on 28 March 1973. Phantom 66-0230 had been flown by Capt F S Olmstead and Capt G R Volloy of the 13th TFS on 30 March 1972 when they shot down a MiG-21. |
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