| Date: 6 June 1972 |
| Aircraft type: F-4D Phantom |
| Serial Number: 66-0232 |
| Military Unit: 13 TFS, 432 TRW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Udorn |
| Name(s): |
| Maj James Alan Fowler (KIA) |
| Capt John Wayne Seuell (KIA) |
| Original text:
Maj Fowler and Capt Seuell were assigned to lead a flight of four Phantoms on a CAP mission over North Vietnam in support of a Linebacker raid. The flight arrived near Yen Bai and took up station at 15,000 feet as planned. As the flight was about to withdraw and set course for base a SAM launch warning was received and the flight began evasive manoeuvres. A missile was seen to explode directly under the tail of the lead aircraft (call sign Gopher), which caught fire. No ejections were observed as the aircraft dived into the ground about five miles north of Yen Bai. About 30 minutes later two emergency beeper signals were heard briefly but voice contact was not made and there was no other indication that the crew had survived. Maj Fowler was the commander of B Flight of the 13thTFS and had previously flown F-100s and F-105s. Some of the crew’s personal effects were scavenged by local villagers and the remains of the crew were buried near the crash site but the location of the graves has since been lost. This aircraft was fitted with the Combat Tree IFF detection equipment. The following was received from Dick Francis: I was a WSO in our flight of four when Maj Fowler and Capt Seuell were shot down over Yen Bai on 6 June 72. I can't remember my position in the flight but I do remember that we were on MigCap, but not over Yen Bai. It was an orbit somewhere north and east of Yen Bai and probably forty or fifty miles away. During the pre-mission briefing, Major Fowler briefed we would fly around the known SAM ring at Yen Bai. On egress, a couple of other F-4s asked to join us as they had engaged Migs and were critically low on fuel. Due to their fuel state, Major Fowler elected to change course and lead us through the SAM ring at Yen Bai as it provided a more direct route to the post-strike refueling tankers. We were directly over Yen Bai when lead took the hit. Another point for correction, Major Fowler was my squadron flight commander, but we were assigned to the 523rd TFS on TDY from Clark AB, PI, and attached to the 432nd TRW at Udorn RTAFB, Thailand. Lt Col Sullivan and I were shot down three weeks later on 27 June 72. |
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