| Date: 11 July 1972 |
| Aircraft type: A-4F Skyhawk |
| Serial Number: 155046 |
| Military Unit: VA-55 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Hancock |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Cdr Henry Deas Lesesne (POW) |
| An oil storage depot at Hai Duong, midway between Hanoi and Haiphong, was the target for a strike by the aircraft of the Hancock on the 11th. As the strike force hit the target the Iron Hand defence suppression flight attacked a SAM site near the Red River about 20 miles southwest of Hai Duong. Lt Cdr Lesesne had received a SAM launch warning and was diving in a split-S manoeuvre at 11,000 feet above a low cloud base when his aircraft (call sign Garfish 501) was hit by an SA-2. The rear end of the Skyhawk was engulfed in flames and the aircraft soon started rolling uncontrollably. The pilot ejected and was quickly captured. After eight months imprisonment, Henry Lesesne was repatriated on 29 March 1973. He resumed his flying career after returning to the USA and converted to the A-7E Corsair. |
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