| Date: 6 November 1972 |
| Aircraft type: A-7B Corsair |
| Serial Number: 154540 |
| Military Unit: VA-56 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Midway |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Cdr Clarence Orfield Tolbert (KIA) |
| A section of Corsairs on an armed reconnaissance mission were looking for a suspected SAM site near Route 1A, about 35 miles north of Vinh. As the Corsairs were flying at 3,500 feet and 400 knots, Lt Cdr Tolbert’s aircraft (call sign Champion 403) was hit by 23mm AAA. The starboard wing caught fire briefly and the aircraft started to lose fuel. The aircraft turned towards the coast but it crashed near the beach killing the pilot. A puff of smoke had been observed in the cockpit area and it is possible that Lt Cdr Tolbert may have been incapacitated and was unable to eject. An article in the 15 November issue of Nhan Dan, a North Vietnamese newspaper, claimed that an aircraft had been shot down on this date and that the pilot had been killed when he ejected but his parachute failed to deploy. Lt Cdr Tolbert had been forced to eject from a Corsair on 23 July 1972 when his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Clarence Tolbert’s remains were returned by the Vietnamese on 3 November 1988. |
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