| Date: 21 October 1965 |
| Aircraft type: A-1E Skyraider |
| Serial Number: 52-133897 |
| Military Unit: 1 ACS, 6251 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Bien Hoa |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Melvin C Elliott (Survived) |
| The battle for the Special Forces Camp at Plei Mei continued unabated. Flights of F-100s and A-1s were over the camp almost continuously in an attempt to assist the defenders on the ground. On the night of the 21st an A-1E from Bien Hoa was hit by ground fire and crashed five miles east of the Camp after the pilot bailed out. A flight of Skyraiders had been waiting for an Army Caribou for which they were going to provide cover as it dropped supplies to the camp’s defenders. However, the Caribou never turned up so the Skyraiders made one final strafing pass before they had to return to base. It was during this last pass that Capt Elliott’s aircraft was hit in the port wing and caught fire. Capt Elliott became snagged on the cockpit canopy as he tried to bail out of the aircraft. His helmet came off in the slipstream but he eventually freed himself and parachuted into a tree close to the camp. He tried to reach the camp but had to hide from Viet Cong during the night and in the evening of the following day he was almost rescued by an Army UH-1 but it was driven away by ground fire. He spent another night in hiding but was eventually rescued the next morning (23rd) by a USAF HH-43 helicopter flown by Capt Dale Potter who was guided by two Bird Dog FACs and protected by Army UH-1 gunships. Capt Elliott had spent 36 hours on the ground and had evaded Viet Cong troops as well as American bombs and bullets on several occasions. |
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