| Date: 11 February 1962 |
| Aircraft type: SC-47A Skytrain |
| Serial Number: 43-15732 |
| Military Unit: Detachment 2A, 4400 CCTS |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Bien Hoa |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Edward Knell Kissam (KIA) |
| Capt Joseph Michael Fahey (KIA) |
| 1Lt Stanley Gerald Hartson (KIA) |
| 1Lt Jack Date Le Tourneau (KIA) |
| TSgt Floyd Milton Frazier (KIA) |
| A1C Robert Lee Westfall (KIA) |
| 2Lt Lewis Metcalfe Walling (US Army) (KIA) |
| SP4 Glen Frederick Merrihew (US Army) (KIA) |
| VNAF observer name unknown (KIA) |
| In the early phase of American involvement the US military was supposed to be in South Vietnam on an advisory or training basis. Consequently each aircraft had to have a Vietnamese on board, ostensibly for training but often merely to ‘legalise’ the operation. This was especially true with regard to aircraft like the B-26, which the US had no intention of providing to the South Vietnamese. Nevertheless, the USAF did train thousands of VNAF air and ground crew over the next 10 years and valuable combat experience was gained during these early operations. An SC-47A was on an early morning leaflet dropping sortie along the main route from Saigon to Da Nang when it crashed in the mountains near Bao Loc with the loss of all on board. It was unconfirmed whether the crash was due to enemy action or an accidental cause. This aircraft had been based at RAF Bovingdon in England in 1961. |
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