| Date: 3 February 1966 |
| Aircraft type: RA-5C Vigilante |
| Serial Number: 151625 |
| Military Unit: RVAH-13 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Kitty Hawk |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Gerald Leonard Coffee (POW) |
| Lt(jg) Robert Taft Hanson (POW (died)) |
| A Vigilante (call sign Flint River 605) was hit by AAA soon after crossing the coast near the island of Hon Me, midway between Thanh Hoa and Vinh, while on a road reconnaissance mission. The pilot headed back towards the coast where the escort rejoined him. Just as the aircraft crossed the beach its hydraulics failed completely and it exploded. Both crew ejected from the disintegrating aircraft and both landed in the water about a mile offshore. North Vietnamese boats soon appeared on the scene and Lt Coffee was hauled aboard one of the boats. He had seen his NFO in the water and thought he had also been rescued. He was later told that Lt Hanson had died and had been buried on the beach. In November 1988 the North Vietnamese handed over remains that were identified as those of Lt Robert Hanson.
Gerald Coffee had flown reconnaissance Crusaders over Cuba during the missile crisis of 1962 and was an instructor pilot on the Vigilante before deploying on board the Kitty Hawk. He was incarcerated in the Hanoi Hilton with Cdr Howard Rutledge and Coffee provided illustrations for Rutledge’s book In the Presence of Mine Enemies. Lt Coffee was repatriated on 12 February 1973. RVAH-13 was one of the Kitty Hawk squadrons to paint its aircraft in camouflage for the 1966 tour. |
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