| Date: 14 August 1966 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 61-0197 |
| Military Unit: 469 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Charles Edward Franklin (KIA) |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 59-1763 |
| Military Unit: 333 TFS, 355 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Takhli |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Curtis Abbot Eaton (KIA) |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 62-4266 |
| Military Unit: 354 TFS, 355 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Takhli |
| Name(s): |
| Capt John Warren Brodak (POW) |
| Once more POL storage around the city of Thai Nguyen was a target for elements of both Thunderchief strike wings. The Korat Wing attacked first but AAA hit one of the 469th TFS aircraft (call sign Steel) over the target and it eventually crashed about 10 miles to the north. Capt Franklin radioed that his aircraft had been hit and was going to eject. However, nothing more was heard or seen of Capt Franklin until 13 July 1988 when his remains (which were positively identified in the following October) where handed over by the Vietnamese.
About 20 minutes after Capt Franklin was shot down, elements of the Takhli Wing began to bomb POL targets around Thai Nguyen. An aircraft in one of the leading flights was hit by AAA over the target and sped away to the north. The Thunderchief (call sign Domino) crashed about 20 miles north of Thai Nguyen and the pilot, Capt Eaton, was presumed to have died in the crash. Twenty minutes later another Thunderchief (call sign Domino) was hit by AAA over Thai Nguyen but the aircraft remained airborne long enough for Capt Brodak to attempt to get home. Unfortunately, he only managed to reach about half way and was forced to eject near Phlen Luong near the Laotian border. Capt Brodak had flown over 60 missions in Southeast Asia but was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW, being released on 4 March 1973. |
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