| Date: 12 September 1966 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 61-0201 |
| Military Unit: 469 TFS, 388 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Robert Frost Waggoner (POW) |
| A strike on a storage area near Quang Lang, 35 miles northwest of Vinh, resulted in the loss of yet another Thunderchief and its pilot. Capt Waggoner’s aircraft (call sign Peanuts) was hit at 5,500 feet by an 85mm shell, burst into flames and cartwheeled out of control. The pilot ejected and landed in a rice paddy where he was captured. He spent the rest of the war as a POW and was released on 4 March 1973. On 26 September a Bright Light guerilla team was inserted in the area but found no trace of the pilot who had already been captured. This secret mission was the first to be organised by the recently-created Joint Personnel Recovery Center, which had been set up in an attempt to recover downed aircrew or prisoners that conventional SAR forces were unable to assist. |
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