| Date: 7 February 1965 |
| Aircraft type: A-4E Skyhawk |
| Serial Number: 150075 |
| Military Unit: VA-155 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Coral Sea |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Edward Andrew Dickson (KIA) |
| Following the establishment of TF 77 aircraft carriers in the South China Sea in August 1964 it was six months before the US Navy was again in action although 13 naval aircraft had been lost in accidents over Southeast Asian waters during this time. Although air strikes against North Vietnam were part of President Johnson’s 2 December plan they were not immediately instigated. However, VC attacks on US facilities at Saigon on 24 December and Pleiku and Camp Holloway on 7 February caused President Johnson to order the first air strike against North Vietnam since Pierce Arrow in August 1964. The new strike, code named Flaming Dart I, was due to be flown by the US Navy from the carriers Coral Sea, Hancock and Ranger. The targets were at Dong Hoi and Vit Thu Lu while other targets were hit by VNAF A-1s. The raid was led by Cdr Warren H Sells, Commander of Hancock’s Air Wing 21. In the event monsoon weather forced the 34 aircraft of USS Ranger’s strike force to abort their mission against Vit Thu Lu but Dong Hoi’s barracks and port facilities were attacked by 20 aircraft from the Coral Sea and 29 from the Hancock. The strike was carried out at low level under a 700 feet cloud base in rain and poor visibility. Only one naval aircraft was lost during the strike, a Skyhawk (call sign Silver Fox 503) flown by Lt Dickson of VA-155. Lt Dickson was a section leader of a flight of four aircraft. About five miles south of the target he reported that he had been hit by AAA and requested his wingman to check his aircraft over as they commenced their run in to the target. Just as the flight was about release its bombs Lt Dickson’s aircraft was seen to burst into flames, but despite a warning from his wingman, he continued with his bomb run and released his Snakeye bombs on target. Lt Dickson headed out towards the sea but his aircraft became engulfed in flames and he ejected. Although he was seen to eject his parachute was not seen to deploy and the aircraft crashed into the sea about half a mile offshore. There was no sign of Lt Dickson in the water despite a SAR effort that continued for two days. However, in March 1968 a Vietnamese newspaper printed a photograph of a grave on a beach which was claimed to be that of Lt Dickson and in August 1985 the Vietnamese handed over the Lieutenant’s Geneva Convention and ID Card which would seem to confirm the beach burial.
Edward Dickson had had a miraculous escape from death just one year earlier when he was forced to eject from his Skyhawk over the Sierra Nevada mountains in California during a training exercise. His parachute failed to deploy properly but he landed in a deep snowdrift that broke his fall causing only minor injuries. However, on 7 February 1965 his luck ran out and he became the second US aviator to die while attacking North Vietnam. Edward Dickson was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his determination to complete the mission despite crippling combat damage. |
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