| Date: 11 November 1966 |
| Aircraft type: F-8E Crusader |
| Serial Number: 150858 |
| Military Unit: VMF(AW)-235, MAG-11 |
| Service: USMC |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Orson George Swindle (POW) |
| Just four days before the end of its first tour in Southeast Asia, VMF(AW)-235 lost its fifth Crusader. The aircraft (call sign Condole 8) was making its second dive attack against military buildings just two miles north of the DMZ when it was hit by AAA. The pilot tried desperately to make for the Gulf of Tonkin but he was forced to eject near Vinh Linh, about three miles short of the coast. Capt Swindle was flying his 205th and last scheduled mission when he was shot down and captured. He was released by the North Vietnamese on 4 March 1973. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Orson Swindle became the campaign director for Ross Perot’s unsuccessful 1992 presidential nomination campaign. Perot was a major benefactor of the POWs and became a personal friend to many of them. |
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