| Date: 6 January 1967 |
| Aircraft type: F-8E Crusader |
| Serial Number: 149184 |
| Military Unit: VF-191 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Ticonderoga |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Cdr Richard Dean Mullen (POW) |
| The North Vietnamese always used their geography to good advantage and many of the country’s extensive caves were put to use as storage sites. Occasionally attacks were mounted against caves where it was hoped that they could be sealed by destroying the cave mouth. One such cave was at Ba Lang on the coast near Hoang Xa, 25 miles south of Thanh Hoa. Lt Cdr Mullen was making his second attack with rockets when his F-8 (call sign Feed Bag 110) was hit by AAA and caught fire. The aircraft started to disintegrate immediately and the pilot ejected safely. He was seen on the ground waving to aircraft that overflew his position and radioed his wingman that he was unharmed. However, before a rescue helicopter could reach the area, Lt Cdr Mullen was captured and spent the next seven years in four different prison camps before being released on 4 March 1973. Known as ‘Moon’, Lt Cdr Mullen was on his 31st mission over North Vietnam when he was shot down. |
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