Major Gordon Scott Wilson 3 June 1940 – 22 November 1966 Scotty Wilson was the best “stick” in the famous 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron. The 480th was famous because in November of 1966 a total of eight Mig-21s had been shot down by anyone anywhere and the 480th had five of them. On November 21, 1966…
Captain Richard Lee Whitteker 7 February 1939 – ???? On 27 March 1968, Captain Richard L. Whitteker and then 2nd Lt. James L. Badley, both of the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, departed Danang Air Base on a strike mission (callsign Gunfighter 8) into North Vietnam. On the mission, Gunfighter 08 crashed. The target area was…
Colonel Bobby Gene Vinson 17 January 1928 – ???? On April 24, 1968, then LtCol Bobby G. Vinson (pilot) and then 1Lt Woodrow W. Parker (WSO) launched from Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam, lead in a flight of two F-4D Phantoms on night strike mission against a storage area near Van Loc, some 10 miles…
Captain Richard Haven Van Dyke 24 January 1944 – ???? Richard Haven (Rich) Van Dyke entered Officer Training School (OTS), Medina Annex, Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas, on 22 May 1966 and was a Distinguished Graduate on 16 May 1966 with Class 66G. He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) at Williams AFB, Arizona, with Class…
Captain Alan Robert Trent 22 May 1940 – ???? On May 13, 1970, Captain Alan R. Trent and then 1st Lt Eric Huberthwere the crew in an F-4D (tail number 65-0607), one of a flight of two F-4s which took off from Phu Cat Air Base against a target approximately 105 miles northwest inside Cambodia.…
Colonel Smith J. Swords III 17 July 1929 – 17 August 1979 On 30 December 1967, then Major Smith Swords III, pilot; and 1st Lt. Murray L. Wortham, co-pilot; comprised the crew of an F4C, call sign “Flamingo 02,” that departed DaNang Airbase as the #2 aircraft in a flight of two. They were conducting…
1st Lt Albert Eduardo Rodriguez 18 July 1942 – ???? Then Maj. Ernest A. Olds and 1Lt. Albert E. Rodriguez comprised the crew of an F4D Phantom fighter/bomber sent on a mission over North Vietnam on March 11, 1968. Their mission area was near a railroad which runs parallel to the Nguon Nay River in…
Major Donald William Pick 13 January 1930 – 8 August 1968 Major Donald William Pick was killed on 8 August 1968. His F-4 crashed at sea in Military Region 1 of South Vietnam, and his body was not recovered.
Major Woodrow Wilson Parker 18 April 1943 – ???? On April 24, 1968, then-LTC Bobby G. Vinson (pilot) and 1LT Woodrow W. Parker (WSO) launched from Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam, lead in a flight of two F-4D Phantoms on night strike mission against a storage area near Van Loc, some 10 miles northwest of…
Colonel Ernest Arthur Olds 14 July 1934 – ???? Then Maj. Ernest A. Olds and 1Lt. Albert E. Rodriguez comprised the crew of an F4D Phantom fighter/bomber sent on a mission over North Vietnam on March 11, 1968. Their mission area was near a railroad which runs parallel to the Nguon Nay River in Quang…