(Image: Monty McMont, reproduced with permission)
Amid a heap of twisted metal at the People’s Air Force Museum in Hanoi emerges the unmistakable form of a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, which was shot down over North Vietnam on May 14, 1967.
(Image: Monty McMont, reproduced with permission)
The F-4B model Phantom is displayed in pride of place atop other battered US Navy and Air Force relics, including twisted propellers and smashed jet engines.
(Image: Monty McMont, reproduced with permission)
The wrecked warplane, serial number 153001, retained its overall shape despite enormous damage reportedly caused by a Russian-built surface to air missile, and subsequent impact with the ground.
(Image: DANYSTYLE, reproduced with permission)
According to Ejection-History.org.uk, the two crew members, Lt. Cdr. C. E. Southwick and Lt. D. J. Rollins survived the crash and became prisoners of war. The wrecked F-4 had belonged to VF-114 ‘Aardvarks’ aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, and remains one of the museum’s star attractions today.
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