A Pair of F-105s
This is my favorite shot of the F-105
Thunderchief. Note the size of
the aircraft in comparison to the size of the pilot to understand the size of
this fighter-bomber that carried much of the Air Force’s aerial attack of
North Vietnam, especially in the early years. Flying out of Korat and Takhli
in Thailand, the F-105 wings took particularly heavy losses in 1966 and 1967.
While Jolly Greens saved a number of those downed pilots, many pilots
remained POWs in North Vietnam until released in 1973.
Approximately half the USAF’s inventory of F-105s was shot down over
North Vietnam and Laos. When the TLCB returned to The Wall in July 2002, we read the
names of 156 F-105 pilots/electronic warfare officers who were killed in the
War in Southeast Asia.
