| Date: 25 June 1965 |
| Aircraft type: A-4C Skyhawk |
| Serial Number: 149574 |
| Military Unit: VA-153 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Coral Sea |
| Name(s): |
| Cdr Peter Mongilardi (KIA) |
| Cdr Mongilardi was the CO of VA-153 until May 1965 when he was appointed CAG or Air Wing Commander of Coral Sea’s Carrier Air Wing 15. The carrier had left the line on 27 May and was on its way back to the USA when it was recalled for further duty as the tempo of the war increased. Cdr Mongilardi was leading two other Skyhawks on an armed reconnaissance mission when he spotted a small bridge over the Song Cho River about 10 miles northwest of Thanh Hoa. As the formation rolled into the attack Cdr Mongilardi’s aircraft (call sign Power House 306) was struck by 37mm AAA. The wingmen lost sight of the lead aircraft but they heard the Commander key his radio microphone although he was having difficulty speaking and may have been wounded. No crash site was ever discovered either at the time or by the subsequent SAR operation. Cdr Mongilardi was the first CAG to be lost in the war and had been lucky to survive damage to his Skyhawk during the 29 March raid on Bach Long Vi when he had to be ‘towed’ back to the carrier by a tanker as his aircraft was leaking fuel almost as fast as it was receiving it. Cdr Mongilardi’s place as CO of VA-153 was taken by Cdr H E Thomas who was himself lost on 13 August 1965.
In 1994 a crash site was excavated and human remains were recovered. However, it was not until 2006 that the remains could be positively identified as being those of Cdr Mongilardi. His was one of the first cases in which nuclear (as opposed to mitochondrial) DNA testing was successfully used. His remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery on 11 April 2007 over 40 years after his death. |
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