| Date: 5 May 1968 |
| Aircraft type: AC-47D Gunship I |
| Serial Number: 43-76207 |
| Military Unit: 4 ACS, 14 ACW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Nha Trang detached to Phu Cat |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Donald Lewis Merry (KIA) |
| Maj Richard William Wackerfuss (KIA) |
| Aircraft type: AC-47D Gunship I |
| Serial Number: 43-16159 |
| Military Unit: 4 ACS, 14 ACW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Nha Trang detached to Phu Cat |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Col Leslie Earl Harris (KIA) |
| Maj Teddy James Tomchesson (KIA) |
| Sgt Nacey Kent (Survived) |
| On the night of 4/5 May the VC and NVA started a widespread offensive, called Mini Tet by the Americans, which involved attacks on 109 towns and cities in South Vietnam resulting in major casualties on both sides. Two Spooky gunships were scrambled to attack rocket and mortar launching sites that were bombarding Pleiku air base. The two gunships were shot down by automatic weapons fire within minutes of each other. Sgt Nacey Kent, the flight engineer in one of the AC-47s (call sign Spooky 2; the other aircraft was call sign Spooky 3), was awarded the Air Force Cross for his bravery in re-entering the aircraft wreckage and rescuing a number of the crew from his aircraft despite having sustained a broken leg in the crash landing. Lt Col Harris had enlisted in the Air Force in 1943 and served in Burma and India. He was commissioned in 1950 and flew the B-50 Superfortress and served in the Korean War.
Also KIA in these aircraft were (but it's unknown which were in each aircraft): Lt Barry Lynn Brown (KIA) Capt Edward Chester Krawczyk (KIA) SSgt James Edgar Bowman (KIA) Sgt Douglas Joseph Cradeur (KIA) Sgt Roy Leo Lede (KIA) |
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