| Date: 16 September 1965 |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 61-0217 |
| Military Unit: 67 TFS, 18 TFW attached to 6234 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Col James Robinson Risner (POW) |
| Aircraft type: F-105D Thunderchief |
| Serial Number: 61-0189 |
| Military Unit: 67 TFS, 18 TFW attached to 6234 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Korat |
| Name(s): |
| Maj Raymond James Merritt (POW) |
| It was ironic that Lt Col Robinson Risner should be shot down close to the Dragon’s Jaw Bridge as he had been instrumental in plotting its destruction. In the early morning of 16 September his formation of F-105s was not after the bridge but was going for a SAM site that had been reported north of Thanh Hoa. AAA hit his aircraft (call sign Pepper 1) at low level and he made for the coast but had to eject over the village of Tuong Loc, 10 miles northeast of the Thanh Hoa Bridge. He was on his 55th combat mission over Southeast Asia. He was captured and spent the rest of the war in various prison camps where he was singled out for severe punishment suffering solitary confinement, torture, malnutrition and disease.
‘Robbie’ Risner had joined the Air Force in 1943 and flew 110 missions with the F-86-equipped 4th FW during the Korean War and shot down eight MiG-15s during that conflict. He later commanded a number of fighter squadrons and became the CO of the 67th TFS at Kadena in August 1964. He had been shot down on 22 March 1965 during a strike on a radar site at Vinh Son but had made it to the coast and was rescued. The day before his second shoot down his aircraft had its canopy shattered but he was able to return safely to base. He was not so lucky on the 16th and was eventually released in Operation Homecoming on 12 February 1973. It was largely thanks to the leadership and courage of Risner and his Navy counterpart, Cdr Jim Stockdale, that the POWs organized themselves to present maximum resistance. The first living recipient of the AFC, Risner resumed his career flying both the F-4 and the F-111 and commanded the 832nd AD before retiring from the USAF in August 1976 with the rank of brigadier general. ‘Robbie' Risner wrote about his experiences in The Passing of the Night: My Seven Years as a Prisoner of the North Vietnamese, which was published in 1973. Ray Merritt was another Korean War veteran who was shot down on the same raid as Lt Col Risner. Merritt’s aircraft (call sign Oak 1) was hit by AAA and he was forced to eject a few miles northeast of Risner’s position. He was captured immediately by armed villagers (practically all villagers in North Vietnam were armed!) and accompanied Risner to prison and was also released on 12 February 1973. Merritt had flown 100 missions in the F-84 in the Korean War and was on his 40th mission over North Vietnam when he was brought down. |
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