| Date: 24 March 1971 |
| Aircraft type: OV-10A Bronco |
| Serial Number: 67-14693 |
| Military Unit: 20 TASS, 504 TASG |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| 1Lt Jack M Butcher (POW) |
| During a FAC mission an OV-10 (call sign Covey 23) was shot down by AAA about five miles east of Ban Talan in southern Laos. As Lt Butcher was searching for enemy activity at a ford on the Trail a 37mm anti-aircraft shell hit the nose of his Bronco causing him shrapnel injuries. 1Lt Butcher ejected immediately, blacked out from pain and came to on the ground but was quickly captured by North Vietnamese troops. He was taken to a large base camp in the jungle and five days later he escaped from his guards but was recaptured a few hours later. Following interrogation and a threatened execution Butcher and his armed guards set off on the long walk to Hanoi on 4 May. Five days later he slipped away from his guards again and escaped into the jungle. This time he was free for 10 days during which time the JPRC in Saigon, using information gained from enemy radio transmissions, mounted several search missions and even inserted a Bright Light team into the area where Butcher was thought to be. Unfortunately, Jack Butcher was recaptured on May 19 when he stumbled into a Laotian village near Tchepone. He eventually arrived in Hanoi in June and was imprisoned with the other men who had been captured in Laos. Jack Butcher had arrived at Da Nang in February and was only on his eleventh mission when he was shot down but he became one of the fortunate few to survive being captured in Laos. He was released from captivity on 28 March 1973. |
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