| Date: 27 June 1972 |
| Aircraft type: O-2A Skymaster |
| Serial Number: 68-11026 |
| Military Unit: 21 TASS, 377 ABW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Tan Son Nhut |
| Name(s): |
| Capt David Earle Baker (POW) |
| Operations in Cambodia were still continuing even though the concentration of activity was now once more in North Vietnam. The last US fixed-wing aircraft to be lost over Cambodia had been shot down in February 1972 but on 27 June an O-2 (call sign Sundog) was lost during a visual reconnaissance mission. The aircraft was shot down by ground fire near Phum Prasol, 20 miles to the southwest of Tay Ninh. Remarkably, Capt Baker was the only US POW ever to be released from Cambodia when he was handed over to the US authorities on 12 February 1973 at Loc Ninh. David Baker had flown EC-121s in Southeast Asia earlier in the war and eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier General and was responsible for the Air Force’s joint operations and interoperability programmes following service in Operation Desert Storm with the 4th TFW. Gen Baker retired from the USAF on 1 October 1997. |
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