| Date: 31 December 1964 |
| Aircraft type: O-1F Bird Dog |
| Serial Number: 57-2823 |
| Military Unit: 366 TFS |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Da Nang |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Kurt Casey McDonald (KIA) |
| SFC Edward Ray Dodge (US Army, Detachment C-1, 5th Special Forces Group) (KIA) |
| As well as its use as an FAC aircraft, the O-1 was also used as a liaison aircraft for short flights between airfields or airstrips. SFC Dodge was based at Da Nang with Detachment C-1 of the 5th Special Forces Group. On New Year’s eve he accompanied Capt McDonald in an O-1F on a flight to the Special Forces camp at A Shau. The aircraft took off in poor weather in company with another O-1F flown by WO G B Mundis. As the two aircraft made a turn in a valley about 20 miles northwest of Da Nang, McDonald and Dodge’s aircraft disappeared as it entered low cloud and Mundis pressed on to A Shau alone. Neither the aircraft nor its crew were ever found and despite uncorroborated information regarding their capture, their loss remains a mystery. |
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