| Date: 10 September 1966 |
| Aircraft type: F-4C Phantom |
| Serial Number: 64-0832 |
| Military Unit: 433 TFS, 8 TFW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Ubon |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Douglas Brian Peterson (POW) |
| 1Lt Bernard Leo Talley (POW) |
| On the night of the 10th the Wolfpack attacked a bridge and ferry at Dap Cau, 12 miles east of Kep. As the Phantoms were leaving the target one of the aircraft (call sign Clipper) was rocked by a blast from an SA-2 that exploded close by. Within a short time both engines wound down and the rear of the aircraft became engulfed in flames forcing the crew to eject about 20 miles northwest of Hon Gay. Capt Peterson was badly injured during the ejection suffering a broken shoulder, broken arm, dislocated knee, compression fractures of both ankles plus cuts and bruises. ‘Pete’ Peterson was interrogated and tortured for four days until receiving treatment for his injuries. Both men were released on 4 March 1973. Most of Capt Peterson’s 65 missions had been as part of the Night Owl campaign against the North Vietnamese transportation system.
Coincidentally, both men went into politics after retiring from the Air Force. Bernard Talley became active with several POW and veterans support groups, ran for US Senate and served as Chairman of Supervisors of Elections. These activities were in addition to flying for American Airlines and commanding C-141 and KC-10 units in the Air Force Reserve. ‘Pete’ Peterson, who had spent three years at Bitburg AB, Germany, flying the F-100, also went into politics and eventually became Democratic Congressman for Florida in 1990. He later played a key role in restoring diplomatic relations with Vietnam and in 1997 Peterson was selected to be the US Ambassador to Vietnam. To some it must have seemed as supremely ironic and to others entirely fitting that the first post-war US ambassador to Vietnam should have been an ex-POW. One of the tasks for the new Ambassador was to facilitate an intensified search programme for the remains of missing Americans. In May 1998 Ambassador Peterson married Vi Le, a Saigon-born Australian diplomat whose family had emigrated to Australia in the 1960s. The marriage took place by special permission of the Vietnamese Government in Hanoi’s Grand Cathedral. |
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