Pacific Stars and Stripes information
for Air war over North Vietnam

For date 680625


Primary service involved, US Air Force
South Vietnam
Description: 25Jun68-Jet Downed, Pilot Saved, Bomb Panhandle Storage Complex SAIGON (S&S) - Air Force F105 Thunderchief and F4 Phantom pilots caused about 150 secondary explosions Saturday when they bombed a storage complex 37 miles northwest of Dong Hoi in North Vietnam's southern panhandle, U.S. spokesmen said. Spokesmen also said a Thunderchief was shot down by enemy ground fire northeast of the city and five miles off the coast in the Gulf of Tonkin. A Jolly Green Giant helicopter was on the scene, "almost immediately" to rescue the uninjured pilot. The incident brought to 857 the unofficial total of American warplanes downed over north Vietnam in the war. The bombing of the storage complex was one of 126-missions flown by Air Force Navy and Marine crews in the area from the Demilitarized Zone to the 19th Parallel The complex included a truck park, ammunition stores and a petroleum, oil and lubricants area. In addition to the explosions, crews and forward air controllers (FACs) reported sighting 43 sustained fires. Pilots flying the strikes were from the 8th, 355th, 366th, and 388th Tactical Fighter Wings and the 432d Tactical Recon Wing. FACs from the 37th TFW directed the attack. They said flames from the fires rose more than 200 feet and columns of white smoke billowed higher than 2,500 feet. The weather in the panhandle was fair and antiaircraft fire was called moderate to heavy. Navy planes blasted 10 sites. At least two MIGs were sighted by radar below the 19th Parallel. There were two reported sightings, but spokesmen said they believed the same enemy aircraft were observed both times. The MIGs were picked up by radar on U.S. ships off the coast. Carrier-based Navy planes concentrated on road and river traffic, destroying or damaging 53 trucks and 18 supply boats. In South Vietnam, B52 Stratofortesses pounded targets north and northwest of Saigon Saturday and Sunday morning. They hit 111 times in Binh Duong, Tay Ninh and Phuoc Long Provinces. Two other missions were mounted against enemy camps west and southwest of Kontum City in the Central Highlands.

The source for this information was 6806PSS.AVN supplied by Les Hines 3/97


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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023