Last Known Activity:
BUNO 153445 (VP-26) lost at sea off Phu Quoc Island due to enemy fire, South Vietnam Apr 1, 1968. The Tridents averaged 1500 hours per month flying TEAM YANKEE and MARKET TIME combat patrols. MARKET TIME patrols consisted of seeking out sea borne infiltrators from North Vietnam trying to deliver supplies to the Viet Cong along the southern coastline. This required aircrews to fly below 1000 feet, while using radar and their 1,000,000-candlepower searchlight to find and illuminate suspect targets. On 1 April 1968, in the same vicinity that CAC 8 was lost, a second P-3B (BuNo 153445) flown by CAC 1 came under fire by a .50 caliber anti-aircraft gun. The P-3B was hit in the starboard wing, knocking out the #4 engine and starting a fire. All attempts to extinguish the flames were unsuccessful. Flying too low to bail out, the crew had to choose between ditching in hostile waters or attempting to make an emergency landing at Phu Quoc airfield less than 20 miles away. Within sight of the runway, and their wing still aflame, CAC 1 prepared to land their stricken aircraft. As the plane banked left onto its final approach, the starboard wing tore off between #3 and #4 engine, and the P-3B tumbled into the sea with no survivors.
The twelve men aboard VP-26's P-3B BuNo 153445 when it went down were
LTJG Stuart M. McLellan, Cleveland, OH, pilot
LTJG Frank E. Hand, Fort Worth, TX, copilot
LTJG Brian J. Mathison, Park Ridge, IL, copilot
LTJG Michael J. Purcell, Shavertown, PA, navigator
AXC Donald E. Kulacz, Chicopee Falls, MA, aircrewman
AT1 Kenneth L. Crist, Cincinnati, OH, aircrewman
AE1 Donald F. Wood, Coloma, MI, aircrewman
AX1 Alvin G. Yoxsimer, Dola, OH, aircrewman
AME2 Donald W. Burnside, Hawley, MN, aircrewman
AO2 William S. Cutting, Lebanon, NH, aircrewman
ADJ2 Edward O. Wynder, Bridgeton, NJ, aircrewman
AX3 Delmar L. Lawrence, Thompson Falls, MT, aircrewman
Although initially classed as "Missing", the twelve men were reclassified as "Missing to Dead - Hostile" in DoD Press Release Number 333-68 issued on 12 April 1968.
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