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Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Fullerton, Frank Eugene, CDR.
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On 27 July 1968, then Lt. Cmdr. Frank E. Fullerton was the pilot of an A4F Skyhawk (serial# 154182) that launched from the deck of the USS Bon Homme Richard as the flight leader in a flight of two on a night road reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. As the flight crossed the coastline, Lt. Cmdr. Fullerton placed his wingman in a one to two mile trail position and 2000 feet above himself. Three to four minutes after crossing the coastline the flight leader spotted a series of lights on the ground and assessed them to be trucks traveling south along a primary north-south road used by the North Vietnamese to transport men and material through the Mu Gia Pass and onto the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail.
At 0400 hours, he radioed his wingman reporting multiple moving targets and stating that he was going to make a bomb run on them. The wingman saw two bombs detonate on the ground, then observed an orange-red fireball close to the bomb hits, which he believed was a secondary explosion. Further, the second explosion threw burning debris high into the air. After the wingman made his bomb run on the target, he made his first radio call to Lt. Cmdr. Fullerton in order to form-up on his flight leader. When no contact could be established, the wingman radioed the onsite command and control aircraft to assist him in making contact with Lt. Cmdr. Fullerton. The command aircraft was not able to make voice contact either. However, while it was orbiting some 12 miles north of the target area, its crew received an "IFF radio mode III squawk" that the crew believed was a signal from Lt. Cmdr. Fullerton. The radar return faded at 20 miles before a positive identification could be made. Search and rescue (SAR) efforts were immediately initiated, but none of the aircraft participating in the search could find any trace of the downed pilot. At the time the formal search effort was terminated, Frank Fullerton was listed Missing in Action.
The area of loss was located in the forested mountains approximately 4 miles northeast of a single-track railroad line that generally ran from the northwest to the southeast and curving through the mountains from Vinh to Dong Hoi. The primary road intersected the railroad line 4 miles northeast of the loss location as well as being approximately 17 miles south of the major hub city of Ha Kinh, 29 miles north-northeast of the Mu Gia Pass, 44 miles south of Vinh and 62 miles northwest of Dong Hoi, Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam.
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase V Campaign (68)
From Month/Year
July / 1968
To Month/Year
November / 1968
Description This campaign was from 1 July to 1 November 1968. During this period a country-wide effort was begun to restore government control of territory lost to the enemy since the Tet offensive. The enemy attempted another such offensive on 17-18 August but his efforts were comparatively feeble and were quickly overwhelmed by Allied forces.
In the fall of 1968 the South Vietnamese government, with major U.S. support, launched an accelerated pacification campaign. All friendly forces were coordinated and brought to bear on the enemy in every tactical area of operation. In these intensified operations, friendly units first secured a target area, then Vietnamese government units, regional forces/popular forces, police and civil authorities screened the inhabitants, seeking members of the Viet Cong infrastructure. This technique was so successful against the political apparatus that it became the basis for subsequent friendly operations. Government influence expanded into areas of the countryside previously dominated by the Viet Cong to such an extent that two years later at least some measure of government control was evident in all but a few remote regions.
