Existing comment:
The Gunfighter:
As the Vietnam War escalated, the air war assumed a greater role in U.S. military strategy. Jet fighter-bombers like the F-4 Phantom provided support for ground operations, interdicted supply routes, and engaged in air-to-air combat with North Vietnamese MiGs. Operating out of South Vietnam, Thailand, and from aircraft carriers in the South China Sea, Phantom squadrons scored 145 kills during the war.
Milwaukee native Lance Sijan graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1965. Assigned to the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing out of Da Nang, Sijan flew 66 missions with "The Gunfighters" as an F-4 weapons system officer.
On Sijan's 67th mission, disaster struck. During a November 9, 1967 bombing run near the Laotian border, defective ordnance caused Sijan's Phantom to explode. He survived a low-level ejection, but suffered a compound leg fracture, skull fracture, concussion, and a smashed hand.
Following an abortive rescue attempt, the gravely injured Sijan evaded capture in the jungle for 46 days. On December 25, 1967, an NVA convoy found Sijan lying in the road. His captors gave him some food and water, but no medical assistance. Determined to escape, Sijan overcame a lone sentry and, unable to walk, crawled into the jungle. The guards recaptured him within 12 hours.
On January 13, 1968, Sijan arrived at Hao Lo Prison -- the "Hanoi Hilton." Though in a rapidly declining state, he refused under torture to give any information except for name, rank, and serial number. When lucid, he encouraged his fellow POWs to develop and escape plan.
Sijan died from pneumonia on January 22, 1968. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to Sijan, citing his "extraordinary heroism and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty." Captain Lance Sijan remains the only Air Force Academy graduate to receive the award. |