They started back towards friendly lines, but were spotted and had to fight a running gun battle down the river. The two commandos nearly ran into enemy troops multiple times despite the dark, but managed to get their hands on Hambleton, weak and confused from his ordeal in the jungle. The two men stole a sampan from a bombed-out village, disguised themselves as fisherman, and started making their way back upriver during the night of April 13. So, Norris asked for volunteers to make another, even deeper penetration into NVA territory. and Vietnamese commandos during the rescue of Air Force Lt. Viet Cong irregulars move through a river in shallow boats like the one used by U.S. Tom Norris, led the mission alongside a Vietnamese Sea Commando team with its own lieutenant team leader. The theater commander forbid more helicopter extractions and the SEALs were ordered up.Ī U.S. Seven more aircraft were lost, 14 Americans were killed, two were captured, and a new aviator was missing behind enemy lines. Then, multiple rescue attempts went sideways in the first week. Iceal Hambleton was forced to eject over Vietnam on April 2, 1972, triggering a mad dash by the U.S. While the rescue was widely popularized in a movie and book, both named Bat 21, the stories told were written before the events were declassified, so they were highly fictionalized to ensure that no sensitive information was inadvertently released.īut the true story is more amazing. Numerous attempts to destroy North Vietnamese resistance from the air and rescue the downed aviators by helicopter failed, causing 14 American deaths and additional casualties before air rescue was outlawed for the men.
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