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VFP-63 was a Light Photographic Squadron of the U.S. Navy. Originally established as Composite Squadron Sixty-One (VC-61) on 20 January 1949, it was redesignated as Fighter Photographic Squadron (VFP-61) on 2 July 1956.
First loss: C-141A 65-9407 (62d Military Airlift Wing) destroyed in a night runway collision with a USMC A-6 at Danang, SVN on 23 March 1967 killing 5 of the 6 crewmen. Final loss: C-141A 66-0127 (4th Military Airlift Squadron, 62d MAW) crashed soon after take-off from Cam Ranh Bay, SVN on 13 April 1967 killing 6 of the 8-man crew.
The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Michael Scott Speicher, of VFA-81 was killed but his body was not found until July 2009. January 17 – An A-6E Intruder (Bureau Number 161668) was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over western Iraq. The pilot, Lieutenant Robert Wetzel, and Navigator/Bombardier, Lieutenant Jeffrey Norton Zaun, were captured.
Klusmann was a navy lieutenant (O-3) when he was shot down over the Plain of Jars, Laos) on June 6, 1964, flying an RF-8A Crusader aircraft from the VFP-63, USS Kitty Hawk He was the first airman shot down and captured by the Pathet Lao and the first to escape three months later, on August 30.
In total, the U.S. lost 3,374 fixed wing aircraft in combat during the war; in both North and South Vietnam. According to the North Vietnamese, 31% were shot down by S-75 missiles (1,046 aircraft, or 6 missiles per one kill); 60% were shot down by anti-aircraft guns; and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters.
The 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry was based here from February 1968 to December 1969 giving the base its alternative name of Currahee Base Camp. [2]: 159 The 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry was based here from October 1969 to December 1970. [2]: 151 Other U.S. Army units based here included: 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry (May 1969) [2]: 125
The 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment defending the base lost 13 killed while PAVN losses were 157 killed and two captured and 23 individual and 10 crew-served weapons captured. [ 2 ] : 11 At 01:45 on 11 March, a PAVN/VC force assaulted Grant again supported by mortar and rocket fire before breaking contact at 03:30.
A Bell UH-1B Iroquois helicopter gunship #63-08587 was shot down with the loss of four U.S. killed. [3] By 31 October two of the three artillery pieces at the base had been disabled and the artillerymen were fighting as infantry and 1LT Ronald A Ross of 5/22 Artillery was killed by a B-40 rocket . [ 4 ]