A Tale of Two Aviators: Oyster 1 Bravo
Published by
Sean Mobley
on
Museum of Flight Docent Jerry Coy returns to The Flight Deck to share a story of survival behind enemy lines. When Captain Roger Locher’s McDonnell F-4 Phantom was hit by fire from a Vietnamese MiG-21, he safely bailed out…only to realize he was months away by foot from safety, and was deep in Communist territory, making an air rescue extremely dangerous. In order to extract him, the Air Force would have to essentially “pause” the war. Today’s episode details Locher’s saga deep in the northern reaches of Vietnam.
Thank you to our donors, who are keeping this podcast going as the Museum remains closed due to the COVID-19 epidemic. If you wish to support the podcast and the Museum financially you can do so at this link.
This episode is one part of a two-episode collection titled “A Tale of Two Aviators,” telling the story of two US aviators who served in Vietnam who were both shot down over the course of their service. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast to catch the next episode in this duology, coming up soon.
On your next visit to the Museum, visit our exhibit, “Vietnam Divided: War Above Southeast Asia” to see several artifacts like those referenced in this story, including an F-4 Phantom and a Tree Penetration Device. As the Museum remains closed at the time of this recording, you can also explore many Vietnam-era artifacts in our digital collections, which you can find here.
If you or someone you know are interested in adding your own story to our collection by donating artifacts related to the Vietnam War or that era in aviation, you can learn more about the artifact donation process here.
Jerry Coy, today’s storyteller, has been on the podcast before. You can hear a little about his Vietnam War experience in this minisode, and if you’re interested in the big planes you can also check out this episode, where Jerry talks about his post-military career as a pilot of the Boeing 747.
During this unprecedented time, The Museum of Flight has been working hard to bring our collection to you through the help of virtual experiences and online activities for students and families. Explore our all-new Museum of Flight at Home feature which provides 3D tours of our aircraft, educational recourses, podcasts, videos and so much more!
Museum of Flight at Home: https://pages.museumofflight.org/museum-at-home
Credits
Producer: Sean Mobley
Webmaster: Layne Benofsky
Social Media Specialist: Tori Hunt