The Vought F8 "Crusader" saw action early in U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Its fighter models participated both in the first Gulf of Tonkin reprisal in August 1964 and in the myriad attacks against North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder. The Crusader was used exclusively by the Navy and Marine air wings (although there is one U.S. Air Force pilot
reportedly shot down
in an F8) and represented half or more of the carrier fighters in the Gulf of Tonkin during the first four years of the war. The aircraft was credited with nearly 53% of
all the MiG kills in Vietnam.
The most frequently used fighter versions of the Crusader in Vietnam were the C, D, and E models although the H and J were also used. The Charlie
version carried only Sidewinders on the fuselage racks, and were assigned such missions as CAP (Combat Air Patrol), flying at higher altitudes. The Echo model had a heavier reinforced wing able to carry extra Sidewinders or bombs, and were used to attack ground targets, giving it increased vulnerability. The Echo version launched with less fuel, to accommodate the larger bomb store, and frequently arrived back at ship low on fuel. The
RF-A models,
such as the one Darl flew, were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational equipment.
The combat attrition rate of the Crusader was comparable to similar fighters. Between 1964 to 1972, eighty-three Crusaders were either lost or destroyed by enemy fire. Another 109 required major rebuilding. 145 Crusader pilots were recovered; 57 were not. Twenty of these pilots were captured and released. The other 43 remained missing at the end of the war. In addition, there were 16 pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16, seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).
Capt. Darl R. Bloom was the pilot of an RF8A conducting a flight near Da
Nang, South Vietnam when his aircraft collided with another. No parachute was seen, and it was presumed that Capt. Bloom went down with his aircraft. It was felt that there was little or no hope that he survived, and he was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. Capt. Bloom’s loss is classified as non-combat.
Bloom is listed among the missing because his remains were never located to return home. He is among over 2300 still prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities who have examined this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive today. Fighter pilots in Vietnam were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and were prepared to be wounded, killed, or captured. It probably never occurred to them that some of them could be abandoned by the country they
so proudly served.
Incidental Information
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