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LTC (ret., presumably) Bob Pardo, a Silver-star winning Phantom pilot who might be described at “unconventional”, died December 5.<\/p>\n
On March 10, 1967, Pardo and weapons officer 1st Lt. Steve Wayne were on a bombing run against an enemy steel mill north of Hanoi in North Vietnam territory in an F-4C Phantom.<\/p>\n
The pair were flying alongside Capt. Earl Aman and 1st Lt. Robert Houghton.<\/p>\n
During the mission, ground fire damaged both Pardo\u2019s and Aman\u2019s aircraft, and both quickly lost fuel.<\/p>\n
Without enough fuel to return to base, Pardo had to react quickly.<\/p>\n
“I knew if I didn\u2019t do anything, they would have to eject over North Vietnam into enemy territory, and that would have resulted in their capture for sure,” Pardo told the Veterans in Blue, an Air Force public affairs agency.<\/p>\n
“At that time, if you were captured by civilians, you were probably going to be murdered on the spot.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ever had to push a car when it runs out of gas? Or try to coast it to the station down the hills with the engine off so you would only use fuel when it was needed on the upslope? Imagine….how do you push a fighter – in flight?<\/p>\n
Pardo, acting quickly, positioned the plane to push the nose of the aircraft against the second plane’s tailhook, a retractable hook on the underside of the plane used to assist in landing.<\/p>\n
Veterans in Blue said Pardo successfully decreased the rate of descent of the second jet by 1,500 feet per minute, making it back over the border to South Vietnam.<\/p>\n
According to the Air Force, all four airmen were able to eject and lived to tell the tale.<\/p>\n
Pardo was reprimanded for his actions due to the damage caused to his plane by the maneuver.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ain’t that the way? Save two flyers’ lives, and get chewed out by a chairborne ranger. Note, they were bitching about airframe damage to a plane that had already crashed… <\/em>bet those AF guys were happy that when they flew into the Danger Zone their planes were also set up for some Top Gun action.
\n<\/em><\/p>\nPresumably someone saner got involved and Pardo was decorated, as he should have been. He went on to fly 132 missions.<\/p>\n
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