This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A3C Michael S. Bell (Unit Historian)
to remember
Eaton, Curtis Abbot, Col.
If you knew or served with this Airman and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Col. Curtis Eaton enlisted in the Army on 4 June 1943 at Providence, RI, as a private. He was lost while on a mission over North Vietnam aboard his F-105 *tail number 59-1763). He remains, MIA.
SYNOPSIS::. . .
On 14 August 1966, then Major Curtis A. Eaton departed Takhli Airbase as the #4 aircraft (serial # 59-1763) in a flight of four that was participating in a major afternoon strike package against the Thai Nguyen Petroleum/Oil/Lubricant (POL) storage sites located around the town approximately 30 miles due north of Hanoi. The strike package was comprised of several flights of 4 aircraft each that originated from Korat and Takhli Airbases. Major Eatons flight was the second flight in the strike package.
Once in the target area, each flight leader checked in with the Airborne Battlefield Command and Control (ABCCC) aircraft who provided each flight with current target information. The first flight was directed onto its target at roughly 1500 hours. 20 minutes later Major Eatons flight was cleared in to attack its designated POL site.
As the flight pulled off target, Major Eaton climbed for altitude as he established radio contact with the flight leader reporting he had been hit by anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire and was on fire. Shortly thereafter he radioed again stating he was ejecting from his crippled aircraft. Other flight members noted that the Thunderchief was last seen descending in a gradual right turn. In the chaos of aerial combat, none of the other pilots saw Curtis Eaton eject his aircraft nor did they spot a parachute in the air. Likewise, none of them observed the aircraft impact the ground.
The location of loss was over a forested and populated sector of north-central North Vietnam on the southern edge of rugged mountains with a valley covered in rice fields just to the south. The Song Deo Voi River ran west through the valley just south of where Major Eaton was downed. The location was also 1 mile north of Highway 13A, 22 miles northwest of Thai Nguyen and 47 miles northwest of Hanoi.
A visual and electronic search was immediately coordinated by the ABCCC utilizing aircraft already in the area. However, none of the pilots saw any sign of Major Eaton nor did they hear an emergency beeper emanating from the forest below. Because the area of loss was under total enemy control, no formal search and rescue was undertaken...
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File.
Other Comments:
This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii and Riverside Cemetery, South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island
Description This period was from June 29, 1966-March 8, 1967.
On June 29. 1966. the USAF bombed petroleum storage and distribution facilities for the first time in the immediate vicinity of Hanoi and Haiphong, after political leaders authorized limited and specific strikes within the buffer zones for these cities. Gen. William W. Mornyer replaced General Moore as Seventh Air Force Commander on July 1. The United States expanded the Rotuvo Tttunoca campaign as of July 9 to include petroleum targets in the northeast and rail lines and highways between China and Hlanoi. although the buffer zone on the border limited targets. American aircraft also flew armed reconnaissance over North Vietnam.
On July 30, 1966. the USAF bombed targets in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to counter the build-up of North Vietnamese forces there. By September the U.S. air campaign against North Vietnam had destroyed or damaged two-thirds of the enemy's petroleum storage capacity.
Several thousand trucks and watercraft, hundreds of rail ears and bridges and numerous ammunition and supply storage areas. Beginning on February 14, 1967. USAF aircraft hit additional strategic targets in North Vietnam, knocking out major power plants. and railyard repair facilities. But these results had little effect on the enemy’s ability to carry on the war, because the country possessed only a small industrial base and imported most of its military materiel.
In the face of extensive air attacks. North Vietnam further strengthened its air defenses. By January 1967, the United States had lost 455
aircraft within 2 years. Antiaircraft guns and SAMs accounted for most of the losses, but MiGs continued to challenge U.S. air strikes. On January 2 the Seventh Air Force enticed a large MiG-21 force over North Vietnam into battle against F-4s. The USAF pilots destroyed 7 MiGs within 12 minutes without a loss. Four days later, on January 6. the Seventh destroyed 2 more MiGs. and the North Vietnamese temporarily abandoned aerial combat to regroup and retrain.
In South Vietnam Allied forces continued search and destroy operations. blunting new Viet Cong and North Vietnamese offensives. Between July I4 and August 4, 1966. U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese troops battled North Vietnam Army forces near Quang Tri. 20 miles south of the DMZ. Later. between October I5 and November 26. the Allies engaged in a major battle with Viet Cong and NVA forces northwest of Tay Ninh. near the Cambodian border. 60 miles northwest of Saigon. Enemy resistance was light at first. but on November 4th as ARVN and U.S. troops approached storage areas. the Viet Cong and NVA counterattacked. The Allies responded by airlifting more troops, including elements of the U.S. Army's 1st' 4th, and 25th Infantry Divisions. and the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The USAF provided close air support. and between November 8 and 25. B-52s bombed targets in the area. The Allies drove the enemy from the region temporarily. seizing weapons. ammunition. food. and other supplies that the Communist forces left behind.
The next year. between February and May 1967, U.S. Army units joined ARVN forces to return to Tay Ninh Province. about 50 miles north of Saigon and 15 miles northeast of Tay Ninh. Seventh Air Force C-130s dropped American paratroopers near the Cambodian border to cut off the Viet Cong retreat. The airlifters also flew reinforcements and supplies to the ground troops during this operation. With the help of forward air controllers flying O-1s. Air Force F-100 and F-4 pilots provided close air support. and AC-47 gunship crews illuminated targets and conducted air strikes at night. Again, the enemy withdrew into Canbodia. Leaving behind weapons, supplies. and ammunition.
In the panhandle of Laos, the USAF pounded enemy forces on the l-lo Chi Minh Trail. while in northern Laos U.S. pilots supported Allied forces under attack. By August 1966 Laotian troops fighting Pathet Lao insurgents had advanced. with the aid of U.S. close air support. to Nam Bae. only 45 miles west of the North Vietnamese border and about 55 miles northeast of Luang Prabang, an ancient city on the Mekong River some 130 miles north of Vientiane. The Laotian gains were short lived, however, and by February 2. 1967, the insurgents had regained lost territory and were in a position to attack the airfield at Luang Prabang.
