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On 06 August 1967, then Captain Albert L. Page, Jr., pilot, and Captain Donald R. Kemmerer, co-pilot, comprised the crew of an F4C that departed DaNang Airbase on a morning strike mission over the southern portion of North Vietnam codenamed "Tally Ho." Their aircraft was the lead in a flight of two.
Upon arriving in the target area, Capt. Page established radio contact with the Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center (ABCCC) directing all air operations in the region. After providing the flight with currant mission information, the ABCCC handed the flight over to the on-site Forward Air Controller (FAC) who was responsible for directing their strike mission. Shortly thereafter, the FAC cleared the Phantoms to attack a specific target.
At 0955 hours, the flight made a pass on the enemy target when the lead aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire. The wingman observed one engine on fire as lead pulled off target. As Capt. Page turned the crippled Phantom toward the sea where the crew would have a greater opportunity for rescue, he transmitted they were ejecting. At the time that transmission was made, Lead's position was still near the target area and over land.
By the time the ejection sequence had been completed, the aircraft was over water and it was seen to crash into the Gulf of Tonkin approximately 4 miles northeast of the shoreline, 10 miles north of the city of Vinh Linh, 12 miles north of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separated North and South Vietnam and 30 miles southeast of Dong Hoi, Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam.
In the chaos of battle, no parachutes were seen and no emergency beeper signals heard. Because the location of loss was in close proximity to a heavy concentration of enemy troops on land and sampans in the water, no search and recovery (SAR) operation was possible. At the time the wingman's initial search was terminated, Albert Page and Donald Kemmerer were immediately declared Missing in Action.
This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii with another memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.
