On 12 January 1981, the Boricua Popular Army, also known as the Macheteros, a group of home grown Puerto Rican terrorists advocating separation from the United States and establishment of Puerto Rico as an independent nation, infiltrated Muñiz Air National Guard Base. Armed with pipe bombs, they destroyed or damaged eleven PRANG aircraft: ten A-7D Corsair IIs and a single F-104 Starfighter being retained for eventual static display as a memorial. The terrorist attack was the largest on any U.S. Air Force installation since the Vietnam War, although the ongoing hostage situation in Iran at the time overshadowed this incident in the news media. The eleven Air National Guard jets at Muñiz Air National Guard Base were alleged by socialist organizations to be destined for use against popular insurgents in El Salvador. These allegations were never proven and may have been self-serving propaganda.