Roger Locher Roger Clinton Locher ( born September 13 , 1946 ) is a former F - 4D Phantom weapons officer and pilot who during the Vietnam War and Operation Linebacker was shot down only from Hanoi , North Vietnam . The 23 days Locher spent behind enemy lines evading capture was a record for downed airmen during the war . USAF General Vogt " shut down the war " and sent 119 aircraft to recover him . His rescue was the deepest inside North Vietnam during the entire War . When his aircraft was shot down by a Shenyang J - 6 on May 10 , 1972 , he was on his third combat tour and had over 407 combat missions . He was one of the leading MIG killers in Vietnam with three kills . No one saw him eject or his parachute open , and it was unknown whether he had died or been captured . Over the next two weeks , U . S . air crews in the area tried to raise him on the radio without success . The North Vietnamese did not add his name to the roster of captured airmen , which gave the Americans some hope . Traveling only at dusk and dawn , over three weeks Locher traveled about , evading farmers and living off the land . On June 1 , Locher was finally able to successfully contact a flight of F - 4 aircraft overhead . General John Vogt , commanding general of the Seventh Air Force , committed to rescue him and canceled the scheduled attack on Hanoi , diverting all of the available aircraft to assist in his rescue . Despite the proximity of the Yên Bái MiG airfield only away and its well - developed anti - aircraft defenses , there were no losses during his rescue . Recruitment and training . Locher attended Kansas State University , where he participated in ROTC , and then joined the Air Force in 1969 . He completed navigator training and was assigned to the F - 4 Phantom II . He received transition training at Davis – Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona , and was then sent to the " Triple Nickel " 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron , 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , Udorn , Thailand . MiGCAP patrol . On February 21 , 1972 , Locher took part in the first U . S . Air Force aerial victory in four years at night over northeast Laos , about southwest of Hanoi . Maj . Robert A . Lodge was pilot and Locher was the weapon systems officer in an F - 4D flying combat air patrol to interdict North Vietnamese MiGs ( MIGCAP ) . The two men were the most experienced crew in Southeast Asia . " Red Crown " , the call sign for the radar - equipped USS Long Beach stationed in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin , " called out bandits ( MIGs ) at our 060° position and proceeded to vector us on an intercept , ” recalls Maj . Lodge . During the air battle , they shot down a MiG - 21 . Operation Linebacker . On May 10 , 1972 , the first major day of air combat in Operation Linebacker , Locher ' s group was one of two flights of the F - 4D MiGCap for the morning strike force . Oyster Flight , composed of four F - 4s from the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron , had three of its Phantoms equipped with the top secret Combat Tree IFF interrogators . The APX - 80 electronic set could read the IFF signals of the transponders built into the MiGs so that North Vietnamese radar would not shoot down their own aircraft . Displayed on a scope in the WSO ' s cockpit , Combat Tree gave the Phantoms the ability to identify and locate MiGs when they were still beyond visual range . On May 8 , 1972 , Major Robert Lodge and Captain Locher responded to a request for assistance from " Red Crown " from fighters who were engaging MiGs near Yên Bái . Their element leader was Stephen Ritchie and Charles B . DeBellevue in Oyster 03 . They scored their third MiG kill , placing them in the lead of all USAF crews then flying in Southeast Asia . Two days later , on May 10 , at 9 : 23 a . m . , Oyster Flight was warned by EC - 121 " Disco " over Laos , and then by the US Navy radar picket ship " Red Crown " , of four MiGs headed towards them . These were from the 921st Fighter Wing . Four J - 9s were also flying CAP to protect the Thac Ba hydroelectric power station . The Americans engaged an equal number of MiG - 21s head - on , scattering them . Lodge and Locher identified two hostile contacts miles south of Yên Bái . They attacked in a modified fluid - four formation and accelerated to 1 . 4 mach . At 9 : 48 they fired two AIM - 7 missiles , and the second destroyed one of the MiGs . Oyster Flight shot down two more MiGs . The second MIG - 21 was downed by Lodge ’ s wingman , 1st Lt . John D . Markle , and his WSO , Capt . Stephen D . Eaves . A few minutes later Capt . Richard S . “ Steve ” Ritchie and Capt . Charles B . DeBellevue , his weapon systems officer , shot down a third MiG . Lodge and Locher nearly got the fourth MiG - 21 , but fell victim to a MiG tactic dubbed " Kuban tactics " after those of the Soviet WWII ace Alexander Pokryshkin , in which a GCI - controlled flight of four Shenyang J - 6 s were launched after the MiG - 21s so that they could be steered behind the American fighters maneuvering to attack the MiG - 21s . Pilot Nguyen Manh Tung of No . 2 Flight came up from below in his J - 6 and hit Lodge and Locher ' s F - 4D Phantom , serial 65 - 0784 , with his three large , 30 - mm cannons as they were lining up a second shot on another MiG - 21 . Ejection and evasion . Lodge reported later that the aircraft went into a kind of right slice . He noted that the right engine ' s RPM was at zero and the left was decreasing towards idle . It looked to him that the right engine had exploded . Lodge and his WSO discussed their options . They saw that the hydraulic pressure was low and falling . When Lodge tried the autopilot , it didn ' t respond . The rear of the jet was on fire , and as the plane yawed the slipstream pushed the flames up over Locher ' s canopy . Locher later recalled , " We immediately went out of control , flopping from side to side . Then fire started coming in the back of the cockpit . It seared my canopy with bubbles and I couldn ' t see out any more . The airplane slowed down and was approaching a flat spin . " Passing through 8000 MSL , Locher told Lodge that it was getting too hot and he ' d better get out . Lodge looked over his right shoulder at Locher and said , " Well , why don ' t you eject then ? " Lodge had about three weeks previously told fellow squadron members , as he had done several times before , that he would not allow himself to be captured because of his extensive knowledge of classified and sensitive information . Locher successfully ejected at about but because the remaining planes were busy with the other MiGs , and due to smoke , no one saw his parachute canopy . Two Mig 19s ( quite likely the ones that had just shot them down ) buzzed Locher as he descended , so he knew the enemy was aware he had survived . He estimated it took about 30 seconds for the jet to impact the ground , but never saw Lodge ' s chute . Locher was afraid to use his URC - 64 rescue radio as he parachuted because it was difficult to remove from the zippered pocket of his survival vest and he was not sure he could get it back in . He figured out his rough location and managed to steer his chute about away from the plane burning below him and towards a nearby mountain side . After he landed , he couldn ' t hide his parachute because it was stuck in the trees overhead . He removed a couple of essential items from his survival pack and left the remainder behind . His survival vest contained a pistol , two pints of water , a first aid kit , insect repellent , mosquito netting , and a knife . He knew from prior briefings that he could not expect SAR this deep in North Vietnam , north of the Red River . Once on the ground and under the trees , he could not hear any jets overhead . He also knew his radio could not penetrate the dense jungle canopy overhead . Locher listened to hear if a search party was looking for him . He camouflaged his trail for about and then climbed the eastern side of the mountain to its peak . He got his bearings and then hid in bushes on the west slope . For three days , Locher listened as a search party of local farmers beat the bushes up and down the east side of the mountain , searching for him . He hid in a brush pile and at one point over the next three days , a boy came within of his hiding place . In the evening he returned to the peak . On the second day he picked up radio traffic from American aircraft almost to his south , but they did not hear his radio beeper or voice . He decided his best chance for rescue was to cross the forested , hilly terrain and get to the heavily cultivated Red River Valley , swim the river , and work his way to the sparsely inhabited mountains to the south . He figured it would take him 45 days . He traveled only at first light and at dusk , avoiding the local farmers , and living off the land . He was able to find plenty of water but only occasionally fruit and berries to eat . He evaded capture and covered over , gradually losing and his strength . On the 10th day he came within of being discovered . Following a well - used trail early one morning , he suddenly had to evade local farmers . He hid in a nearby field where there was little concealment , but pulled leaves and debris over himself . He lay there all day as children from a village he discovered a short distance away played in his vicinity . At one point a water buffalo nearly stepped on him , and a boy came to fetch the animal , only a few feet from Locher . That evening he spotted a hill near the village alongside the Red River , the last hill before the wide open fields of the Red River basin . He was about from Yên Bái Airfield . He hid on the hill for the next 13 days and watched for American aircraft . On June 1 , 1972 , he was finally able to contact a flight of American jets overhead , calling , " Any U . S . aircraft , if you read Oyster 1 Bravo , come up on Guard " . R . Stephen Ritchie , in one of the F - 4 aircraft overhead and who had witnessed Locher ' s jet fall out of the sky , remembered Locher ' s call sign and answered his call . Locher calmly responded , " Guys I ' ve been down here a long time , any chance of picking me up ? " Ritchie replied , " You bet ! " Locher ' s transmissions left some Americans who did not hear his call in doubt about the authenticity of his message , and they believed that the NVA may have manipulated a POW into impersonating him , setting a trap for the would - be rescuers . Search and rescue . A SAR mission of several A - 1E and two HH - 53 with F - 4 and F - 105 fighters providing air protection was launched that same day but was driven off by heavy anti - aircraft fire and MiGs . The A - 1 Skyraider and HH - 53C pilots came under attack from a MiG but eluded the enemy fighter in a narrow canyon . The rescue force then dodged missiles , another MiG and gunfire , but failed to get through to Locher that day . On June 2 , 1972 , General John Vogt , commander of the 7th Air Force , consulted with Army MACV commander General Frederick C . Weyand . Vogt canceled the entire strike mission set for Hanoi that day . He dedicated all the available resources , over 150 aircraft , to rescuing Locher . The direct task force of 119 aircraft included two HH - 53 rescue helicopters , bombers , and an array of F - 4 escorts , EB - 66 s , A - 1Es , F105G Weasels , and KC135 tankers . Vogt said , The Yên Bái MiG airfield , about northwest of Hanoi , was one of the most important and well - defended Vietnamese People ' s Air Force airbases in North Vietnam . The aircraft bombed and strafed around Yên Bái airfield for two hours , reducing enemy opposition so that the helicopters could get in . Fortunately for the Americans , during the second half of May 1972 their increasingly fierce attacks on Yen Bai had forced elements of the VPAF 925th Fighter Regiment to relocate to Gia Lam Airfield . Capt . Ronald E . Smith in an A - 1E guided Capt . Dale Stovall , piloting a HH - 53 from the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron , to Locher ' s position . Only when Locher rose out of the jungle canopy riding the jungle penetrator were all of the Americans sure it was him . Despite their proximity to Yen Bai airfield , no aircraft were lost during Locher ' s rescue . " We shut down the war to go get Roger Locher , " Stovall later said . Locher was flown back to Udorn . The first person to greet him was General Vogt , who had flown up from Saigon in a T - 39 . Capt . Locher had successfully evaded capture for 23 days , a record for the Vietnam War . The evening of his return , he was greeted at the Officers Club by hundreds of individuals with an ovation lasting 20 minutes . Recognition . Capt . Stovall had twice flown his HH - 53 Jolly Green Giant helicopter further into North Vietnam than had ever been done before . For their efforts in rescuing Locher , both Capt . Ronald Smith and Stovall were awarded the Air Force Cross . Stovall ' s citation described how " he willingly returned to this high threat area , braving intense ground fire , to recover the downed airman from deep in North Vietnam . " . Stovall was also recognized with the 1973 Jabara Award for Airmanship . Post war . After Roger returned to the States , he attended pilot training and was assigned to the Phantom — this time in the front seat . Roger flew the F - 4 in New Mexico , Alaska , and Florida before transitioning to the F - 16 and serving in instructor and flight commander positions . He later played a key role in the early days of the super - secret " black program " that produced the Lockheed F - 117 Nighthawk stealth fighter . He retired in Sabetha , Kansas , where he resided as of April , 2010 . In popular culture . The TV series Dogfights on the History Channel depicted the dogfight of May 10 , 1972 in Season 2 , Episode 10 , " The Bloodiest Day " shown on December 3 , 2007 .