Beloit’s native son, Vietnam POW shares heart and soul of defending freedom (Ron Mastin)

The engineered violence U.S. Air Force pilots Ron Mastin and Tom Storey felt ejecting from an F-4 Phantom at 500 miles per hour was more shocking than impact of North Vietnamese ordinance that sent their jet crashing to the ground on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

On Mastin’s 34th aerial reconnaissance mission out of Thailand on Jan. 16, 1967, he was to photograph a modest bridge northeast of Hanoi. Their twin-piloted jet was cruising over rough terrain at 1,000 feet when it sustained the lethal blow while crossing over a deep valley.

“All of a sudden we felt a ‘thump, thump.’ Nothing more. I wish I could tell you a good shoot-down story. That’s all it was. We started losing hydraulic pressure. We started losing fuel. We started to get smoke in the cockpit. Before long, the aircraft went into an uncontrolled right turn. We had to punch out.”

Other Publications You Might Be Interested In

Strength from Service – Gary Guggenberger

Staff Sergeant Gary John Guggenberger, United States Army, was held as a Prisoner of War in South Vietnam and Cambodia from January 14, 1969 until his release on February 12, 1973. Gary was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, The Purple Heart, and two Bronze Stars. After his release in

Read More »

Just an American POW

In January of 1964, Captain Harlan Chapman reported to Marine Fighter Squadron 212 based at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii.  In 1965, his Squadron deployed with Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard the USS ORISKANY (CVA 34) for combat operations from the South China Sea.  Harlan flew his first combat

Read More »