Charles Frederic Klusmann was a Naval Aviator born on September 7, 1933, in San Diego, California. He joined the U.S. Naval Reserve on February 23, 1952, and began active service on March 18, 1953. Lieutenant Chuck is known for his extraordinary heroism and achievement for his role in the aerial fight during the Vietnam War and his escape from a communist prison camp in Laos. During his service, Chuck was deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin, as President Lyndon B. Johnson had ordered Klusmann and other Kitty Hawk aviators to gather intelligence information against the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao troops in Laos.
Stirring Up a Hornet’s Nest of MiGs: Maj. Leo Thorsness and Capt. Harold Johnson
On April 19, 1967, Maj. Leo Thorsness (pilot) and Capt. Harold Johnson (EWO) led a Wild Weasel formation on a mission against the Xuan Mai army barracks about 30 miles southwest of Hanoi. After they silenced one SAM site and destroyed another, enemy anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) shot down the accompanying
