Dec 19th 1972. "Ivory One" took a SAM in the left wing departing Hanoi air-space and limped to Nam Phong, losing rudder-control on approach. Just after midnight on the 20th, Major John Dalton managed to land her, and she sat on the closed runway for 4 hours while the Marines tried in vain to find something to tow her with (notice there are no wheels on the nose strut). At about 0330, Maj Dalton finally fired up the engines and using thrust alone forced her off the runway, opening the field for the next day's sorties. Within a couple days she was patched up enough to fly to Guam for repairs.
Also notice the USMC "EGA" painted on the nose, claiming her as our own.
Alas, the Pentagon made us give her back to the Air Force.
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