|
|
|
Name: Ronald Wayne Dodge Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy Unit: Date of Birth: 17 June 1936 Home City of Record: San Diego CA Date of Loss: 17 May 1967 Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 184759N 1052358E (WF419795) Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War Category: 1 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project. REMARKS: Remains Returned July 8, 1981
SYNOPSIS: The Vought F8 "Crusader" saw action early in U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Its fighter models participated both in the first Gulf of Tonkin reprisal in August 1964 and in the myriad attacks against North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder. The Crusader was used exclusively by the Navy and Marine air wings (although there is one U.S. Air Force pilot reported shot down on an F8) and represented half or more of the carrier fighters in the Gulf of Tonkin during the first four years of the war. The aircraft was credited with nearly 53% of MiG kills in Vietnam. The most frequently used fighter versions of the Crusader in Vietnam were the C, D, and E models although the H and J were also used. The Charlie carried only Sidewinders on fuselage racks, and were assigned such missions as CAP (Combat Air Patrol), flying at higher altitudes. The Echo model had a heavier reinforced wing able to carry extra Sidewinders or bombs, and were used to attack ground targets, giving it increased vulnerability. The Echo version launched with less fuel, to accommodate the larger bomb store, and frequently arrived back at ship low on fuel. The RF models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The combat attrition rate of the Crusader was comparable to similar fighters. Between 1964 to 1972, eighty-three Crusaders were either lost or destroyed by enemy fire. Another 109 required major rebuilding. 145 Crusader pilots were recovered; 57 were not. Twenty of these pilots were captured and released. The other 43 remained missing at the end of the war. Lt. Ronald W. Dodge was the pilot of an F8E assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam on May 17, 1967. When Dodge was about 20 miles northwest of the city of Vinh in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, his aircraft was shot down. Safely on the ground, Dodge talked with his wingman on the radio and waved him off. He discussed moving up the hill. During this period, he made three radio transmissions, one of them reporting being surrounded by North Vietnamese forces and saying, "I'm breaking up my radio." One pilot, Mdcleary, saw Dodge being captured. For the next years, Dodge's wife, Jan, was tortured by photos which appeared on the cover of the September 9, 1967, Paris Match, and in a propaganda film made by East Germany called, "Pilots in Pajamas." In the Paris Match photo, Dodge's head was bandaged, but in the German film, he was walking on his own power between guards. Jan Dodge had little idea of the torture that Ron Dodge was enduring in the hands of the Vietnamese. It is the general feeling among returned POWs that Ron Dodge was tortured to the point of death. When 591 American prisoners were released in 1973, Ron Dodge was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him, in spite of the widely-published photographs of Ron Dodge in captivity. Then, in 1981, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of Ron Dodge to U.S. control. It is comforting for each family to receive, after years and years of grief and wonder, the remains of their loved ones. However, it is tragic to receive the remains of persons such as Ron Dodge and others who were known to have been POWs when the Vietnamese continually denied knowledge of them. The U.S. points to such returns of remains as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, when actually, we are subjugating our honor to our long-ago enemy, and gratefully accepting the "gift" of remains which should have been returned decades ago. We have allowed the Vietnamese to use the remains as political leverage. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities who have examined this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive today. In light of this information, it is doubly questionable that the U.S. is pursuing an honorable solution of the POW/MIA issue. Dieter Dengler resides in California.