On Aug. 1, 1966, the Starfighter saw some of its worst losses in the Vietnam War, with a pair of 435th Fighter Squadron F-104Cs being lost to North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles on that fateful day
The USAF’s air war in Vietnam is most often remembered, on the fixed-wing side, for the endless missions flown by Air Force F-105s and F-4 Phantoms. Yet during Operation Rolling Thunder, another aircraft type also served there—one whose combat record over Vietnam has been largely overlooked. Flying what was essentially an “orphan” aircraft, F-104 Starfighter pilots in Vietnam carried out a range of missions, but their efforts were heavily eclipsed by the Air Force’s far more numerous Thuds and Phantoms.
The Starfighter’s USAF career was, in many ways, an uneven one. It was first sent to Taiwan during the 1958 Quemoy and Matsu crisis as a strong deterrent against China, and its presence may well have helped keep the conflict from spreading to Taiwan itself. In Air Defense Command service, the aircraft was used as a high-speed interceptor, but because it did not integrate well with ADC’s SAGE network, it was transferred to the Air National Guard. Then, when the Guard was mobilized during the 1961 Berlin Crisis, Starfighter units were sent to Europe and once again brought back under the Active-Duty Air Force. The aircraft was also deployed to Key West during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, where it likely would have figured prominently in any aerial fighting. In addition, Tactical Air Command fielded an upgraded, aerial-refueling-capable model, the F-104C, and that version ultimately marked the final chapter of the Starfighter’s Active-Duty Air Force service.
The F-104C was sent to Vietnam in 1965 and first operated out of Da Nang. Its main role was to provide “Big Eye” escort for EC-121 Constellation airborne early warning aircraft flying off the coast of North Vietnam. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, crews flying the Connie had discovered an effective way to extend radar coverage: by staying low over the water, they could bounce radar signals off the sea surface and see much farther into enemy airspace than they could from higher altitude. Because these missions required the EC-121s to fly fairly near the North Vietnamese coastline, Starfighters were routinely assigned to protect them.
Starfighters were employed in ground-attack missions as well, but their limited weapons load made them poorly suited for close air support. In the fighter role, however, the F-104 was regarded as a formidable aircraft. Even so, the USAF seldom made use of its under-fuselage Sidewinder launch rails, usually opting instead for wingtip-mounted Sidewinders with wing tanks, or a cleaner configuration with tip tanks while depending primarily on the aircraft’s 20 mm Vulcan cannon for firepower.
As the Starfighter began to be phased out, another role was added to its duties: Iron Hand escort. Thanks to its high performance, the aircraft was well-suited to accompany F-105F Wild Weasels, and it started flying these missions in the second half of 1966. During one such operation on Aug. 1, 1966, the type suffered some of its heaviest losses of the Vietnam War, when two F-104Cs from the 435th Fighter Squadron were shot down by North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles.
The first aircraft lost was piloted by Captain John Charles Kwortnik (an F-104C 56-0928) during an Iron Hand escort mission supporting a strike on the Thai Nguyen Steel Works. The account below is drawn from the book Vietnam Air Losses, a comprehensive record of U.S. fixed-wing aircraft losses during the conflict.
A formation of four Starfighters was circling near a SAM site about 30 miles northwest of Thai Nguyen at 4,000 feet while an Iron Hand flight carried out an attack. During the action, a surface-to-air missile was fired, and Captain Kwortnik’s aircraft was observed taking a direct hit. The jet immediately caught fire and disintegrated. Although a parachute was reportedly seen, heavy ground fire prevented any closer investigation. If Captain Kwortnik did manage to eject safely, he ultimately did not survive, as he never appeared in the North Vietnamese POW system, despite reports that a Hanoi newspaper claimed a pilot had been captured on that date. (Vietnam Air Losses, p. 69.)
“One of those 104s may have been Kwortnik’s bird. I was in the pop at the steel mill and saw a 104; I imagine it was him right in front of me. All I saw was his boom and tips outside of the blast. Ron Johnson was in the Iron Hand flight he was escorting.”
“I reported that I doubted he survived.”
A few hours later, the 435th lost another pilot, its operations officer, Lt. Col. Finney. He was flying F-104C 57-0925, which carried the nose art Smoke II. His entry in Vietnam War Losses reads:
As the Wild Weasels and their Starfighter escorts flew about 10 miles southwest of the city, one of the Starfighters suddenly erupted in flames. It was believed the aircraft had fallen victim to another SA-2 surface-to-air missile, and, like Capt. Kwortnik earlier that day, Lt. Col. Finney was initially listed as missing before his status was later changed to killed in action. (Vietnam Air Losses, p. 69.)
Kwortnik had limited experience with the aircraft, having previously flown the Lockheed C-140 JetStar. Finney, by contrast, was a more seasoned fighter pilot who had completed 100 missions in the F-86 Sabre during the Korean War. Still, both men were fairly new to the Starfighter community. The aircraft placed heavy demands on its pilots. Yet, the Air Force’s bureaucratic system at the time created the unusual situation in which Lockheed C-130 pilots were converted to the Starfighter and sent into combat over Vietnam just a day after arriving in theater.
Tragically, one of Finney’s colleagues later recounted the story of his departure on that final deployment. On a tribute page for Lt. Col. Finney, USAF veteran Mike Monti, who had served under him, shared the following moving account.
“My memory of Col. Finney. When we were leaving George AFB… the planes and a select group of pilots had to fly them over to Thailand. The rest of us were to go in C-141s, and some of us went early, but the majority of us went after the F-104s departed. I can still see Colonel Finney’s son…probably around 6 or 7 years old…saluting his dad before his dad left…to never return! The son had a little uniform complete with a flight cap, and that picture… along with that of “John John” saluting good-bye to JFK will forever be engraved in my mind!”
Check out William Cobb’s Pensacola Aerospace Museum Facebook page for further aviation photos and stories.
Photos by U.S. Air Force
