Roger Locher Describes Shooting Down a MiG, Getting Shot Down by a MiG-19, Ejecting & Evading Capture on the Ground in North Vietnam for 23 Days

USAF F-4 WSO Captain Roger Locher of the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron describes the mission on May 10, 1972, when he and Maj. Robert A. Lodge in Oyster 1 attacked four MiG-21s, shot down one of them with an AIM-7 using a head on attack and were immediately thereafter shot down by a MiG-19 they never saw until it was too late.  The stricken F-4D immediately went out of control and was on fire.  With the airplane in an inverted descent below 9,000 feet Roger said to Bob that he was going to eject.  Major Lodge said “why don’t you eject then.”  Roger ejected, but he never saw Bob’s chute or what happened to him.  Robert Lodge was later declared Killed in Action.

When I was stationed at Kunsan Air Base, Korea, in 1973 I read the Intel debriefing report Roger gave after he returned to Udorn.  I remember Roger said that before their 10 May 72 mission Bob Lodge told Rodger he would never be a prisoner of war and that Roger speculated that Bob decided to stay with the F-4 rather then eject because of his mindset.

In most of the two part 45 minute audio report Roger Locher describes in detail what happened, his escape and evasion plan and how he successfully evaded the North Vietnam for 23 days.  Before his mission the Intel briefing said that if you got shot down east of  a certain distance from Hanoi you would be a POW because the powers that be decided that search and rescue missions too close to Hanoi were too dangerous for the rescue forces.

When Roger made his first radio contact with US forces 22 days after being shot down the USAF tried to rescue him that day, but the ground fire was too heavy.  The next day USAF General Vogt cancelled the bombing mission scheduled for North Vietnam and sent the entire strike force and supporting aircraft (119 total aircraft) to rescue Roger Locher. It was the deepest rescue made inside North Vietnam during the entire war.

I don’t know when Roger made the tape, but it sounds like it may have been made shortly after his rescue to other aircrews at Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, with the purpose of helping them in case they were shot down.

The audio is in two parts:

• Roger Locher audio part 1.

• Roger Locher audio part 2.

To learn more about Roger Locher and his 10 May 72 mission and rescue 23 days later 60 miles northwest of Hanoi five miles south of Yen Bai Airfield, North Vietnam, read his story on Wikipedia.

Read “Valor: A Good Thought to Sleep On” about Roger Locher.

Watch the two videos Sgt. Joey Hill made about Robert Lodge and Roger Locher at ” Sgt. Joey Hill, the Crew Chief of F-4D 650784 & His 2 Fabulous Videos of Robert Lodge & Roger Locher.”  Joey Hill’s two videos contain his personal photos and the audios of the mission tapes Lodge and Locher made of their missions over North Vietnam during which they shot down their first and second MiGs.  Lodge and Locher gave their crew chief, Sgt. Joey Hill, copies of the audio cassette tapes they made of the two missions.

After you listen to Roger describing his 23 day ordeal, you must watch and listen to the video of General Steve Ritchie describing hearing Roger’s first radio call for help on day 23 and the incredible rescue mission that successfully returned Roger to his comrades and freedom.  Steve Richie is the only USAF pilot ace of the Vietnam War.  He was in Oyster flight the day Oyster 1 was shot down.  Listen carefully to the end of Ritchie’s speech when he talks about Americans who risk it all to save one man’s life and freedom.

This nine minute video by General  Ritchie describes in detail his memories of the day Roger Locher and Bob Lodge were shot down and Roger’s rescue 23 days later.  It is a great speech.  I recommend you watch the entire video.

I also recommend Steve Ritchie’s paper entitled “Leadership that Inspires Excellence,” about Roger Locher, his rescue and leadership.  He wrote the paper when he attended the Air War College.