Two A-1 Sandy Pilots Remember the Mu Gia Pass & Rescuing Downed Pilots

Jim George and James “Jink” Bender talk about the A-1 Skyraider and its role in the Secret War in South East Asia, and the slow, vulnerable Korean War vintage, propeller-driven fighter-bombers they flew on Combat Search And Rescue missions.

SAR missions (Callsign “Sandy”) A-1 Skyraiders were tasked with locating and protecting any pilot who was downed by hostile ground fire, while leading and directing the entire rescue effort.

ON December 5, 6, and 7, 1969 a massive 3-day rescue effort was conducted for the 2-Man crew of anF-4C Phantom (Callsign Boxer 22) shot down in Mu Gia Pass,“The Deadliest Air Space in History of Air Warfare.”