ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 158712
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| Date: | Friday 7 July 1972 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman A-6A Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VMA(AW)-533 USMC |
| Registration: | 155690 |
| MSN: | I-416 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 5 miles S of Khe Sanh, South Vietnam -
 Vietnam
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RTAFB Nam Phong, Nam Phong district, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
A-6A Intruder BuNo. 155690 of VMA(AW)-533, MAG-15, operating out of Nam Phong. Lost on combat operations July 7 1972 when shot down 5 miles South of Khe Sanh, South Vietnam at approximate Coordinates: 16'37.00"N 106'47.50"E
Both crew - 1st Lt Alan J. Kroboth (pilot) and Capt. Leonard Robertson (bombardier/navigator) - ejected, but 1st Lt Kroboth suffered a broken back and broken neck on ejection. Initially presumed MIA, he was captured, and held for 3 months in the jungle. He was then marched barefooted, at night, amidst U.S. bombing raids, along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the 'Hanoi Hilton', where his fellow prisoners helped stabilize and eventually improve his condition.
On March 27, 1973, Alan J. Kroboth was released from POW camps in Hanoi and repatriated. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Arlington, Virginia, and then was medically retired from the Marine Corps on September 30, 1973. In his debriefing, Kroboth stated that there was no evidence that Robertson had ejected, and the Viet Cong had told him that his pilot was dead. Kroboth never saw him after the crash of the aircraft. The status of Captain Robins was changed from MIA to KIA, body not recovered, with effect from December 8 1978
Sources:
1. A-6 Intruder Units of the Vietnam War by Rick Morgan
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20180422222159/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-6.html
3. http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries19.html
4. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
5. http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/k/k080.htm
6. http://veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1799
7. http://www.virtualwall.org/dr/RobertsonLx01a.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Aug-2013 09:01 | Uli Elch | Added |
| 20-Aug-2013 09:56 | Uli Elch | Updated [Date, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Location, Narrative] |
| 25-Mar-2016 20:24 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Mar-2016 20:26 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Dec-2019 22:03 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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