McDonnell F-4 Phantom II

Mainstay of she U.S. forces in the air war over the Indo-China Peninsula, the McDonnell Phantom first went into combat on 5 August 1964 when F-4P>s of Fighting Squadrons 142 and 143 (VF-142 "Ghost Riders" and VF-163 "Pukin Dogs"), operating off the U.S.S. Constel­lation (CVA-64) in the Gulf of Tonkin, escorted attack aircraft striking motor torpedo boats and their supporting facilities at five locations along the coast of North Vietnam. Initial sorties encountered little resistance in the air and the first U.S. victories in air combat over Vietnam were recorded more than ten months later when Cdr. L. C. Page and Lt. J. E. D. Batson flying F-4Bs of VF-21 "Free Lancers" intercepted four MiG-17s, and each shot down one...