wrecks from Vietnam

[davidwomacks]

I was looking at loss figures we lost thousands of planes in Vietnam. The jungle must be full of wrecks has anyone went to retrieve and restore any? For example we lost 191 skyraiders and 22 A-26s along with over 400 Phantoms.
Some of these would have to be intact and I think that a few should come home to tell their story and the story of the men who flew them.

[JFS61]

I doubt that many wrecks of any note remain, as the North Vietnamese were masters of recycling spent military equipment and materials to help augment and extend their limited logistical supply base.

[John Dupre]

I saw recently a travelogue someone posted from Vietnam and they had several photos of large jet engines half buried in the bush apparently forgotten or known only to the locals. I could see a small travel business devoted to wreck finding in Vietnam possibly working. I agree with the previous poster that anything readily converted for local uses has probably already been salvaged. But without some intense surveys it is all speculation.

[Rob Mears]

Have all of the Skyraiders, UH-1's, A-37's, etc finally been removed from the old air bases there, or do some still remain? I remember a pretty good haul of A-37's making it into Australia in recent years. Surely they didn't let them scrap those Skyraiders without trying to bring a few out.

[Chief]

You are right about their ability to recycle.

When I arrived at this wrecked 8th TFW, F-4 in the jungle in 1967, it was still smoking. However, the wings had already been dragged away by the natives. A few yards down the trail, I came upon a native with a hacksaw blade attempting to cut one of the AIM-7 missles in half. My interpreter questioned him and said he was cutting it in half so he could more easily carry it into a nearby village wher he could sell it for scrap.