10/24/2026
On October 24, 1969, a routine combat mission over Laos turned into one of the most extraordinary rescue operations of the Vietnam War.
Before the day was over, four rescue helicopters would be shot up, crews would repeatedly fly into intense enemy fire, and six American airmen would be brought out alive.
The ordeal began around 8:00 a.m., when a U.S. Air Force F-100F Super Sabre, call sign MISTY 11, was hit by antiaircraft fire while directing strikes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. First Lieutenant Alvin Donald Muller and Captain Jack K. Clapper had to eject at dangerously low altitude over mountainous jungle northeast of Saravane, Laos. Both survived, but Muller’s leg was badly broken, and they were surrounded by enemy forces.
Within two hours, a rescue force arrived: two A-1 Skyraiders to provide cover and two HH-3E Jolly Green Giant helicopters. Around 11:00 a.m., the first, JOLLY 28, lowered pararescueman Technical Sergeant Donald G. Smith through the jungle canopy to Muller. Smith secured the injured pilot, and the two began rising toward the helicopter. Then the surrounding hills erupted with gunfire.
The rescuers had flown into what appeared to be a prepared trap. Bullets tore the rescue hoist from its mounting, dropping Smith and Muller back to the ground. With its main gearbox damaged and losing oil pressure, JOLLY 28 was forced to make an emergency landing in a nearby valley.
Now the rescuers themselves needed rescuing.
Coast Guard Lieutenant Richard V. Butchka, an exchange pilot with the Air Force’s 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, had been orbiting above in JOLLY 04. He dove into the valley and, hovering just 25 feet above the ground under fire, hoisted aboard three members of JOLLY 28’s crew. One of them, Major Charles W. Bond, became the squadron’s 500th recorded combat rescue. With heavy fire along the way, Butchka escaped over a 130-foot ridge, barely clearing the top.
But the mission was far from over. Muller, Clapper, and Smith remained on the ground with enemy troops closing in. An HH-53C, JOLLY 76, made three attempts to reach them. Each was driven off by intense gunfire, and the badly damaged helicopter was forced to withdraw.
Later that afternoon, Coast Guard Lieutenant (junior grade) Robert T. Ritchie brought in another HH-3E, JOLLY 15. Recognizing that enemy gunners were waiting for helicopters approaching into the wind, he deliberately chose a downwind approach. With A-1 Skyraiders laying smoke and suppressing fire, his crew recovered Muller and Smith.
Ritchie went back for Clapper, but enemy fire disabled his rescue hoist and forced him to abandon the attempt. Repeated attempts failed, and a tropical thunderstorm swept through, complicating the effort further. Finally, another HH-3E, JOLLY 19, located Clapper using radio directions from the stranded pilot and an aircraft overhead. The crew lowered a rescue device through the trees and pulled him aboard.
At about 6:00 p.m., roughly ten hours after MISTY 11 went down, the operation was over. Both fighter pilots and all four members of JOLLY 28’s crew were safe.
The rescuers’ actions earned numerous decorations. Technical Sergeant Donald G. Smith received the Air Force Cross. Captain Charles D. Langham, pilot of JOLLY 28, and Lieutenant Ritchie received Silver Stars. Lieutenant Butchka received the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat “V.”
