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Click here to go to the Crash Site Report.
Click on the picture to see the full photo taken by Jimmy Moore, a close friend of
Jack.
Click to read Jack's Distinguished Flying Cross citation.
Awarded for the August 20 1966 rescue of a downed US Air Force pilot who went by the call
sign of TORPEDO.
The rescued USAF pilot referred to in the DFC citation was Edwin
Tiffany Hawks, aka Tiff Hawks. The aircraft, an RF-4C Phantom, took a direct hit from ground fire during a night photo run
while dropping flares. The explosion from the ground fire may have incapacitated the other crew member, Richard M. Milikin
III, who was in the rear seat. He was never recovered. Hawks ejected and evaded the enemy until he was picked up by a rescue
helicopter.
On 6/4/02 Tiff Hawks wrote: "I was the downed pilot of the RF-4C, call sign, "TORPEDO
", that Jack and his wingman located, identified and definitely created the rescue that saved my life. The chopper that picked
me up was call sign, "Indian Gal 51", from the Kearsarge. I knew the A-1 Locket flight, was from the Oriskany. I never knew
until this week that Jack Feldhaus was the one who led Locket flight. "INDIAN GAL 51" was piloted by Lt. BIll Roy, co-pilot
Lt. Vann Goodloe and one of the specialists in the back that hoisted me up to safety was named Sitko,"
On Jul 1 2009 Fred Guenzel wrote: I was the skipper's (Gordon Smith) wingman but
I was flying with different people while Gordon, was recovering from burns he received while bailing
out of his burning aircraft. I did fly several times with Jack during that time. I was flying with him when we
found and retrieved the Air Force F4 pilot (call sign "Torpedo 1" I think) in Package 1 (our designation for the southern
part of North Vietnam). Jack spotted him and then flew around in circles and around different spots so we wouldn't lead
the Viet Cong to the pilot on the ground. I went to retrieve the "Big Mother" helicopter and bring it
to the pilot's location. We strafed to keep their heads down while the "Big Mother" picked him up. I didn't
have my camera out on either flight since I was too busy trying to not get shot down, run into anybody, fly the
airplane and keep an eye on what was happening.
Click here to read more about this on Jack's Biography page.
Click to read Tiff Hawk's account of his crash and rescue.
Click to read more. Also click on "Comments" tab at top of page to read more.
Click here to read about the SAR (Sea Air Rescue) history of HS-6 (Indian Gal 15's squadron) during their 1966 deployment
to Vietnam.
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