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Billie Joe Williams was the
aircraft commander of an RF4C armed
reconnaissance "Phantom" fighter/bomber from the 14th Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron. On December 9, 1972, Williams and four F4s were
on
a reconnaisance mission over North Vietnam for action planned for
December
18th when his plane was struck by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
downed
just south of the city of Nghai Hung in Nghe An Province.
When the aircraft was hit,
Hector Acosta,
the navigator on the RF4C, ejected
both seats, and two parachutes were observed by the F4s in the flight to
leave the disabled aircraft. Acosta did not know his pilot's condition
at
that time, but feared that he was already dead. He had ejected the
pilot's
seat because he did not want his commander to go down with the plane.
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