Robert Dale Anderson

Decorations & Citations

• Purple Heart; Air Medal; National Defense Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Republic of Vietnam Campaigh Medal.

Notes

Colonel Robert Dale Anderson,(Battle Creek, Michigan) Pilot and 1st Lieutenant George F. Latella, weapons systems officer comprised an F-4E Phantom fighter jet of the 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On October 6, 1972 Anderson and Latella were dispatched from Ubon on a mission northwest of Hanoi near the city of Son Tay. this region had been heavily attacked by US aircraft in Operation Rolling Thunder, concentration on major supply lines to Hanoi. The city of Son Tay had been the site of a late November 1970 rescue attempt of American POWs. The mission, while successful, had not freed any POWs. Anderson's F4 was hit by hostile fire and he and Lattella ejected from the crippled aircraft. A good parachute was observed and voice contact was established on the ground. Anderson and Latella both had landed safely on the ground although separated by several hundred yards. Latella was immediately taken captive. Radio Hanoi reported "a number of US pilots were captured that same day, yet the Anderson Plane was the only one shot down in North Vietnam that day. Latella was released with 590 other American POWs in 1973 but the Communist government of Vietnam denied any knowledge of Robert D. Anderson. Anderson's remains were recovered on September 13, 1990 and identified October 22, 1998. Burial; Honolulu Memorial Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii.