Today marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most daring rescue attempts of the Vietnam war, the Son Tay prison camp raid.
On 21 November 1970, a joint United States Air Force and United States Army force commanded by Air Force Brigadier General LeRoy J. Manor and Army Colonel Arthur D. “Bull” Simons landed 56 U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers by helicopter at the Sơn Tây POW camp, which was located 23 miles west of Hanoi, North Vietnam. The objective of the operation was the recovery of 61 American prisoners of war thought to be held at the camp. It was found during the raid that the camp contained no prisoners as they had previously been moved to another camp. Despite the absence of prisoners, the raid was executed with a high degree of success, incurring only two wounded and the loss of two aircraft, one of which had been part of the plan from the start.