NORMAN LEE BUNDY
Date of Birth: 26 January 1941
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 06 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 194500N 1060559E (XG152840)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15
April 1990 from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 1998.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: The Vought F8 "Crusader" saw action
early in U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Its
fighter models participated both in the first
Gulf of Tonkin reprisal in August 1964 and in the
myriad attacks against North Vietnam during
Operation Rolling Thunder. The Crusader was used
exclusively by the Navy and Marine air wings
(although there is one U.S. Air Force pilot
reported shot down on an F8) and represented half
or more of the carrier fighters in the Gulf of
Tonkin during the first four years of the war. The
aircraft was credited with nearly 53% of MiG kills
The most frequently used fighter versions of the
Crusader in Vietnam were the C, D, and E models
although the H and J were also used. The Charlie
carried only Sidewinders on fuselage racks, and
were assigned such missions as CAP (Combat Air
Patrol), flying at higher altitudes. The Echo model
had a heavier reinforced wing able to carry extra
Sidewinders or bombs, and were used to attack
ground targets, giving it increased vulnerability.
The Echo version launched with less fuel, to
accommodate the larger bomb store, and frequently
arrived back at ship low on fuel. The RF-A models
were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with
additional cameras and navigational equipment.
The combat attrition rate of the Crusader was
comparable to similar fighters. Between 1964 to
1972, eighty-three Crusaders were either lost or
destroyed by enemy fire. Another 109 required
major rebuilding. 145 Crusader pilots were
recovered; 57 were not. Twenty of these pilots
were captured and released. The other 43 remained
missing at the end of the war. In addition, there
were 16 pilots who went down on photographic
versions of the aircraft. Of these 16, seven were
captured (six were released, one died in
captivity).
Lt.JG Norman L. Bundy was the pilot of an RF8A
conducting a flight over the Gulf of Tonkin on
September 6, 1966. Bundy's aircraft crashed about
20 miles east of the city of Thanh Hoa Province,
North Vietnam. Because of the location, it is
believed that Bundy was either traveling to or
egressing from a combat mission, although his
loss is classified as non-combat. It was felt
that there was little or no hope that he survived,
and Bundy was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered.
Bundy is listed among the missing because his
remains were never located to return home. He is
among over 2300 still prisoner, missing, or
otherwise unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities
who have examined this largely classified
information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still held captive today. Fighter
pilots in Vietnam were called upon to fly in many
dangerous circumstances, and were prepared to be
wounded, killed, or captured. It probably never
occurred to them that some of them could be
abandoned by the country they proudly served.
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