HACKETT, HARLEY BENJAMIN III
Name: Harley Benjamin Hackett III
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 23 October 1942
Home City of Record: Florence SC
Date of Loss: 24 July 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam - Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 174400N 1064400E (XE747760)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Refno: 1235
Other Personnel In Incident: John R. Bush (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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 2001 with information provided by Maj. Bob Hipps, USAF (Ret).
2020
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Capt. Harley B. Hackett III and 1Lt. John R. Bush, were assigned
to the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On July
24, 1968, they comprised the crew of an F4D Phantom fighter jet sent on an
armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Hackett was the pilot of
the aircraft and Bush was his navigator. Their aircraft was number two in a
flight of two.
During the mission, the lead aircraft was struck by enemy fire, and Hackett
vectored the lead aircraft over water where the crew of the lead aircraft
ejected and were recovered. The crew of a naval aircraft in the vicinity saw
a second aircraft crash which was believed to be the number two aircraft
(with Hackett and Bush onboard). No parachutes were seen and no emergency
radio beeper signals were heard. Still, there was the possibility that the
crew safely ejected.
The incident was off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, about
20 miles east of the city of Ba Don. The two were declared Missing In
Action, and it was felt that there was a good chance that the enemy forces
knew their fate.
Nearly 2500 Americans were lost in Southeast Asia during our military
involvement there. Since the war in Southeast Asia ended in 1973, thousands
of reports of Americans still in captivity have been received by the U.S.
Government. The official policy is that no conclusive proof has been
obtained that is current enough to act upon. Detractors of this policy say
conclusive proof is in hand, but that the willingness or ability to rescue
these prisoners does not exist.
John Bush and Harley Hackett, if among the hundreds said to be still alive
and in captivity, must be wondering, "Where ARE you, America?" Where are we,
America, when the life of even one American is not worth the effort of
recovery? When the next war comes, and it is our sons lost, will we then
care enough to do everything we can to bring our prisoners home?
Harley B. Hackett III graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.
John R. Bush graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1966.
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01/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KZnDEAW
On July 24, 1968, an F-4D Phantom II (tail number 66-7682, call sign "Oreo 2") with two crew members took off as the second of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. In the target area, the flight leader's aircraft was hit by enemy ground fire, and the Phantom guided the flight leader by radio and radar until it was over the Gulf of Tonkin. The two air crews then decided the flight leader's aircraft should head for Da Nang Air Base and the flight leader departed the area. Shortly after that, radar and radio contact was lost with "Oreo 2", and its last known location was near (GC) 48Q XE 747 760. An American Marine pilot operating in the area reported seeing a fireball nearby, but it was unclear if this was the lost Phantom. Neither of the F-4D's crew members could be located following the incident.
Captain Harley Benjamin Hackett III entered the U.S. Air Force from South Carolina and served in the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was the aircraft commander of the Phantom when it went missing and was lost along with the aircraft. Today, Captain Hackett is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.
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