RUDLOFF, STEPHEN ANTHONY

RIP 31 May 2021

Name: Stephen Anthony Rudloff
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 92, USS CONSTELLATION (CVA 64)
Date of Birth:  19 Feb 1945
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 10 May 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205700N 1062000E (XJ384165)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J
Note: Third Tour
Other Personnel in Incident: Harry L. Blackburn (remains returned)

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.  2023

REMARKS: 730328 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Commander Harry L. Blackburn Jr. was a pilot assigned to Fighter
Squadron 92 onboard the USS CONSTELLATION. On May 10, 1972 he launched with
his radar intercept officer (RIO), Lt. Stephen A. Rudloff in their F4J
Phantom fighter aircraft. They were assigned on a flak suppression mission
against the Guan Lang Airfield near Hai Duong, Hai Hung Province, North
Vietnam.

After effectively hitting two anti-aircraft positions, Cdr. Blackburn was in
the process of engaging enemy MiG aircraft when his plane was hit by ground
fire and he and Rudloff were forced to eject from the aircraft. Both cremen
were seen by other aircraft to safely eject with good parachutes, and were
seen to land on the ground several hundred yards apart.

Blackburn and Rudloff were initially placed in a category of Missing in
Action, which was later changed to captured (POW). Rudloff was released as a
POW in 1973, but Blackburn was not, nor did his name appear on any list
provided by the Vietnamese. The U.S. does not classify persons as prisoner
of war without reason, and doubtless received intelligence to confirm the
capture of both men.

When Rudloff was released, he reported that he was taken prisoner and locked
in a room in a nearby compound. The night of his capture, Rudloff heard a
vehicle drive up to the building and saw a light go on in the room next to
his. Next, he heard a noise which he described as a "hand slapping a face".
Thinking the man in the next room might be Blackburn, he began to shout, but
was immediately hushed by the guards. The light in the next room was then
turned off and the vehicle drove away. Rudloff believes this is the last
contact he had with his pilot.
       

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Stephen Rudloff retired from the United States Navy as a Commander. He lives
in New York

03/13/2023 per Chris R:

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