The original Top Gun: Vietnam pilot reveals how he was rescued from jungle after ejecting from his fighter - and how hero airmen flew despite huge damage to their jets
A Vietnam War pilot has told how he ejected from his stricken jet over the jungle but returned to base to continue flying in a new book detailing the experiences of airmen during the conflict.
Victor Vizcarra remembered seeing his F-105 Thunderchief pass under him and then crash into a mountain as he sailed down to the tree-line on his parachute.
The pilot's descent was broken by the sudden impact of the upper canopy, which knocked the air out of him and left him hanging by his right ankle.
'I was surprised at the abruptness and sudden stop as I hit the trees and crashed through some of the branches. It knocked the wind out of me and I ended hung upside-down,' he wrote in Thud Pilot.
Photographs in the book include the ashen-faced author being helped away from a helicopter shortly after ejecting, while others show various other American pilots posing with their severely damaged aircraft.
Others show a huge Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in action and some of the surface to air missiles that the air force had to face during combat.
Victor Vizcarra remembered seeing his F-105 Thunderchief pass under him and then crash into a mountain as he sailed down to the tree-line on his parachute. He is pictured here being guided away from a helicopter after he was rescued from the spot where he landed in the jungle
The pilot's descent was broken by the sudden impact of the upper canopy, which knocked the air out of him and left him hanging by his right ankle. American pilots over Vietnam faced the continual danger of being shot down by camouflaged anti-aircraft guns fired by the North Vietnamese
Thud Pilot contains images of other pilots who served during the conflict, including this one of Major Bill McClelland next to his plane after it was riddled by bullets from an 85-mm gun. The Vietnam War is still remembered as one of the most controversial conflicts in U.S. history
An airman inspects the shrapnel-riddled rear of his aircraft after returning from a mission during the Vietnam War, in one of the images in Thud Pilot, by Victor Vizcarra. The conflict took a heavy toll on American airmen, who were targeted by anti-aircraft guns and lighter weapons fired from deep within the jungle
There was no clear front in Vietnam, as US soldiers battled the guerrilla tactics of the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong in the nation’s villages and jungles. The NVA had built an extensive underground network of tunnels and other facilities and were able to easily blend in within the civilian population. This gave American pilots (like this one pictured inspecting his damaged aircraft) a key role in the conflict
Victor Vizcarra(pictured with a comrade at an airfield in Thailand in 1984 with an F-14 Tomcat, the same plan used in Top Gun) was commissioned in 1960, completed pilot training in 1961, and was assigned to F-100s before transitioning to the F-105. While serving in Japan, he deployed three times to Southeast Asia and flew fifty-nine combat missions in the F-105D
The author's future wife in cockpit of F-102 at Edwards AFB Air Show, May 1958, near the Mojave Desert, U.S.A. An estimated 58,000 US soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War, while 2million civilians across North and South Vietnam died. The year 1969 marked the deadliest of the war
Members of 80th Squadron complain to their commanding officer, Colonel Bell, about being kept in the warzone when they should be on their Christmas holidays. One of the airmen points to a sign reading, 'Despairum Notum(despair not) - Happy Holidays', while the others pull faces at the camera
This image, taken in 1964, at Korat Airbase in Thailand, shows the living conditions near the landing strip from where American airmen launched numerous bombing raids against the Viet Cong. In 1973, a peace agreement in Paris between the US, North and South Vietnam ended direct US military involvement in the war
Wayne Ensminger, from the 80th TFS Deployment, is pictured taking a wash at a U.S. airbase in 1964. American pilots faced continual danger from North Vietnam's stock of anti-aircraft guns, like the one pictured on the right in an undated image from the book
On April 30, 1975, the final Americans remaining in South Vietnam were airlifted out of the country as Siagon fell in images seared into the national psyche of desperate US citizens and South Vietnamese clamoring onto the final air transports out of the city. Pictured: A shell hole through the tail of Colonel Broughton's Thud
An American bomber painted with graffiti flying over Vietnam in October 1966, around mid-way through the devastating conflict. Remnants of AIM-9 Sidewinder were found in the tail section of the aircraft ont he right, indicating it had been hit by friendly fire
Portion of 80th TFS First Deployment. Standing left to right: Bob Reichart, John Atkinson, Giles Gainer, Andy Olman, Larry Wilson, Gary Banks and Del Smith. Kneeling left to right: Phil Coll (ops officer), John Anderson (squadron commander), Art Mearns, and the author
American airmen relax by playing a game of hearts in an operations room. Pictured left to right are: Chan McInelly, Larry Wilson, Bob Keller, and Wayne Ensminge
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