{"id":6569516,"date":"2026-07-21T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=6569516"},"modified":"2026-08-24T16:54:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:54:49","slug":"son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"The Raid That Rescued Nobody"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><\/p>\r\n<p>At 02:19 on 21 November 1970, an American helicopter deliberately flew itself into the trees inside a North Vietnamese prison camp twenty-three miles from Hanoi. Its rotor blades chewed through forty-foot foliage and it came down hard in a courtyard roughly the size of a volleyball court. Fourteen Green Berets walked out of the wreck.<\/p>\r\n<p>Twenty-seven minutes later they were gone again, having killed the guards, searched every cell, and lost nobody.<\/p>\r\n<p>They had also found nothing. The prisoners they came for had been moved four months earlier.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background: #f5f5f5; padding: 20px 24px; margin: 24px 0; border-radius: 8px;\">\r\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 12px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 17px; color: #222;\">Informazioni rapide<\/p>\r\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.6;\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Operazione<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">Codenamed Polar Circle, then Ivory Coast, then Kingpin for execution. Popularly, the Son Tay Raid<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Data<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">Night of 20\u201321 November 1970. Assault began 02:18<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Bersaglio<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">The S\u01a1n T\u00e2y prison camp, 23 miles (37 km) west of Hanoi<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Comandanti<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">Brig. Gen. LeRoy J. Manor, USAF, and Col. Arthur D. \u201cBull\u201d Simons, US Army<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Forza<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">56 US Army Special Forces on the ground, 92 airmen, 28 aircraft in the target area, 116 aircraft in total<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>The crash landing<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">A single HH-3E, callsign Banana, put down inside the compound on purpose and was destroyed there<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Durata<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">27 minutes on the objective \u2014 inside the 30 minutes planned<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>vittime statunitensi<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">One raider wounded in the leg. One broken ankle. No deaths<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 12px 5px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>POWs rescued<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 5px 0; color: #222;\">None. The prisoners had been moved on 14 July 1970<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 22px;\">Why a helicopter had to be wrecked<\/h2>\r\n<p>The plan's most famous feature was not bravado. It was arithmetic.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Son Tay compound was tiny and ringed by trees over forty feet high. There was no way to land outside and fight your way in \u2014 there were 12,000 North Vietnamese troops within five miles, and the whole operation depended on being finished before any of them could react.<\/p>\r\n<p>So the assault element had to arrive inside the walls. The largest helicopter that would physically fit in that courtyard was the HH-3E Jolly Green Giant, and even it would lose its rotor blades on the way down. The aircraft was therefore written off before it ever launched: fly it in, crash it deliberately, blow it up on the way out.<\/p>\r\n<p>The raiders rehearsed the landing 31 times on a full-size mock-up at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, part of 170 practice sessions and over 1,000 flight hours.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin: 0 0 24px; width: 100%;\"><img data-opt-id=510358853  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto; max-width: 100%; display: block; border-radius: 6px;\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/sikorsky-hh-3e-jolly-green-giant-vietnam-1970.jpg\" alt=\"Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green Giant of the 37th ARRS at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam, 1970\" width=\"1024\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" \/>\r\n<figcaption style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #777; text-align: center; margin-top: 6px; font-style: italic;\">An HH-3E Jolly Green Giant in Vietnam in 1970 \u2014 the type flown into the S\u01a1n T\u00e2y compound and destroyed there. US National Archives \/ public domain<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 22px;\">Transports flying at the edge of a stall<\/h2>\r\n<p>The navigation problem was solved in a way that still sounds improbable. Two C-130E(I) Combat Talons \u2014 the designation MC-130E did not yet exist in 1970 \u2014 led the helicopters to the target using terrain-following radar.<\/p>\r\n<p>The difficulty is that a C-130 cruises much faster than an HH-3E. The solution was to fly the Hercules at 105 knots with 70 degrees of flap, barely above stalling speed, while the helicopters tucked in and drafted off the transports' wingtips to gain enough airspeed to keep station.<\/p>\r\n<p>Meanwhile the US Navy flew a diversion: roughly twenty A-7 Corsairs and A-6 Intruders off USS Oriskany and USS Ranger, dropping flares over Haiphong and dropping no bombs at all \u2014 described as the largest carrier night operation of the war. North Vietnamese air defences fired at least 36 SA-2 missiles into the confusion. Two MiG-21s sat at Ph\u00fac Y\u00ean and were never cleared to take off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background: #f8f9fa; border-left: 4px solid #d32f2f; padding: 20px 22px; margin: 18px 0 24px; border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.7; display: flex; gap: 20px; align-items: flex-start;\">\r\n<div><em>\u201cThe target is twenty-three miles west of Hanoi\u201d<\/em>\r\n<div style=\"margin-top: 10px; font-size: 14px; color: #555;\"><strong>Colonel Arthur D. \u201cBull\u201d Simons<\/strong> \u2014 US Army, deputy commander of the Joint Contingency Task Group, briefing the raiders five hours before launch<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>Simons had kept the destination secret until that moment. In the same briefing he told them the mission was something American prisoners had a right to expect from their fellow soldiers. The room, by all accounts, erupted.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 22px;\">\"Negative items\"<\/h2>\r\n<p>Inside the compound, Captain Richard Meadows put a bullhorn to his mouth seconds after the crash landing.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background: #f8f9fa; border-left: 4px solid #1565c0; padding: 20px 22px; margin: 18px 0 24px; border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.7; display: flex; gap: 20px; align-items: flex-start;\">\r\n<div><em>\u201cWe\u2019re Americans. Keep your heads down. This is a rescue. We\u2019re here to get you out\u201d<\/em>\r\n<div style=\"margin-top: 10px; font-size: 14px; color: #555;\"><strong>Captain Richard J. Meadows<\/strong> \u2014 US Army, leader of the Blueboy assault element, inside the S\u01a1n T\u00e2y compound<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>Nothing came back. The cells were empty. Meadows radioed the prearranged code phrase for the outcome nobody had planned for: <em>negative items<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n<p>The prisoners \u2014 somewhere between 55 and 65 men, depending on which account you follow \u2014 had been relocated on 14 July 1970 to another camp closer to Hanoi, reportedly because Son Tay's wells had become unusable. American intelligence had not detected the move.<\/p>\r\n<p>A second element, Greenleaf, had meanwhile landed 400 metres off target and assaulted a building intelligence had labelled a secondary school. It was a barracks. The mistake may have been useful: it suppressed a reaction force that would otherwise have been on the compound within minutes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin: 0 0 24px; width: 100%;\"><img data-opt-id=1226104118  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto; max-width: 100%; display: block; border-radius: 6px;\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/son-tay-raid-bull-simons-bolo-knife.jpg\" alt=\"The bolo knife carried by Colonel Arthur Bull Simons on the Son Tay raid\" width=\"1024\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" \/>\r\n<figcaption style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #777; text-align: center; margin-top: 6px; font-style: italic;\">The bolo knife Colonel Simons carried into S\u01a1n T\u00e2y. US Army ARSOF History \/ public domain<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 22px;\">A perfect failure<\/h2>\r\n<p>Almost every account since \u2014 including the National Museum of the US Air Force's own \u2014 draws the same distinction: the execution was close to flawless, and the intelligence failed completely.<\/p>\r\n<p>The tactical results argue for themselves. A joint force flew 116 aircraft into the most heavily defended airspace on earth at night, put men on the ground inside an enemy prison twenty-three miles from the enemy capital, spent 27 minutes there, and came home having lost one aircraft they had always intended to lose and one F-105 whose crew was recovered.<\/p>\r\n<p>The strategic effects were real even without prisoners. North Vietnam consolidated its scattered POW camps into larger facilities in Hanoi, which ended years of solitary confinement for many Americans and let them organise, communicate and support each other. Several later said the raid transformed their captivity, and the knowledge that their country had come for them mattered more than the empty cells.<\/p>\r\n<p>It was the first joint operation run under the direct control of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The lessons \u2014 particularly about who owns special operations and how they are commanded \u2014 fed directly into the creation of US Special Operations Command in 1987.<\/p>\r\n<p>The raiders wore an unofficial patch showing a mushroom and the letters KITD\/FOHS: <em>Kept In The Dark, Fed On Horse\u00a0\u2014\u2014<\/em>. It is on display today at the National Museum of the US Air Force, next to a piece of barbed wire recovered from the camp wall in 1995.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin: 24px 0;\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0; border-radius: 8px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bhJdGP04dnE\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-no-lazy=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #777; text-align: center; margin-top: -8px; font-style: italic;\">A full account of the planning and execution of the raid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin: 24px 0;\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0; border-radius: 8px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oAONNwkwYyM\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-no-lazy=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #777; text-align: center; margin-top: -8px; font-style: italic;\">The US Army Center of Military History\u2019s own briefing on the operation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin: 24px 0;\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0; border-radius: 8px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FwES-3vNA1M\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-no-lazy=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #777; text-align: center; margin-top: -8px; font-style: italic;\">Terry Buckler, the youngest man on the raid, describing it in his own words.<\/p>\r\n<p><em>Sources: National Museum of the United States Air Force; C.V. Glines, Air Force Magazine; US Army ARSOF History; Wikipedia.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background: #f0f4ff; border-left: 4px solid #5C91FF; padding: 16px 20px; margin: 32px 0 8px; border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\">\r\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 8px; font-weight: 600; color: #333;\">Post correlati<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin: 4px 0;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/operation-eagle-claw-desert-one-1980\/\">Deserto Uno: La notte in cui tutto and\u00f2 storto<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin: 4px 0;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/entebbe-raid-1976-rescue-operation-thunderbolt\/\">Entebbe: 4.000 chilometri per liberare gli ostaggi<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin: 4px 0;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/operazione-jericho-mosquito-raid-nella-prigione-di-amiens\/\">Il raid che fece saltare in aria una prigione della Gestapo<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They crash-landed a helicopter inside a North Vietnamese prison camp on purpose, cleared it in 27 minutes and lost nobody. Every cell was empty.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":6569035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6569516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Son Tay Raid: A Perfect Rescue of Nobody<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"US special forces crash-landed a helicopter inside a North Vietnamese prison camp in 1970, cleared it in 27 minutes and found it empty.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Son Tay Raid: A Perfect Rescue of Nobody\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US special forces crash-landed a helicopter inside a North Vietnamese prison camp in 1970, cleared it in 27 minutes and found it empty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T12:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-24T14:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:1247\/h:995\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1247\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"995\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tamika Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tamika Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tamika Johnson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/88afb39d0a02d6de10537662492fb68d\"},\"headline\":\"The Raid That Rescued Nobody\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T12:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-24T14:54:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1125,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; Legends\",\"Military Aviation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Son Tay Raid: A Perfect Rescue of Nobody\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T12:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-24T14:54:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"US special forces crash-landed a helicopter inside a North Vietnamese prison camp in 1970, cleared it in 27 minutes and found it empty.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg\",\"width\":1247,\"height\":995},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Raid That Rescued Nobody\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/88afb39d0a02d6de10537662492fb68d\",\"name\":\"Tamika Johnson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tamika Johnson\"},\"description\":\"Tamika Johnson tells the human stories of aviation \u2014 the pilots, pioneers and characters behind the machines.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/author\\\/tamikajohnson\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Son Tay Raid: A Perfect Rescue of Nobody","description":"US special forces crash-landed a helicopter inside a North Vietnamese prison camp in 1970, cleared it in 27 minutes and found it empty.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/","og_locale":"it_IT","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Son Tay Raid: A Perfect Rescue of Nobody","og_description":"US special forces crash-landed a helicopter inside a North Vietnamese prison camp in 1970, cleared it in 27 minutes and found it empty.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-21T12:25:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-24T14:54:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1247,"height":995,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:1247\/h:995\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tamika Johnson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tamika Johnson","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/"},"author":{"name":"Tamika Johnson","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/88afb39d0a02d6de10537662492fb68d"},"headline":"The Raid That Rescued Nobody","datePublished":"2026-07-21T12:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-24T14:54:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/"},"wordCount":1125,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg","articleSection":["History &amp; Legends","Military Aviation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/","name":"The Son Tay Raid: A Perfect Rescue of Nobody","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-21T12:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-24T14:54:49+00:00","description":"US special forces crash-landed a helicopter inside a North Vietnamese prison camp in 1970, cleared it in 27 minutes and found it empty.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/son-tay-prison-camp-aerial-reconnaissance.jpg","width":1247,"height":995},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/son-tay-raid-1970-operation-ivory-coast\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Raid That Rescued Nobody"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","name":"Afterburner - La rivista di MiGFlug","description":"Per chi \u00e8 interessato a pilotare aerei militari e argomenti correlati all&#039;aviazione.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/88afb39d0a02d6de10537662492fb68d","name":"Tamika Johnson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tamika Johnson"},"description":"Tamika Johnson racconta le storie umane dell&#039;aviazione: i piloti, i pionieri e i personaggi che si celano dietro le macchine.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/author\/tamikajohnson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6569516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6572025,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569516\/revisions\/6572025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6569035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6569516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6569516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6569516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}