Fact Sheet Alphabetical List

Fact Sheet Search

  • Robins and Backseaters

    Flying with the Ravens at Long Tieng were Hmong “backseaters” using the call sign Robin. Selected by local commanders with the approval of Laotian Major General Vang Pao, these men played a crucial role in the air war over Laos.Mostly veteran guerilla soldiers, they translated radio calls between

  • United We Stand

    Despite language and cultural barriers, a strong bond formed between US Air Force Ravens and the pilots and backseaters from the RLAF. They worked closely together, entrusting one another with military support, and, in some cases, their lives.Other USAF personnel were deployed to Laos under PROJECT

  • US and Hmong Exodus

    The Ravens departed Laos in June 1973, following the Paris Peace Accords, which led to the US exit from Southeast Asia. The three ruling factions in Laos signed a cease-fire later that year, and by the end of 1973, all US military personnel had left.In just two years, the communist-backed Pathet Lao

  • Nevermore: Captain Chuck Engle, Raven 26

    The Raven and Hmong community respected Captain Charles “Chuck” Engle as a daring and skilled pilot. On multiple occasions, he displayed extreme heroism while locating and protecting downed pilots and coordinating rescue operations for them.On one such mission, Capt. Engle responded to a downed

  • From Out of The Fire: Captain Gerald Young

    In the pre-dawn hours on November 8, 1967, two Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green Giants from the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron were mobilized to rescue the survivors of a US Army reconnaissance team trapped inside Laos. Two helicopters had already been shot down while trying to recover the

  • Search and Rescue in Southeast Asia (SAR in SEA)

    The museum's newest permanent exhibit is now open in the Southeast Asia Gallery. "That Others May Live" tells the story of Search and Rescue operations during the wars in Southeast Asia.Global Peacetime TransitionARS Enters Southeast AsiaA Call for UnificationRescue Specialist Pararescue in

  • PRAIRIE FIRE Mission

    A top-secret joint special operations unit called the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observation Group (SOG) conducted unconventional missions in Southeast Asia.One such operation called for US Army Green Beret SOG teams to be inserted via helicopter into Laos to observe and

  • Uncommon Valor: Major Bernard Fisher

    On March 10, 1966, Major Bernard Fisher took off in an A-1E Skyraider from Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam. Instead of his normal mission, he was diverted to a US Special Forces camp in the A Shau Valley which was under heavy attack by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops.Arriving over the valley, Maj

  • Douglas A-1E Skyraider

    The A-1E on display (serial number 52-132649) is the aircraft flown by Major Bernard Fisher on March 10, 1966, a mission for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He rescued a fellow pilot shot down over South Vietnam by landing in enemy territory under heavy fire and flying him to safety. This