"Weasel Sighted SAM--Killed Same": The First Kill

DAYTON, Ohio - In this photo: Map used by Capt. Lamb on the first kill mission. The SAM site he and Donovan destroyed was located at Phy Tho, northwest of Hanoi. The black line was the route that Donovan and Lamb took into North Vietnam. In the area on the map south of Hanoi, Lamb made drawings of the site's layout during debriefing. Gloves, dog tags, watch and F-100F checklist used by Lamb during his Wild Weasel I tour. Lamb and Donovan were each awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for killing the first SAM site. On display is the DFC and citation awarded to Lamb. The F-105 pilots on the first SAM kill had this patch made for Lamb and Donovan for killing the first SAM site. This saber represents to F-100F Super Sabre and the missile cut in half represents to SA-2. Allen Lamb's Wild Weasel I patches. This crudely made patch became a universal graphic for all Wild Weasels. An original Cave Putorium (or "Beware the Weasel") patch. The fraternal "Society of Wild Weasels" was created in 1967, and Lamb was a charter member. On display are his Society of Wild Weasels key chain and card from 1967. Coffee cup with Wild Weasel I logo donated by Lt. Col. Arthur Oken, USAF (ret.), an EWO with the second group of F-100F Wild Weasels. Donovan was an EWO on B-52s before he volunteered for the Wild Weasels mission. He received this air medal for his actions in February 1965 when an aerial refueling malfunctions pumped nearly 3,000 pounds into the fuel into the crew compartment on his B-52. Wild Weasel mug, dog tag and Society of WIld Weasels keychain from Capt. John "Jack" Donovan, EWO on the first SAM kill. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Capts. Allen Lamb (pilot) and Jack Donovan (EWO) achieved the first Wild Weasel SAM kill on Dec. 22, 1965, while covering a strike force northwest of Hanoi, North Vietnam. Capt. Donovan began picking up radar signals and called out the coordinates. Capt. Lamb guided their F-100F to the site and spotted the camouflaged radar van. He attacked it with a salvo of 2.75-inch rockets and 20mm fire, destroying the van and a nearby SA-2. Four single-seat F-105s accompanying them finished off the SAM site with rockets. The cabled message to the Joint Chiefs of Staff read "Weasel sighted SAM--killed same."

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