The
escape and evasion of Lt Frank Prendergast USN
BACKGROUND
The US had some 21 POWs held in NVN that made escape attempts. Whether or not
they were successful is not the issue. They at least made the attempt to
escape their captors. Most escapes were short lived.
One of Ernie Brace's four escape attempts lasted
all of five minutes.
Mr Arlo Gay, a civilian who was captured on 4-30-75
in SVN and moved to NVN, escaped and evaded for 30 days before giving up due to
starvation.
Ben Purcell and John Dramesi escaped twice each.
Col Bud Day made it to within two miles of a US/ARVN
base on the south side of the DMZ before he was recaptured. He could see
the base.
In short, 20 military and one civilian gave it
their all, but most were recaptured in NVN.
The Mission
Outline below is a story of a heroic escape from
NVN by a Vigi NFO.
On March 9th, 1967 at 1600, Cdr Charlie Putnam, CO
of RVAH-13 took off on a routine recce mission over NVN from Kitty Hawk with LT
Prendergast the RAN.
At about 1648 local, their RA5C was hit at a point
19-58-00N, 106-05-00E, very near the heavily defended city of Thanh Hoa.
The RA5C barely made the coastline before they had ejected. After landing
Cdr Putnam stripped off his gear and was last seen running up the beach with the
NVN guard in hot pursuit.
Lt Prendergast landed some 200 yards offshore in
shallow surf. He was standing waist deep in the water when two armed NVN guards
waded out to capture him.
With rifles trained on Lt Prendergast one soldier
took his US Navy, standard
issue, Smith&Wesson 38: but they failed to find a .25 automatic in a pocket
of his survival vest.
With hands high in the air the NVN started to march Lt Prendergast towards
the beach. By then air cover had
arrived. Each time their Kitty Hawk F4 escort, and by one report, the newly
arrived Sandys, (usually the UAF AD search aircraft) made a low pass over the
beach, the NVN soldiers would duck under the water while holding their weapons
high in the air. The Lt saw the rescue helo inbound and made his decision--it
was now or never. On the next low pass Lt Prendergast pulled out his
automatic and snatched one rifle away from the NVN soldier. The other NVN
soldier aimed at the LT and pulled the trigger on the S&W 38 pistol.
Lt Prendergast always left the first two chambers of his S&W 38
pistol empty. As this 38 pistol clicked on the empty chamber, Lt
Prendergast shot the NVD soldier between the eyes. As the second soldier
surfaced the Lt knocked him silly with a blow to the head, took his AK-47
and threw it away in the surf
Lt Prendergast then got up on a sandbar and started
running toward the inbound
chopper. After the NVN soldier recovered his weapon and was about 100yds
away,
he began to shoot. Lt Prendergast stopped, held up his hands and the NVN
soldier stopped shooting. In doing so, Lt Prendergast had saved a few valuable
seconds as the helo pressed in. Lt Prendergast fired again and began to run.
The same thing happened a second time before the chopper arrived, turned
broadside to the beach and took out the soldier. Lt Prendergast jumped
aboard the helo and was returned to Kitty Hawk.
Cdr Putnam's fate is unknown. It was presumed
that he was killed on the beach that day. His remains were returned to the
US on November 3, 1988 after extensive negations with the NVN. Cdr Putnam
was never listed as a POW.
Lt Prendergast was never listed by DOD as a POW
either. Most probably because of the short duration of his stay in the beach
that day. The Lt returned to the US
and later awarded a Navy Cross for bravery. He requested and received training
as a Navy carrier pilot. He served
honorably and achieved the rank of Commander. His obituary was recently
published in the Los Angeles Times.
Thanks to Ev Southwick, Irv Williams and Jack Rollins for helping me piece
together this story. They knew Lt Prendergast before they themselves were
captured. Jack was on the same launch with Lt Prendergast and Cdr Putnam.
Irv, Ev and Jack were in the same air wing as Cdr Putnam and Lt Prendergast in
Kitty Hawk.
PRENDERGAST, FRANCIS S.
Deceased 1998
Name: Francis S. Prendergast
Rank/Branch: Commander/United States Navy
Unit: Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 13, USS KITTY HAWK (CVA 63)
Date of Birth: 1943
Home City of Record: Chicago Il
Date shot down: 09 March 1967
Country of Visit: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 195800N 1060500E (XH133079)
Aircraft: RA5C Vigilante - A navy carrier based tactical all weather
reconnaissance aircraft
Web page
http://www.latimes.com/sbin/
If you log on to this address on the internet, the obituary
from the LA times reads as follows:
Francis S. Prendergast, 55, a pilot who earned the Navy Cross after he
was shot down over North Vietnam and escaped his captors. Born in Chicago,
Prendergast grew up in Brock, Canada, and educated at Loyola
University of New Orleans and St. Bonaventure’s University in Olean, N.Y.
He joined the Navy in 1964, completed NFO flight
training and three years later was shot down during a combat mission over North
Vietnam. Pursued and captured, he escaped and was picked up by a rescue
helicopter. In addition to the Navy Cross,
Prendergast also earned the Purple Heart and three Air Medals.