Long Range Bomber - A6 Grumann - Intruder

Vietnam War Patch - Low Flying Attack Bomber

Go In Deeper, Stay Longer, Drop a Bigger Load

US NAVY - US MARINES - All Weather Attack

Measures - 3.4 inch in diameter (8.5 cms)

GRUMANN – A-6 INTRUDER

The Intruder delivered more ordnance during the Vietnam War than the B-52.

The A-6 became both the U.S. Navy's and U.S. Marine Corps principal medium and all-weather/night attack aircraft from the mid-1960s through the 1990s.

Whereas the A-6 fulfilled the USN and USMC all-weather ground-attack/strike mission role, this mission in the USAF was served by the Republic F-105 Thunderchief and later the F-111, the latter which also saw its earlier F-111A variants converted to a radar jammer as the EF-111 Raven, analogous to the USN and USMC EA-6B Prowler.

A-6 Intruders first saw action during the Vietnam War, where the craft were used extensively against targets in Vietnam.

The aircraft's long range and heavy payload (18,000 pounds or 8,200 kilograms) coupled with its ability to fly in all weather made it invaluable during the war. However, its typical mission profile of flying low to deliver its payload made it especially vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire, and in the eight years the Intruder was used during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps lost a total of 84 A-6 aircraft of various series.

The first loss occurred on 14 July 1965 when an Intruder from VA-75 operating from USS Independence, flown by LT Donald Boecker and LT Donald Eaton, commenced a dive on a target near Laos. An explosion under the starboard wing damaged the starboard engine, causing the aircraft to catch fire and the hydraulics to fail. Seconds later the port engine failed, the controls froze, and the two crewmen ejected. Both crewmen survived.

A U.S. Marine Corps A-6 Intruder destroyed by a rocket and mortar bombardment on Da Nang Air Base in 1968.

Of the 84 Intruders lost to all causes during the war, ten were shot down by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), two were shot down by MiGs, 16 were lost to operational causes, and 56 were lost to conventional ground fire and AAA.

The last Intruder to be lost during the war was from VA-35, flown by LT C. M. Graf and LT S. H. Hatfield, operating from USS America; they were shot down by ground fire on 24 January 1973 while providing close air support. The airmen ejected and were rescued by a Navy helicopter. Twenty U.S. Navy aircraft carriers rotated through the waters of Southeast Asia, providing air strikes, from the early 1960s through the early 1970s. Nine of those carriers lost A-6 Intruders: USS Constellation lost 11, USS Ranger lost eight, USS Coral Sea lost six, USS Midway lost two, USS Independence lost four, USS Kitty Hawk lost 14, USS Saratoga lost three, USS Enterprise lost eight, and USS America lost two.

Although capable of embarking aboard aircraft carriers, most U.S. Marine Corps A-6 Intruders were shore based in South Vietnam at Chu Lai and Da Nang and in Nam Phong, Thailand.

For your kind Consideration.

Cheesecloth backed Vietnam War patch - Filler - made for collecting, swapping, made during conflict and through to mid-late 1980's in Vietnam - Pieces were made in Vietnam.

More recent, similar pieces are felt backed (I do not sell felt back) - if you have any questions about anagrams used, translations, unit location etc please ask – I am always happy to answer.

Command Control, North, South, Central, MACV, Special Forces, SOG, Special Op’s, Special Operations Group, 5 th Special Forces, Army Security Agency, Military Intelligence, Psy-Ops, US Army, De Oppresso Liber, Airborne, 1 st Special Forces, CIDG, Mike Force, Mobile Guerrilla Force, Mobile Strike Force, Operations Detachment, Provincial Recon Unit, Recon Teams, RT, USMC, United States Marine Corps, Vietnam War, WWII, WWI, French Indochine War, French Foreign Legion, Legion Etrange, Project Omega, Recondo School, Rapid Fire, Project Delta, Special Missions Advisory Force, Project Gamma, Project Sigma, Indigenous Troops, MACV-SOG, CCC, CCS, CCN, USARV, SMAG, TAG, Field Training Command, Recon Team Leader, US Navy, Air Force, AATTV, Long Tan, Nui Dat, AAFV, ATF, New Zealand V Force, Big Red One, 1st Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, Tropic Lightning, 25th Infantry Division, Subdued, Patch, Patches, Uniform, Helmet, Flash, Beret, Arc, Tab, 101 st Airborne Division,

 

be fun.