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Raid on Son Tay Prison

November 21, 1970

1970-11-21_SonTayPrisonCamp
1970-11-21_SonTayPrisonCamp
An aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Son Tay Prison Camp, October–November 1970. (Edwards Air Force Base)

U.S. Air Force Special Operations and Army Special Forces personnel raid Son Tay Prison, about 23 miles north of Hanoi. Their mission is to rescue up to 55 American POWs believed to be held there.

Transport helicopters fly 56 U.S. commandos from Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base to the prison. After successfully infiltrating the facility, the raiders discover that all prisoners have been moved to another camp. No U.S. personnel are killed during the raid. All rescuers return safely. Officials in Hanoi subsequently order all POWs to be moved to more central locations.1

Spencer C. Tucker, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 1052–53; Stuart I. Rochester and Frederick Kiley, Honor Bound: The History of American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961–1973 (Washington, D.C.: Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1998), 500, 506; “Rescue Attempt: Son Tay Raid,” National Museum of the Airforce, March 2011, http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=14410 (link is external) (accessed 4/22/14); C.V. Glines, “The Son Tay Raid,” Air Force Magazine 78 (November 1995), http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1995/November%201995/1195raid.aspx (link is external) (accessed 4/22/14).