Emmett L. Hays

Preferred Name: Emmett
Date of Birth: November 24, 1921
Highest Military Grade: 0-5 – Lieutenant Colonel
Hometown: Pangburn, AR

On 4 April 1965, the USAF made a second attempt on the Thanh Hóa Bridge with 48 Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) loaded with 384 x 750 lb (340 kg) bombs.

The Thunderchiefs were escorted by a MIGCAP flight of F-100 Super Sabres from the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron (416th TFS). Coming from above, four MiG-17s from the 921st Fighter Regiment bypassed the escorts and dove onto the Thunderchiefs, shooting two of them down

The Super Sabres engaged; one AIM-9 Sidewinder was fired and missed (or malfunctioned), and another F-100D flown by Captain Donald Kilgus fired 20mm cannons,  scoring a probable kill. No other U.S. airmen reported any confirmed aerial kills during the air battle; It was stated that three of his accompanying MiG-17s had been shot down by the opposing USAF fighters.
Three F-100s from the MiGCAP, piloted by LTC Emmett L. Hays, CPT Keith B. Connolly, and CPT Donald W. Kilgus, all from the 416th TFS, had engaged the MiG-17s.

Tran Hanh was the only Vietnamese survivor from the air battle and believed that the others in his flight were “… shot down by the F-105s.” Based upon the report, the USAF F-100s could have been mistaken for F-105s, and the loss of three MiG-17s was attributed to Super Sabres, the first aerial victories of any American aircraft in the war. The F-100s themselves would never again encounter MiGs, being relegated to close air support.

(source: https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-17)