26 January 1967 – On January 26, 1967, a flight of four F-100D Super Sabre Fighter/Bomber aircraft was dispatched from Det 1, 612 Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang AB to strike Viet Cong targets near Tuyen Doc, South Vietnam. As the aircraft approached their target, the F-100D, tail number 55-2911, piloted by Lt. Col. Thomas Raymond Morgan flew low over the jungle to mark the target with a ” Willy Pete”, White Phosphorus Rocket. The pilots of the other three F-100’s would key off the smoke to deliver more destructive payloads on the Viet Cong Camp.
Morgan never dropped the marker. As he approached the target area his wingmen saw his tail assembly burst into flames and the aircraft exploded into three pieces prior to impacting a hillside. They verified plane wreckage but found no sign of the pilot.
Thomas Raymond Morgan was promoted to LTC while still MIA. Partial remains of Lt. Col. Thomas Raymond Morgan were recovered in 1994. Villagers came forward with bone fragments and personal effects from the crash site in 1996. Morgan’s remains were identified on July 28, 1997.
LTC Thomas Raymond Morgan is buried in Section 64, site 3465 of the Arlington National Cemetery.
Source: https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=81073