What did the declassified documents reveal?

This episode presents a declassified United States Navy memorandum dated August twenty‑six, nineteen‑sixty‑seven. The memorandum was prepared for the President and details the shoot‑down of three Navy A‑6A attack aircraft over the People’s Republic of China. The document is notable because it contains the first unclassified account of the incident that was offered for possible press release. The memorandum was released to the public through The Black Vault, the online repository that publishes government documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests. The file is available in the Black Vault’s digital collection under the identifier CI01827, with the full text hosted at archive.org. The declassification authority is the United States Department of Defense, which authorized public dissemination of the unclassified portion of the report. MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT During the meeting Thursday evening, you asked for a more complete account of what happened on Monday when two United States aircraft were shot down over Communist China. Attached are two reports on the incident: one prepared here in the Situation Room containing all of our classified information; the other prepared at the request of Deputy Secretary of Defense Nitze which is unclassified and can be used with the press if you desire. Four A‑6A Navy attack aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier CONSTELLATION on August twenty‑one on a mission against the Duc Noi Railroad yard, six miles north of Hanoi. The target is more than seventy‑five miles from the Chinese border. This mission was an element of the coordinated strikes in the Hanoi area which included an attack on the Hanoi thermal power station. One of the four was downed by a direct surface‑to‑air missile hit while on his bomb run. Another was hit by anti‑aircraft fire prior to his bomb run, but completed his attack. More than twenty surface‑to‑air missiles were fired against the damaged plane and the two others as they began their egress from the target on an easterly heading. All three employed evasive maneuvers in reaction to the missiles and heavy anti‑aircraft fire. Severe turbulence was also encountered during the egress. During one evasive maneuver, one of the three A‑6As—the surviving aircraft—lost sight of the other two. He then saw them join formation about ten miles east of Kep Airfield. The third plane remained several miles south of the first two. Preliminary reports indicating that the third plane had seen MiGs over North Vietnam were not substantiated by the later debriefing of the surviving pilot. It is believed that the surviving plane also briefly penetrated into Chinese airspace, although the Department of Defense has not suggested this publicly. Three border warnings were issued to the aircraft by the USS CONSTELLATION prior to the violation and another two warnings were issued by an E‑2A aircraft. These warnings were not heard by the surviving pilot and it is assumed they were not received by…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

United States Navy Memorandum Dated August Twenty‑six, Nineteen‑sixty‑seven

◆ BLUF — The short version

This episode presents a declassified United States Navy memorandum dated August twenty‑six, nineteen‑sixty‑seven. The memorandum was prepared for the President and details the shoot‑down of three Navy A‑6A attack aircraft over the People’s Republic of China. The document is notable because it contains the first unclassified account of the incident that was offered for possible press release.

Date: AUG 14 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was United States Navy Memorandum Dated August Twenty‑six, Nineteen‑sixty‑seven about?: This episode presents a declassified United States Navy memorandum dated August twenty‑six, nineteen‑sixty‑seven. The memorandum was prepared for the President and details the shoot‑down of three Navy A‑6A attack aircraft over the People’s Republic of China. The document is notable because it contains the first unclassified account of the incident that was offered for possible press release.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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United States Navy Memorandum Dated August Twenty‑six, Nineteen‑sixty‑seven

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