Hayden Lockhart

Hayden James Lockhart (born June 16, 1938) is a retired United States Air Force officer who is best known for being the first U.S. Air Force pilot to be shot down in North Vietnam.

Early life
Lockhart was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1961 from the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Early career
Lockhart was originally stationed at Luke Air Force Base, where he attended Fighter Gunnery School.

Lockhart was commissioned a second lieutenant on June 7, 1961. He was assigned to the 613th Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying the North American F-100 Super Sabre. He arrived in Vietnam in 1964.

Vietnam shoot down
Lockhart was shot down March 2, 1965, when he was forced to eject over North Vietnam. After his ejection he evaded capture until March 12, 1965.

“…By summer 1965, more than thirty American airmen had been killed or were presumed missing in action and a dozen had been captured, including the first Air Force POW, Lieutenant Hayden Lockhart. The Navy pilots in this group included Lieutenant Commanders Robert H Shumaker, Raymond Vohden and Lieutenants Phillip Butler and John McKamey…"

Prisoner of War in North Vietnam: 1965 to 1973
Hayden was the third American captured in North Vietnam, and the first Air Force pilot captured in the North during the Vietnam War.

Lockhart spent his time in captivity at several prisoner of war (POW) locations: New Guy Village 1965; Heartbreak Hotel 1965; The Briarpatch in August 1965; Zoo 1966; Zoo Annex 1967; Camp Unity at Hỏa Lò Prison (also known as the Hanoi Hilton); Dogpatch (9 miles south of the Chinese border) May 1972; and Hỏa Lò prison again in January 1973.

On July 6, 1966, 52 US prisoners of war were taken on the March of Hanoi. The prisoners were paraded, handcuffed in pairs, and marched down the main street of Hanoi while angry crowds of people screamed, spat and threw objects at them. A photograph, (published in Look magazine in 1970) showed Lockhart supporting fellow prisoner of war, Phil Butler, who was dazed after being struck by a thrown bottle.

The prisoners supported each other and communicated using a tap code that Lockhart's fellow POW, Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, had learned in a survival school. He was released during "Operation Homecoming" on February 12, 1973.

After release
Lockhart received an Air Force Institute of Technology assignment to the University of Southern California at Los Angeles to complete his graduate degree.

After Vietnam
Lockheart's final assignment was on the staff of the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center at Norton AFB, California, from February 1980 until his retirement from the Air Force on December 31, 1981.

Lockhart retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1981.

Honors and awards
Lockhart received the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross and Prisoner of War Medal, all after his service in the Vietnam War.