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Photo of Crewmen handle a sidewinder missile on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, operating off the coast of South Vietnam southeast of Saigon recently (April 26th) as part of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. In a delayed report, the U.S. command said May 2nd that a carrier-based U.S. Navy F4 Phantom jet MIG was shot down April 27th by a North Vietnamese MIG 21 jet fighter and the two crewmen were lost. The Phantom was hit 24 miles northwest of the port of Thanh Hoa, 210 miles above the DMZ and 80 miles south of Hanoi.

Crewmen on the USS Constellation lift a Sidewinder missile on May 3, 1972. Days later, ace pilots would duel in the skies above North Vietnam. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Bettmann/Getty Images