Ronald Runyan King
Lieutenant Colonel
333RD TAC FTR SQDN, 355TH TAC FTR WING, 7TH AF
United States Air Force
Santa Cruz, California
November 01, 1926 to October 03, 1967
RONALD R KING is on the Wall at Panel 27E, Line 44

7thaf.gif
355tfw.gif
333tfs.gif
slvrstar2.gif  
 
usafpilot.gif
 
ambase.gif
 

 
16 Jan 2005

REMEMBERED

He received the Silver Star.
I'd like to know more.

From a friend of his son, Robert King.
E-mail address is not available.


 

Notes from The Virtual Wall

Very little is known regarding the circumstances of Ronald King's loss.

Hobson's Vietnam Air Losses contains a brief entry:

"A Thunderchief crashed in the Gulf of Tonkin when it ran out of fuel returning from a mission. The pilot was killed in the accident."
Jim Baugher's compilation of USAF aircraft procurements and dispositions contains an even briefer note, "[F-105D 59-]1824 shot down 10/3/1967. Pilot KIA.", but one with perhaps less accuracy. With this exception, available records indicate it was not a hostile loss but rather an operational loss.

Even his squadron assignment is somewhat uncertain; Hobson places him with the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron, a component of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Takhli RTAFB, Thailand, as does the 355th TFW Honor Role. On Monday, December 27, 1999, Howard Plunkett (plunkett-abq@worldnet.att.net) placed the following on thewall-usa.com:

"Maj Ronald King was the pilot of an F-105D that caught fire on 3 October 1967 enroute to a target in North Vietnam. After ejecting, Maj King died from becoming entangled in his parachute when he landed in water with waves 20 feet high. He was a member of the 333 TFS from Takhli RTAB, Thailand."
The Air Force's Vietnam casualty list says he was assigned to the 333rd TFS, a different squadron within the 355th TFW.

What is beyond dispute is that then-Major Ronald King, a veteran of 22 years' service and two wars, departed Takhli RTAFB on 03 Oct 1967 in F-105D serial 59-01824, did not return, and has not been recovered. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel after his loss.


Contact Us © Copyright 1997-2019 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM) Last update 08/15/2019.