Pardo's Push Pilot and Vietnam Veteran Bob Pardo Dies at 89

Two thousand pounds of fuel may sound like a lot, but it won't get your F-4 Phantom II from Hanoi to Laos when its fuel tank has been torn open by anti-aircraft fire. That was the situation in which Air Force pilot Capt. John R. "Bob" Pardo and his wingman Capt. Earl Aman found themselves over the unfriendly skies of North Vietnam in March 1967. 

What Pardo did to aid his in-flight battle buddy became the stuff of legend. "Pardo's Push" would soon be one of the most famous maneuvers in the history of aerial warfare and its perpetrator, Bob Pardo, a hero among mortals. Pardo, who survived the war and went on to become a career airman and later a civilian pilot, died in December 2023 at age 89. 

The target that day was the Thai Nguyen steel mill some 53 miles north of the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. But the U.S. Air Force didn't enjoy total immunity in the skies above North Vietnam, and any mission was likely to be highly contested. This one was no different; a thousand anti-aircraft guns were protecting the mill and by the end of their bombing run, Pardo and his wingman were both flying damaged aircraft. 

But where Pardo could make it to friendly territory, Aman and his Weapons Systems Officer (WSO), 1st Lt. Robert Houghton. knew their fuel tank had been hit and there was no chance of making it to an in-flight refuel over Laos. They would soon have to bail out, into the rice paddies of North Vietnam, enemy territory with no cover or concealment and an unfriendly populace. Pardo would have none of that. 

As they made their way out of enemy territory, they climbed to 30,000 feet where Pardo first attempted to literally push his wingman's Phantom along, similar to a maneuver performed by James Robinson Risner during the Korean War. It might have worked for Risner, but turbulence prevented it from working for Pardo. But Pardo and his WSO, 1st Lt. Steve Wayne, weren't going to give up that easily. They had Aman cut his engines and lower his plane's tailhook. 

The McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II was originally designed as a plane for naval aviators, and needed to be able to land on aircraft carriers, which meant it came equipped with a heavy duty tailhook for the occasion. With the tailhook down, Pardo was able to push Aman's jet along by pressing it up against his windscreen. He had to readjust its position every 15-30 seconds, and it was cracking his plane's canopy, but the tailhook push was working. It just wouldn't work very long. Pardo's engines were failing and his own fuel was dropping. 

Luckily, the two planes were soon over Laos. After pushing both jets some 88 miles to friendlier territory, Pardo's plane was also done for. He used the last of his available efforts to slow their rate of descent before all four men bailed out over Laos. They evaded the Viet Cong patrols sent out to capture them and were all rescued within two hours of going down. 

What happened next says a lot about how the Air Force has evolved since the Vietnam War. The commander of the 7th Air Force wanted to court-martial Pardo for losing his F-4 Phantom. Instead, Pardo's commander, the legendary Col. Robin Olds, intervened and kept the situation from escalating. Pardo survived the war, receiving the Air Medal, a Purple Heart and two Distinguished Flying Crosses.

While the incident did not fly with the Air Force leadership during the Vietnam War, it continued to live in fame among the airmen of the United States for decades afterward. Paintings were made, stories were shared and Pardo became a USAF folk hero. In 1989, the U.S. Senate got wind of the story and Pardo and Wayne were finally awarded Silver Stars for their risky maneuver. Aman and Houghton also received Silver Stars a few years later.

"My dad taught me that when your friend needs help, you help. I couldn't have come home and told him I didn't even try anything," Pardo told the San Antonio Express News. "It doesn't give me any extra privileges but makes me feel better about who I am."

Pardo died of lung cancer at his home in College Station, Texas on Dec. 5, 2023.