Nguyễn Văn Bảy

Nguyen Van Bay was born in 1937 in a place nowadays Sa Đéc City, Đồng Tháp Province.

He was the seventh of 11 children.

At the age of 16, Bay went North to join the army to fight against the French during the First Indochina War (aka the French Indochina War).

When the war ended in 1954, Vietnam was temporarily divided into two states along the 17th Parallel; North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

Bay chose to stay in the North, at which time he lost all contact with his family.

Bay began his combat aviation career with the 910th Air Training Regiment in Vietnam in 1959, and started MiG-17 training in China in the early 1960s.

In 1962, Bay volunteered for flight training and was among the first pilot trainees sent to train in the People's Republic of China.

As he told it, he "went from the bicycle to the airplane with no stop in between."

He learned to drive a car only long after he began flight training.

Bay and the other trainees started with Yak-18s, then moved on to MiG-15s, finally graduating to the MiG-17s.

Similar to U.S. pilots, the North Vietnamese usually flew 200 hours in training before going into combat.

Bay's training took four years, successfully completing his training in January 1966.

On 29 April 1966, North Vietnamese GCI directed the 923rd Fighter Regiment MiGs into two separate battles against USAF and USN aircraft.

In the other interception flight of the 923rd regiment MiG-17s that day, Nguyen Van Bay intercepted USAF F-105s and F-4s, shooting down the F-105D Thunderchief piloted by Lt. Donald W. Bruch of the 333rd TFS, just north of Hanoi, although the US-side claims this loss was due to AAA; Lt. Bruch according to witnesses, was not seen to eject from his stricken aircraft, and was declared KIA on 4 May 1966.

Bay and three other MiG-17s were sent to engage an RF-8A (reconnaissance variant) and its escorting F-8s.

Despite two Migs being destroyed by the F-8s, Bay managed to down one F-8 piloted by Cole Black.

While Bay and the other MiG-17s were engaging the F-8s, the lead Mig-17, piloted by Phan Thanh Trung, shot down the RF-8A.

Bay and three other MiG-17s were sent to engage F-105s heading for the fuel depots in Hanoi.

With the help of fellow pilot Phan Van Tuc, catching the lead F-105 off-guard, Bay shot it down.

The F-105D that was downed in this engagement between Nguyen and Phan, was piloted by Capt. M.N. Jones, who then spent 2,420 days at the prison camp often referred to as the "Hanoi Hilton", although as typical of American sources, the counter-claim is that Jones was shot down due to "fire from rockets and anti-aircraft cannons".

According to another source, Bay shot down ace pilot James H. Kasler.

Le Thanh Chon, the senior control officer at Gia Lam airfield, vectored Bay and his wing-man Vo Van Man to an unknown target in the South.

As they headed south, Bay observed a flight of A-4 Skyhawks flying away from a smoking bridge.

Bay returned to Vietnam for combat duty with the 921st Fighter Regiment, but scored his first aerial victory with the 923rd Fighter Regiment in April 1966 during the early part of the U.S.-involved Vietnam War; Bay was awarded the coveted Hero of the Vietnamese People's Armed Forces medal on 1 January 1967.

Note: The following aerial engagements do not match with the number of aircraft he shot down, according to the United States Air Force.

The aircraft he shot down as claimed by the USAF are 2 F-8s, 1 F-4B, 1 A-4C and 1 F-105D.

In addition, the following engagements suggest that he shot down 8 aircraft even though he is credited with 7.

Nevertheless, the following aerial-combat victories listed, at the very least, include all the kills acknowledged and credited to Nguyễn Văn Bảy by the VPAF:

Bay had his first engagement when he was attacked by an F-4 Phantom.

The F-4 fired an AIM-7D missile

that detonated off his left wing.

His MiG-17 then pitched down and started vibrating.

Bay managed to land safely at Noi Bai airfield, just north of Hanoi.

He later stated, "I felt like a light boxer who confidently walked up to the ring and tried to knock out the super heavy boxers. It was not a single fight but dozens of dogfights. We were outnumbered four or five to one. Our thoughts were on survival, nothing more."

USAF F-4C Phantom IIs participated in a strike along Route 10 at Bac Son-Binh Gia, and a flight of four MiG-17s that included pilot Nguyen Van Bay were directed by North Vietnamese ground control intercept radar (GCI) to fly at 2,500 meters and 15 km south of Bac Son-Binh Gia; due to the constant shifting of direction of flight by the U.S. aircraft, the MiG-17 pilots decided engaged the American raiders head-on, and in the ensuing melee, Luu Huy Chao claimed a Phantom shot-down, while Nguyen Van Bay scored hits on another Phantom, damaging it for certain, but couldn't confirm it as a kill.

Piloting a MiG-17F while assigned to the 923rd Fighter Regiment, Bay claimed 7 aerial combat victories while engaged against aircraft of the USAF and USN: 2 F-8s, 1 F-4B, 1 A-4C and 1 F-105D.

Of the 7 claimed victories, 5 are acknowledged by American documents.

Of 16 VPAF (North Vietnamese) aces during Vietnam War, only Bay, Luu Huy Chao, and Le Hai solely flew MiG-17s.

A pilot of one flight of MiG-17s from the 923rd regiment, Bui Dinh Kinh claimed the downing of a USAF A-1E Skyraider piloted by Col. Leo "Sid" Boston; although some sources may have misidentified the loss as a USN A-4E Skyhawk piloted by navy Captain (same rank as air force Colonel) L.S. Boston.

Nguyễn Văn Bảy (1936 – September 22, 2019), was a Vietnamese jet fighter ace for the Vietnam People's Air Force (North Vietnamese Air Force) during the Vietnam War.