target area at Chanh Hoa as F-8E Crusaders and F-4B Phantoms rocketed and strafed antiaircraft positions. A total of 33 F-8s, F-4s and A-1s protected the attack force should North Vietnamese MiGs based near Hanoi challenge the mission. Although MiGs did not interfere with the operation, antiaircraft gunners damaged a Coral Sea A-4C, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at Da Nang Air Base. Unused bombs still positioned on the wings exploded when the pilot landed at Danang, destroying the aircraft; the pilot survived. Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Shumaker of VF-154 ejected from his stricken F-8 over Chanh Hoa where he was captured by PAVN troops. While the naval aircraft bombed Chanh Hoa, the RVNAF and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) attacked Chap Le. The RVNAF used 28 propeller-driven A-1s, while the USAF had an equal number of jet-powered F-100 Super Sabres on target. While Americans with Farm Gate had been flying combat with their South Vietnamese counterparts, the USAF strikes in South Vietnam escalated the war by their use of jet aircraft. American reaction to Communist escalation was not restricted to the bombing of North Vietnam. Washington also escalated its use of air power when it authorized the use of U.S. jet attack aircraft to engage targets in the south. On 19 February, USAF B-57s conducted the first jet strikes flown by Americans in support of South Vietnamese ground units. On 24 February, USAF jets struck again, this time breaking up a Viet Cong ambush in the Central Highlands with a massive series of tactical air sorties. Again, this was an escalation in the U.S. use of air power. Aftermath The Operation Flaming Dart raids were later followed by Operation Rolling Thunder, which began a 44-month campaign on 2 March 1965. Other aerial campaigns were also waged during the war. By war's end, the American bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War amounted to the heaviest aerial bombardment in history, totaling 7,662,000 tons of ordnance. See also List of bombing campaigns of the Vietnam War References External links Universal newsreel detailing the attack on Camp Holloway and Operation Flaming Dart Conflicts in 1965 Flaming Dart Flaming Dart Aerial bombing operations and battles Flaming Dart Flaming Dart