Operation Flaming Dart was a U.S. and South Vietnamese military operation, conducted in two parts, during the Vietnam War. Background United States President Lyndon B. Johnson in February 1965 ordered a series of reprisal air strikes after several attacks on U.S. bases by Vietcong units, particularly in reply to the Viet Cong Attack on Camp Holloway. Operation Forty-nine retaliatory sorties were flown for Flaming Dart I on 7 February 1965. Flaming Dart I targeted North Vietnamese army bases near Đồng Hới, while the second wave targeted Vietcong logistics and communications near the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Among the pilots was Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, then a member of Vietnam's ruling junta. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers launched aircraft for strikes on the barracks at Vit Thu Lu and Đồng Hới, both just north of the DMZ. The attack on Vit Thu Lu was cancelled because of heavy clouds over the target. The weather was little better at Dong Hoi, home of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 325th Infantry Division. A 29-plane strike formation from approached the target under a low cloud ceiling at 500 knots. The A-4 Skyhawks of attack squadrons VA-153 and VA-155 hit the barracks with rockets and 250-pound bombs. Prepared as they had not been during Operation Pierce Arrow, North Vietnamese antiaircraft gunners threw up a curtain of fire from 37-millimeter guns, automatic weapons and small arms ashore and from Swatow gunboats in the Kien River. Some of this fire hit Lieutenant Edward A. Dickson's A-4 but he continued his attack before ejecting from his crippled plane, however his parachute failed to open and he plunged to his death. Right behind Coral Seas formation came 17 A-4s of VA-212 and VA-216 from the which dropped their ordnance on already burning and smoking camp facilities as F-8 Crusaders suppressed fire from antiaircraft sites. Completing the mission, RF-8A reconnaissance aircraft rolled in to photograph the scene for naval intelligence analysis. The results were unimpressive. The attack had destroyed or damaged only 22 of the 275 buildings in the camp. In reaction to Flaming Dart the Vietcong attacked a hotel billeting U.S. personnel in Qui Nhơn, prompting the Flaming Dart II air strikes. The U.S. Navy launched 99 fighter-bombers from three carriers: Hancock, Coral Sea and . The A-1 Skyraiders and A-4s from the carriers delivered tons of bombs and rockets to the