B. J. Keesee defected to Cuba in a Piper Comanche. In July 1963, United States Airman Roberto "Robert" Ramos Michelena defected to Cuba in a T-34 training plane. On 21 May 1967, Major Richard Harwood Pearce, a Bronze Star Medal recipient in the Vietnam War, who was cleared to handle secret US Army materials, defected to Cuba in a Cessna 150 light plane. Pearce was granted asylum in Cuba. Venezuela On 26 June 1973, Venezuelan Air Force pilot Capt. Aristides Gonzalez Salazar and a crewmember Sgt. Carlos Ramirez Madero defected with Canberra B. (I). Mk.52 jet bomber to Cuba. South Vietnam On 27 February 1962, South Vietnamese pilot Lieutenant Nguyen Van Cu defected to Cambodia with his Douglas A-1H Skyraider (Bu 134485) after failing in a coup attempt. On 7 November 1973, South Vietnamese pilot Lieutenant Ho Duy Hung defected to North Vietnam with a US-made UH-1A helicopter serial number 60139. In April 1975, two South Vietnamese pilots defected to North Vietnam with a UH-1 helicopter. On 8 April 1975, a Republic of Vietnam Air Force officer, Captain Nguyen Thanh Trung, bombed the presidential palace in Saigon and defected to North Vietnam in his F-5E. Yugoslavia On 13 September 1953, an air force pilot Lieutenant Nikola Jakšić flew his P-47D Thunderbolt to Italy and asked for political asylum after landing at Aviano Air Base. Airport officials quoted him as saying he had "chosen freedom." Zimbabwe On 30 June 1988, a Zimbabwe Air Force pilot Flight Lieutenant Gary Kane stole his Bell 412 helicopter in an abortive attempt to rescue alleged South African agents from prison. See also List of Soviet and Eastern Bloc defectors List of Western Bloc defectors References Cold War pilots Defections Pil Defection