Col Dinh Ton (Toon) Ace Of Aces Or Was He?

[casey jones]

In 1971 I had a copy of Air Progress Magazine it had a story of this North Vietnamese pilot and
a photograph of him standing by his silver M-21 with 13 American stars on its fuselage. In this
picture he is wearing an American flight suit and boots. From what I have been able to find out,
American Intellegence had somewhat of a dossier on him, this is all I know.

Cheers

Casey

 

[TARPSBird]

I believe the mysterious "Col. Toon/Tomb" MiG ace has been pretty much debunked as not a real person. There are 16 NVN MiG drivers who achieved ace status and they are listed on other websites. This is the best article I've seen on NVN MiG aces (see link below), and there is a rather pricey book available that gives a lot more details.
http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/nguyen.html?c=y&page=1

 

[Mick]

Curiously, it seems that it was the US CIA, rather than the North Vietnamese or any of their allies, that felt compelled to invent this fictional character. In a very western goof they gave the character a name that is not a name in the Vietnamese language (neither "Toon" nor "Tomb") but of course the intended audience for this fairy tale, American pilots, wasn't composed of linguists who would spot that gaffe. The unresolved question isn't whether this character was real; it's why someone in the American intelligence community felt compelled to make up this story and attempt to perpetuate it. For a while it was even claimed that Cunningham & Driscoll's fifth kill was the notorious Colonel Tomb. All in all the tale was a rather bizarre concoction.