Military Operations
Operation Kingpin
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Operation Kingpin, also called Operation Ivory Coast, was a joint United States Special Operations raid on 21 November 1970 against the Son Tay prisoner-of-war camp near Hanoi, North Vietnam, intended to recover American POWs believed held there. A combined Army Special Forces and Air Force task force executed a nearly flawless nighttime helicopter assault on the compound, but found it empty; the prisoners had been relocated weeks earlier.
Facts
Operation TypeSpecial-forces raid (prisoner rescue, no prisoners found) 1 LocationSon Tay prisoner-of-war camp, near Hanoi, North Vietnam 1 ParticipantsU.S. Army Special Forces (6th and 7th Special Forces Groups), U.S. Air Force, under Brigadier General LeRoy Manor and Colonel Arthur Simons 1 ObjectiveRecover American prisoners of war believed held at the Son Tay camp 1 OutcomeNo prisoners were found, as they had been relocated before the raid; the mission's execution was judged nearly flawless and prompted a major reorganization of U.S. POW intelligence 1 Sources
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