“It’s Showtime!” Fighting Falcons F-4J

A CARRIER FLIGHT DECK is a crowded, noisy, dangerous place. There, the young deck crew of the USS Constellation works furiously to prepare “Showtime 105”—an F-4J Phantom of the famous Fighting Falcons, VF-96-for yet another mission over North Vietnam.

- Robert S. DeGroat

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was widely used in Vietnam. It took on MiGs in the high, cold skies nearly out of sight of the earth, and then dived back into the humid, hot, green world that looked so familiar to the troops they supported. No matter the environment, the versatile Phantom mastered every mission to which it was assigned. The Fighting Falcons became fa