Nguyen Toon

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Nguyen Toon (Nguyễn Tuân) or "Colonel Toon" or "Tomb" was a mythical North Vietnamese fighter pilot and flying ace who allegedly shot down 13 American aircraft during the Vietnam War. According to legend, he was killed in action on May 10, 1972, by the U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom crew of pilot Lt. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and radar operator Lt.(jg) William "Irish" Driscoll.

Toon/Tomb's name arose during the latter part of the war, being known to U.S. Navy (if not Air Force) aviators. Photos of North Vietnamese MiG-17s and MiG-21s, most notably being a MiG-17 with the serial numbers: 3020, and a MiG-21 with serial numbers: 4326, each bearing numerous red victory stars, occasionally were identified as his aircraft, but the most basic aspects of Toon/Tomb's life and career were never published, nor was his photo ever released. Apart from those mysterious facts, ethnologists have noted that neither Toon nor Tomb is a Vietnamese name.

It is more likely that something similar to Toon or Tomb was a radio callsign, and a corrupted version of the story got out. Much of the information the U.S. obtained about the North Vietnamese air force came from "SigInt" or signals intelligence, monitoring enemy radio transmissions.

In the years after the war, American military officers visiting Vietnam have intimated that some of their hosts admitted that Toon/Tomb actually never existed and that he was a long-standing, successful fabrication.