Bay suffered a stroke while gardening at home. He reportedly went into a deep coma and despite the best efforts of the doctors, passed away late Sunday night at the age of 83.

Bay, born in 1936 in Dong Thap Province in the Mekong Delta, joined the North Vietnamese military at the age of 17. He was one of 19 Vietnamese pilots to earn the title “flying ace,” an unofficial name for a pilot who has shot down five or more enemy airplanes. Flying a Soviet-made MiG-17 fighter jet, Bay shot down seven aircraft of the US Navy and Air Force between 1966 and 1967.