F-4 Question

I just saw the History Channel presentation of the Army's 7th Cav. Part of the
segment described the battle at Il Drang, where Col. Moore called Broken Arrow.
The Col. said that the call produced aircraft holding above his position from
5000' to 35,000'.
Two Questions: Is that true, were there that many aircraft engaged and
available for him that day? Also, if a F-4 was up high in the holding pattern,
would the F-4 aircraft shut down an engine to conserve fuel ?(my friends from
A-37 units would routinely shut down angines if the holds were forecast to be
more than 20 minutes; they had confidence of relighting when needed.)
Thx,
VL