My Father flew C-130-A's there during 1969 in his third war. He said it was the best plane he ever flew. The list of things he said he flew there was mind-boggling. Thank you for posting this. It brings back memories to me of him. A big thank you to everyone who served there, and to those who flew the "Herkey Bird".
My dad was a Loadmaster in the USAF in Vietnam and passed away 3 years ago. He never talked much about it, but my curiosity still gets to me reading thru everything that he kept (flight plans and such) and watching these videos is fascinating. Thank you to all that served at this time!!
As a 7 year Aerial Porter and soon to be C-130 Loadmaster I LOVED this video! The Herc is without a doubt the bet plane ever made! Thank you for sharing these images!
I was in the Air Force from 1966-1970, Instrument Indicating Systems Shop. I sure did work on a lot of C-130s, in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Okinawa. Enjoyed seeing your video, thanks for posting.
Dear Sir, Were you serving the C130 during the vietnam war? I had a friend who was in the crew and we are trying very hard to get in touch with his old veteran mates. His name is Michael J Patrick. Please would you mind contacting me through email to let me know more about the crew, and , maybe possibly direct me to some other veteran of C-130? Please. email: icebluemist@gmail.com
My father's notes as given to me: November 1962 - Joined Air Transport Squadron SEVEN (VR-7) at NAS Moffett Field, California as a Navigator of Lockheed's C-121 Supper Constellation and C-130 Hercules. By '66 he was assigned to training at Corpus Christi where I was born. Only stories he's shared about his deployment were the Hawaiian MPs giving them a heard time (well deserved) during leave. THANK YOU for giving me a glimpse into what his experience might have been like.
My older brother served in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. He was stationed all over the country: first in the south, then in the Central Highlands, then near the DMZ during the VC's final push. He recently died, and at his funeral, a military funeral I might add, Taps was played by a 92 y.o. Marine Veteran of Iwo Jima (do the math to see how old he was when he enlisted). I went up to him before the service began and said to him what I now say to my brother every day, and what I'm going to say to you here, and that is... Thank you for your service.
Cool video, my father was a SMSgt. when I was a kid he use to take me into the hanger at O Hare airport air reserve station and let me sit in the cockpit of some of their C-130s. Bad eyes made it impossible for me to become a pilot, I ended up a parachute rigger NAS Alameda. My girl friends father was a C-130 loadmaster and was killed at the battle of AN LOC , when his plane crashed from enemy fire trying to supply the troops fighting there. I wish I could of had the chance to meet him and got to know him. Vietnam ended 41 years ago but it still feels like a fresh wound and still touches people to this day. Im saddened that my girlfriend never knew her father ,she was only 18 months old in April of 72 when he passed. Its a bittersweet feeling that even though he wasnt beside her growing up, she has a hero for a father to look up to. I thank him , and every one who served or made the ultimate sacrifice.
Ricen What was his name? I was there at that time and flew too An Loc also. It was a bad time for c-130's But all anyone remembers is the TET offensive
Cool! I was at Cam Rahn Bay from Sept. 3, 1966 Aug.30, 1967 at 14 Areal Port Sq. loading these C-130. 12 hour shifts. I worked nights it was a hell of a lot cooler!!!!! plus no brass around so we could nap if no planes. The 10,000 foot runway opened after Jan. 1, 1967 and then it was around the clock. Before it was an PSP( perforated steel plating) What a trip. We use to drag race with 10,000 lb forklifts with napalm bomb on the blades. One night we dropped a couple but they have to have white phosphorus to ignite so they did not explode. the bombs were too long in the crate so they rocked back and forth on he palates.
Dear Sir, Were you serving the C130 during the vietnam war? I had a friend who was in the crew and we are trying very hard to get in touch with his old veteran mates. His name is Michael J Patrick. Please would you mind contacting me through email to let me know more about the crew, and , maybe possibly direct me to some other veteran of C-130? Please. email: icebluemist@gmail.com
I was a loadmaster at Pope, Naha and Clark, where I was in the 29th TAS, better known as F Troop. Over the past 30 years I've done a lot of writing about C-130s, including a couple of books (Check Amazon.com). I flew airlift, FAC/Flare missions over North Vietnam and was a Commando Vault loadmaster. By the way, there were 52 airlift C-130s lost. There were actually more than that. The Marines lost two and there were six AC-130 gunships shot down plus covert ops.
Dear Sir, Were you serving the C130 during the vietnam war? I had a friend who was in the crew and we are trying very hard to get in touch with his old veteran mates. His name is Michael J Patrick. Please would you mind contacting me through email to let me know more about the crew, and , maybe possibly direct me to some other veteran of C-130? Please. email: icebluemist@gmail.com
My father and I swapped tours in VN. I was at Phu Cat 67/67 and was suppose to go back to Bien Hoa in early 69. My father and I both received orders and he wanted to go back to England for his last tour as his WW2 group was reuniting and the AF promised him he could go where he wanted if he took a year in VN. His orders predated mine by 3 days so I sent copies of both to the admin pukes at Ramdolph and they cancelled mine - we couldn't both be in-country at the same time. He was a loadmaster at Tan Son Nhut - he'd been a loadmaster instructor at both Palm Beach AFB and Tinker way back.
@@sapper6539 If your father was based at TSN, he must have been in C-123s or aerial port. There were no C-130s permanently assigned there. All C-130s in Vietnam were TDY from one of four bases in the Pacific - Tachikawa, Japan; Naha, Okinawa; Clark Field, PI and CCK, Taiwan.
@@SamC130B As a long-time loadmaster instructor he was qualified in planes from the C-54 thru the C-141 but by the time he was in TSN he had in close to 30 years and did as much desk as aircraft work. I have no idea which aircraft he worked with other than the 123s.
Thanks! We rode in C-130's with our 3/4 ton and a commo hut on the back to various scenic spots in VN including: Dong Ha, Danang, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang, Pleiku, Ban Me Thuot, Dalat, and Vung Tau.
Dear Sir, Were you serving the C130 during the vietnam war? I had a friend who was in the crew and we are trying very hard to get in touch with his old veteran mates. His name is Michael J Patrick. Please would you mind contacting me through email to let me know more about the crew, and , maybe possibly direct me to some other veteran of C-130? Please. email: icebluemist@gmail.com
Very very cool. My father flew in c-130s all over VN and was based out of Mactan AFB in Cebu 1967-68. Thank you I now have context to all his stories he would tell us kids. Always talk about the ocean approach at Qui Nhon among other things esp. Khe Sanh March 1968
I was at Katum many times in 1970. Charlie had a Quad-50 floating around - typically on the Tay Ninh side of the strip; sometimes to the south. Bad place. "Beacoup VC"as they said. Pulled quite a few USA KIAS out of there on Easter, 1970... When you landed at those "remote dirt airstrips" we were the guys - USAF 8th APS Mobility Teams - who unloaded you with our 463L 10K AT Adverse Terrain Forklifts.
My Father was a C-130 Pilot flying Vietnam from about 1965 to 1969. Our Family stayed at Naha, Okinawa during that time and I believe his squadron was based there although we did not see much of him during that time. He didn't talk much about his time there until about 30 years later and after I retired from USN. I know he wasn't a fan of the 'rules of engagement,' flying there was dangerous, and missions ran the gamut from monotonous to gut retching.
Thanks for the comments Alan. I check the site on occasion. You guys need to get involved with the Troop Carrier/Tactical Airlift Assoc. Our next convention is in Tucson in October 2014.
How true. When I arrived in country I flew on a C130 up and down the coast until I was deposited on my duty station. As usual the military had a normal SNAFU. It was a real cluster f...k.
We were Airmen once and young! God bless all the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen who served this Country well! I was "In Country" 3/69 to 3/70 at TSN AB. 377th SPS Law Enforcement!
@@rvnmedic1968 Wow! Do you remember when the ARVN soldier was brought to TSN with a RPG round in his abdomen? I was on the Law Enforcement Desk when we were notified. I have an unusual story about that incident years later!
@@rvnmedic1968 Do you recall an ARVN soldier brought into TSN with an RPG round embedded in his abdomen? I was working the L/E Desk Dispatch and sent escorts and EOD to the 8th Hospital where it was successfully removed! Before I retired from a VA Hospital I met an Army Medic who was on the Huey and attended that Soldier! Small world!
A fantastic experience into a world long gone. Vietnam at that time is very interesting history with so many stories that have not been told because it was an "unpopular" war. So, can anyone say if there were any major differences in flying a C-130A compared to the later models?
One of my mothers good friends was a c-130 loadmaster in vietnam. I am wondering if i could contact and maybe use this on a high school project I am doing on the weapons of the vietnam war. Thank you have a nice day
I was assigned to NAS North Island in the early 70' we had 2, C-130 "A" models rigged to air launch target drones. Three blade props ! The maintenance chief and our C.O. ( both of whom had more A/C certifications and flying time than Carter had little liver pills ) refered to the old girls as 1.3 million? second and third hand individual parts maintaining a barely calibratable, vibrating formation of metal and duct tape that passed for an airplane. Of course they never said that in front of UF 8228 or 8229, nor did they ever allow anyone to read operational or maintenance manuals out loud within earshot of the old birds. God I do miss my old squadron birds and buddies. We always wanted to go out one night and put big paper O's on the tails . . . .
One night in the pouring rain it was hell trying to get crews out to offload the aircraft...however we got a call from Tan Son Nhut that a C130 was coming in with 5 palates of booze...not beer...but the real thing. They called the Air Police to have them come over and guard the load...well, we were all scrambling to get out in the pouring rain and as soon as that baby stopped we had the back open and all 5 palates out on a 5 palate K-loader and by the time the air police arrived...somehow there were only 4 palates...we were like dogs digging in the sand of Cam Rahn Bay burying 5ths of whiskey in the sand!!!!! I bet there are some still buried there all these years later...I know I didn't find on of the few bottles I buried! It would be aged whiskey by now. I believe it was Seagram's VO.... but I haven't had a drink in 8,671 days, but who is counting...
Dear Sir, Were you serving the C130 during the vietnam war? I had a friend who was in the crew and we are trying very hard to get in touch with his old veteran mates. His name is Michael J Patrick. Please would you mind contacting me through email to let me know more about the crew, and , maybe possibly direct me to some other veteran of C-130? Please. email: icebluemist@gmail.com
did you guy know that after the war our airforce ( vietnam people air force ) mod this c130 to become a bomber agian kherme rough ! we got so many mk48 bomb but not to much f5,a1,a37 that why they mod the c130 to become a bomber and it was great at supporting our troop in cambodia ( vietnamese people army ) from what i hear we used bomb sight from il28 ( which we have 6 of them but only used for few year and i thing only in 1 mission attacking radar station in lao which a great bomb run destroy the radar vv ) + now both our country are not enyme any more and we have 1 enyme ( ch.na) maybe we can see c130 flying agian in vietnam people airforce ( i hear we still keep few airflame + engine + wing just need few more part + repair and it will fly agian but for now an26 and c295 is our work horse ) ps: sorry for my bad english
Great video. Gentlemans I would like you to know that we are still flyin with tail number 61-0961 in Turkey with same cockpit. Engines are not a7 but a15. Most I like them to fly with b model is their flight controls and cockpit view at night flights. It is so classic and old school type. I drink coffe and enjoy staring stars during night flight. I love to fly with c130.
Very interesting that 61-0961 is still in service. What are other tail numbers of the C-130 B models that you fly? I can check my records and tell you if I flew them during the Vietnam War. Thank-you, Jim
Great video--I worked on C-130's. Vietnam is a nice country. Hollywood hasn't made an accurate Vietnam War movie yet. People here in the States have a misconception of what the war was like. These home movies on RU-vid give an idea of daily events. Interestingly, the USA is now Vietnam's primary investment partner. We westernized them, got them hooked on capitalism and materialism. Now we're their buddies and they want our money.
Dear Sir, Were you serving the C130 during the vietnam war? I had a friend who was in the crew and we are trying very hard to get in touch with his old veteran mates. His name is Michael J Patrick. Please would you mind contacting me through email to let me know more about the crew, and , maybe possibly direct me to some other veteran of C-130? Please. email: icebluemist@gmail.com
Actually, its a beautiful powerful steed, my old man loved that thang, hated the C-123, liked the C-119 a lot, but when he got turbines, he was in heaven...The 130 is a gorgeous airplane in aluminum, my Dad cussed and cussed camouflage, and yes he did fly the MC-130E during his tour, Sept 1967 to Sept 1968... the MC-130E had 400 lbs of black coatings to absorb radar waves...the "blackbird"...
Sitting on the ground at Khe Sanh or at some FOB and seeing that big ugly SOB screaming in when you're low on bullets and beans it's perhaps the most beautiful thing you've ever seen as it pukes out thousands of pounds of pallets full of what you need. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Now a C-7A, that's ugly.
