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Wil Sanchez

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Everything posted by Wil Sanchez

  1. Hi Dutch, great question. I used to sleep on top in the slot up next to the Rudder and Elevator when in VN cause it was so hot. Slept inside on many an occasion especially when doing 3 day shuttles. Never slept underneath though. It is good to hear from you guys again. I've been absent for awhile. Take care and be safe. Wil
  2. Hey Guys, don't know if any of you have seen this pic. I thought it was worth posting. Take care and stay safe. Wil
  3. King001 i will go back through my pics and see if i can repost them. I think when we changed sightd the links quit working on a lot of the posts. Refresh my memory on the DCC and the ACC. Wil
  4. Hi Bob, how are you? I was just wondering about the accounting for the loss of an aircraft. If the plane was a 345th plane and was lost while being operated by a 776st crew wouldn't the 345th still be missing 1 aircraft? Irealize we are dealing with Military logic and counting so maybe my question is what doesn't make sense. On another subject, we will be having a Memorial day celebration here in Grand Prairie so if you haven't got anything to do why don't you come and share with us. They also have a free lunch if you're not afraid of Hot Dogs , Chips Lemonade and Cookies. We also host the Run for the Wall riders on their trip to Washington DC. It is quite a sight to see so many of our fellow Vets cone through here.
  5. Hey Guys, brings back old memories. A little extra info on some of the ABCCC birds. I was assigned to 62-1809 for a trip to Danang in July of 1967. We were attacked by about 40- 45 minutes of rockets on the morning of July 15, 1967. They hit a pair of F-4's parked in a revetment off our left wing. The F-4's exploded and caught the wing on my plane on fire. It burned up to #1 engine. When we got to the flight line around 3:00 AM the wing was laying on the ground. The plane was listing to the right and you could reach up and touch the right wing from the ground. Aircraft #62-1815 which was the backup plane was sitting in the middle of the ramp about 40 yards from us. There was an A model right next to it. One of them was hit and they were both destroyed. Any way hope you enjoy a little history by someone who was there at the time. Take care and stay safe and thank you to all my Herk brothers. Wil Sanchez
  6. Dan, good to hear from you again. Welcome back and hope things are on the right track for you. Wil
  7. Wow great video. Has anyone ever seen a herk doing lazy 8's? I was with a crew in Thailand that was showing off for a couple of F-4's. We did 2 lazy 8's and got a little respect from the fighter jocks. Our beloved Herks can do some amazing things. e are also fortunate to have the best air crews and maintenance guys in the world. I salute all of you. Take care and be safe. Wil
  8. Hey Guys Time to weigh in on the IHD issue. I received a letter last week informing me that my claim was approved and I was awarded 30%. The higher rating of 60% was not approved because I had a stress test in 2008 that showed I was too healthy. For those of you that are thinking of filing, use the fast track process. I didn't and it took 15 months to get a resolution. A friend that filed with the fast track system took 6 months to resolve the issue. i was told the pay would be retroactive to July of 2010 when IHD was approved as an Agent Orange condition. As a side note I have always been in great shape and watch my diet, however I have had Angioplasty's with stents in 2000 and 2007. In a Viet Nam Veterans of America magazine there was an article that has shown that Viet Nam vets are dying at an average age of 65. This is much earlier than any other veteran's group. Good luck to all of you in proving boots on the ground. Take care my brothers and be safe. Wil
  9. Hey Fraulein, I just saw it on the news. Great job by the Spec Ops folks. I'm looking forward to the details. It took long enough but he was well protected. Take care and I hope this gives a little peace to those who have lost loved ones. Wil
  10. We should all give thanks for their effort to bring home our fellow Americans. We should also remember my old plane 62-1809 that gave her life in the effort. Thanks for reading. Wil
  11. Hey Ron, I don't know if it was 1837 or 7837 now. I know it was something 837. I was with 1809 at Da Nang when she was seriously injured. I've got pics if you haven't seen them already. Take care and stay safe. Wil
  12. Hi Pat, how you doing? I was evaluated by the VA for heaing problems. They determined I had some hearing loss attributesd to the Military, however it wasn't bad so they gave me a 0% award. They did however determine I had Tinnitus and awarded me 10% for that. I would think if you need hearing aids then you probably qualify for more than a 0% raing. Good luck with your checkups. Wil
  13. Ronsram, how are you? Good to hear from some of my fellow Warriors stationed at CCK. I know of 2 that haven't been metioned. In 1967 I crewed 62-1809 which was an ABCCC bird. In 1969-70 I crewed 64-0505. I also remember 63-1837 which was a ramp queen on several occasions. Hope you get all the numbers you're looking for. Take care. Wil
  14. Just took the test, scored Support Gunner. You Scored as Support Gunner You're a support gunner. You carry a big gun, and people generally call on you when in trouble. You're a strong person physically and emotionaly. You can take being on the front lines of any problem clearing paths for your buddies. You generally lead the way with your strong personality, hitting the problem with all the tact and finesse of a Chain-Saw Murderer. CLICK, Cha-chink... DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA!!! Support Gunner 100% Officer 75% Special Ops 75% Engineer 63% Artillery/Aircraft 63% Medic 56% Combat Infantry/Armor 56% Civilian 0% You Scored as a : Support Gunner Support Gunner 100% Officer 75% Special Ops 75% Engineer 63% Artillery/Aircraft 63% Medic 56% Combat Infantry/Armor 56% Civilian 0% Fun stuff. Take care. Wil
  15. Interesting reading about all the things that happened to other Herk folks. I thought I was the only one who got bit regularly. Along with all the scratches and scrapes the incident that I will never forget. I was at CCK in 1967. I was running the panel on a refuel. After we had loaded fuel on board I pulled the handle to close the manifold valve. When I unlocked the hose it dumped all the fuel that was in the manifold in my face. It seems a piece of the manifold had broken off and wedged the valve open. Anyway I swalowed and inhaled quite a bit of JP-4. I was soaked in Jp-4. Had a real bad rash for several weeks, a cough that lased months and red itchy eyes for quite a while. Take care all and stay safe. Wil
  16. Hey Spectre623 how are you? In answer to your question about record keeping, I can say that it was non existent. I did not receive either of the Viet Nam medals r an air medal and nothing was noted on my DD214. They lost my medical records also. If I knew I would be filing claims for disabilities when I became old I would have found a way to get and keep copies of everything. Good news however, I did get a good conduct medal notation on my DD214. Take care. Wil
  17. Hey RPG, one of the things I used to establish time in Viet Nam were cpies of my 1969 and 1970 W-2's. The W-2 showed total income and then taxable income. The other suggestions from some of the other replies are good also but some of us didn't get to keep copies of TDY orders. I turned those in to receive my TDY pay and it triggered the Combat Duty Pay, Hazardous duty Pay and also the tax exemption for the month. Hope you can come up with something that will help you out. Good Luck. Wil
  18. CFisher interesting question. I never water sied but we did a fair amont of body surfing while there. We were a little concerned one day when a chopper was flying in circles about 500 yards from the beach. we weren't sure if it was sharks or mines. We left the water quickly. Wil
  19. Hey Alan, sounded like a fun trip. Just another day at the office. I would like to know what the missed meal part of story was about. As a Crew chief I worked many nights without a meal. Spent 3 days on my bird #64-0505 at Danang. We had either a prop or engine issue they couldn't resolve. Prop shop said engine. Engine shop said Prop. It weems I ran engines every 2 or 3 hours for the better part of 3 days. I had about $15.00 on me so I sent my assistant to the BX with a 10 dollar bill to get us something to eat. He came back with 3 boxes of Ritz Crackers, 2 jars of Peanut Butter and 2 jars of Tang. Can't drink Tang to this day. Looks like the Air Force owes me a lot of money for missed meals. Wil
  20. Wil Sanchez

    Perspectives

    Chiller, what a great job you have. Teaching pilots acrobatic manuevers has me drooling. My only experience with some out of the ordinary flying occurred in 1969. I was a Crew chief on Herk #64-0505 on TDY to Bangkok. We had a cargo run to the North. As we were flying along either the Pilot or the Co-pilot said hey look t that. Out in front and slightly below us 2 F-4's wandere mock dog fighting. We watched for about 5 minutes when the Pilot called out to them and said great show. One of the F-4's said who is that. The other F-4 said it's only a trash hauler above us. Our Pilot took offense to that remark and told to watch what a Herk could do with 40K in cargo on board. He firewalled the throttles and pulled her into a steep climb. He then begin doing lazy 8's. Needless to say we and the F-4's were duly impressed. Take care. Wil
  21. Hey folks. I don't remember if I have posted this before. If I did then I apologize, but new members might not have seen it and might enjoy the might of the Herk. Wil Long Takeoff at Tan Son Nhut On April 29, 1975, the fall of Saigon was imminent, and nearby Tan Son Nhut Air Base was under heavy fire. South Vietnamese Air Force officer Tinh Nguyen saw a single C-130A taxiing out. The cargo ramp was still open, with desperate people clambering on board. Nguyen joined them. At the end of the runway, the cargo door finally closed, and the pilot powered up. The overweight Hercules slowly ran down the 9,000-foot runway, finally staggering off the ground at the end of the 1,000-foot overrun. The C-130 stayed in ground effect until it gained enough speed to begin a shallow climb. The airplane was at least 20,200 pounds overweight, as it carried 452 people, including 33 crowded into the flight deck. After a flight lasting nearly four hours, the C-130 landed at U Tapao RTAB, Thailand. When Nguyen got out, he looked at the C-130 and vowed that he would someday work for the company that built such a remarkable airplane. Today, he does just that. Nguyen works at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Ga., where he is a specialist in defensive systems. The aircraft that carried him and 451 others to safety may now be found as the gate guardian at Little Rock AFB, Ark.
  22. Jerry, you're right about that 2 striper. Looks like he ate many of Dang's Ham and Cheese sandwiches. Speaing of Dang. I was there in December of 1969. We flew some ROK's into Viet Nam on Cristmas day. We got back just before Dang closed up and she took all of us to her house and put on a great spread for us. that is the best food I had eaten in some time. Here's one more look at the Chow Hall at CCK. Enjoy. Wil
  23. Dan, our prayers and best wishes go with you. Look forward to your success stories to come. Wil
  24. Thanks for the kind words guys. Many times we get into sitations that don't require much thought only sction. I haven't seen him yet so I don't have his name yet. I will update you guys when I see him. I'm going to have to get better at getting names and stuff. I failed on another occasion. When we were at Davis Monthan in April our last stop was the Pima Air and Space Museum. While I was looking at the C-124 Shakey a gentleman came up to us and said I flew this very plane in the late 60's. I mentioned that I might have worked on it in 68. We chatted awhile longer and then continued on. Later when we were driving back to Albuquerque I mentione to my Wife that I should have taken a picture of him and his plane and gotten his name. So I apologize for not getting the details. Wil
  25. Does this look familiar? Wil
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