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alanwbaker

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Posts posted by alanwbaker

    December 12, 1970. Long flight to a grass field

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    The marines ran a prison for the navy and marines at Sattahip. Flying the Klong Shuttle we always stopped at Nam Phong and picked up once or twice a week a half dozen marines handcuffed on their way to Sattahip. We off loaded them at U-Tapao. Most of them, being marines, thought prison at Sattahip was better than being stationed at Nam Phong.

    Bob

    Bob,

    I'd never heard of Nam Phong--it was opened after my SEA tour--and I was curious about it. After reading its history at https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Royal_Thai_Air_Base_Nam_Phong, I can believe that prison at Sattahip was better!

    Alan

    Vietnam airlift memoir

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Alan,

    Enjoyed reading your site. Your trip to Phuc Quok Island reminded me of a similar run in 67 or 68 (I was a Loadmaster). We took several VC prisoners, complete with burlap sacks over their heads, along with other PAX to the island. The guards uncovered their heads during the flight and I remember how young and scared they looked.

    Glad you kept such good logs. I'm sure your stories bring back a lot of memories for all of us.

    Regards,

    John

    John,

    My logs are letters I mailed my wife, so she deserves the thanks for keeping them for 40 years!

    Weren't we all young and scared? Glad you're enjoying the stories--more will follow.

    Alan

    December 12, 1970. Long flight to a grass field

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Alan,

    Your mention of Sattahip brought back some memories. Back in the 1960's when I was stationed at Clark on the B-models, we had a trip to take a couple of forklifts to a grass strip at Sattahip -- they were building an air base called U-Tapao there. The locals were amazed at our C-130, but you should've seen their faces when a C-124 landed a few minutes later & opened the clamshell doors!

    Don R.

    Wow--I didn't even know C-124's could land on grass. It sure was the original aluminum overcast.

    What a change from a grass strip in the sixties to the biggest base in Thailand in the seventies!

    Alan

    December 12, 1970. Long flight to a grass field

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Wil,

    While I was at CCK from 1970-1971, missed meal reimbursement disappeared for flight crews. But we only missed meals for half a day at a time while crew chiefs like yourself missed many consecutive meals. I don't know what the missed meal policies were in the maintenance squadrons, but I always believed that extra effort deserves recognition, and a missed meal was what I could do for this one crew chief at the time.

    Everyone in SEA made contributions that went unrecognized. The Air Force may not recognize those missed meals, but I salute you for your contribution, your extra effort, and your sacrifice. Welcome home, Wil.

    Alan

    Vietnam airlift memoir

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Alan,

    I was a Floater. I remember Crewing 63-7771, 63-7773 and 63-7775. There were others. I would return to CCK on one plane and step on another and go back to TSN. Starting in March 1971 I went 126 days with only 4 days back in CCK. When Capt. Young, our Maintainance Officer found out, he made sure I got a break. 63-7773 is now on permanent display at Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania.

    We most likely did cross paths

    Alan......

    Yup. On March 5, 1970 I flew 63-7775 to Osan, Korea--a cold, bleak place. I'll write a page about that flight one day...

    Alan

    December 4, 1970. Bad configuration, bad weather, long landing

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Bruno Fronzaglio

    Bruno was a good friend of mine...haven't heard his name for over 20 years. Great guy, wonder what he is up to these days. He and I were stationed at Mactan/Clark mid 60s,

    and again at CCK early 70s.

    Muff

    Bruno was on my crew for most of my CCK tour. He was a great FE and I flew more missions with him than any other. I think of him often. Take a look at this story and scroll down to the last picture.

    http://alanbaker.net/vietnam/phnompenh.html

    I also did a little Googling and found his name at this link. Looks like he retired to Donora, PA.

    http://monarch76.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=headers&action=print&thread=275

    Vietnam airlift memoir

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    I want one, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!Probably bring back memories of things that sorta hide for now. It is great people like you are writin' the stuff down. All too soon there won't be any of us to remember it, personally.

    load clear

    Giz

    Giz,

    Yes, I thought I'd write this stuff down for posterity while I still have all my marbles (well, most of them). More web pages coming--watch this forum.

    Alan

    Vietnam airlift memoir

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Alan,

    I would be be very interested in you book also. I am very glad you are writing it. You story needs to be told. I checked out you web page and I found it extremly interesting.

    I was a C-130 Crew Chief operating out of CCK during Feb 1971 to March 1973. My tour of duty in SEA was a real eye opening experience for a kid from Lancaster County, Pa.

    Keep up the good work,

    Jack Braine

    Jack,

    My war stories will probably never be a book, but I'm glad you're enjoying the web pages. I'm writing up my experiences this summer, so there's much more to come--I'll put links here in the forum.

    We were at CCK together--I was there through August of 1971. I just visited Lancaster County for the first time last month. Beautiful country. Enjoyed the Landis Valley Museum.

    Alan

    P.S. What tail numbers were you crew chief for between February and August of 1971?

    December 4, 1970. Bad configuration, bad weather, long landing

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Alan, did you have a Flight Engineer on that flight back to Boen Hoa? If so why didn't he hit you a good one up the side of the head...welcome home glad you were LUCKY enough to make it back.

    Muff

    Muff,

    Naw, that landing wasn't luck--it was just unusual. Much safer than going around. My FE (Bruno Fronzaglio) was DNIF so I had a new FE named Carress. Sharp guy--he'd seen it all. Hmm, I did feel a little breeze after landing--he may have just missed my head. :)

    Alan

    Buddy start at Song Be, Vietnam August 15, 1970

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    The 834ALD would not approve a taxi start. So they flew a starter and Mx crew in from Clark. If there ever was a runway you would wish for when doing a taxi start, Utapao would be in the top of the list.

    Muff,

    Each organization had its own rules about buddy starts and windmill taxi starts. In Vietnam those rules were more lax. And yes, Utapao had the ideal runway for a windmill taxi start!

    Alan

    Buddy start at Song Be, Vietnam August 15, 1970

    in C-130 Historical

    Posted

    Were 3 engine take-offs approved at Cam Rahn Bay in 69 or 70?

    Memory just isn't as good as it used to be,

    Ken

    Ken,

    3-engine takeoffs required special approval from Hilda and were only used as a last resort (due to a high probability of crashing). I can only recall one during my year from 1970-1971. But buddy starts and windmill taxi starts were quite routine--we did them frequently.

    My memory's not as good as it used to be either, but all those letters to my wife are a great resource for my memoir.

    Alan

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