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April 2020C-7A Caribou AssociationC-7ACaribou AssociationPage 1Volume 31, Issue 1Dak Seang Emergency Resupply April 1970In This IssueChairman of the Board.Page 2Tour U.S. Air Force Museum.Page 2Dak Seang Operations.Page 3FAC Remembers.Page 3Pleiku ALCE Operations.Page 4Improved Tactics.Page 5Aerial Delivery at 50 feet.Page 6Dak Seang Airlift Summary.Page 7Three Tours.Page 7Hydroplaning.Page 8Bangkok Fun.Page 8Martha Raye.Page 9Low Visibility.Page 10Maintenance and Rockets.Page 11Vung Tau Speed Bumps.Page 12Cambodia Evacuation.Page 12Aviation Gas Trivia.Page 13We Will Never Forget.Page 14Dak Seang Heroism.Page 14If You Are Able.Page 14Foulois First.Page 15Doris “Dorie” Miller.Page 16Saved by a Beer.Page 17B-52 Crash at Thule.Page 18Top Gun.Page 19Manned Fighter Era.Page 20Dad and the Jenny.Page 21X-37B Breaks Record.Page 22Silver Star at Loc Ninh.Page 22Army Pathfinder.Page 23Hidden Hole.Page 24More Call Signs.Page 25Master Pilot.Page 26Master Pilot Award.Page 26Master Mechanic Award.Page 26USAF Mini-Rifle.Page 27Katherine Wright Trophy.Page 28WASP Pilot.Page 28B-17 Navigator’s Log.Page 29Vietnam to Western Airlines.Page 30The shift in U.S. policy and strategy to “Vietnamization” generated many organizational changes within the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing (TAW) in 1970.On 31 March 1970 the Wing assumed Host responsibility for Cam Ranh BayAir Base (CRB).The Da Nang Mission Site supported by the 459th Tactical Airlift Squadron(TAS) was closed on 31 January. On 15 May the 459th TAS was inactivated at PhuCat Air Base with the aircraft and aircrews assigned to the other five squadrons.The 535th TAS relocated from Vung Tau to CRB on 25 June, while the 536th TASremained at Vung Tau until relocating to CRB on 14 July.The Wing established a Mission Site at Can Tho Army Airfield on 1 July andan Operating Location at Bien Hoa Air Base on 14 July. The Bangkok MissionSite continued to be supported by Wing Headquarters throughout the year withall squadrons providing crews on a rotational basis.Two major operations in the first half of 1970 emphasized the flexibility andutility of C-7A airlift support. One was the numerous Tactical Emergency, CombatEssential, and Emergency Resupply missions Caribou crews flew in support of theU.S. incursion into Cambodia, 1 May through 30 June. The other was Dak Seang.The most significant USAF Caribou operation of 1970, and probably of the war,was conducted in April during the battle at Dak Seang. In the span of five daysthree C-7A’s were shot down and nine crew members were killed during daytimeairdrops. A change of tactics to single-ship night drops proved effective and successful. Operations at Dak Seang demonstrated the courage, skill, and ingenuityof the Caribou organization and its aircrews. The camp would have been overrunwithout their sacrifice, but the cost was high. (from Caribou Airlines, Vol. IV)Reunion 2020 in Orlando Is Cancelled!!!

Page 2C-7A Caribou AssociationThe C-7A Caribou Association Newsletteris the official publication of theC-7A Caribou Association.Elected Officers and Board Members.Chairman of Board/Member at Large - Peter Bird [535, 71]President/Board Member - John Tawes [537, 69]Vice President/Board Member - Doug Boston [458, 68]Treasurer/Board Member - Pat Hanavan [535, 68]Secretary/Board Member - Al Cunliffe [458, 68]Board Member at Large - Ed Breslin [537, 67]Board Member at Large - Tom Snodgrass [457, 70]Appointed PositionsBereavement Chairman - Jay Baker [535, 66]Chaplain - Jon Drury [537, 68]Historian - Pat Hanavan [535,68]Newsletter Editor - Ron Lester [459, 67]ron.lester43@verizon.net Phone: 703-851-6892Newsletter Editor Emeritus - Pat Hanavan [535,68]Newsletter Editor Emeritus - Dave Hutchens [459, 69]Reunion 2020 Planners - John and Fran Tawes [537, 69]Doug and Ellen Boston [458, 68]Webmaster - Peter Bird [535, 71]President Emeritus - Nick Evanish [457, 66]Chaplains Emeritus - Bob Davis [457, 69]Sonny Spurger [537, 68]Squadron 536th536th537th483rd4449th18th APRoyal Moulton [457, 66], phone 321-567-5734Mike Thibodo [457, 70], phone 651-483-9799Lee Corfield [458, 69], phone 724-775-3027Al Cunliffe [458, 68], phone 334-285-7706Bob Cummings [459, 66], phone 865-859-0888Cliff Smith [535, 69], phone 804-453-3188Mike Messner [535, 70], phone 321-453-0816Dana Kelly [536, 70], phone 407-656-4536Chuck Harris [536, 68], phone 325-465-8096George Harmon [537, 69], phone 417-368-2549Gary Miller [483, 68], phone 262-634-4117Bill Buesking [535, 70], phone 210-403-2635Bill Buesking [535, 70], phone 210-403-2635Send change of address, phone number, or e-mailaddress to:Pat Hanavan12402 Winding BranchSan Antonio, TX 78230-2770pathanavan@aol.com210-479-0226 (home), 210-861-9353 (cell) 10.00 dues are payable each January.Write your check to C-7A Caribou Association(not Tom Snodgrass) and send it to:Tom Snodgrass2515 S. White Cliff LaneWichita, KS 67210-1924magic0866@cox.net Phone: 316-684-1184April 2020Chairman of the Board’s CornerWe certainly live in interesting times!Between the chaotic politics and theCOVID-2019, this is shaping up to bequite a year. On that latter subject, theBoard had a serious and informed discussion about our Orlando Reunion. Weended up unanimously voting to cancelthe 2020 reunion. This is a first time inour history that a reunion has been cancelled, but we believed it wasthe only possible course of action.Our membership is mostly made up of people who are at seriousrisk with a grim outlook if they catch the disease. Although we cannotpossibly predict what will happen as time goes on, the situation growsmore concerning every day. We felt that it was not worth the risk toour members to continue with the reunion.This, too, will pass and we look forward to getting back to normalcyfor our reunion in 2021.Our sincere thanks and apologies must go to John Tawes and hisentire 2020 reunion team. They did a lot of great work in setting upthings for the reunion and successfully getting a hotel contract in place.It has to be difficult to go to all that effort only to have it cancelled,but both John Tawes and Doug Boston agree that we are taking theright course.Up here in the North Country, it seems like winter is almost over,although it was not much of a winter. Even though spring is nearlyhere, I will probably just hunker down and hope that COVID-2019can’t find me.I hope you will all take similar measures and stay well.CANCELLED!31st Annual C-7A Caribou Association ReunionOctober 14 – 18, 2020Orlando/Kissimmee, FLTour the U.S. Air Force Museum!Take an amazing tour of the U.S. Air Force museum from a perspective you have never seen before by using the link below.The tour is provided by a drone flying over, around, and under theaircraft, missiles, rockets, and satellites on display throughout themuseum.The drone has incredible capabilities, but the drone pilot has skills!Here is the link. Enjoy!h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v m 4 w L r 8Kaw4&feature youtu.be

April 2020C-7A Caribou AssociationDak SeangOperationsby Michael A. Nassr [459, 69]Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 11, July 2000Lt. Col. Roger P. Larivee, 483rd Tactical Air Wing Deputy Commander forOperations, took over as on-scene commander at Pleiku Air Base during theApril 2 to April 12, 1970 aerial resupplyof Dak Seang, the most hazardous C-7ACaribou operations of the war.An estimated 3,600 Viet Cong andNorth Vietnamese Army troops hadstaged a massive siege of this smallSouth Vietnamese Special Forcescamp in the Central Highlands. Underrepeated attacks and heavy fire, thecamp’s survival was dependent uponairdropped supplies from C-7A aircraft.An extraordinary and extended effortwas launched to save the camp throughC-7A airdrops due to its being one ofthe first tests of the United States’ Vietnamization program.Dak Seang was situated in a narrowvalley with mountain peaks above thecamp of 4,000 feet and 2,100 feet oneach side and 1,400 feet to the north.Approach paths to the drop zone wereseverely limited and the C-7A, withits 110 knot airdrops at an altitude of300 feet, was exceptionally vulnerable.Even more significantly, the enemyantiaircraft defense was one of the mostelaborate encountered in the II CorpsTactical Zone. Consisting mainly of12.7 mm machine guns, it containedin-depth and dug-in positions on ridgesoverlooking both sides of the camp.In the first five days of the ten-daysiege, three C-7A’s were shot downand nine crew members were killed.Twenty-five other [Caribou] aircraftreceived hits from ground fire.Displaying leadership through example, Lt. Col. Larivee led five-shipformations of Caribous over the tiny200 by 220 foot drop zone on threesuccessive days.After making a total of five flightshe was ordered by his superiors to re-frain from exposing himself to furtherdanger.Deeply concerned over casualtiesincurred, Lt. Col. Larivee devised animaginative use of the illumination capabilities of AC-119 aircraft to attemptsingle-ship airdrops at night. Recognizing the inherent dangers of night flightsat low level in hostile, mountainousterrain, he insisted on flying the initialmission himself. He took along withhim Captain Tim Black, who had firstapproached him on attempting nightairdrops. This revolutionary tactic,developed and implemented underdifficult combat conditions, saved thecamp by permitting continued airdropswithout further losses.FAC RemembersDak Seangby Gary Dikkers, FACNewsletter, Vol. 1, No. 19, May 2004Dak Seang was a camp 55 nauticalmiles northwest of Pleiku and only sixkilometers east of the Laotian border.It was located in the Dak Poko Rivervalley, which ran parallel to the Laotianborder. At the south end of the DakPoko were the Special Forces campsof Dak To and Ben Het. Then, runningnorth up the valley came Dak Seangand finally Dak Pek.On 1 April 1970, two regiments ofNVA crossed from Laos to attack DakSeang and Dak Pek. By the time I gotto Kontum to fly missions over Dak Seang, most of the fighting near the camphad stopped and was now in the hillsand mountains to the north and west aspatrols from the camp tried to winklePage 3out the artillery, mortar, and “recce riflepositions” [spotters] that kept lobbingstuff into the camp.Most of my missions over Dak Seangwere in support of the patrols north ofthe SF camp. But, my mission one daywas to carry an Army artillery officerand we spent most of four hours orbiting over Dak Seang to adjust artillery.The closest fire support base (FSB) wasat Dak To, which was too far away toreach Dak Seang. So, the Army moveda temporary FSB halfway up the valleythat could reach the Dak Seang area.Although we were supposed to adjust and control artillery, we did worksome air [support] when another FAC(Forward Air Controller) north of DakSeang had to leave early. My ArmyFire Support Officer (FSO) got sick aswe maneuvered to control the air. Twohelicopters had been hit by ground fireand made forced landings at Dak Seang. Their crews spent the entire siegein the SF camp. Much of the damageto the camp was from incoming NVAmortars and artillery.There were bodies of NVA soldiersin the perimeter fencing and aroundthe ground around the camp. Duringthe first few days of the siege, A-1’sand F-100’s with napalm caught a highnumber of NVA troops in the wire. Iwasn’t at Kontum yet, but talked toone of the FACs who controlled thosestrikes and the instructions he gave thefighters was to put the napalm “in thewire.”The runway was still closed that dayand the only way supplies could get intothe camp was by USAF C-7A’s makinglow-altitude parachute drops and ArmyHueys and Chinooks dumping stuffinto the camp. The story of the C-7A’sdropping into the valley was really oneof courage. Because of the mountainsaround the camp, the C-7A’s could approach only by following a predictableroute from the south. The NVA had thatroute lined with 14.5 mm and 12.7 mmantiaircraft artillery (AAA). [The AAAContinued on Page 4

Page 4FAC Remembers (from Page 3)was later estimated to be an AAA battalion, not just AAA attached to groundelements they supported.]Here is a short account of the C-7A’sat Dak Seang from an account I read:“A year after Ben Het, the Communists attacked Dak Seang, whichlay just north of Ben Het. In spite ofindications that the enemy was buildingup strength in the area, no preparationswere made. Only 12 hours before theattack was launched on April 1, Caribous were landing at Dak Seang to pickup ammunition for transport to anothercamp where the threat was thought tobe greater.When the enemy made their presence known, it became clear that theyhad taken a lesson from Ben Het asnumerous antiaircraft guns revealedtheir presence in the areas that werethe most likely air resupply corridors.During the afternoon of April 1, C-7Acrews made the first drops into thecamp. Enemy fire was light during thedrop, but increased as the crews left thearea. One airplane took two hits. Thenext morning the first C-7A over thecamp reported ground fire while making a right hand turn after his drop. Thesecond airplane turned left and was hitby heavy fire. It crashed five miles fromthe camp. There were no survivors.That afternoon, an all-out effort wasmade to supply the camp. Eleven C7A’s made drops into the camp usingtactics learned at Ben Het as they madedescending turns to approach the campat 20 second intervals. Three airplaneswere hit by ground fire.Over the next two days the C-7A’smade 31 drops using the same tactics.Fourteen airplanes were hit and onewas forced to land at nearby Dak To.For more than a week [sic, six days],the C-7A crews continued the effort,with airplanes taking hits on each mission. On April 4, a second Caribou wasshot down. A third fell two days later.Though supplies were getting into theC-7A Caribou Associationcamp, some were lost while the C-7A’swere paying a heavy toll.In an attempt to reduce the losses, theC-7A’s turned to night drops under theillumination of AC-119 gunships thatcould also provide fire suppression.The new tactics worked as the C-7A’stook less hits and most of the bundleslanded within the camp.”I did get the chance to control oneC-7A supply mission and their fightersupport. As the C-7A approached fromthe south, I had the F-100’s set up aracetrack pattern so that one of themwas always flying parallel to the groundtrack of the C-7A’s. The idea was that assoon as any NVA guns opened up, oneof the Huns [F-100’s] would be close tofiring position and could immediatelystart hosing the AAA site.One thought constantly in my mindas I worked north of Dak Seang was, ‘IfI get hit, am I going to be able to makeit onto the runway and into the camp?’We spent a lot of time while on theground at Kontum thinking about howwe were going to make a forced landingon that little runway and whether wecould get out and sprint into the campbefore getting hit.There was at least one FAC insidethe camp during the siege, althoughI never got to meet him face-to-face.Apparently the living conditions inthe camp got pretty gross by the timethings became calm enough that C-7A’scould once more use the runway andhelicopters could get in to land.April 2020Pleiku ALCEOperationsby Sgt. Richard P. LieferVietnam Airlifter, May 1970Newsletter, Vol. 1, No.18September 2003Report from “on the scene” in thePleiku Airlift Control Element (ALCE):A studied calm seems to settle overthe U.S. Air Force Airlift Control Element (ALCE) office at Pleiku AB withthe approach of a new series of sorties.Used as the command post in a resupplyoperation to airdrop supplies into DakSeang, a Republic of Vietnam CivilianIrregular Defense Group (CIDG) camp14 miles northwest of Dak To in Kontum Province, the office has been thesite of increased activity during the pastweek, a week that saw three C-7A Caribous downed by enemy ground fire.But, there is a feeling of almostenforced peacefulness as more sortiesbegin.Strewn about is evidence of the lasteight days – an abundance of used coffee cups, combat gear piled here andthere waiting for owners to return, andnewspapers left scattered about open,half-read, left for more pressing matters. People mill about quietly wearingsigns of too little sleep, too much strain,and too much coffee.The pilots for the next missions talkanimatedly trying to “psych” themselves for the job they will soon have todo. Lt. Col. Loris L. Dorris, the ALCEcommander, takes time to read a letterand answer it.The man heading the operation, Col.Roger P. Larivee is away getting ashave, a shower, and a well-deservedsteak. He’ll be back. U.S. SpecialForces Warrant Officer John Tatalajski– called Mr. T. to avoid tied tongues – isat his compound and will return later.He is in charge of rigging the suppliesfor the airdrop.Continued on Page 5

April 2020Pleiku ALCE (from Page 4)Those left in the ALCE make smalltalk, discussing the coordination involved in making an airdrop and repeating the old saying about waiting beingthe worst part, etc. One mission monitorgets up from his desk muttering, “Whydoes your pencil break in the middleof a war?”Meanwhile, the first few aircraft areon their way to their target. Then theword comes, an excited unprintablesynonym for, “Right on target.” Thepall of tension lifts and held breath isreleased.Before long the plane is home, itsperformance to be repeated shortly ineight other sorties as C-7A crews place27 pallets into Dak Seang without serious incident.Improved Tacticsby Tim Black [457, 68 & 70]Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 17February 2003On the morning of April 2nd, 1970, Iwas giving a checkout on airdrops to Lt.Col. Bob Davis somewhere in the central part of Vietnam. I was an InstructorPilot with the 457th TAS and on mysecond tour to Viet Nam. My first tourwas also in the 457th TAS from March1968 thru March 1969. I volunteeredfor a second tour and came back in theA-26, flying night air strikes over Laosfrom Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. InJanuary 1970, the A-26’s were phasedout and sent back to the States.There were four of us who were onour second SEA tours. Personnel decided that we would finish our secondtours in the squadrons where we hadbeen assigned on our first tours. So,I came back to the 457th in February1970 and because of my previous C-7Atime and was made an IP in short order.Another [A-26] pilot, Tom Bame, whohad flown out of the 458th TAS, returnedto that squadron.C-7A Caribou AssociationWhile doing our airdrops on thatApril 2nd, we received a radio call overHF that we were to proceed immediately to Pleiku for an emergency airdrop situation. Upon arrival at Pleiku,we met up with several other C-7Acrews who had been diverted also. Wewere briefed on Dak Seang and loadedup for our first airdrops into the camp.Our orders were to drop inside the wallsof the camp because the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army (VC/NVA)were into the barbed wire surrounding the camp. Col. Roger Larivee, the483rd TAW Deputy Commander forOperations (DCO), was the Officer InCharge (OIC) of the Caribou operationfrom Pleiku.Over the next couple of days, we triedseveral different tactics to get our loadsinto the camp without taking too muchground fire. We came in with a train ofsix Caribous from the same direction;we came in from different directionsalmost simultaneously; we came infrom different directions at differenttimes; we tried single-ship tactics andmulti-ship tactics. On all of our missions, we took heavy antiaircraft fire.Most of the time when we were makingour drops, F-4’s were dropping hardbombs, A-1E’s were dropping napalm,and F-100’s were dropping smoke to tryto hide our approach.During that first 2 to 3 days of the resupply, the Caribous took heavy losses.We lost 3 aircraft and their crews. AsI recall, our drop parameters were 100knots and 300 feet above the ground.You can bet that put us smack in themiddle of the hottest fire zone. I can stillhear the noise of the ground fire whilemaking our runs, even over the roar ofthe aircraft engines.After having made several airdropsinto Dak Seang and realizing theamount of ground fire we were receiving on every drop, I figured there mustbe a better way. I sat down with a mapand did some study. After coming upwith a plan, I took it to Col. Larivee.My plan was this – single-shipnight airdrops. His first reaction was,Page 5“You’ve got to be kidding me. We don’tpractice night airdrops.”My suggestion for night airdrops wasbased upon my night air strike experience in the A-26. After listening to myplan, he decided that he and I wouldmake a night drop to see if it wouldwork before sending in other Cariboucrews. We coordinated with the Armypersonnel and other agencies to makethe plan work.The plan was to take off after darkfrom Pleiku without making any radiocall and leaving all our outside lighting off. We would proceed to the DakTo TACAN and fly off the 270 degreeradial for “x” number of miles at an altitude of 8-10,000 feet. That would putus at the south end of the valley whereDak Seang was located. We would thenturn north and begin a descent with ourengines at idle.A code word was passed over theradio to the camp and at a certain timeand they would light a fire within thewalls of the camp to give us a targetto aim for with our load. We would hitour drop parameters over the light fromthe camp and call “Green Light.” Thatmeant the load was on the way out andthey could extinguish the light.We would then go to full power, make180 degree turn and fly back out of thevalley on a south heading. While at maxpower, we would keep the props out ofsync, so the enemy would not have onesound to aim at. By doing this in thatvalley, it kept the aircraft noise frombeing a steady target.When Col. Larivee and I made thatfirst night drop, our load went long,but he saw that the procedures wouldwork. The next day, the Army decidedthat if we could get six loads into thecamp each day, they could live on that.Col. Larivee chose the most experienced pilots for those first night drops.He picked three crews. Myself, TomBame, and Neil Crist were the AircraftCommanders who would make twodrops each per night. We would take aContinued on Page 6

Page 6C-7A Caribou AssociationApril 2020Tactics (from Page 5)Copilot with us to start with, but thenwe would take in another Aircraft Commander in the right seat to show him thenight procedures we were using. Thatway we could increase the number ofcrews who were qualified to make thedrops.As our night drops went along, werefined our procedures to include using the AC-119 with its Illuminator forlighting instead of a light from withinthe camp. Once we went to the nightdrops, no other Caribou took hits fromantiaircraft fire. After about two weeksof these drops, as I recall, the siege atDak Seang was broken.To all the crews who flew in supportof the operation at Dak Seang, I wouldlike to offer this footnote.I was attending a memorial serviceand dedication in Atlanta for Pat Jaeger,a member of the third Caribou crewto be shot down. Al Ghizzoni, MarkErickson, Bob Davis, and I were approached by an Army Sergeant who hadbeen in the camp at Dak Seang whileunder siege during April 1970. He justwanted to say “Thanks,” not just to us,but to all the crews who flew in supportof Dak Seang.He said if it wasn’t for the Caribouand her crews (the Aircraft Commanders, the Copilots, and the Flight Engineers), he and his buddies would notbe here today.Aerial Deliveryat 50 Feetby Frank Godek, Jr.[537, 69 & 535,70]Caribou Airlines, Vol. IVWe were into our second week ofdrops into Dak Seang when Maj. “BearTracks” Brown [Commander of thePleiku ALCE] approached me at theaircraft.Our crew was assigned to the nextdrop. They were preparing the aircraftloads for the mission and he asked meif we could assure him that we couldget two 4.2 inch mortar tubes andammo into the camp. Maj. Brown thentold me that the camp’s mortar tubeswere burned out and the tubes weredesperately needed for the survival ofthe camp.I told him to load the mortars in themiddle two pallets and the ammo on theoutside ones and we would get theminto the camp.When 1/Lt. Phillip L. Lewallen, myAircraft Commander, and our Copilotarrived (I can’t remember his name, aswe were flying mixed crews then), webegan our checklist and I explained thesituation at hand to Lt. Lewallen.He asked me what I thought about itand I told him, “We can’t miss from 50feet” [the usual drop altitude was 300feet Above Ground Level (AGL)].He agreed and the crew voted to goto that height above the ground to getthe mortars into the camp.When we approached the Drop Zone(DZ), we began our descent. We werethe fourth ship in the five-ship formation.As we started down our FAC (Forward Air Controller) started holleringfor us to pull-up, as we were getting toolow. We just kept on descending withthe Copilot calling out 50 foot increments. We crossed over the DZ at 50feet and Lt. Lewallen hollered, “GreenLight,” and away the mortars went.We climbed back to altitude andreturned to Pleiku. Upon arriving backat our operations at Pleiku, Maj. Brownapproached me and stated that the mortars were in place and already in use.He said that the camp sends their thanksfor a job well done.I just replied, “You can’t miss from50 feet,” and got a cup of coffee.

April 2020Dak Seang AirliftSupport SummaryDuring the period of 1-12 April 1970,C-7A aircrews operating from PleikuAB flew 100 aerial delivery sorties(58 day and 42 night) supporting theSpecial Forces camp at Dak Seang.The camp was under continuousheavy attack throughout this periodby a large enemy force, which made itimpossible to utilize the runway at thecamp for bringing in supplies.Fighter aircraft and gunships suppressed enemy gunfire during the airdrops, but enemy ground fire directedat the aircraft was as intense as any theC-7A had been exposed to during theVietnam conflict.Caribous were downed by enemy fireat Dak Seang on 2 April (537th TAS),4 April (458th TAS), and 6 April (457thTAS) with the loss of all three crews.Innovative changes in tactics, including flying single-ship night airdrops andthe use of illumination from AC-119gunships just prior to scheduledTime Over Target significantlyreduced hostile fire during the airdropsand no other Caribous were lost.The last airdrops were conducted onthe night of April 12-13 and the 483rdMission Site at Pleiku was disbandedon April 13. Resupply missions to DakSeang continued through 30 April asfighting continued in the vicinity.The 100 Caribou airdrop sorties delivered 186.3 tons (106.8 tons by dayand 79.5 tons by night) of ammunition,food, and supplies to the beleagueredcamp. Given the size of the drop zoneand the extremely dangerous conditions, a remarkable 86.4 per cent of thecargo dropped was recoverable (81 percent by day and 95 per cent by night).The C-7A operations at Dak Seangresulted in the award of at least 146decorations to participants, including15 Silver Stars, 96 Distinguished FlyingCrosses, 25 one-day Air Medals, and 10Purple Hearts.C-7A Caribou AssociationThree Tours anda Wake-upby Bernard Baker [537, 66 & 72]From October 1966 to November1972 I served three tours in Vietnam,including two tours in Caribous, andspent 35 months “in-country.” That wasprobably a record of some sort, at leastfor C-7A guys.I was busy maintaining C-124’s atHill AFB, UT in the summer of 1966when I received orders to go to FortBenning, GA for Caribou training. Idrove down to Fort Benning with aclass start date in September.The training course I was scheduledfor was on maintaining the Pratt Whitney R-2000 engine. Just about everyoneelse in the class was transitioning fromjet engine maintenance, but there wasnothing new that class was going toteach me. The Army course instructorsfinally agreed with me and they allowedme to sign-out early, partially becauseI had to drive back to Utah and thereweren’t that many days before I had tocatch the flight to Vietnam.I arrived in Saigon early in October1966 with orders for the 17th ArmyAviation Company and I was sent to theCaribou unit at An Khe. I spent three orfour months at An Khe before movingto Phu Cat AB.There were about 30 Caribou maintenance personnel at An Khe and welived in seven-man tents, just like theArmy. I remember the An Khe runwaywas PSP (pierced steel planking) at thePage 7time and it would sink and buckle everytime a C-130 landed on it.One day at An Khe I was pulling KP(kitchen patrol) and was told to burn thehuge barrel of garbage behind the messhall. It was raining heavy, so I poured acombination of kerosene and aviationgas (Avgas) on the garbage and thenmade a little trail with the Avgas and litit. The problem was there was a pile ofpaper butter wrappers on top of all thatgarbage. The fire made it to the top ofthe barrel, hesitated for a moment, andthen went off with a “Boom!”The Army guys came running out ofthe chow hall yelling, “In-coming!”Then they looked up and saw butterwrappers floating in the air. I was laughing so hard I could barely stand-up.That was the last time I pulled KP.When the barracks were finally readyat Phu Cat we made the short trip fromAn Khe to Phu Cat in a C-130. We weretold not to use the first floor of the barracks because they were worried aboutflooding during the monsoon rains.After tent living, the beds were nice.The engine shop and the other maintenance shops were in tents. There werewooden plank sidewalks and lots o

The C-7A Caribou Association Newsletter is the official publication of the C-7A Caribou Association. Send change of address, phone number, or e-mail address to: Pat Hanavan 12402 Winding Branch San Antonio, TX 78230-2770 pathanavan@aol.com 210-479-0226 (home), 210-861-9353 (cell) 10.00 dues are payable each January. Write your check to C-7A .

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proposed for addition to the Region 4 list for the Caribou-Targhee NF (Rose Lehman, Caribou-Targhee NF, botanist, pers. comm.). Nearly all known Idaho sedge occurrences in Idaho are located on the Caribou-Targhee NF, on both the Dubois and Soda Springs ranger districts.

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caribou nutritional condition, as adult female caribou experience the greatest depletion of body reserves from spring to mid-summer. Predation mortalities followed the same temporal pattern as total mortalities, whereas non-predation mortalities (i.e., starvation) were clustered in the weeks between peak calving and mid-summer.

lic perceptions of the criminal courts by focusing on a few basic topics. We begin by discussing where the courts fit in the criminal justice system and how the public perceives the courts. Next, attention shifts to the three activities that set the stage for the rest of the book: Finding the courthouse Identifying the actors Following the steps of the process As we will see .