THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

On the remembrance of your 83rd birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

Dear Cap James Jones, Thank you for your service with the 12th USAF Hospital. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Today we are celebrating Columbus Day Weekend. The time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

On Saturday, June 17, 1967, a USAF Lockheed C-130B Hercules transport plane, serial number 60-0293, from the 772nd Troop Carrier Squadron with 49 passengers and seven crewmen aboard, was destroyed in a takeoff accident at An Khe Airfield in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. The aircraft was enroute to Pleiku when it developed a mechanical failure while departing. When the Hercules was nearing decision speed on take-off, the aircraft drifted to the left side of the runway. The crew brought the plane back onto the flight strip, but ran out of runway, sliding down an embankment where it burst into flames. None of the crewmen were lost in the crash, however, 34 of the passengers were killed; 15 survived. Of the 34 fatalities, 17 were U.S. military personnel, comprising of ten Army and seven Air Force members. The lost soldiers were SGT John E. Bernard, SP5 Robert L. Clukey Jr., SGT Howard E. Hurst, PSGT George T. Murray, SP5 Thomas R. Raschel, MAJ Benjamin F. Robertson Jr., 1LT James P. Schueller, MAJ Edward E. Strombeck, SSGT Willie L. Thigpen, and 2LT John W. Vaughan; the lost airmen included CAPT Herman G. Ebbinga, CAPT James R. Jones, LTC Paul F. Kiecker, 1LT Dennis S. Pazdan, MAJ Maurice A. Shaff Jr., TSGT William B. Weikal Jr., and SSGT Charles E. West. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and aviation-safety.net]