THE WALL OF FACES

Hal took my place on this special operation. It was delayed several times and it began to appear likely it would launch, if ever, around the time set for my wedding. I made command authority aware of my issue and they told me to brief up my back-up, Hal Zook. He was well qualified and took my place. My wife of 52 years and I married on June 4, 1966. We think of Hal and the rest of the crew often and would welcome contact with family and friends. Memorial Day and Veterans Day are special days for us.

I finally found out what happened to you. I've looked for your name on the wall twice and never saw it. But tonight I googled you. Turns out you had probably died long before I ever wore your bracelet in high school. 73-75.

I too had one of your POW/MIA bracelets that I wore for years until it broke & I requested another with your name on it which I still have. I also carry your photo to this day in my wallet that your Mom had sent to me.
I found out from the organization about your parents & wrote to them regularly as your Mom & Dad were the first Christmas card I received each year. Your parents were special people as when we were visiting in Pa. they invited my husband & I to stop over to meet them & can still remember your Mom had baked a shoe fly pie.
Thanking you for your service to this country & for your parents & family for sharing you with us.

I met you the summer of 1965. You touched my heart with your charm and laughter. In Sept.1966 my AF dad told me of the devastating loss of my friend. Time passed, I married, had a son and nicknamed him Hal for the brave hero who finally made it home. RIP. 51 years have passed, yet in my memories we remain forever young.

At 1:10 AM on May 30, 1966, a USAF Lockheed C-130E Hercules (#64-0511) departed Da Nang Airbase on a tactical mission into North Vietnam. It was carrying several floating mass-focus bombs in an attempt to blow up the Thanh Hoa Bridge over the Song Ma River. The plan necessitated two C-130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing 5,000 pounds. The C-130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43-mile route (which meant the C-130 would be vulnerable to enemy attack for about 17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would float down the Song Ma River where it would pass under the bridge and detonate when sensors in the bomb detected the metal of the bridge structure. The first attempt the previous night by a different C-130 crew had been unsuccessful. The second flight was by MAJ Thomas F. Case, whom had been through extensive training for the mission at Elgin AFB, Florida, and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks before. Operational necessity required minimum radio communications. At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C-130 drop time, F-4 fighters making diversionary attacks saw anti-aircraft fire and a large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. MAJ Case and his crew were never seen or heard from again. When a reasonable time had elapsed after scheduled down time, the aircraft and crew were officially declared Missing in Action. An intensive and continuing search was organized and launched involving over 16 aircraft and ships of the Air Force and Navy with negative results. The lost crew included pilot MAJ Case, co-pilot 1LT Harold J. Zook, navigators 1LT William R. Edmondson and 1LT Armon D. Shingledecker, flight engineer SSGT Bobby J. Alberton, weapon systems officer CAPT Emmett R. McDonald, and loadmasters A1C Elroy E. Harworth and A1C Phillip J. Stickney. To date, the remains of only three crewmen have been accounted for: Harold J. Zook, remains returned April 10, 1986; Thomas F. Case, remains returned February 1987; and Elroy E. Harworth, remains returned April 10, 1986. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and pownetwork.org]