COMMAND AIRCRAFT COMPANY
(CAC)
DYNAMIC YEARLY E–NEWSLETTER, 2016
Updated: 16 October 2016
LIST OF ARTICLES: (click to go direct)
ROSTER–RELATED (15 February):
We received a photo from Lynn Hayes for the roster, which was taken some time after Vietnam (LTC Hayes in this photo). Still it is a likeness of the man I recall as I arrived in Saigon and as he was departing. D. Ricks
LTC James J. Stovall, Retired, CAC, 1968–69, discovered the Longtrip web site and sent in his information for the roster. Perhaps we will have a photo of James coming soon.
William A. Thomas, Crew Chief, 1968:
I went to Vietnam with 101st in January 1968 and was resigned incountry to USARV (later CAC) there till November. I was a Crewchief, guard duty and sand bag specialist. I am proudly an Alaskan Native (Thlinget Indian), born and raised here, still here and have served as a former State Representative and Lobbyist. In the photo, Below is a recent photo (Mr. Dix was then a SSG and the first Special Forces enlisted man to receive that award and is a Major, Retired (click to see citation):
Two of our unit members sent in additional roster information, which is now posted:
CW4 (Ret) Jimmie L. Steelman:
-Tour of duty with CAC-Jan 69-Jan 70
- Was the Unit Standardization Officer and Primary pilot for the USARV COMMANDER
-Awards: DFC, 2BS, & 64 Air Medals. (2500 Combat flying hours) (three tours in RVN)
-Retired from Active Duty Feb 1977 as a CW4 with 24 years active duty.
-Currently operate a cattle ranch in Salem, Mo.
CW4 (Ret) Bud Liggenstoffer:
Bud served in 1971.
ANNOUNCEMENT: LONG THANH NORTH REUNION, 2016:
Attached is a PDF announcement of initial planning guidance and requested attendee action regarding the 2016 reunion planned for Kansas City. Your response is important, requested as soon a possible and will give Mike and Barbara the information needed to start their all–important groundwork by 15 December of this year:
ATTENTION, ACTION REQUESTED (Please read now):
REUNION 2016: REQUEST FOR ATTENDEE ACTION
REUNION 2016: Update Letter Number 3 from Reunion Coordinator, dated 20 June (Latest!)
REUNION 2016: REQUEST FOR ATTENDEE ACTION
Attached is a word document providing information for the Hotel, Banquet on Saturday night, 2 group tours, Dinner/Theatre the night before the reunion starts, and other activities your might be interested in.REUNION 2016: Update Letter Number 2 from Reunion Coordinator, dated 12 January
For the banquet, we will have a silent auction/raffle featuring donated items from the group. In Tucson, we raised $217 so we're hoping to have more items and raise more money this year. We need your contribution for this event—it can be anything you think your comrades would enjoy. Spouses are encouraged to participate, too. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE RAFFLE? Let me know if you're interested.
So, what do you need to do now?
This email is being sent to 127 people. To date, we have heard from 33 individuals. Let us know if you have any questions or if you need additional information.
- The Hotel is currently set-up to start accepting reservations. Contact the hotel directly or you can contact Marriott and will need to specify Marriott Kansas City Airport location. Let them know you are with the Long Thanh Reunion to receive the discounted rooms.
- Let me know if you are interested in attending the dinner/theatre on Wednesday, September 28.
As soon as we have have the requirements for the Fort Leavenworth tour, I'll be in touch.
Link to Marriott Kansas City Airport Hotel: Barbara and Mike (click on the below link to view update Letter 2)
REUNION 2016: Update Letter Number 3 from Reunion Coordinator, dated 20 June (Latest!)
SECURITY GUARD PLATOON, 210TH CAB:
Though not a part of the Command Aircraft Company, I agreed to post information, photographs and a limited roster of the men who helped keep us safe while we work and enjoyed the relative security at Long Thanh North during our tours. The link now rests within a special category on the history index (page under development):
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION, CECIL LOCKLEAR:
If anyone has something for Suzanne please let me know. I have her contact information:
My husband and I were stationed at Ft. Jackson in 2007-2008. I worked at a vet clinic and Cecil would bring in his dog, Charlie. I ended up leaving that position shortly after meeting Cecil. I contacted him later on about walking Charlie while Cecil taught his classes twice weekly. I found out that he was retired and my husband and I would go to his house a few times a month and they would exchange war stories. There was usually a lot of German schnapps involved.
I haven’t kept up with him like I should. I have since joined the USAF and am stationed at RAF Mildenhall. I tried calling and writing him but got no response. I just found his obituary tonight.
I’m trying to get in contact with one of his dear friends. He would often attend these war story evenings. I can't remember his last name, but he was a combat helicopter pilot who served with Cecil. His name is Frank. I know it's a long shot, but I would really like to get in contact with him.
Please, let me know if you can help me.
V/r,
Suzanne Wolfe
488th Intelligence Squadron
RAF Mildenhall
CAC DINNER EVENTS PLANNED, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016: (Updated 25 August)
Our reunion coordinator for CAC, Joe Tilghman, has his plan on paper and asks that you take a look. This should be an enjoyable evening as Joe is a local who know the turf and how to make way for a good time. The briefing PDF file will tall you all about it. Call your friends and fellow Longtrippers to let then know.
Comments should be sent direct to Joe (jtilghman [insert the @ symbol, no spaces] kc.rr.com). For the overall Long Thanh North reunion plan, see the announcement several articles above.
Following is a PDF format list of CAC guys that have indicated they will be coming to the September reunion:
Attendee List, dated 8 August 2016
We hope to see you at Kansas City!
Joe
PRESIDENT AWARDS MEDAL OF HONOR TO CHARLES “CHUCK” KETTLES, LTC, RETIRED, 18 JULY 2016
I noted first thing this morning when I checked my email that Military.com is reporting that retired Army LTC Charles “Chuck” Kettles will be awarded the Medal of Honor (MOH) for heroism for saving 44 American soldiers during a May 1967 enemy ambush in the Vietnam War. The ceremony is scheduled for July 18, 2016.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kettles, Medal of Honor Nominee, U.S. Army
I had the distinct honor to serve with Chuck Kettles at Sam Houston, Texas (San Antonio) while assigned to the Fort Sam Houston Readiness Group (FSHRG) where he was the Army Aviation Team Chief and I was one of his several Aviation Team Advisors to US Army Reserve and National Guard Aviation units located in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. We flew ourselves to those locations to do our work, flying both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft assigned at the Fifth Army Flight Detachment at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio.
Among his awards and decorations were the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) [the Army’s second highest award for bravery] and the Master Army Aviator Badge. From that experience working with/for him, I still remember a man of great honor and integrity who loved Army flying and sharing his knowledge and skills as both a FW and RW aviator with fellow Army aviators like myself. I learned a great deal from him while he was my leader, coach and mentor in that assignment.
I do recall there were efforts to upgrade his DSC to the MOH even back then, but he didn’t talk much about it. I did, however, observe him spend time with Master Sergeant Raul Perez “Roy” Benavidez on occasion regarding an effort to champion an upgrade of Roy’s DSC to the MOH. The fact that Chuck spent time with Roy to assist him with his update effort speaks highly of Chuck’s character, selflessness and his love for his fellow soldiers. Although Roy was on a different team in the FSHRG, we got to know him pretty well. But, he like Chuck, didn’t talk much about his extraordinary combat experiences in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN). It is my experience that soldiers don’t talk that much about their own “war stories.” Those they’ve heard regarding their fellow soldiers, perhaps.
Roy was awarded the MOH by President Ronald Reagan on February 24, 1981. President Reagan commented before reading the official award citation that, “If the story of his heroism were a movie script, you would not believe it.” I have attached a picture of the that event. I did not take it, but I was in attendance at the ceremony in the Pentagon Courtyard. More about Roy’s story at:
Roy Benavidez Story
It only took Roy 13 years to receive his MOH after much lobbying by his contemporaries who strongly supported the award despite administrative “red tape” hurdles until a surviving witness, unbeknownst to Roy and his supporters, came forward to render the required witness testimony.
It has taken 49 years for Chuck to be more adequately recognized for his courage, bravery and gallantry in combat to save 44 American soldiers during a May 15, 1967 enemy ambush near Duc Pho where “he led a platoon of UH1–helicopters to provide support to the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, during an ambush by a battalion-sized enemy force.” After leading several trips to the hot landing zone and evacuating the wounded, he returned, without additional aerial support, to rescue a squad-sized element of stranded soldiers pinned down by enemy fire. He is credited with saving the lives of 40 soldiers and four of his own crewmembers. He saved far more than just the lives of 44 soldiers, in my opinion. I just wonder if their families really know what Chuck Kettles’ efforts, and those of his aircrews, did for them. Perhaps some of them will know now.
I do not yet know the story as to why it took 49 years to upgrade his DSC to the MOH, but I am glad they did. An officer and a gentleman. A great leader. A Master Army Aviator. An American military hero. A life very well led. What more can be said of Chuck Kettles? And, what should be said to Chuck Kettles? Thank you, Chuck!
Huzzah!
Mickey S. Evans, CAC, January 1969–January 1970
EDITOR: LTC Charles S. Kettles served as Longtrip 5 from October 1969—October 1970.
JAMES LEO KILLETTE, DECEASED, 30 MARCH 2016
This morning when I placed a phone call to Jim Killette, whose home is in Tallahassee, his wife Betty answered the phone. We had a brief but solemn conversation after I asked to speak with Jim. I had spoken with him several times in the past, as I was writing up the history of MACV Flight Detachment. Jim was an early member in of that detachment during 1965–1966, predecessor unit of the Command Aircraft Company. To hear that Jim had recently had an accident and died as a result of head injuries was a sad and emotional revelation by his wife, and it was obvious she was in the midst of an understandably long grieving period. Jim was certainly a memorable man and well loved by his family, friends and community. Jim rose to the enlisted rank of Master Sergeant, E–8 and wore the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, before attend OCS (later flight school) where he accepted a commission as an infantry officer. I have added his photo and obituary to the unit roster:
Obituary, James Leo Killette, LTC, Retired, Deceased 30 March 2016 (PDF)
See the extensive photo album posted for this unique soldier:
Click on View Photo Gallery, then Full Screen
CAC ATTENDEES, LTN REUNION, 2016:
While awaiting a stream of photos expected from the Kansas City reunion, here is the first of many you will eventually see at this site:
MORE PICTORIAL HISTORY FROM CRAIG HERGET, LTC, USA, RETIRED:
Craig Herget was an outgoing, full–of–life pilot during his tour [and mine]. You could see it in his eyes and smile, which he was quick to flash. Craig was representative of the many enjoyable, purely–American personalities constantly rotating through the Command Aircraft Company roster, both enlisted and officer [demonstrated in a typical affectionate comment for the enlisted men to which his last comment refers]:
For what it’s worth, I thought I’d share a few photos I dug up recently (still going). They’re attached. Included are [in order of presentation]:You also might wish to note that then SP4 Roy Short returned to CAC in the Spring of 1970 and remained until sometime in 1972; he had made SP6 by 1972 and was a tech inspector with the unit. From there, he went to Thailand where he served with the 70th (as a tech inspector) until we all left in July 1976. Interestingly, Roy married the daughter of the then Thai Air Force Chief of Staff and lived pretty well while we were there. When we left Thailand, he got out of the Army and stayed there. My last contact with him was in 1990 when I visited Bangkok during a visit from CINCPAC. Don’t know if he’s still alive now or if that info helps anything, but thought I’d share it with you.
- Long Thanh North Operations Building (1970)
- Long Thanh North Operations Desk (1970)
- The swimming pool and officers club (1970, pre–club burn down in November 70)
- The burned O’Club (Nov 70)
- CPT Craig Herget on the airstairs of one of our U–21aircraft during a stopover in Saigon (Apr 70)
See you in Pensacola next year!
Craig
