Combat Talons in Vietnam: Recovering a Covert Special Ops Crew
Combat Talons in Vietnam is a personal account of the first use of C-130s in the Vietnam War. It provides an insider’s view of crew training and classified missions for this technologically advanced aircraft. Many covert missions over North Vietnam were successful, but one night, John Gargus, a mission planner, oversaw an operation in which the aircraft—carrying eleven crewmembers—failed to return from a nighttime mission. For thirty years, a search for the missing aircraft remained in progress.

In the late 1990s, the Combat Talon veteran community at Hurlburt Field in Florida, still uncertain of the full story, decided to dedicate a memorial to the lost crew. When wartime mission records were declassified, Gargus embarked on a long journey of inquiry, research, and puzzle-solving to reconstruct the events of that mission and the fate of its crew. He discovered that the wreckage of the plane had been found in 1992 and that the remains of the crew were being held in Hawaii. Through numerous Freedom of Information Act requests, interviews, and site visits, Gargus sought to answer the question of why it took so long to find the wreckage and, more importantly, why the special operations command units were left uninformed. By 2000, the remains were relocated to a common grave at Arlington National Cemetery at last providing a measure of closure to family, friends, and comrades.
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Combat Talons in Vietnam: Recovering a Covert Special Ops Crew
Combat Talons in Vietnam is a personal account of the first use of C-130s in the Vietnam War. It provides an insider’s view of crew training and classified missions for this technologically advanced aircraft. Many covert missions over North Vietnam were successful, but one night, John Gargus, a mission planner, oversaw an operation in which the aircraft—carrying eleven crewmembers—failed to return from a nighttime mission. For thirty years, a search for the missing aircraft remained in progress.

In the late 1990s, the Combat Talon veteran community at Hurlburt Field in Florida, still uncertain of the full story, decided to dedicate a memorial to the lost crew. When wartime mission records were declassified, Gargus embarked on a long journey of inquiry, research, and puzzle-solving to reconstruct the events of that mission and the fate of its crew. He discovered that the wreckage of the plane had been found in 1992 and that the remains of the crew were being held in Hawaii. Through numerous Freedom of Information Act requests, interviews, and site visits, Gargus sought to answer the question of why it took so long to find the wreckage and, more importantly, why the special operations command units were left uninformed. By 2000, the remains were relocated to a common grave at Arlington National Cemetery at last providing a measure of closure to family, friends, and comrades.
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Combat Talons in Vietnam: Recovering a Covert Special Ops Crew

Combat Talons in Vietnam: Recovering a Covert Special Ops Crew

by John Gargus
Combat Talons in Vietnam: Recovering a Covert Special Ops Crew

Combat Talons in Vietnam: Recovering a Covert Special Ops Crew

by John Gargus

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Overview

Combat Talons in Vietnam is a personal account of the first use of C-130s in the Vietnam War. It provides an insider’s view of crew training and classified missions for this technologically advanced aircraft. Many covert missions over North Vietnam were successful, but one night, John Gargus, a mission planner, oversaw an operation in which the aircraft—carrying eleven crewmembers—failed to return from a nighttime mission. For thirty years, a search for the missing aircraft remained in progress.

In the late 1990s, the Combat Talon veteran community at Hurlburt Field in Florida, still uncertain of the full story, decided to dedicate a memorial to the lost crew. When wartime mission records were declassified, Gargus embarked on a long journey of inquiry, research, and puzzle-solving to reconstruct the events of that mission and the fate of its crew. He discovered that the wreckage of the plane had been found in 1992 and that the remains of the crew were being held in Hawaii. Through numerous Freedom of Information Act requests, interviews, and site visits, Gargus sought to answer the question of why it took so long to find the wreckage and, more importantly, why the special operations command units were left uninformed. By 2000, the remains were relocated to a common grave at Arlington National Cemetery at last providing a measure of closure to family, friends, and comrades.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781623495138
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Publication date: 03/15/2017
Series: Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series , #154
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 288
File size: 29 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

JOHN GARGUS is the author of The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten, a memoir about his participation in a search and rescue mission for which he was awarded the Silver Star. Inducted into the Air Commando Hall of Fame, he retired from the US Air Force in 1983 after a twenty-seven-year career. He currently lives in Henderson, Nevada.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Attraction to Special Operations 4

Chapter 2 Stray Goose Training 14

Chapter 3 Vietnam 39

Chapter 4 Nha Trang Facilities 60

Chapter 5 Realities of War 85

Chapter 6 Daddy Is Coming Home! 125

Chapter 7 Crash Site Recovery 142

Chapter 8 Official Information Sources 169

Epilogue 186

Appendix A The Last Mission of Combat Talon's S-01 Crew 199

Appendix B Transcribed Teletype Messages 217

Appendix C Combat Talon Aircraft Losses 249

List of Abbreviations 253

Notes 257

Bibliography 261

Index 265

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