Arrived Travis in daylight and was struck by the absence of bomb craters from my aerial view. We of course did not get his and flew on to Bangkok where we transferred to a military aircraft and flew down to U-T a B-52 base. In the hours after the Constellations takeoff from Guam, witnesses on a ship offered potential clues. If I remember correctly I went over on Continental and came back on United. Gotoff the jet and was greated by relatives. Others slept for hours, exhausted and often traumatized from their experiences in Vietnam. She learned then that the Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, specialized in troop transports. As Captain Dwight Small, a pilot for Flying Tiger Line, recalls, It was pretty hairy, especially in the early days. Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 went missing on March 16, 1962, with 93 U.S. Army soldiers on board. This exhibition is currently available online only. At 8:22 a.m. on March 16the time when FTL 739s fuel would have officially run outthe flight was declared lost. In accordance with the government directives and in the interest in protecting the health of our visitors, the Aviation Museum & Library is currently closed. )I was engaged and (2.) I sat on the left side isle with a window seat just to the rear edge of the left wing. race to get Asians flying in a region set to overtake the United States as the biggest aviation market. In March 1962, one such personnel-carrying flight went missing en route to Vietnam. Very good article. This was a great story. Flight 739/14), from Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, to Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, with scheduled refueling stops at Honolulu, Hawaii; Wake Island; Naval Air Station Agana, Guam; and Clark Air Force Base, Luzon, The team had completed its assigned mission and was waiting to . The year 1962, however, would be a particularly bad year for the airline started by former military pilots. The flight attendants, although very young themselves, couldnt believe how young the troops were just 17 and 18 in some cases. Apart from Pan Am and Braniff, also Continental, Northwest, TWA, United, World Airways, Flying Tiger, Seaboard World, among others. We began to realize OK, these guys are going off to die, Breen recalled. A fine bunch of people. They were long, boisterous flights full of bravado and joking the men going off to war were trying to psych themselves up. Perhaps, I dont remember them because they were doing such a great job of quietly supporting each of us, letting us deal with our personal feelings in our own way. Late 1940s PAA Pan American Airways 5 Years of Service Lapel Pin in 10K Gold by Balfour Item: airpi30006b-CON. By the mid-1960s, it was flying scheduled transpacific all-cargo routes and in the late 1980s, it was acquired by Federal Express. Circa 1968-1972 Vietnam War CASI Continental Air Services Inc Shirt Type 1st Officer Wing RARE Item: aircw60001sw. The company had a contract to fly U.S. servicemen into Vietnam and to bring troops home after their tours were complete. A total of 141 lives were lost on board the four aircraft and three lives were lost of people on the ground. from United States Shared with Public Cleaning up today and found this binder. Having climbed to a cruising altitude of 18,000 feet, the aircraft reported its position as being 1340N 1400E just under an hour and a half into the flight. If not for you, the World would be much worse off. It was a move that would make FedEx the worlds largest, full-service cargo airline. We were there to take care of our passengers, Foster said, and have the best time we could. As it turned out, they excelled at both. Flying Tigers on Airline History JP Airline Fleets 87/88 . For the Vietnam generation of U.S. military veterans, this phrase meant only one thing; the aircraft that brought them home at the end of their tours. (1974 -1989) After 1989 Mr Narita 806 in Polar Colors HISTORY Despite the approved conditions, the Constellation came down more than 300 feet short of the runway, tearing off the landing gear and sending the aircraft skittering across the runway for about 2,000 feet. I flew on Trans Carribiean twice from Travis and experienced the feelings described in the piece. And many didnt know what to think, caught between respect for the military and horror over the fates of the boys on their flights. Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests. The years after the Vietnam war saw continued growth for the Flying Tigers. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two underwing turbofans. One of the seven people on boardthe flight engineerwas killed in a fire that destroyed the aircraft and all its contents. For some the experience changed their political beliefs, although they tried to keep politics off the plane. Sixty years ago, as the U.S. was becoming more involved in the opening salvo of the Vietnam War, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation was making its way west. During the "American war," he worked for a CIA contractor, flying unarmed bush planes in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Theyre being pushed aside to be forgotten, Kirk said. Sellers with highest buyer ratings; The women working the cabin on those flights were still known as stewardesses, not flight attendants, and they walked like fashion models down the aisles. Six decades later, and the families of those onboard Flight 739 still dont know what happened. (1947 -- 1957), The acquisition of seven DC-6s represented the largest single purchase the airline industry had ever seen. And welcome home. Here we are, 60 years later, Kevin Woodward, remembrance coordinator at Wreaths Across America, said Wednesday during the ceremony. When I went over in 66, it was courtesy of the USAF on a C-141no flight attendants there, just jump seats and the infantry TOE and basic load down the center of the aircraft. Imitation lets you catch up to the guy ahead, but never lets you pass." There are two main mo I flew out of Travis Air Force Base and was on my way to Thailand. FLYING TIGER AIRLINES - Patch - MAAG - 45th Transport - Early Vietnam War, #.500. These men and their flight crew perished in what would become one of the biggest aviation. There were also 11 crew members onboard, giving a total occupancy of 107 people. In the Vietnam airlift, Flying Tigers provided strategic flights from the US to numerous military bases throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia geographic region. There was no indication in this message or in any other of difficulties, ICAO said. Was processed out of the Army at Fort Lewis, got a military standby flight for$11. The soldiers on Flight 739 were on a mission to do whatever the government told them to do, Kirk said. Coming home was great while everyone mentions the cheering on wheels up on departure no one mentions the deafening silence as the aircraft started down the runway on departure until wheels up In one of its more dramatic moves, Tigers evacuated a number of Vietnamese "political refugees" and Vietnamese company employees and their families aboard departing aircraft during the "final hours" of US troop withdrawal, and impending Communist takeover in South Vietnam in 1975. When you went to school for Pan Am, they showed you how to do your makeup and your hair. Established at the end of the Second World War, Flying Tiger Line made history as the first US-based scheduled cargo-carrying airline. Thank You For Your Service, and It was my honor to help make your trip a little better. Sign up | Sign in. No one was home, but a neighbor walked up to the car. Margi Falk. Result Pages: 1 Displaying 1 to 1 (of 1 products) Others supported the war, sympathizing with the soldiers and resenting those who scorned their service. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Afraid that at any moment a rocket or mortor could could take the jet down. In transit to Viet Nam via Alaska, Japan and Okinawa. The airplaneand all 107 people on board it disappeared over the Pacific Ocean before it reached a planned stopover in the Philippines, becoming the biggest aviation mystery to emerge from what would become a decade of conflict. My tours were 67 to 68 and 68 to 69, My second tour i was stationed in Saigon , my unit had a small crew break room where the transit crews rested between flights. Great article and I do so remember that flight and not having even an idea what was waiting for me .. Dont remember who flew me over my second trip in Dec. 71. Flight 7816, a cargo flight, was enroute from Travis Air Force Base, California to Japan. We turned off our running lights to avoid ground fire.. C $52.00. What was the worst work detail you pulled in Vietnam? Skip to main content . Great article; Thanks. He graduated high school and he could have gone to work in the woods, or he could have joined the military, Kirk, his niece, told FLYING. I didnt use Flying Tigers going to and from my two tours in Vietnam, but I DID fly with them in 1963 going home from a two-year stint in Korea. Additional terms apply. Answer (1 of 28): There is a guy who claimed that when he landed at Bien Hoa Airbase in May of 1970 that they came under rocket an mortar fire, and that two of his comrades were wounded. All the ladies on all the flights were outstanding, especially the ones on the flight home that handled some of the rude guys in isle seats. In one of the seats was Army Specialist Donald Sargent, who had joined the Army and became a Ranger as a way to escape a life of near certain poverty in his hometown of Cornish, Maine. Phnom Penh, against a background of advancing NVA troops in Vietnam, it describes the relations among the crew and their motivation and features a pet cockroach named Hiram and a 'mother' to the crew aged 13. Flying the Freedom Birds: Airlines and the Vietnam War. Theyd usually start at Travis Air Force Base outside of San Francisco or McChord Field in Washington, picking up more than 200 fresh-faced, uniformed servicemen from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. As in Korea, these flights carried both cargo as well as military personnel and their dependents. Also those that returned with ptsd, most of us. . 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