Title Combat Talons in Vietnam : recovering a covert special ops crew / John Gargus

Edition First edition Published College Station, Texas : Texas A & M University Press, [2017]

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Description 1 online resource (1 volume) Series Williams-Ford Texas A & M University military history series ; number 154 Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series ; no. 154. Contents Attraction to special operations -- Stray Goose training -- Vietnam -- Nha Trang facilities -- Realities of war -- Daddy is coming home! -- Crash site recovery -- Official information sources -- Epilogue -- Appendix A: The last mission of Combat Talon's S-01 crew -- Appendix B: Transcribed teletype messages -- Appendix C: Combat Talon aircraft losses Summary 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 Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Gargus, John United States. Air Force -- History -- Vietnam War, 1961-1975. SUBJECT United States. Air Force fast Subject Airmen -- United States -- Biography Hercules (Turboprop transports) -- History -- 20th century Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Casualties -- United States Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Missing in action -- United States Special operations (Military science) -- Vietnam Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Aerial operations, American. History / Military / Veterans. History / Military / Vietnam War. Biography & Autobiography / Military. Airmen Battle casualties Hercules (Turboprop transports) Military operations, Aerial -- American Missing in action Special operations (Military science) United States Vietnam Genre/Form Electronic books Biographies History Form Electronic book ISBN 162349513X 9781623495138

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