Old Photos From S.E. Asia

Been there done that got the TShirt,c130 loadmaster 67 68.
 
A1E Skyraider, now there was an attack plane. Thanks for the pics Mason.
 
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg Thanks for posting Mason! Not quite as much a throwback but some pics I took while stationed in SE Asia (Thailand / Okinawa).

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Love the flag on the T/Mk-Harrier and the TA-7C.

Nauga,
the self-propelled seat warmer
 
Except for the Corsair the rest are modern birds and didn't see SEA service. How about some VV & VM F4s V? Like to see an RA-5 (think that's what they are). A6s anyone? But probably my no/1 fav is F-105s. Those guys had some BIG balls flying them day after day into NVN.
 
nauga said:
Love the flag on the T/Mk-Harrier and the TA-7C.

Nauga,
the self-propelled seat warmer
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Yeah I think they brought those Harrier guys over to Cherry Point for training. He probably picked up the Confederate Flag then. I guess all their Harriers and Corsairs are moth balled now.
 
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mscard88 said:
Except for the Corsair the rest are modern birds and didn't see SEA service. How about some VV & VM F4s V? Like to see an RA-5 (think that's what they are). A6s anyone? But probably my no/1 fav is F-105s. Those guys had some BIG balls flying them day after day into NVN.
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Don't have any pics of the older carrier jets. All that stuff was before my time. Only Vigilante I saw in real life was on a stick outside the chow hall at NAS Memphis. It's still there. Wish someone would take it down, restore it and put it on the air show circuit.

Well, I guess it's a classic sea aircraft now but I took this off the coast of Cali and not SE Asia. :D
 
Wonder if anyone has any pics of the gunships in SEA. AC47, AC119, AC123K (only 2 used in SEA), and AC130.
 
Something for all you guys and gals that served and took lots of photos.... Keep them in good quality, archival type jackets and take a couple of minutes and write a little note about the photo...the normal who, what, when and where and what was going on at the time. Without that info to go with the photo, once you pass, those details are lost forever.

A good example was a gal working with me. Her step-dad was a Navy and Air America pilot. She brought in a stack of his log books one day for another engineer and I to look through. Let's say WOW...Multiple air victory credits, shot down twice...some blank times, then suddenly Air America flying for a number of years then back to the Navy. We asked her if he had photos that we could see some day. She said she would check. Turns out he had a footlocker absolutely packed full, but didn't talk about them. We made the suggestion that the next time she could quietly talk with him, ask that if she would separate and put them in sleeves, would he tell her about them and let her write it all down so her kids and the other grand and greatgrand kids would know about him and what he did in the service. He ended up telling her he would consider it and let her know. I didn't see Carol for a couple of months, but when I did, she laughed about it and said we had created a monster in her dad. He had taken over two bedrooms and the office at his home sorting out photos in time order, puttimg them in sleeves and notebooks, along with writing up every detail he could think of about each photo. Her mother said that she had never seen him have as much enjoyment or be as excited of something in lots of years. He had even been in contact with a number of his old flying buddies, had joined up with a group dedicated to his Navy days and the Air America group too. In fact, at the time, they were getting ready to head off to one of the group get togethers.

I know that some of what went on at those times is painful to remember and some of it is wonderful too, but please take the time to do this. It helps make the photos come alive to the viewer, and helps to tell the story of everyone that serves. Without that info, at some point after your passing, the photos often loose their importance to the heirs and often are either tossed out or pass out of the family and lost forever.
 
Freakin' awesome photos! Thank you for letting us see them. By all means, keep 'em coming if you want to.
 
Met a Vietnam FE on AC-47 / C-119s just the other day. Nose gear weld failed on his RV-12 on landing. Walked out and helped him tow it back to the hangar.
 
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mscard88 said:
Except for the Corsair the rest are modern birds and didn't see SEA service. How about some VV & VM F4s V? Like to see an RA-5 (think that's what they are). A6s anyone? But probably my no/1 fav is F-105s. Those guys had some BIG balls flying them day after day into NVN.
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Here's a VM F4 and an A6
 

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image.jpeg Red Devils. They've been having a bad go of it recently.

Only pic I've taken of a VV / VM F-4 is this one. Not a very good one at that but they put on a good show.
 
What a trip down memory lane. Heres the "office." Old tower and the "new" tower
 

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luvflyin said:
What a trip down memory lane. Heres the "office." Old tower and the "new" tower
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Where was those pics at? First looks like a mobile tower. I was assigned to the 2nd CCG and we had a number of mobile towers (TSW-7) and radar units w/ PAR (MPN-14). In fact we took a TSW-7 up to Quonset Point airport (fixed tower was being replaced) when Reagan fired the striking controllers and military controllers were sent out all over the country to work.
 
mscard88 said:
Where was those pics at? First looks like a mobile tower. I was assigned to the 2nd CCG and we had a number of mobile towers (TSW-7) and radar units w/ PAR (MPN-14). In fact we took a TSW-7 up to Quonset Point airport (fixed tower was being replaced) when Reagan fired the striking controllers and military controllers were sent out all over the country to work.
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Nam Phong. I don't remember the numbers on the portable. The "tall" one I recall may have been a TSA-28. MPN14 rings a bell for some reason, but I didn't do GCA there so I'm not sure. What's a CCG?
 
CCG Combat Communications Group (CCS is a squadron). Also known as the "MOB" for mobile. MPN-14 I'm pretty sure was there. It was a mobile approach radar with a PAR in it also.
 
mscard88 said:
CCG Combat Communications Group (CCS is a squadron). Also known as the "MOB" for mobile. MPN-14 I'm pretty sure was there. It was a mobile approach radar with a PAR in it also.
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I was in a MATCU, Marine Air Traffic Control Unit. The Radar "Pod" if I recall had an ASR scope and one PAR. There was a "mini" pod that attached with two more PAR's. Does that sound about right? There was a cordinator position that was like an old fashioned telephone operators swithchboard with wires, jacks and plugs. Does that sound about right?
 
MPN-14 Radar Console Scopes.jpg MPN-14 radar.jpg MPN-14 Precision Radar Display (PAR).jpg MPN 14 Radar and C-141.jpg

Air Force MPN-14 Radar

During combat inspection we had 22 hours I think to go operational. This included siting, installing the radar reflectors, hooking everything up with 3 vans, installing a couple of huge generators to power everything, and then Flight Check would come in and fly approaches and test the equipment. A Commander could end his career by one or more of the various comm systems failing an ORI (Operational Readiness Inspection), including our part, ATC. Had it happen when I was with the 2nd CCG during an ORI.
 
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TSW-7 Mobile Tower.jpg TSW-7 Mobile Control Tower @ Clark AB.jpg TSW-7 Console.jpg


Air Force TSW-7 Mobile Control Tower

I forget when these became operational, so not sure if they served in VN. They could be installed and ready to work planes in about 4-5 hours. We put them on the ground like these pics, on the back of a M35 truck, and they even had an erector set (like scaffolding) that could put it up higher. Never seen use of the erector though.
 
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If you fly in to Tan Son Nhat today, you will taxi past a bunch of Russian helicopters, and a row of Hueys, all painted up in Vietnamese colors. Most of them have been cannibalized to keep the remaining two or three operational ones flying.
 
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