“C-130 Goes Down on An Loc Ammo Run — No One Could Survive, but They Did”

Via Donald Nguyen

 

 Don Jensen commissioned this painting of the C-130 he piloted going down in flames over An Loc, South Vietnam on April 18, 1972

Nearly a half-century later, the plane’s pilot, Don Jensen, is living in Las Vegas and writing a book that details his most exciting mission as a member of the Air Force’s 374th Tactical Airlift Wing during the Vietnam War. Some of his former comrades want the Air Force to upgrade the Silver Star he received for his courage that day.

The Battle of An Loc, which raged from April to July 1972, was one of the toughest of the war and involved three North Vietnamese divisions equipped with tanks and artillery besieging a much smaller South Vietnamese force and its U.S. advisers.

U.S. Air Force strikes and resupply missions were vital to the allies’ success in the battle.

Jensen’s plane ran into trouble while carrying ammunition from Tan Son Nhut Air Base to the forces pinned down at An Loc.

More @ S&S