all the Vets who were may remember all these great old aircraft
A typical day at the Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon (1968) - YouTube

Great video!
Love the music and the shots of Sky Cops at work.
Brings back lots of memories...

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John

Very cool. God Bless you guys for your time served.

Thanks for that vid.

that is very busy flight line. it has been a while since I heard the Chambers Brothers & "Time Has Come"

Rhein Mein Ab , Germany
1970 -1973

I was there in 72-73 with the 377th SPS.

That vid brings back alot of old memories.

Been awhile since I saw a F-4G Wild Weasel taxiing...

Never forget those who gave the ultimate sacrifice 1/31/68.
Bunker 051, 377th SPS

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Take your time..quickly.

Tan Son Nhut is my all time favorite airport. In September 1968, got aboard a commercial flight to go home.

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

Was it a Pan-AM like the 707 in the clip?

I would guess that it was, never been on a plane with such silence, until those wheels left the ground.

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

I was at Long Binh in 69 and 70 and made lots of trips to the airport. Mostly taking guys to catch flights home, but some official trips also.

Thanks - I can still smell the burnt JP-4.
Anyone stationed around Long Binh remember this place? This was near our Brigade (1st Aviation Brigade) HQ on base. Whenever in Long Binh/HQ on bizz we'd have lunch there.

Bruce

When I was on the USS Saratoga (CV-60) we had (among others) both the F-4 & F-14. You could spot the Phantoms in the distance by the long black line of smoke.
They fired one up right below vulture's row one time while I was out there. YIKES! Took awhile to get the smell out...

During my night shift in DC, I would park down at the Mall & walk over to the "Wall" just to get the feeling & pay my respects. No matter how many times I saw the Memorial, I was always moved in spirit - truly an emotional experience. Over 50,000 names and more still being added every year. For those who never returned we owe more than we can ever repay. God bless them all.

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Martin Co,FLA(finally made it)

Thanks for that. The pics of those Herky Birds really bring back memories. Probably about the time this was filmed, I was loading/unloading the civilian L-100 version of the C-130 Hercules for Delta before I enlisted. And the Phantoms bring back other memories. Granted the F-4 was America's proof to the world that, given big enough engines, even a brick will fly. But it was still one bad to the bone looking aircraft just sitting still on the deck.

If anyone is interested, on the Pentax Forum there is a thread with photos from a guy who was an Army combat photographer. He has posted quite a few of his photos from those days. Anybody interested can PM me and I'll send you the link to find it.

CW

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μολὼν λαβέ

I just want to Thank all you guys that served. My time was 29Jan. 1951 thru Jan 29 1957. Never went over seas but still believe I did my duty better that Bill C. ever did.

For those that served in this difficult war, I know many did not receive the honor and gratitude deserved.

May you all be blessed and for those with the painful memories and demons that haunt, I pray for your peace and comfort.

You got a raw deal on so many levels. I wish I could make it all better, alas I can only offer my gratitude now.

Hopefully, we as a nation have learned our lesson to appreciate your dedication and sacrifice.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Smells & sounds are what trigger my memories most of all.
The sound of rotor blades slapping and the smells of burning JP-4 & diesel, plus the smell of papa-san burning human waste.
I flew in & out of Tan Son Nhut many times during my tour, as Long Binh was our Brigade HQ. Flying crew on CH47's had an advantage when coming into Tan Son Nhut - we had landing gear (wheels) instead of skids. With the long actives, we got to do running landings and take-offs.
Not to be confused with the overloaded Charlie model gunships where the crewchief & gunner had to run along side while the pilots hopped along until they achieved transition speed.
Rotorheads/Hookers forever,

Bruce

Great post.
My father flew B727s for World Airways during '67 -'68 flying GIs and cargo into VN. We were station around Yokota AFB at the time of the Tet offensive. We lived off base in Fussa and I remember being on alert, as there were demonstrations going on. Great experience for a 10 year old.

Thanks to all that served.

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

Thanks for sharing this link. I copied it and sent it to a good friend who lost his dad near Binh Dinh, S Vietnam. His dad was the co-pilot in a AC-47D gunship which was shot down during the "mini Tet" on May 5th, 1968.

Wow, that brought back some memories. TSN was one busy place. For awhile, more TOs and landings per day than JFK or O'Hare. This video captures a great cross-section of aircraft types - a real time tunnel to watch. THANKS!
XAVMECH
USAF 1966-1970

It looks like a couple of Douglas Skyraiders at 4:10. For some reason the sound of that plane flying is very comforting.

I wonder if any were left in VN after we left. I wonder if one could be bought from the Communist government. I wonder if it would be possible to bring it home. I sure would like to hear that plane flying overhead.

That's been a while. I was at Bien Hoa AB (about 20 miles from TSN if I remember correctly) 66-67 and then again in the mid-70's.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

I'd trade my whole collection for one of those A1E's.

To add to the mess overhead, the skies at the time, were supposed have been the busiest in the world. We were constantly calling aircraft out to the pilots so we wouldn't smack into one. There were Carabou and C-123's always going into some of the same areas we were. My partner nearly got T-boned by a Carabou. And not much in the way of ATC.
Very exciting sometimes.

Bruce

Brought back a lot of memories and emotions. Hope I don't hear the beat of rotor blades from a stick of Hueys in my dreams tonight. Sure did remind me of the scope of our effort over there, too bad our politicians wouldn't let us do our jobs, would have been a much shorter war with a different outcome. I did notice a pair of U-3Bs (Cessna 310Es) in the background of one sequence, and it was neat to see AD Skyraiders, F-4s, and a lot of other great birds again. Almost forgot how many C-47s were used, and one sequence showed a Curtis C-46 taxiing, followed by a C-54. Love those radial engines.