April 1972 was a month of reckoning for the flight crews of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing at Ching Chang Kuan AB, Taiwan. US troop drawals had begun almost two years before and the war in Vietnam had deescalated back to the level of an insurgency after US and South Vietnamese troops crossed the border into Cambodia in May 1970. The US airlift force in Southeast Asia had shrunk from a level of three wings of C-130s and one each of C-123s and C-7As to only five squadrons of C-130s, and one of those was already in the process of deactivation. US troop levels in South Vietnam had shrunk from more than 500,000 only some 20,000 men, mostly airmen, as the US role in South Vietnam had declined and the war had become more of a local conflict. The ground war in Vietnam had entered a lull, with few tactical operations and the airlift role had become mostly logistical. Yet in spite of a massive interdiction effort using fighters and AC-130 gunships to attack Communist supply lines running through Laos, the North Vietnamese had built up a significant force and on Easter Weekend, 1972 the Vietnam War suddenly flared up with a vengeance. Communist forces supported by tanks rolled out of Laos and headed down Highway 13 toward Saigon, intending to capture the South Vietnamese capital and end the conflict with a massive blitzkrieg attack. Only one obstacle stood in their way - the South Vietnamese garrison at the town of An Loc where the South Vietnamese military decided to make their stand against the juggernaut that was rolling over them. However, Communist forces managed to encircle the city, thus preventing reinforcement and resupply through ground arteries. The only avenue into the city was through the sky, and the most developed antiaircraft forces yet seen in the Vietnam War made aerial resupply all but impossible. Intense ground fire prevented helicopter resupply so the Vietnamese Air Force turned to it's air transport C-123s. However, several C-123s were shot down and the United States Military Assistance Command directed the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing to being resupply missions to An Loc.
Early on the morning of April 15 three C-130s took off for An Loc. The third airplane in the formation was SPARE 617, commanded by Captain William R. Caldwell of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron. His crewmembers included Lt. John Hering, copilot, Lt. Richard Lentz, navigator, TSgt. Jon Sanders, engineer and SSgt Charles L. Shaub and Sgt David McAleece, loadmasters. Caldwell had just returned from leave and had just arrived at Tan Son Nhut two days before. The first C-130 crew dropped their load and pulled away from the drop zone without serious damage but the second crew had a malfunction with their load and were unable to drop. By the time Caldwell began his approach, he was aware that the enemy gunners were on full alert and waiting for him. When they were about 30 seconds from their release point, the airplane was hit by a hail of ground fire. TSgt Sanders was killed instantly by a round that came up through the floor and the copilot was wounded, as was Sgt. McAleece. A bleed air duct in the cargo compartment was ruptered by the ground fire and 700 degree air poured into the cargo compartment. The load of ammunition caught fire and was beginning to smoulder. Although both pilots attempted to jettison the load, the electrical button would not work and the loadmasters managed to release it manually - two pallets exploded just after they left the airplane. The hot air had set the cargo compartment insulation on fire and had heated the metal fire extinguished until it was red hot. SSgt. Shaub nevertheless took up the fire extinguisher - while badly burning his hands in the process - and put out the fire.
Caldwell's first thoughts were to find a place to put the airplane on the ground. He had lost two engines and the airplane was in bad shape, but he decided to try to nurse it back to Tan Son Nhut where his wounded crewmembers could get the medical attention they needed. The airplane's hydraulics were badly damaged and the landing gear would have to be cranked down. Shaub's hands were too badly burned to be of any help, but McAleece was able to get the gear down just before the airplane touched down - miraculously after losing a third engine. For their actions, Caldwell and Shaub were awarded the Air Force Cross.
The airplane, C-130E 62-1787, was repaired and returned to service. It eventually returned to the United States to the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing at Little Rock, Arkansas, then served with several Air National Guard squadrons. It is was assigned to the Arkansas Air Guard at Little Rock at the time it was identified for the US Air Force Museum. It was delivered to the US Air Force Museum on August 18, 2011.
