Saigon
Saturday Night, 18 September 1965This afternoon we lost our first C-130 transport aircraft at Qui Nhon. It crashed in the bay when trying a landing. Early reports indicated that 6 people got out okay and 4 passengers are still missing. Am worried about it as one of my officers from J-4 ([Lieutenant Commander] Dick O’Neil[, U.S. Navy]) left to go to Qui Nhon this afternoon and I don’t know whether he was on this particular flight or not. I sure hope he wasn’t. Maybe I’ll run up there tomorrow and look at it, but don’t know why. I sure can’t do anything about bringing the people back or getting the plane out of the water.
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| This U.S. Air Force C-130, above, with Movements Branch staff officer Lieutenant Commander Dick O'Neil aboard, crashed while attempting a landing at Qui Nhon, South Vietnam, 18 September 1965 (Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force). |
There was some action at An Khe today with the battalion of the 101st Airborne Brigade and we’ve been sending C-123s in all day with reinforcements and with supplies. Sherman was right when he said: War is hell. I’ve grown to hate it intensely.
Monday am going to ride the railroad from Saigon to Bien Hoa air base. I want to start using the railroad and there is a good bit of reluctance on the part of shippers to do so, because they are afraid that it isn’t secure. Figure the best way to convince them is to ride it myself. That way I can say for sure that I’ve been over the route and I know it is secure. We will have armored cars with Vietnamese soldiers going with us.
Haven’t seen Grady or anyone else I know in the past few days. Just been very busy trying to keep ahead (or up with!) all the movements we have going! Things are looking up, however. Colonel [Jack] Tooley, the commanding officer of the [U.S. Army 507th] Movements Group has arrived and has opened a small headquarters. Within the next 2 months, I should be out of business and turn over running the airline and steamship companies to him and his 300 people. Will be real happy to do so. When that happens, maybe I’ll have just a little bit more time to rest, relax, or do some shopping.
Still very put out about the proposed assignment to DCSLOG (Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Department of the Army) in Washington. I am going to write them one more letter and see what they say. As far as my “career needs” are concerned, I sure don’t care about being a general and don’t care whether I become a full colonel or not. Just want to come home and relax without any pressures being put on me.
I, SP4 Robert Fender, 117th Trans Co TC, was standing on the beach that moment when the crash occurred. I watched it on approach and said to my friend Fred Piluso, that aircraft is not going to make it, it then skipped like a stone, then rolled, flew up into the air, then nose dived into the sea. The plane was not in the water very long when an Army Lark, amphibious vehicle came from behind us. It stopped, asked if anyone had dive experience, Fred said he did, then went out to the aircraft and dove into the wreckage. I waited he came back later, said that all were killed. Both Fred and I were from Pittsburgh, PA and had known each other before enlistment. Fred later re-enlisted, and served with the Special Forces. We both made it unscathed through the war. BTW at that time my unit was attached to the 1st Infantry Div for support. We were all considered MACV then. All forces were gathering in Qui Nhon, Army, Marines, Special Forces, ROC Army. If you need to contact me (rafender@outlook.com).
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experience!
DeleteHi Bob
ReplyDeleteI am hoping that this is still a good email address for you, albeit slim possibility.
I saw you posting regarding the above incident. My name is Don Sosnoski and at that time, I was Executive Officer for the 13th FDS at Qui Nhon. Myself, and three of my men were actually listed on the manifest for that flight although we were in fact not on the plane when it crashed. We were bringing some $5.0 million in cash from Saigon to Qui Nhon that day and had been sitting next to the plane at Tan Son Nhut while they tried to deal with mechanical problems. The cash was in the back of a pick up truck and although I had three guards, I was getting nervous about sitting out there on the tarmac. A C-123 was rolling by and I yelled out to the pilot to see where he was going. As it turned out he was agreeable to dropping us off in Qui Nhon, but there was no time to change the manifest. The C-123 also encountered mechanical problems in route to Qui Nhon and had to return to Na Trang for repairs. Thus, we were delayed and the C-130 had taken off and crashed before we actually landed in Qui Nhon. I took major flack from the base commander for not having changed the manifest......but told him if I had to do it over again, I would have done the same thing.
Incidentally, my good friend Steve Alguire was commanding a transportation unit that handled logistics on the beach. Not sure if you would have been in his unit or not.
You have cleared up something that has bugged me for many years. Official reports on the crash indicated 4 survivors, however upon finding my men at the beach that day I was told there were no survivors?? It is now apparent that the 4 “survivors” were actually me and my men…..survivors because we were on the manifest but never confirmed dead.
I neglected to leave my email address re: my post on December 23, 2020. My email is: donsosnoski0@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteDon Sosnoski
I just learned about this incident. My older brother was the lark driver who responded to this crash. My sister just found some of his service records and read the commendation he received for his service in this incident. The letter stated that there were 10 crew or passengers on the flight and that he rescued 6. it also states that additionally, he and the rescued service members retrieved some of the cargo. He returned to shore, dropped off the survivors and then returned to the plane for more cargo. Later, according to the letter, he aided in locating the plane which was ultimately retrieved. I was about 9 years old at the time and don't remember ever hearing about any of this. Unfortunately, he died the year after he returned to the states. I cannot testify to the accuracy of the statements in the commendation letter. But I am so glad to read about the incident. His name was Ted Michael Dunnegan.
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