Overview

Combat Talons in Vietnam is a personal account of the first use of C-130s in the Vietnam War. It provides an insider’s view of crew training and classified missions for this technologically advanced aircraft. Many covert missions over North Vietnam were sucessful, but one night, John Gargus, a mission planner, oversaw an operation in which the aircraft—carrying eleven crewmembers—failed to return from a nighttime mission. For thirty years, a search for the missing aircraft remained in progress. In the late 1990s, the Combat Talon veteran community at Hurlburt Field in Florida, still uncertain of the full story, decided to dedicate a memorial to the lost crew. When wartime mission records were declassified, Gargus embarked on a long journey of inquiry, research, and puzzle-solving to reconstruct the events of that mission and the fate of its crew. He discovered that the wreckage of the plane had been found in 1992 and that the remains of the crew were being held in Hawaii. Through numerous Freedom of Information Act requests, interviews, and site visits, Gargus sought to answer the question of why it took so long to find the wreckage and, more importantly, why the special operations command units and crewmember families were left uninformed. By 2000, the remains were relocated to a common grave at Arlington National Cemetery at last providing a measure of closure to family, friends, and comrades.

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9781623495121

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A renowned MC-130 navigator and SOG veteran, no one could have better told the story of SOG's top secret Blackbirds than Col. Gargus. These unmarked planes regularly penetrated deep into North Vietnam's night skies, bypassing MiG bases and SAM sites to support our covert operations. His book respectfully documents the 30-year effort to locate and account for the men lost on the only C-130 Blackbird to have disappeared during the war. Well done, with much detail. --Maj. John L. Plaster, US Army Special Forces and SOG Veteran--Major John Plaster (12/08/2016) Only a very few have properly recorded the quiet and unheralded achievements of the Combat Talon aviation community. A highly modified C-130 Hercules aircraft, the MC-130 Combat Talon was one of three key special operations aviation assets employed during the Vietnam era. The noble aircraft, the dedicated flight and maintenance crews, and the exacting mission they performed are chronicled in this wonderful book by John Gargus. The narrative enlightens and inspires, and reminds us of those who served, and those who perished, pursuing excellence in special operations aviation. -- Norton A. Schwartz, General (ret), USAF 19th Chief of Staff--Norton A. Schwartz, General (ret) (11/22/2016) Meticulously researched, Gargus' work resolves with dignity the 25-year-old mystery of the loss, over North Vietnam, of an eleven-member special operations C-130E Combat Talon crew on 29 December 1967 and its eventual, painstaking recovery. --Forrest L. Marion, Ph.D., Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama John Gargus weaves a tapestry of the little known events surrounding the loss of crew S-01 in 1967 and eventual interment at Arlington National Cemetery. He also reminds all Americans of the government's efforts and programs to recover and return its fallen warriors from battlefields around the world Herby Mason, USAF Special Operations historian--Herby Mason (12/13/2016) -Only a very few have properly recorded the quiet and unheralded achievements of the -Combat Talon- aviation community. A highly modified C-130 Hercules aircraft, the MC-130 Combat Talon was one of three key special operations aviation assets employed during the Vietnam era. The noble aircraft, the dedicated flight and maintenance crews, and the exacting mission they performed are chronicled in this wonderful book by John Gargus. The narrative enlightens and inspires, and reminds us of those who served, and those who perished, pursuing excellence in special operations aviation.- -- Norton A. Schwartz, General (ret), USAF 19th Chief of Staff--Norton A. Schwartz, General (ret) (11/22/2016) -A renowned MC-130 navigator and SOG veteran, no one could have better told the story of SOG's top secret -Blackbirds- than Col. Gargus. These unmarked planes regularly penetrated deep into North Vietnam's night skies, bypassing MiG bases and SAM sites to support our covert operations. His book respectfully documents the 30-year effort to locate and account for the men lost on the only C-130 -Blackbird- to have disappeared during the war. Well done, with much detail.---Maj. John L. Plaster, US Army Special Forces and SOG Veteran--Major John Plaster (12/08/2016) -Meticulously researched, Gargus' work resolves with dignity the 25-year-old mystery of the loss, over North Vietnam, of an eleven-member special operations C-130E Combat Talon crew on 29 December 1967 and its eventual, painstaking recovery. --Forrest L. Marion, Ph.D., Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama -John Gargus weaves a tapestry of the little known events surrounding the loss of crew S-01 in 1967 and eventual interment at Arlington National Cemetery. He also reminds all Americans of the government's efforts and programs to recover and return its fallen warriors from battlefields around the world- Herby Mason, USAF Special Operations historian--Herby Mason (12/13/2016) -One of the enduring truths of the US Special Operations Command is that people are more important than the hardware. Only those who served in the Stray Goose Project had a need to know about the first employment of Combat Talon technology in covert operations during the Vietnam War and about the efforts of the quiet professional air commandos who executed hazardous missions inside of the most heavily defended enemy airspace. John Gargus tells us the story about their lives and our nation's commitment to return home the remains of all who made the ultimate sacrifices in the service of our country.- -- Lieutenant General LeRoy J. Manor, Former Commander USAF Special Operations --Lieutenant General LeRoy J. Manor (12/08/2016) One of the enduring truths of the US Special Operations Command is that people are more important than the hardware. Only those who served in the Stray Goose Project had a need to know about the first employment of Combat Talon technology in covert operations during the Vietnam War and about the efforts of the quiet professional air commandos who executed hazardous missions inside of the most heavily defended enemy airspace. John Gargus tells us the story about their lives and our nation's commitment to return home the remains of all who made the ultimate sacrifices in the service of our country. -- Lieutenant General LeRoy J. Manor, Former Commander USAF Special Operations --Lieutenant General LeRoy J. Manor (12/08/2016)

A renowned MC-130 navigator and SOG veteran, no one could have better told the story of SOG's top secret Blackbirds than Col. Gargus. These unmarked planes regularly penetrated deep into North Vietnam's night skies, bypassing MiG bases and SAM sites to support our covert operations. His book respectfully documents the 30-year effort to locate and account for the men lost on the only C-130 Blackbird to have disappeared during the war. Well done, with much detail. --Maj. John L. Plaster, US Army Special Forces and SOG Veteran--Major John Plaster (12/08/2016)

Author Information

John Gargus is the author of The Son Tay Raid: American POWs in Vietnam Were Not Forgotten, a memoir about his participation in a search and rescue mission for which he was awarded the Silver Star. Inducted into the Air Commando Hall of Fame, he retired from the US Air Force in 1983 after a twenty-seven-year career. He currently lives in Henderson, Nevada.

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