By: Steve Pearce

The mission of our C-130 unit in country was to fly things around.  We flew food, ammunition, people, vehicles, etc.  We hauled “stuff”.  In the GI vernacular we were trash haulers. 

By: Steve Pearce

In 1971 when my pilot training was complete I was one of two members of class 71-06 at Reese AFB to be assigned as copilots to the 463^rd TAW at Clark AFB.  Most of our missions were out of Cam Rahn Bay AB, Viet Nam.  When we were there  the C-130 detachment was on a side of the base sort of by itself.

By: Steve Pearce

When I completed pilot training in January 1970, I received orders to fly C-130’s out of Clark Air Base in the Philippines.   My transition training into the C-130 Hercules was at Little Rock AFB then, I learned the tactical flying we would experience in Viet Nam at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina.  The transition training instructor, Major Shelton, was one of the few Black pilots I encountered in the Air Force.  He was as good as any C-130 pilot I met during my Air Force service.  And because he was good, I had good training.

Going to war was not my idea.  I drew a low draft number and entered ROTC in order to finish college.  I was not one of the anti-war types and never considered fleeing to Canada to avoid the draft or serving.  It was just not my first choice of careers when I finished college.  But I was called and I did my duty.

After graduating from UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) at Reese AFB, Texas, I received orders to fly C-130’s in Southeast Asia for 18 months.  Arriving in mid 1971, my orders would carry me thru the end of 1972 in the war zone.