A C-130 Hercules flies over


Vietnam. On May 12, 1968, during the evacuation of Kham Duc, two C-130s were shot down, resulting in the loss of more than 200 people. (USAF photo)


aboard, one of the three simply mut- tered, “We thought we were dead!” Te plane got back into the sky quickly, and with that, Kham Duc was officially evacuated and abandoned. USAF air strikes later demolished the buildings and materiel left behind.


Te final toll for this evacuation


operation, which lasted only a few hours, was considerable: 259 people were killed, more than half of them aboard Bucher’s crash-landed C-130, which was one of two aircraft—the second was another C-130—lost


that day. Still, even with a high casu- alty total, the mission did result in 1,800 people being safely evacuated. So while many consider what took place at Kham Duc a calamity—and the loss of so many fits that descrip- tion—it also stands as an outstanding


AFSA Magazine • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 29


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