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USAF 42nd TEWS and EB-66 100 Mission Patches


gwb123
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After living 13 years in Nebraska, I'd have to say I've found very few items in the local shops that either I've wanted to bring home or were not priced through the roof. I've never been sure if it was because all the other local collectors got there first, or if there was just a lack of things to be found.

 

Yesterday, my wife and I spent a solid six hours in Nebraska City for the local Applejack Festival. Think of a harvest festival for the apple growers of the region. This was quite the affair with thousands of people showing up for parades, craft show, wine tasting, museums and about every merchant in town open for extended hours.

 

We'd about hit our limit before making the hour and half drive home when I asked my wife if I could hit one more antique store before heading out. We were both tired, and if she had said "no" we would have headed out. Instead she pulled out a book from her bag, curled up on the seat and said "Have fun, I'll be here."

 

This was your classica antique store with poor lighting and stuff piled upon stuff in every corner. I didn't see much at first but finally I asked the proprietor if he had any miltiary items, patches and such.

 

He said he had one or two items and motioned me over to a case. While he was trying to fish out some USMC chevrons my eye spotted the EB-66 100 Mission patch. My blood pressure jumped about 15 points and then I reminded myself that there were fakes everywhere, including obscure antique shops. I asked him to go ahead and to pull it and the one beside it out for a look.

 

Long story short, this is what I came home with. Thai made on old large loop black velcro, well used. I'm not going to comment on what I paid for these other than to say I paid the man exactly what he asked for. That took him back because when you are in this business and someone pays your first asking price it is a good sign that what ever you have is under priced!

 

And to think I was within a mere 5 minutes of packing it up and driving away, never knowing these were there!

42nd_TEWS_b.jpg

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For those of you unfamiliar with the unit or their mission during Vietnam:

 

The specially-equipped EB-66C's of the 42nd ECS and their aircrews were sent directly to Southeast Asia for use over the skies of North Vietnam and the squadron was inactivated.

 

Reactivated in 1968 at Takhli Royal Thai Air Base under the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing. The squadron carried out electronic warfare operations over North Vietnam, locating and identifying North Vietnamese radar sites that directed missiles and AAA fire, so that strike aircraft could avoid them. The RB-66C had no offensive capability, so it could not attack the radar sites directly. Squadron were transferred to Korat RTAFB in August 1970. Continued operations until the end of hostilities in January 1973, remained in Thailand until being inactivated in March 1974.

 

Lt.Col. Iceal Hambleton, a navigator aboard a EB-66 who was shot down during the Easter Offensive and spent 11½ days behind enemy lines, was a member of the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (42 TEWS). His rescue was the "largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue" operation during the entire Vietnam War.[1] The rescue was dramatized in the movie Bat*21.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42d_Electronic_Combat_Squadron

EB66.jpg

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Good find, you never know what a place has until you look. I was taking the bus from Oklahoma City home and there was a lat over in Manhattan, KS. I saw a head shop with a practice bomb in the front window, they had a whole backroom of military items. It's long gone, but I went there several times over the years.

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Gil, nice find. you just never know where or when. I have slowed my antigue shop snooping down a little, but the thrill of the hunt never leaves. Good info on this unit.

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I have always scoped out every little corner nook/cranny as the others have said you never know where "Gems" like these will pop up , I ahve found back in the day when I was collecting some of the best stuff in some of the rattiest most unlikely looking places , and I think that's the key "sometimes" to finding good items, most people don't want to go into the "grubby" looking places .

 

Anyway , you scored some NICE items there for sure and it sounds like for a VERY resasonable price reading between the "lines" :thumbsup:

Johnny

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Great photos... thanks for adding these! Kinda sad to see these birds at the end of their life.

 

RH was the tail code when the 42nd was assigned to the 355th TFW at Takhli from 1968 to September 1970.

 

JW was the tail code when the 42nd was transferred to the 388th TFW at Korat from September 1970 to January 1974.

 

Based on your photos, it wasn't very long after leaving Korat that these planes became derelict.

 

Source: Tail Code by Patrick Martin. Schiffer Books.

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And they're possibly still there. I went back to Clark later that year on a prisoner transfer mission and when I got to the same area there was no trace of the aircraft but I did notice that a tree there had its lowest branch only about a foot or so above a rise in the ground. Previously it was sweveral feet over my head which means that they most likely buried the entire area.

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And they're possibly still there. I went back to Clark later that year on a prisoner transfer mission and when I got to the same area there was no trace of the aircraft but I did notice that a tree there had its lowest branch only about a foot or so above a rise in the ground. Previously it was sweveral feet over my head which means that they most likely buried the entire area.

I'm not going to dispute you but I'm going to wonder aloud why they would alter the terrain that much and possibly create a floodplain that could undermine flightline operations.

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Czn't answer that one. That's just what I found. Why would you bury these aircraft in the first place? They cold have been flown back for storage, they weren't that old.

 

There was only one tree in the area:scan0365.jpg

 

Even though it's in the distant background you can get an idea of how tall it was. If I remember right, this field was somewhere between the flight line and the gate at Angeleese city. It was a pretty open area.

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tbirdismypride

Thanks for showing those pictures. My dad worked on RB-66's before Vietnam. Its really neat to see pictures of the RB-66 even though its sitting in the desert.

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Czn't answer that one. That's just what I found. Why would you bury these aircraft in the first place? They cold have been flown back for storage, they weren't that old.

 

There was only one tree in the area:scan0365.jpg

 

Even though it's in the distant background you can get an idea of how tall it was. If I remember right, this field was somewhere between the flight line and the gate at Angeleese city. It was a pretty open area.

The B~66 was one of my favorite models as a kid in the later '50s which I think was one of those tactical stopgap bombers put into service while the US evolved it's strategic deterrance policies so it was already twenty years old when you came across it. Like many of the '50s aircraft they were further outmoded by the downsizing of the military as Vietnam was winding down. The F~102s stationed at our overseas bases were chopped up right there and sold for scrap while many of our F~84s went to our Allies, to name just a few aircraft that never returned to the US.

In the background of your photos are C~47s which continue to serve many other nations with the Basler turbo conversion which will keep this majestic aircraft viable for decades to come. Even our USAF has a couple examples at Hurlbert Field.

 

Clark AB WAS completely covered with ash from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and subsequently reverted back to Philippine control. It is now an international zone of some sort though the damage was so extensive that only certain areasof the base are now in use.

 

LtCol {ret} Hambleton and his wife were good friends and I often pass their old home on my daily PT runs. They were both avid golfers until they were physically unable to do so but he still would get out & about.

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From what I hear it was pretty heavily damaged. Someone told me that they left some S.P.s to watch over the base after the evacuation. The few pictures I saw showed a good foot or so of ash left behind.

 

tbirdismypride.....CLark Air Base was in the Phillipine Islands. This area is just a bit dry and would probably green up in the monsoon season.

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From what I hear it was pretty heavily damaged. Someone told me that they left some S.P.s to watch over the base after the evacuation. The few pictures I saw showed a good foot or so of ash left behind.

 

tbirdismypride.....CLark Air Base was in the Phillipine Islands. This area is just a bit dry and would probably green up in the monsoon season.

 

There were some SP's, a handful of other base personnel and some scientists who came to watch the eruption. But eventually they had to evacuate as well.

 

There is actually video of all of this. I believe I saw it on PBS (probably NOVA)... it got pretty bad in the end. They probably waited way too long to scoot... by the time they hit the road, the sun was completely blocked, and headlights barely penetrated to falling ash. They could not even see the roadbed due to the layer of ash on it. They had to creep out of there at low speed while ash was coming down by the bucket fulls.

 

They all made it out but it could have ended very badly for all concerned.

 

As far as burying the EB-66's... it's not the first time the Government has done something like that. I would have thought all that scrap metal would have easily sold in a developing country. But given the electronic warfare mission of these aircraft, it may have been preferred to have destroyed and disposed of them.

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There were some SP's, a handful of other base personnel and some scientists who came to watch the eruption. But eventually they had to evacuate as well.

 

There is actually video of all of this. I believe I saw it on PBS (probably NOVA)... it got pretty bad in the end. They probably waited way too long to scoot... by the time they hit the road, the sun was completely blocked, and headlights barely penetrated to falling ash. They could not even see the roadbed due to the layer of ash on it. They had to creep out of there at low speed while ash was coming down by the bucket fulls.

 

They all made it out but it could have ended very badly for all concerned.

 

As far as burying the EB-66's... it's not the first time the Government has done something like that. I would have thought all that scrap metal would have easily sold in a developing country. But given the electronic warfare mission of these aircraft, it may have been preferred to have destroyed and disposed of them.

That's correct but a detachment returned to provide a presence while the base was shut down. A friend of mine brought back home video and during his narration he was coughing a great deal as the result of the minute ash particles entering his lungs. This was one of the common hazards these guys faced for volunteering to return.

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Very nice patches! Congrats.

 

I work on the B-1 Bomber at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas. The Linear Air Park runs from the front gate to the flag pole. There was a RB-66 near the front gate for years; later moved in a field to make room for the B-1 that is now parked at the gate. (2003)

 

The RB-66 has been parked in the field behind the trees ever since. Recently, the base has moved the RB-66 out of the dirt and begun a complete remodel. It is in bad shape, but they are finally going to fix it up. The wings were removed last month (Sheet metal repair).

 

It is one of only a hand full that still exist. --- Rick (Old B-1)

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