Air Force Veteran Served on Evacuation Flight Line
Air Force Staff Sgt. Miguel “Mike” Lechuga witnessed the chaos on April 29, 1975, the day before Saigon fell.
After watching bombs fall on Tan Son Nhut Air Base on April 28, he and the rest of the 10-member aircraft maintenance crew awaited further orders at their building near the flightline. The avionics instrument specialist belonged to the 604th Military Airlift Support Squadron, which was under the Military Airlift Command.
They were told that C-130s would arrive in three-ship formations starting around 3 a.m. on April 29 to continue the U.S. evacuation. But a rocket attack destroyed the second C-130 and canceled that plan, ultimately leading to reliance on Marine Corps helicopters.
Sheppard AFB Honors Tuskegee Airmen With Renamed Street On Base
Almost every fan of military aviation or World War II historian has heard of the Tuskegee Airmen. They were the first African-American aviators in the United States military and led the way to the eventual integration of our armed forces.
But I was today years old when I learned that some of the Tuskegee Airmen actually passed through Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls on their way to train at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama.
Texoma s Homepage is reporting that Sheppard is officially renaming 5th Avenue to Tuskegee Airmen Avenue.
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