Armond, Robert Laurence, Capt

From Rich Hopka AFTWS Historian: B-52 Tail #57-0047 no boots date Mid-air crash with B-52 Tail #57-0179, 250 NM South of SVN in the China Sea SAC 3960th Strat Wing 441st Bomber Squadron Other crew who perished that day in the same incident: JAMES MONROE GEHRIG JR MAJ TYRRELL GORDON LOWRY CAPT JAMES ALFRED MARSHALL 1LT WILLIAM EDWARD NEVILLE TSGT HAROLD JAMES ROBERTS JR MSGT JOE CARROL ROBERTSON CAPT FRANK PETER WATSON CAPT

------ From Wikipedia aircraft losses in Vietnam: B-52 Stratofortress-- --31 total, 17 in combat -First losses were operational (non-combat) mid-air collision 2 B-52F 57-0047 and 57-0179 (441st Bomb Squadron, 320th Bomb Wing), June 18, 1965, South China Sea during air refueling orbit, 8 of 12 crewmen killed. ------ From B-52 Ejection History: "The survivors were located and taken on board an HU16 Albatross amphibian (514287) but on attempting to take off in a heavy swell the aircraft was damaged and the survivors had to be transferred to a Norwegian freighter. The Albatross sank minutes after the crew were taken off by a Navy vessel" - Hobson

------ FEEDBACK The first B-52 mission over Vietnam on 18 June 1965. Two B-52s collided in mid-air prior to mid-air refuelling. My neighbour James A Marshall was killed and lost at sea. His widow sold her house to the widow of a fellow crew man, Joe Robertson. Joe's widow was my babysitter when I was ten. I have two brothers and a sister, and we adored her. She was a blessing while my father was TDY in Okinawa and later in Bangkok. My father was a KC-135 aircraft
commander of the 905th AREFS whose KC-135s were based together with the B52 SAC squadron at Mather AFB in Rancho Cordova,

California. He was stationed in Okinawa at the time, but did not participate in the first arc-light mission Joe Robertson ejected from his B-52 after the collision. The story I was told at the time was that he lost his leg and bled to death in the life raft occupied by other crewman who also ejected. It was an awful tragedy from a close-knit Air Force community whose main purpose was strategic bombing in the Cold War. How brave they must have been. I wish I knew of the other crewmen. Tom Huff Bealeton, Va in email 13th September 2008 ------

This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California.