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Contact Info
Home Town Anaheim, California
Last Address Clark AB, Philippines/Da Nang AB, RVN
On 31 May 1966, Major Thomas Case, pilot; 1st Lt. Harold J. Zook, co-pilot; 1st Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, navigator; Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, navigator; 1st Lt. Armon D. Shingledecker, navigator; then SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, flight engineer; A1C Elroy E. Harworth, loadmaster; and A1C Philip J. Stickney, loadmaster; comprised one of these specially trained aircrews. Their call sign was "Radium 1." The C130E (serial #64-0511) was on a classified mission to drop a specially designed weapon on the Ham Rong Bridge located on the northeast edge of Thanh Hoa, North Vietnam. The mission identifier was "Carolina Moon." The C130 departed DaNang at 0110 hours and flew north to rendezvous with a flight of F4Cs that were assigned to the same mission. Weather conditions in the target area included a few thin scattered clouds with moonlight. Visibility was 7 nautical miles.
The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter, 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing 5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43-mile route making the C130 vulnerable to enemy attack for about 17 minutes. They would drop the mines into the river upstream and they would float down the Song Ma River where they would pass under the Dragon's Jaw, and detonate when sensors in the bomb detected the metal of the bridge structure. Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would fly a diversionary attack to the south of the C130's drop point, using flares and bombs on the highway just before the C130 made its delivery. The F4s were to enter their target area at 300 feet, attack at 50 feet and pull off the target back to 300 feet for subsequent attacks.
Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to jam the enemy radar in the area during the attack period. The first C130 was flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second by Maj. Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training for this mission at Eglin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for a second mission should the first fail to accomplish the desired results.
TASK FORCE OMEGA lists CMSgt. Alberton as serving with the 62nd TCW and not the 64th TCW. He was promoted through the ranks while listed as missing. He was declared dead Jan 9, 1978. The location of his remains is unknown.
Other Comments:
This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.
Aircraft/Missile Information
The C-130 series began as a 1951 requirement for a military transport with Short Take-Off and Landing capabilities. The series was born as the YC-130 and performed well in the latter part of 1954 with its Allison three-bladed turboprop engines. With successes encountered throughout the war in Vietnam and furthermore in peacetime, the C-130 Hercules spawned a plethora of variants that would include special forces insertion, arctic patrol, meteorological research, communications, close-support and modernized variants of the base transport.
Model Lockheed C-130H Hercules Length 97.77 ft | 29.80 m Width 132.55 ft | 40.40 m Height 37.40 ft | 11.40 m Engine(s) 4 x Allison T56-A-15LFE turboprop engines generating 4,508hp each. Empty Weight 76,505 lbs | 34,702 kg MTOW 175,003 lbs | 79,380 kg Max Speed 386 mph | 621 km/h | 335 kts Max Range 2,237 miles | 3,600 km Ceiling 33,005 ft | 10,060 m | 6.3 miles Climb Rate Not Available Hardpoints 0 Armament None. Internal payload of up to 42,637lbs of supplies, personnel and vehicles. Accommodations 4 + 92 Operators Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America among others (about 60 in all).
