lest we forget

McDONALD, BILLY WALLACE

Rank / Branch:

  • STAFF SERGEANT, U. S. AIR FORCE

Date Of Birth:

  • 1934-04-18

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • HOSTILE-CRASH

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • C-130 HERCULES

Other:

  • MARRIED

Unit:

  • 7TH AIR FORCE

Date Of Loss:

  • 1969-06-23

Loss Coordinates:

  • TAY NINH

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • MC DONALD, BILLY WALLACE, STAFF SERGEANT, U.S. AIR FORCE, MARYNEAL, NOLAN, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • AIR FORCE CREWMAN WINGS, PURPLE HEART, AIR MEDAL WITH 3 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS, AIR FORECE COMMENDATIONS MEDAL, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, WIITH 4 BRONZE LOOPS, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL WITH ONE STAR, AIR FORECE LONGEVITY SERVICE RIBBON WIT 2 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS, AIR FORCE EXPEDIENTIARY MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Billy was born in Sweetwater, Texas. He was the son of James Weldon and Florence McDonald. His family lived in Maryneal, Texas, a small agriculture town southwest of Sweetwater. He attended schools and graduated from Maryneal High School in 1952.
  • After graduation from high school, he entered the U.S. Air Force, completed basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas and trained as an aircraft mechanic at Sheppard Air Force Base and at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas. He was assigned as an Apprentice Aircraft mechanic at Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas. He was then transferred to Dow Air Force Base in Maine until 1955 and then transferred back to Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin. He discharged and re-enlisted in 1956 and served at Bergstrom until 1962 when he re-enlisted. He received additional training at Sheppard Air Force Base, married Jeanne Marie Stout, his two children were born while stationed at Sheppard.
  • He was assigned to Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan on flight status as a flight engineer on a HC-130 on April 9, 1964. On April 6, 1966, he re-enlisted and remained in Japan until May 16, 1967, when he was transferred to Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina and was assigned to the 779th Tactical Airlift Squadron as a flight engineer. He was assigned to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines on April 2, 1969, and was assigned to the 773th Tactical Air Squadron. His unit was sent on temporary duty to Tans Son Nhut Air Force Base in Saigon.
  • The 23rd of June 1969 started out as a normal tactical airlift day as crew of the C-130 tail number 61-0965 received their mission assignment for the day. The day’s mission typically included 6 or 7 flights. As the day progressed, however, their assignment was changed to incorporate a flight to haul 3 pallets of 105mm High Explosive (HE) ammunition into the Katum Special Forces Camp. The Katum (A-322) Special Forces Camp was opened officially on 21 February 1968 in northern Tay Ninh Province. It was a border surveillance camp located just slightly more than 4 kilometers south of the Cambodian border in War Zone C. All resupply was by air onto the 2900-foot runway or by helicopters. Katum long had a reputation as a "hot trip" for the Air Force crews making resupply runs from Bien Hoa or Tan Son Nhut. Every fixed wing aircraft or helicopter which landed could count on being mortared while on the ground or at any time during the landing and take-off since there was at least one Russian-made machine gun located near Katum that fired on approaching and departing aircraft. While out on patrol, a Special Forces Sergeant heard his radio go off with one of the ALLEN FACs, in his O-1E, announcing "C-130 coming into Katum on fire". The C-130 had fire streaming off the back of the right wing, way back past the tail. The fire blossomed and died, blossomed and died. The burning aircraft entered a flat spin and crashed into the trees killing all six crew members. .
  • Billy was buried with full military honors in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Bastrop, Morehouse Parrish, Louisiana. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Force Commendation's Medal posthumously. There is a Memorial Headstone listing the dead crewman at Arlington National Cemetery and buried there are the co-mingled remains of four of the crew to include SSG Mc Donald.
  • MEMORIAL CEMETERY, BASTROP, LOUISIANA
  • CO-MINGLED REMAINS OF FOUR OF THE CREWMAN ARE BURIED AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY.
  • C-130 HERCULES