| Date: 24 November 1969 |
| Aircraft type: C-130A Hercules |
| Serial Number: 56-0533 |
| Military Unit: 41 TAS, 374 TAW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Naha, Okinawa |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Earl Carlyle Brown (KIA) |
| 1Lt Peter Richard Matthes (KIA) |
| Maj Michael Dimitri Balamonti (KIA) |
| Capt Richard Owen Ganley (KIA) |
| SSgt Charles Richard Fellenz (KIA) |
| SSgt Larry Irwin Grewell (KIA) |
| SSgt Donald Lee Wright (KIA) |
| Sgt Rexford John DeWispelaere (KIA) |
| On the night of the 24th a C-130 forward air control aircraft (call sign Blind Bat 1) from Ubon was orbiting at 9,000 feet in the Ban Bak area to the east of Saravan in southern Laos. The aircraft was above a 4,000 feet cloud base when it was hit by several rounds of 37mm flak and burst into flames. The aircraft crashed about 15 miles east of Ban Talan and all on board were killed. The remains of the crew were returned from Laos in November 1993 and positively identified in October 1995. The Blind Bat mission ceased in mid-1970 after five years of operations over the Ho Chi Minh Trail with the loss of two aircraft plus another two lost at Da Nang during a sapper attack in July 1965. |
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