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From: Joe O'Donnell Local175@sprynet.com
Date: 13 Jun 2000
Time: 19:35:23
Remote Name: 209.138.171.198
Any discussion of the history of the 13th Combat Avn Bn (Delta Bn) should include March 27, 1967. This was the date, Easter Sunday, when 13th Avn Bn Commander Col. Jack T. Dempsey was shot down on killed flying "Delta Six". I remember all the officers running to the flight line in civilian clothers to fly to the combat operations area to see if there was anything they could do to help. No one knew at the time that Col. Dempsey was already dead, killed by enemy ground fire. Later the main Bn HQ offices were renamed Dempsey Compound. Does anyone remember SFC Manning? He was named "Aviation Soldier of the Army" in 1965. He went on to be a Sgt. Major with the 1st Avn Brigade. Is there anyone who recalls Lt. Col. Bill Maddox know as "Battling Bill Baddox, the Grey Ghost"? How about the cover article on a national mens adventure magizine which was so exagerrated that Maddox would say it was an embarassment. Most of the guys thought it was cool to see a cover story about the 13th Avn Bn and its commander-true or not true. I see some e-mails wanting to know what the Can Tho Area looks like now. I returned to Can Tho for a 4 week visit with my wife (Miss Tuyet or Miss Snow as she was called) in 1993. Twenty five years after the Tet Offensive. The Mecong Hotel now flys a North Vietnam Flag. It's mostly appartments. The 13th Bn HQ office structure in Can Tho proper is done. It's been replaced by a row of mini shops. In 1993 the Can Tho was no longer in use as an airport. Right next to the old airfield is a small park with rides for kids and also old military wepons on display. From the back of the part you can see the end of the Can Tho airfield runway. I was denied access to the area, I was also denied access to the old Mecong Hotel. On the Can Tho water front there is a big stature of Ho Chi Minh. On Wa Binh Ave (?), the really wide avenue down from the Mecong Hotel there is a museum dedicated to Ho Chi Minh. I have many pictures from my visit in 1993 and will try to get some of them on this web site. I will also send in some of my older pictures from 1965-66-67 to bring back old memories of the early historic days of the 13th Avn Bn (Delta).