Pictured, left to right: Post Commander Ed Robinson, Republic of Vietnam Air Force veteran Tom Nguyen, and USAF veteran Hal Lowe.
Tom Nguyen provided and informative, moving, and heartfelt presentation of his experiences as a pilot during the Vietnam War. Nguyen was a guest speaker at the Post. His story told of his escape with his family as his country was overrun by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese and of his new life in America, which included becoming a US citizen.
Incredibly, Nguyen and Lowe flew the same Hercules C-130, tail No. 56-0518, which began as a USAF plane and was later given to the South Vietnamese Air Force.
NOTE: For additional information, a major article appears in The Pagosa SUN, issue 9/22/2016.
Also printed in National American Legion at http://www.legiontown.org/story/3240/tail-number-and-tale-two-airmen.
