……………OTIS AIR FORCE BASE:- The Distinguished Flying Cross, five air medals and a Purple Heart

were awarded posthumously to United States Air Force Technical Sergeant Zane Aubry (E-6) of

516 Perry Street, Middleboro, MA on Friday, September 19, 1968. He was Killed In Action when shot down in a Caribou aircraft in Vietnam in 1967.

…………..During a special presentation by Colonel Carl W. Bradford, Otis Base Commander, the

medals were presented to Sergeant Carter’s widow, Mrs. Jane Carter and their children,

daughter Theresa, 10, and son Zane,Jr, 5. Assisting with the medal presentations and

representing Simeon L. Nickerson Post 64 American Legion was Commander John Gilfoy and

representing Veterans of Foreign Wars Post John Glass, Jr., Post 2188 was Commander Manuel

Combra, Jr.

......The Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded to Technical Sergeant Carter as one of four

crew members aboard a 459th Troop Carrier C7A Caribou to compile an outstanding record for a

single day airlift. With Major Philip E. Anderson of Shreevesport, LA., in command of the

plane, it ferried 80,000 ppounds of passengers and supplies from Quang Ngai to an area 25

miles away. In six hours flying time, with 27 landings and takeoffs, the plane set a total

tonnage record for a single day operation.

.....T/Sgt. Carter had served in the Air Force for 19 years. He saw combat in Korea during

that conflict. He was a flight engineer for the Early Aircraft Warning Wing at Otis AFB before

going to Vietnam.

……………Technical Sergeant Carter was killed as a crew member in Vietnam on August 3, 1967 during

a crash of an Air Force Caribou near Quang Ngai, South Vietnam.

……………He was born in West Pembroke, Maine on December 25, 1930. He had served in the Air Force

for over 18 years when he was killed. According to published reports, the plane, a C-7B

Caribou was shot down by friendly fire by U. S. Army artillery. The plane was hit by a 155mm

shell, which tore off the rear fuselage and tail section.

…………..At the time, the plane was ferrying ammunition to a Special Forces camp at Duc Pho when

it flew into the line of fire. Sgt. Carter was the flight engineer. Two Captains on board,

Alan Eugene Hendrickson and John Dudley Wiley, were also killed.

………….Before leaving for Vietnam, Sgt. Carter had been living on Perry Street in the Rock

Village section of Middleboro, while he was stationed at Otis AFB. He was a graduate of

Pembroke (Maine) High School Class of 1949. Following graduation he enlisted in the Air Force.

He was a veteran of the Korean War.

…………. His name can be found on panel 24E-line 72 on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. His name

can also be found on a memorial at Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas, dedicated to 38 Air Force

Caribou crewmembers killed in Vietnam.

………….. His name is listed on the Vietnam stone and the large Casualty Memorial for All Wars at

the Middleboro Veterans Memorial Park. His photo and a biographical description appear in a

booklet listing the Middleboro Vietnam War casualties, which was published for Veterans Day

2009. …………………………………………(Written/Posted by Bob Lessard Historian 2014.)

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