A Man is Not Dead Until He is Forgotten
"Father's Day Past"
The Story of Melvin C. Thompson

By Ray Davidson, syndicated columnist. He can be reached at  ray.davidson@usmc.mil.

Melvin Thompson, a native son of Colquitt, Georgia was lost at sea on February 6, 1968, in the Gulf of Siam (Thailand). His wife and four children were in Jacksonville, FL. In Colquitt were his mother, who never recovered from his loss, seven brothers and two sisters. Thompson and eleven of his fellow crewmembers were casualties of Vietnam and Operation Market Time.

The primary objective of the Operation Market Time was to prevent the enemy from strengthening his forces in South Vietnam through seaborne infiltration of supplies and munitions. The U.S.-South Vietnamese effort was established on 11 March 1965. North Vietnamese Naval Transportation Group 125 used steel-hulled, 100-ton trawlers and seagoing junks, to infiltrate the South. The Viet Cong operated smaller junks, sampans, and other craft within South Vietnamese coastal waters, and limiting this movement also became a responsibility of the Market Time forces.

Shortly after 0900 hours on Monday, 5 February 1968, Thompson with "Combat Aircrew (CAC) 8," departed U-Tapao Airbase, Thailand for a 24-hour Market Time shipping surveillance mission over the Gulf of Thailand along the coast of extreme southern and western South Vietnam.

Soon after midnight, the radio operator reported the first of a small number of surface contacts. The third and last radio contact was transmitted at 0300 hours on 6 February, at which time the radio operator stated they had another surface contact somewhat farther east. The crew failed to make its scheduled position report at 0400 hours.

Then, right after daybreak, the aircraft was declared overdue. At the same time, an emergency communication alert was issued and an extensive search and recovery (SAR) operation using three patrol squadrons from the Seventh Air Force SAR Command based at Tan Son Nhut Airbase along with multiple surface vessels was initiated. Late in the afternoon the aircraft's wreckage was located in the Gulf of Thailand in 100-foot deep water approximately 17 miles due west of the coastline at a point near the general area where the last radio transmission was made.

The on-scene SAR commander reported finding a partially inflated raft (more than likely ejected upon impact), two bodies, wreckage, including wheels in the water... The aircraft debris indicated severe impact and survivor probability was extremely remote... Though intensive efforts were expended, no further remains of the aircrew were recovered. The two bodies were recovered and transported to the US military mortuary at Tan Son Nhut where they were subsequently identified as Lt. Cmdr. Meglio and ADJ2 Billy W. McGhee. The initial search effort was terminated at sundown on 7 February 1968. No evidence was ever found to indicate whether enemy action or mechanical failure caused the crash.

What happened to cause the plane to crash? An incident two months later, described by the pilot of CAC-12 (Lt A. Scott Wilson), may give a clue. CAC-1 was operating in the same area as Thompson’s aircraft and, it too, was shot down.

"Soon after starting their patrol, CAC-1 went into the area near the Cambodian coast. There they located a suspicious target and proceeded to investigate. It was a steel gray vessel that appeared to be some kind of landing craft. (As it turned out, it was a W.W. II vintage LCM, built in the US, given to the French, and acquired by Cambodia when France pulled out of Indochina in 1954.)"

"While making a low pass, the unarmed P-3 was fired on by the LCM with its .50 caliber antiaircraft gun. Several rounds ripped into the outer portion of their starboard wing, knocking out #4 engine and starting a fire. They pulled the emergency handle and succeeded in feathering the prop, but could not extinguish the flames. It was unclear whether the fire originated from the engine nacelle or from within the wing itself."

"They were too low to bail out."

"So CAC-1 flew outbound from the coast, while preparing for a forced landing. Flames were still visible, but the fire didn't appear to be extending. Then, realizing they were headed directly for Phu Quoc, with its small airfield less than 20 miles away, Stu apparently thought they could make it there."

"Suddenly,... abruptly,... the wing tore off between #3 and #4 engine, and the aircraft tumbled uncontrolled as it plunged into the sea."

As in the case of CAC-8, there were no survivors of CAC-1.

The hard reality is there is virtually no chance that any of the crew of CAC-8 survived or that their remains can ever be recovered (with the exception of Megilo and McGhee).

God's roll call that day was:

Donald Frederick Burnett, Senior Chief Petty Officer, Born July 6 1935, Montgomery AL

Armando Chapa, Jr., Petty Officer 3rd Class, Born March 31, 1948, San Jose, CA

William Farrell Farris, Petty Officer 3rd Class, Born December 15, 1942, West Salem, IL

Donald Louis Gallagher, Chief Petty Officer, Born March 2, 1938, Sheboygan WI

Ray Arthur Huss, Lieutenant junior grade, Born July 29, 1943, Eau Claire WI

Thomas Paul Jones, Lieutenant, Born January 2, 1943, Buffalo NY

Homer Eugene McKay, Petty Officer 2nd Class, Born October 18, 1938, Shallowater TX

James Clifford Newman, Petty Officer 1st Class, Born September 24, 1932, Knoxville TN

Lyn Michael Travis, Lieutenant, Born May 25, 1941, Newport AR

Robert Frank Meglio, Lt. Commander, Born November 13, 1933, Flushing, NY

Billy W McGhee, Petty Officer 1st Class, Born December 16, 1936, Redwood, TN

Melvin Carl Thompson, Petty Officer 1st Class, Born May 24, 1935, Colquitt GA

God's roll call for Southeast Asia holds 58,147 names. Their average age was 19 (compared to 26 during WWII). A generation of young men and women whose deaths broke many hearts and their lives mattered passionately to the people whose lives they touched. As for Thompson's children, on Fathers Day they look back and dream, dream that maybe, maybe he really did come home to be with them, for "he would have been the best daddy in the whole world."

Petty Officer 1st Class Melvin C. Thompson and his crewmates names are in the heart of God and on panel 37E 072 of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

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lorrie@scally.com

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