COLUMBUS, Ind. — Fifty-one years after returning home from war, Bill Tyler climbed back into the metal-shelled cockpit of an airplane that shaped the course of his life.
After examining the controls, and finding the space where his seat once was, Tyler gazed towards the horizon of the Columbus Municipal Airport — his eyes welling behind his aviators as he recalled memories of days gone by.
Across Tyler’s faded blue T-shirt, the phrase “Back Home Again” was printed in bright yellow type above an image of two “flying boxcars,” the aircraft in which he stood. Near his heart, the word “brothers” was transcribed — more than appropriate given the moment he was sharing with his fellow Vietnam veterans.
On Sept. 23, seven members of the 71st Special Operations Squadron gathered to see the start of a project decades in the making: the refurbishing of a C-119 for the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum.
The former reservists, and their families, toured the hangar-turned-worksite while sharing stories of the famed aircraft. For some of the men, it was the first time they’d seen one of the planes since returning home from service.
Just over a half-century ago, the reservists worked with full-timers at Bakalar Air Force Base (now Columbus Municipal Airport) to fix and maintain C-119 planes. The 71st SOS were activated in April of 1968 and reported for active duty in 1969. They arrived at Nha Trang Air Force Base in Vietnam on March 2, 1969, and spent their time at Phan Rang Air Base. While overseas, the reservists were tasked with protecting U.S. ground troops with AC-119 gunships.
For more on this story, see Monday’s Republic.
