With donor support, the U. S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation added two new plaques this summer to the Southeast Asia Pavilion unit wall honoring Vietnam-era aircraft and their Air Force Academy crew members: the C-141 Starlifter and B-57 Canberra.

The C-141 was designed to provide long-range, high-capacity transportation for troops, cargo and equipment. Hundreds of Academy graduates served as pilots or other crew members of the plane. Several of those crew members were present for the June 9 dedication and unveiling, sharing stories about their missions and operation of the aircraft.

“There aren’t that many permanent memorials that offer this kind of recognition,” says Col. (Ret.) Craig Northrop ’70, who led the charge to get a plaque for the C-141. “I wanted 
to make sure the full story was told.”

Col. Northrop says the typical mission he flew included delivering spare parts and ammunition to Vietnam from the United States. On the return trip, they would reconfigure the aircraft for air evacuation of injured military personnel.

(See the complete photo album from the B-57 dedication)

Nineteen Academy graduates served as pilots of the B-57 Canberra; two were killed in action. The twin-engine light bomber was the first U.S. jet to drop ordnance in Vietnam. 

“We flew two types of missions. In the daytime, almost all conducted in south Vietnam, we flew in support of ground troops,” says Lt. Col. (Ret.) Don Graham ’65, project leader for the plaque installation. “At night, we would fly up to northern Laos performing interdiction to stop supply trucks going to Ho Chi Minh City.”

At his class’s 50th reunion, Col. Graham realized that the plane he flew was not part of the history at the Southeast Asia Pavilion. He took it upon himself to find out how to add a plaque and honor the graduates who played an important role throughout the war. 

The Class of 1970 and Starlifter veterans funded the creation of the C-141 plaque. B-57 pilots, classmates, family and friends funded the B-57 plaque. The new plaques joined 23 others on the unit wall. 

(Photo: Air Force Academy graduates who served as pilots and crew members of the C-141 gathered to dedicate the C-141 plaque at the Southeast Asia Pavilion. (Photo by Michele Bergeman))