Seen in the photo are Madeline Tapp accompanied by her daughter and son-in-law J.T. Wyble, J.T. himself is a Vietnam War Veteran. We thank him for his service to our country..
Madeline, born in 1925, is a pure joy to get to meet. Hers is an interesting story. She was born on the British Channel Island of Guernsey and was only 14 years old at the time German troops commenced to occupy the Channel Islands which Britain had abandoned. The channel islands considered of no strategic value and the cost to defend them outweighed any benefit at the time, at least in the minds of the British Government.
Having a specific interest in the German occupation of the Channel Islands, she had my full attention the moment she brought the occupation and her place of birth up. I knew then that I would want to at some point in the future, arrange for an in depth interview of this remarkable lady and perhaps even arrange for a video interview with Mid America Flight Museum's videographer Erik Johnston to document her story.
She expressed an interest in getting one of the Sky King tee shirts, she shared a bit more about her story, which profoundly moved me and further spurned my interest in learning more from her.
As I escorted her up into the museum's DC-3/C47, she told me that her husband had been a pilot of an AC47 gunship many refer too as "Puff the Magic Dragon." She told me he went down in Laos (where U.S. Troops were not supposed to be) in 1966 and was missing in action for 33 years before his remains were returned home.
After things slowed down and the museum was closed, I took a bit to find out more about her husband. Capt. Marshall Landis Tapp and his story.
I must credit POWNetwork.com for the following information. Capt. Marshal Landis Tapp was the 39 year old co-pilot of the AC47 gunship dubbed "Spooky 10" in May of 1966. The 10 man crew included two South Vietnamese servicemen. They had departed from Ubon Air Base in Thailand and were on an armed reconnaissance mission to be conducted over Laos.
It is unclear how their aircraft went down but their last known location was over the Savannahet Province. Their flight over the Laotian jungles were no doubt as taboo as was Lima Site 85, which provided forward air control in a place where U.S. Military forces were not supposed to be publicly at least.
This undisclosed and unacknowledged military activity on the part of the United States forces no doubt stymied any attempts to return home any MIAS/KIAS from Laos after hostilities had ended.
Then in the late 1990s, several crash sights were investigated and the remains of 11 soldiers were located. They were were returned to the United States in December of 1999. Among these were the remains of Capt. Tapp and his crew.
So now you know part of the background behind the emotion in this photograph and one of the reasons Mrs. Tapp wanted one of our Sky King Shirts.
We owe so much to Madeline's husband and those like him. His family has given more than their fair share but we are grateful for his service. Wayne Minor, Museum Volunteer.
You can learn more about the crew of Spooky 10 at the link below.
http://www.pownetwork.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment