April 1, 2025, in Greenville, Texas, Colonel, retired, Mark Tarpley, a Greenville native returned to his home to speak at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum to share his experiences and some history of the Vietnam War. With over 30 people in attendance it was obvious Tarpley had passion for the subject and for the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA).
Northeast Texas AFA Chapter 416 had members in attendance at the event. Terry Thomas, Vice-President of Community Partners, and Vietnam veteran, said this was an awesome presentation that portrayed the historical devastation as well as highlighted the lessons learned.
Tarpley was a Navigator/Sensor Operator and was assigned to the AC-119G/K Stinger, flying gunship in Vietnam and was there when the war ended in January 27, 1973. He reminded us that most of us reflect on the helicopter on building in Saigon as a memory of the 1975 evacuation that took place (photo).
Tarpley remembered that the fight against communism was strong. He told of operations Rolling Thunder in 1968 after 1964 Gulf of Tonkin events. His unit had casualties on January 27, 1973, before the start of the Peace Accords. He recalled an Air & Space Forces Association event held on February 4, 2023, event in Linden, TX, for a fellow member of his unit, SSgt John O’Neal Rucker who is buried in Linden (Newsletter link). And Tarpley recalled his feelings April 30, 1975, when Saigon fell, and war ended.
Over 9,000,000 people served during the war, some in the country of Vietnam, and others served in other locations. Over 3,000,000 served in Southeast Asia. Peak troop strength was 543,482 on April 30, 1969. There were over 58,000 casualties. Ten-percent of the deaths were related to helicopter shoot downs and accidents accounting for 10 percent of the deaths.
There were many struggles for our nation and on the world stage in this conflict. Political will was a challenge and there were many limitations on our warfighters. However, many lessons were learned and applied in future conflicts and wars as well.
A primary lesson was to ensure we honor and respect the service of or military members who we asked, many were drafted, to fight. Numerous airpower concepts were proven and enhanced.
The museum recorded the presentation and eventually it will be posted on the Audie Murphy/Cotton Museum (https://cottonmuseum.com/) site in the future.
