NO 31 KIA 03-29-72 Lt Col RICHARD CASTILLO US AIR FORCE 1957 GRADUATE INDUCTED 03-30-26

 

WALL OF HONOR MEMBER

Lt Col Richard Castillo

November 21, 1938 to March 29, 1972

AI ASSISTED PICTURE OF RICHARD ON THE LEFT AND ACTUAL SENIOR PICTURE OF RICHARD IN THE 1975 YEARBOOK ON THE RIGHT 

       

TRIBUTE TO LT COL R. CASTILLO

RICHARD, WEARING NO. 50 JESERY WAS A MEMBER OF THE ROY MILLER JR. VARSITY FOOTBALL TEAM IN 1956

RICHARD WAS AMEMBER OF THE 1957 VARSITY ROY MILLER TRACK TEAM

RICHARD'S FINAL MISSION

On the night of March 29, 1972, an AC-130A Hercules "Spectre" gunship (#55-0044, nicknamed "Prometheus") departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a night reconnaissance mission over supplyroutes used by North Vietnamese forces in Laos. The crew of the aircraft consisted of pilots MAJ Irving B. Ramsower II and 1LT Charles J. Wanzel III, the navigator, MAJ Henry P. Brauner, and crew members MAJ Howard D. Stephenson, CAPT Curtis D. Miller, CAPT Barclay B. Young, CAPT Richard Castillo, CAPT Richard C. Halpin, SSGT Merlyn L. Paulson, SSGT Edwin J. Pearce, SSGT Edward D. Smith Jr., SSGT James K. Caniford; and Airmen First Class (A1C) William A. Todd and Robert E. Simmons. The aircraft was struck by enemy surface-to-air missiles. The gunship was hit, engulfed in flames, and lost with all aboard.

Years later, recovery efforts confirmed the loss, and Captain Castillo was finally laid to rest with honor at Arlington National Cemetery alongside fellow crew members.

The November 1986 edition of National Geographic magazine reported on the previous February’s ten-day recovery effort of a four-engined U.S. Air Force AC-130 (call sign Spectre 13) that took place 80 miles east of the city of Savannakhet, Laos.

In the above image, United States Army team members seek what can be found of the 14-man crew of a U.S. Air Force AC-130, brought down by a surface-to-air missile in Laos on March 29, 1972 (The November 1986 edition of National Geographic magazine reported on the previous February’s ten-day recovery effort). Recovery efforts confirmed the loss, and Captain Castillo was finally laid to rest with Full Military Honors at Arlington National Cemetery alongside fellow crew members.

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