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James Kulacz, AT1
to remember
Kulacz, Donald Edward, CPO.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Chicopee Falls, MA
Last Address Chicopee Falls, MA
Casualty Date Apr 01, 1968
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Sea
Location Phu Quoc Island (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Saint Stanislaus Basilica - Chicopee, Massachusetts
BUNO 153445 (VP-26) lost at sea off Phu Quoc Island due to enemy fire, South Vietnam Apr 1, 1968. The Tridents averaged 1500 hours per month flying TEAM YANKEE and MARKET TIME combat patrols. MARKET TIME patrols consisted of seeking out sea borne infiltrators from North Vietnam trying to deliver supplies to the Viet Cong along the southern coastline. This required aircrews to fly below 1000 feet, while using radar and their 1,000,000-candlepower searchlight to find and illuminate suspect targets. On 1 April 1968, in the same vicinity that CAC 8 was lost, a second P-3B (BuNo 153445) flown by CAC 1 came under fire by a .50 caliber anti-aircraft gun. The P-3B was hit in the starboard wing, knocking out the #4 engine and starting a fire. All attempts to extinguish the flames were unsuccessful. Flying too low to bail out, the crew had to choose between ditching in hostile waters or attempting to make an emergency landing at Phu Quoc airfield less than 20 miles away. Within sight of the runway, and their wing still aflame, CAC 1 prepared to land their stricken aircraft. As the plane banked left onto its final approach, the starboard wing tore off between #3 and #4 engine, and the P-3B tumbled into the sea with no survivors.
The twelve men aboard VP-26's P-3B BuNo 153445 when it went down were
LTJG Stuart M. McLellan, Cleveland, OH, pilot
LTJG Frank E. Hand, Fort Worth, TX, copilot
LTJG Brian J. Mathison, Park Ridge, IL, copilot
LTJG Michael J. Purcell, Shavertown, PA, navigator
AXC Donald E. Kulacz, Chicopee Falls, MA, aircrewman
AT1 Kenneth L. Crist, Cincinnati, OH, aircrewman
AE1 Donald F. Wood, Coloma, MI, aircrewman
AX1 Alvin G. Yoxsimer, Dola, OH, aircrewman
AME2 Donald W. Burnside, Hawley, MN, aircrewman
AO2 William S. Cutting, Lebanon, NH, aircrewman
ADJ2 Edward O. Wynder, Bridgeton, NJ, aircrewman
AX3 Delmar L. Lawrence, Thompson Falls, MT, aircrewman
Although initially classed as "Missing", the twelve men were reclassified as "Missing to Dead - Hostile" in DoD Press Release Number 333-68 issued on 12 April 1968.
Operation Market Time
From Month/Year
January / 1965
To Month/Year
April / 1973
Description Operation Market Time was the United States Navy’s effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was one of four Navy duties begun after the Tonkin Gulf Incident, along with Operation Sea Dragon, Operation Sealords and naval gunfire support.
Operation
Seaplane tenders USS Currituck (AV-7), USS Pine Island (AV-12), and USS Salisbury Sound (AV-13) served as flagships for Market Time.
A VP-40 SP-5B Marlin on patrol in 1965.
An SP-2H Neptune of VP-1 flying over Vietnamese junks.
When a trawler was intercepted landing arms and ammunition at Vung Ro Bay in northern Khánh Hòa Province on 16 February 1965 it provided the first tangible evidence of the North Vietnamese supply operation. This became known as the Vung Ro Bay Incident.
North Vietnamese mine laying ships attempted to close the entrance to the bay but were turned back by U.S. Marine helicopters modified with anti-ship missiles launching daring close range attacks on the vessels, braving intense machine gun fire from North Vietnamese commandos on the decks of the ships.
P5M seaplane Patrol Squadrons, Navy destroyers, ocean minesweepers, PCFs (Swift boats) and United States Coast Guard cutters performed the operation. Also playing a key role in the interdictions were the Navy’s patrol gunboats (PGs). The PG was uniquely suited for the job because of its ability to go from standard diesel propulsion to gas turbine (jet engine) propulsion in a matter of a few minutes. The lightweight aluminum and fiberglass ships were not only fast but highly maneuverable because of their variable pitch propellers. Most of the ships operated in the coastal waters from the Cambodian border around the south tip of Vietnam up north to Dà Nẵng. Supply ships from the Service Force, such as oilers, would bring mail, movies, and fuel.
Of the many vessels involved in Operation Market Time, one of the more notable was the USCGC Point Welcome (WPB-82329) which, on 11 August 1966, was brought under fire by a number of United States Air Force aircraft. This incident of a "blue-on-blue" engagement killed two members of the cutter’s crew (one of whom was the commanding officer) and wounded nearly everyone on board.
Operation Market Time was established by the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff after the 1965 Vung Ro incident to blockade the vast South Vietnam coastline against North Vietnamese gun-running trawlers. The trawlers, usually 100-foot-long Chinese-built steel-hulled coastal freighters, could carry several tons of arms and ammunition in their hulls. Not flying a national ensign that would identify them, the ships would maneuver “innocently” out in the South China Sea, waiting for the cover of darkness to make high-speed runs to the South Vietnam coastline. If successful, the ships would off load their cargoes to waiting Viet Cong or North Vietnamese forces.
To stop these potential infiltrations, Market Time was set up as a coordinated effort of long range patrol aircraft for broad reconnaissance and tracking. These aircraft, initially SP-5 seaplanes, later P-2 and SP-2 Neptunes and P-3 Orions, were armed with Bullpup air-to-surface missiles and were therefore capable of engaging these craft directly. Under normal conditions, however U.S. and allied surface forces intercepted suspect ships that crossed inside South Vietnam’s 12-mile coastal boundary. On the aviation side, some of the patrol squadrons that were involved and flying from South Vietnam, Thailand, or Philippine bases were: VP-1, VP-2, VP-4, VP-6, VP-8, VP-16, VP-17, VP-22, VP-26, VP-28, VP-40, VP-42, VP-45, VP-46, VP-47,VP-48, VP-49 and VP-50.
A significant action of Market Time occurred on 1 March 1968, when the North Vietnamese attempted a coordinated infiltration of four gun-running trawlers. Two of the four trawlers were destroyed by allied ships in gun battles, one trawler crew detonated charges on board their vessel to avoid capture, and the fourth trawler turned tail and retreated at high speed into the South China Sea. LT Norm Cook, the patrol plane commander of a VP-17 P-2H Neptune patrol aircraft operating from Cam Ranh Bay, was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for discovering and following two of the four trawlers in the action.
Market Time, which operated day and night, fair weather and foul, for eight and a half years, succeeded in denying the North Vietnamese a means of delivering tons of war materials into South Vietnam by sea.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1965
To Month/Year
December / 1970
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember I removed an entry here from infoseek.com which was nothing more than spam from a Japanese porn site. How repugnant. - James.
