View our 317th Aircraft Heritage Photo    Click here  317th Heritage Photo    

Aircraft Naming Ceremony at Dyess AFB, Feb. 16th 2012

The 317th Airlift Group is celebrating its proud history by naming the flagships of its flying squadrons after WWII battles in which the 317th played a significant role. The 317th received Unit Citations for the missions they flew at Wau-Bulolo Vally, New Guinea in January 1943 and the Philippine Island of Corregidor in February 1945. Their unarmed, unarmored C-47's were flown under enemy fire, dropping troops, ammunition and supplies with great skill and accuracy.
The 39th Airlift Squadron's "Spirit of Corregidor" and the 40th Airlift Squadron's "Spirit of Wau" will be dedicated during a special ceremony at Dyess AFB on February 16th, 2012. This date coincides with the 67th anniversary of the airdrop mission that retook Corregidor in 1945. WWII veterans are invited to attend as honored guests and will be offered a chance to share their experiences with the other attendees.   Those WWII veterans who wish to attend should contact Capt. Sean Ferson. His email address is: sean.ferson@us.af.mil If you are unable to attend and wish to share some of your experiences during WWII while serving with the 317th, he would still like to hear from you. The 317th is also interested in any photos or documents from WWII (either origional or copies) that can be displayed by them to share the heritage of the 317th the Airmen now serving.

2012 Reunion Information

The 317th Veterans Group has been invited by the Commander of Air Base 105 to a reunion to be held in Evreux, France in June 2012.
For details Click here:

Also in the works is a 317th Veterans Group "Jungle Skipper " reunion to be held in Columbus, Georgia. No date is set as yet but we are looking for it to be held in October 2012. This reunion will host our WWII Jungle Skipper veterans, and all 317th Veterans Group members are encouraged to attend an honor these WWII heros. Reunion details will be posted at this link as they become available. Click here.

New Books- Just Published

These three just released books should be of interest to our veterans.

Phil Brinson's "Among Heros: Tales of the Jungle Skippers" Stories of the 317th Jungle Skippers as told by the men themselves that chronicles the actions of both the air crews and the often forgotten men on the ground during the war in the Pacific. This book is available from Lulu Press for $29.95 plus shipping and can be ordered from their web site at www.lulu.com You can click here to go there.  Phil Brison will have copies on hand at our Columbus , Georgia Reunion this October.

Sam McGowan has two great books just published: Both are available from www.Amazon.com or autographed copies can be purchased from Sam's web site:  http://www.sammcgowan.com/author.html

(1) "Trash Haulers: The story of the C-130 Hercules Troop Carrier Tactical Airlift Mission"

(2) "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime: Tactical Airlift in the US Army Air Forces and US Air Force from World War II to Vietnam"

The Jungle Skippers at Corregidor Feb. 16, 1945

Artist: Frank Drain

Size 19.5" x 23.5"

Prints of this painting which was commissioned by Phil Brinson (son of Jungle Skipper Buck Brinson)

are available for $40. plus shipping You can email Phil at philbrinson@yahoo.com

317th Memorial Found in French Forest

New information was recently uncovered regarding this memorial. Click on the report link to see this update.

A memorial honoring the 15 Airmen who lost their lives when an Evreux based C-130A (55-0020) crashed on March 8th, 1962 has been found. French Air Force Major Jean Claude Leroux discovered the memorial located at the crash site in a clearing of a forest near Alencon, France.  To see the memorial and read 317th President Bill Lloyd's report Click Here

French Air Force Airmen tour the Pentagon.

317th Veterans Group president Bill Lloyd and vice president Jim Timmons toured the Pentagon and Air Force Memorial with members of the French Air Force.

Two others in the picture may be familar to some of our members, second on the left is Patrice Le Mao, Col. FAF ret, who is a frequent guest at our reunions and standing behind the podium is Maj. General Pascal Valentin who is a former Commandant of Evreux Air Base, and was an honored guest at our 2003 Ohio reunion.

317th Veterans Group Pres. and V.P. meet Air Force's top officials in Washington DC

317th Veterans Group President, Bill Lloyd and Vice President Jim Timmons recently attended the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington DC. While there they got the opportunity to chat briefly with the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Donley and Air Force Chief Of Staff , General Norton A. Schwartz.  Gen. Schwartz logged many hours on C-130 aircraft. He flew many variants of the Hercules, which included  the C-130E/H, HC-130, AC130H/U, MC130E/H/P, YMC-130.

C-119 and C-130 Color Art Prints

C-119 "Flying Boxcar" and C-130A "Hercules" Color Prints are available directly from the artist 317th Veterans Group member Norman Guyaz.  Norman lives in Winthrop, ME and served under the 317th TCW from 1956-1960. The prints are 11" x 14.5" and are made from his origional watercolor paintings,. The cost is $35.00 per print plus shipping. You may contact the artist for more information at : npguyaz@hotmail.com

Click Here to view the prints.

A 317th Veterans Group Email Directory is available upon request to our membership. Ron Volz has been keeping a list of our 317th veterans email addresses and will email a copy to any 317th VG member who requests it . You may contact him at ron.volz@verizon.net. Please keep him advised of any changes to your email address so he can keep the list up to date.

The Amazing C-130 Tow.  What may be the longest aircraft tow in Air Force history took place in January of 1962 and was performed by the 317th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron based at Evreux Air Base, France. The 600 mile tow from Evreux to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany took four days to complete. C-130B 58-0745 suffered a wing loss at Evreux due to a refueling fire in Oct. 1961. It was towed to Spangdahlem to be used to repair the nose and fuselage of C-130B 58-0734 which had heavy damage to those sections from another accident. The 317th CAMS tow team participants were Capt. Arthur E. Hempen, TSgt. Ralph Slayback, SSgt. Calvin Sweigart, A1C Harry Drew, A1C H. P. Clef, A1C W.T. Lichy, A2C Frances De Paris, A3C Charles McMullen. You can read the base newspaper article and view the photos of this amazing tow, including the historic photo of the C-130 circling the Arch of Triumph in Paris by clicking here.  Many thanks for these photos go to Yvonne C. Drew, widow of Msgt Henry M Drew who was on the tow team.

Some Good Books to Read:

Crossroads of Liberty

Author Robert Stroup's book Crossroads of Liberty a history of Lockbourne AFB is now available. The book is a beautiful coffee table rendition of Lockbourne Air Base history from 1942 until 2007. It includes nice coverage of the 317th. You can order your copy from The National Museum of the Air Force Gift Shop by calling 937-256-6245 The cost of the book is $32. plus shipping. They have the book in stock, but have not listed on their web site as yet.

 Nickel On The Grass  

317th Veteran's Group member Phil Handley wrote a book titled " Nickel On The Grass about his experiences during his 26 year Air Force career. Col. Phil Handley USAF (Ret.) was a C-130 pilot at Evreux (1961-65) and later went on to become a fighter pilot in Vietnam. Three of the books chapters deal with his experiences as a C-130 pilot. To purchase a copy of the book autographed by the author click here.

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     U.S. Air Force in France 1950-1967

Lt. Col. Jerome McAuliffe, USAF Ret.  recently had his book published.  It is a must read for those veterans served at Evreux or any other base in France. The book is filled with information and photos of the air bases in France where the USAF was present. For information on how to get your copy: Click Here
(in PDF format - Click here to download a free copy of Adobe Reader.)

   317VG member Charlie Valentine was able to make copies of some of the many photo's taken by Ed Otting a Navigator with the 40th TCS when they were based at Rhein-Main in the early 1950's. Here are some of them for you to preview, there will be more to come later. 

Click on this link to see them  C-119 Photos