9 Jan 2005 Captain John Bartley was a native of Findlay, Ohio. He received a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in 1959 (the photo above is from the 1959 yearbook) and entered the Air Force upon graduation. He completed pilot training and was assigned to Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. When he went to Vietnam in 1963, his wife remained in San Angelo. He was killed when his plane crashed under hostile conditions on February 3, 1963. He is remembered by the Tom Green Vietnam Memorial in San Angelo, Texas and by the Permian Basin Vietnam Memorial in Midland, Texas. May his sacrifice never be forgotten.

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall Detachment 2A of the 1st Air Commando Group was located at Bien Hoa Air Base and flew several different types of aircraft - B-26s, T-28s, and C-47s - in support of the South Vietnamese. On 03 Feb 1963, B-26 tail number 44-35692 was shot down while conducting a strafing run against a Viet Cong unit in the Mekong Delta. All three crewmen were killed in the crash: Capt John P. Bartley, Findlay, OH, pilot Capt John F. Shaughnessy, Houston, TX, copilot RVAF observer, name and rank unknown Det 2A, 1st ACG, was redesignated on 08 July 1963 as the 1st Air Commando Squadron and yet again on 01 Aug 1968 as the 1st Special Operations Squadron. It was withdrawn from Vietnam on 15 Dec 1972 but maintained an operational detachment at Nakon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand, until 28 Jan 1973.

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