Ban Me Thuot Depression

In terms of airports the one we flew into at Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam in 1972 was one of the worst. The entire place was falling apart with crumbling buildings and semi-paved surfaces … it appeared to be mostly abandoned with few signs of life … no idea why we had to land there. It was also a dismal, overcast day adding to the scene of absolute depression. Located in the Central Highlands it was a place of many intense battles throughout the war … spent large caliber brass casings littered the ground in several places. The tail of a Vietnamese C-7 Caribou frames the photo in which our navigator Joe can be seen walking about the rubble. Although too small to read in the left side of the picture, the word PEACE! was painted on the white fence in red.