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"There I was..." the 11 Op. I seem to remember Mel Hagan was the MB on that flight, could be wrong. Mike Dayberry was one of the MT Techs, and Clem Cumbee was the 14 Op.
If I recall correctly, there was a fifth person on the flight deck, and that was Col Bud Morss, the 82d SRS Commander, in the jump seat.
We were refueling in rough weather, and it was indeed 135. As you guys know there was a tiny porthole on the flight deck ceiling (about 1-2" dia.) through which the 2d Nav would watch the boom engage. We cozied up behind the tank, and "Thump!" the boomer hit the trigger and failed to engage. Major John Locke backed the airplane off and we came up again, and "Thump!" Still no engagement. As the 11 Op, when the boomer pulled the trigger, you could literally feel the contact in the floor boards. On the third try, once again, and it probably seemed louder than it was, "THUMP!"
At that point, and literally simultaneously, the smell of JP-4 filled the air, the Nav started yelling "Breakaway! Breakaway! Breakaway!" and Major Locke said the words that increased our pucker factor so much we could have farted the piccolo part in "Stars and Stripes Forever," when he said "Crew, we're going down."
Of course, he meant "descending" but we started tightening everything in sight. I think I still have marks from the parachute straps down below!
Fumes were inescapable, and as I recall, the Major, simultaneously with the above, put the aircraft in one of those body pressing 10 mile turns to the south, without telling Red Crown what was going on. They were really excited down below.
Damage report on the flight deck was like this, as I recall, Col Morss and the Nav shared about 25 gal of JP-4 all over them. I don't recall (but wasn't in the hall where Sakana was to see) JP-4 running down the outside aisle, but I do recall that in reaction to getting pee'd on by the biggest dog in his life, the Nav pushed the headliner up (you had to release it to see the reticle I described earlier, and pulled down it was a spout pointing right at you), and the rest of the JP-4 until the boomer reeled her in, ran between the headliner and the fuselage, so it's possible some might have run out on the deck. I don't recall anyone having burns, but wouldn't be surprised, because while Nomex (and I think they were coming out then--I stuck with K2B's) didn't let anything in, it didn't let anything out, either, and the kerosene in JP-4 could give you a nasty skin burn akin to a very bad sunburn.
Now, here's a Dash One (TO) test. Where are the connections in the wiring harness controlled by the circuit breakers on the flight deck? BETWEEN the headliner and the fuselage.....fun, fun, fun.
As I recall, Neil Cooper may well have been AMS, and he took control right away, had us NOT change anything (i.e. no switches on or off), making sure all smoking materials were extinguished, no ovens in use, and maintained order in the back end. I recall Mr. Cumbee opining that he really could use a cigarette in the stress of all that. I don't remember what Neil's response was, other than it was colorful. In fact, I think when I wrote my story earlier, I recollected it was Charlie Carr who had been AMS or maybe on checkout.
The most likely candidate for date in my Form 5 looks like it might have been 6/19/68, when I logged 11.9 and 2.3 on separate sorties for 14.2. Nine to refueling start and 2.5 or so to get to Clark sounds about right, and 2.3 Clark to Kadena seems to match recollections from several phoon evacs.
We did recover to Clark (the rest of the story below) and despite the back end crew's desire to RON (who wanted to get back on a fume-laden potential fireball?), we were directed by the SAC command post to RTB (also note that having already logged 11.9 we were beyond the front end's 10-hour crew duty day--ah, the exigencies of war!).
Additional excitement was provided as I recall by lost radios (intermittent) and radar, and the fact that when we hit Clark (remember it sat in a bowl), they were beset by hallacious electrical storms and actually refused us permission to land on their sumptuous 10,380 foot runway! (Remember, Kadena was Twelve-Five)
I remember a conversation on the flight deck (there was no TV to watch so I was copying the pilots) going something like this:
A/C "OK, I've got Manila" Co "A/C, if that's, Manila, what's THIS over here?"
Oh boy, oh joy! Not only were we bingo fuel, beset by electronic problems and electrical storms, but the front end crew wants to argue about major landmarks on the way in!
In any case, I remember the A/C telling the Nav, who he had working the radios at one point, to tell Clark Tower as it insisted that the airport was closed, that we were "either going to put this bird down on their runway, or, he would put it in the drink, and they could come pick us up!" GREAT morale booster! (Let's see...tighten straps all over, and how many bells is it? and what's my crash position?)
Finally, to shorten the story a bit, they find the runway just as the storms clear, nail it on the tire marks, and then both pilots stood on the brakes and reverse thrusted for all they were worth. I remember hearing the IGLOO water cooler coming off the shelf that faced the aisleway and literally bouncing down the aisle toward the nose, bathing all those in the sling seats with icewater (could that have been the liquid in the aisle, Sakana?) and then hearing one of the pilots saying the words, "4 thousand, 3 thousand, 2 thousand, 1 thousand," then rumble rumble stop. S-i-l-e-n-c-e
Not a fire engine in sight, as I recall, and they taxi (or tow don't remember) us to the front of base ops, where we deplane via the forward crew hatch on a virtually empty hardstand.
Now I don't recall a piece of boom sticking out the top of the bird, but there could have been one. I for one, had a lot of trouble looking up, because the ground looked so DAMN good to me!
I do remember Coop saying that the front end told him that when we rolled to a stop, there were 1,500 pounds of JP-4 in her tanks, and that that much fuel would not have been enough to go around on a missed approach!
We were ordered by the SAC command post to remount and fly back to Kadena which we did after refuelling (do I remember the refuelling truck burning out a pump in the process?) so the smelly headliner was stuffed in the tailcone, and off we went.
So, we 30 or so were all lucky to be alive that day. There were several, as I recall, who threatened to quit flying as a result. Don't recall if any did. There was a war going on, and we all had a larger purpose for being there.
That's how this old 59-year young brain (as of yesterday) remembers the mission.