By Billy Walker

Here is a story from our 1971-72 SE Asia adventure that might be of interest. This story didn’t

have an ending until this past week!

HH Red Dawson hired me to fly for Air America in 1967. However, I ended up with the old

Frontier Airlines instead. Then, in 1971 there was an opportunity to take a leave of my senses,

and I ended up in Phnom Penh, Cambodia flying CV-440’s for Tri 9. This was on a year’s leave

of absence from Frontier. Cheryl and I were newly married and she thought it might be an inter-

Mena, Arkansas. The lady who answered didn’t seem to know anything about it, but would give

her husband my name and number.

My flight arrived back in SLC and I told Cheryl of my phone call. We both thought nothing

would materialized and went to bed thinking of the hassles ahead commuting from SLC to Dal-

las/Ft. Worth where I was displaced to. Around 3 AM the phone woke us. It was Jim Zeigler and

Cliff Neville calling from Phnom Penh, Cambodia wondering how soon I could get there. Of

course I asked the terms of the agreement and hung up wondering how Cheryl and I would put

together obtaining two leaves of absence, passports, First Class physical, ATP written, training

and ATP certification along with a Convair 440 type rating, selling the car, storing the furniture,

and saying good bye’s to friends and family. Back then, I was a co-pilot with only an FAA

The next morning, I called our Sr. VP of Op-

erations, Ed O’Neil. Ed was in a meeting, but

called me back a few minutes later. I ex-

plained that I had responded to his posting

and was offered a flying job as a captain in

SE Asia. After a short conversation, he told

me that a leave of absence would be no prob-

lem and that Frontier would give me the ATP

along with typing me in the Convair. Interest-

ingly, the Convair I was flying was the CV-

good thing and that I could get the piston rating next.

There was a quickie weekend ground school in Denver where I took the ATP written. Legendary

United instructor, John Darley, successfully put hundreds thru his school. Then I got a simulator

session and airplane flight check in the CV-580. When the FAA inspector filled out the new cer-

tificate mine was the first one since the FAA changed

the type rating description. Mine read CV-

340A/440A. It was supposed to read CV A340/A440.

The “A” stood for Allison, the engines powering “The

Mountain Master.” I found this out later when the er-

ror was corrected via a subsequent type rating.

tain and chief pilot’s certificates. I was made legal

too, as the DCA in Phnom Penh issued me a Cambo-

dian ATP with all the proper ratings and authoriza-

tions. I was able to pass the flight check as I was fa-

miliar with the engines which are nearly the same as

those on the B-26 I flew. Also, I brought along Cap-

tain Jack Schade’s Frontier CV-340 manual, which I

reviewed on the flight over. Looking back, the most

amazing thing was that all that needed doing was ac-

complished with us reporting in Phnom Penh just 22

(Sihanoukville) to the SW on the Gulf of Siam. Later we had flights to Bangkok and to Siem

Reap when we would take Khmer soldiers into the fighting near the Temples of Angkor Wat.

Early in 1972 things were pretty quiet in Phnom Penh and we were feeling reasonably secure

when a vicious attack by the NVA commandos and Khmer Rouge began around 2 AM on March

nd

, which lasted nearly two hours. There were some 80 Russian 122mm rockets, 40 mm rock-

ets, mortars and other munitions landing around the city. More than 30 landed around the airport.

This first attack killed 75 wounding 112 civilians. One of our Convair’s suffered a couple of

shrapnel punctures that night. This would be the first of many attacks.

Our US Army friends arrived at our villa to evacuate us to the US military compound. The US

I will never forget the trip in the jeep away from our villa in Toulecourt, a suburb of Phnom

ing off all around us. As we rounded a corner, two young men dressed in black pajamas carrying

AK-47’s jumped up from a grass covered ditch and pointed their weapons at us. At this point, I

was getting way behind on my worrying! I was sure these were NVA commandos or Khmer

Rouge. However, it turned out they were members of the Home Guard. Once they, and we, de-

termined who was who, we were allowed to complete our journey to the US compound near the

Cambodian “Pentagon.” We took shelter with the Military Delivery Team the rest of the night.

This was the first of many rocket attacks. A day or so later we determined where a foul smell

was coming from. On the gate posts along our street, there were several heads which were be-

coming ripe and attracting flies. These had belonged to some of the NVA commando’s who at-

tacked the nearby radio station killing several including the Khmer colonel, his French wife, their

hot footed it out to Pochentong, prior to our leaving on a mission, telling me we needed to re-

plan our route. This is when we learned about Operation Arc Light when the B-52’s began carpet

bombing again. Another time was after I arrived at Pochentong after dropping off some troops at

Siem Reap. When we took off we flew low over Tonle Sap a large inland body of water just SW

of the Siem Reap airfield. We left the flaps down some to produce some extra wake and blew

over a couple of sampans with several fishermen for fun. Mark told me it would probably not be

a good idea to try that again as this was how the Khmer Rouge and NVA commandos fed them-

selves. Along with their fishing nets, they carried AK-47’s and would likely be on the lookout

for us next time. There were rumors that Tonle Sap was the residence of some crocodiles. I pre-

This brings me to the point of my sending you this story. One day I walked over to the side of the

taxiway to get rid of my morning coffee. As I mentioned earlier, the Russian’s had claimed they

were not providing arms. Right there, sticking out of the sand was a spent Russian 122 rocket. I

could plainly see the “CCCP” on the side along with other identification stenciling. Apparently,

when it hit the sand, it did not blow up and ended up with, what once was, the pointy end stick-

ing up and the rocket motor end down in the sand. I hesitated touching the thing not knowing

whether or not it was still dangerous. So, I had one of the Army folks who knew munitions, Sgt.

Percy Burns, look at the rocket. After Percy said it was safe to do so, we pulled it out of the sand

and had our photo taken with it. I presented it to the Air Attaché, Col. Berent. He gave it to Mar-

Percy Burns with spent Russian 122 MM

Rocket

my Nieuport 17 squadron “Lafayette Es-

cadrille d’ Arizona.”

https://captainbillywalker.com/formation-

flying/formation-flying-lafayette-

escadrille-d-arizona/ We had been invited

Roger Parrish. Roger is the only two-time leader of the USAF Thunderbirds and, later, was the

Director of Training at America West Airlines after his Air Force career and a stint with Learjet.

Our squadron does volunteer missing man fly -overs for Veterans Day, Memorial Day and spe-

cial events to honor those who have made the supreme sacrifice for our country.

Roger and I noticed three other fellow’s talking near by. One, with his back to me, had a “F - - -

and went over to inquire where this fellow got his. As I got close, I recognized the voice. It was

Mark Berent. He hadn’t changed much over the years, but I had. I was 20 pounds heavier, what

little hair left is grey, and I now sport a grey beard. So, I stuck my hand out and said “I haven’t

shaken hands with you since Phnom Penh in 1972!” Berent replied “…who the heck are you?” It

didn’t take him long to put things together and we were fast renewing an old friendship. Berent

I see Mark on occasion as he lives near by. When I flew my farewell flight as an airline captain,