Benjamin H. Conklin

Preferred Name: Ben
Nickname/Call Sign: Benji
Date of Birth: October 5, 1944
Highest Military Grade Held: 0-5 – Lieutenant Colonel
Hometown: Havertown, PA
Biography

“In February 1969 I  scrambled off the alert pad at Bien Hoa. My aircraft took an AK-47 round through the center fuel tank. The tank pressure was pumping fuel out the hole and I was losing fuel fast enough to watch the gauge rapidly decreasing. I landed against traffic at Ton Son Nhut, forcing a JAL 727 to go around and pass only feet above my canopy. The engine flamed out due to empty fuel tanks as I veered off the runway.

Pilot Information

Units Assigned

  • Commissioned through ROTC
  • UPT Class 68 A, Moody AFB, GA
  • F-100 Training, Cannon AFB, NM
  • 6/1968-5/1969 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron (Pair ‘O Dice), Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam (F-100)
  • 6/1969-1/1972 307th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Torrejon, Spain (F-100, F-4)
  • 1973 Separated from USAF
  • 1975-1991 NYANG, Activated for Panama, Desert Shield/Desert Storm (O-2, C-5)

Awards & Decorations

Distinguished Flying Cross

Air Medal (12)

Flight Info

F-100
F-4

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

  • War College