Benjamin H. Conklin

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

“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.”