Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
Lord,
When we say our creed each week, we promise ourselves “to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future”. But, by forgetting our mistakes, we are risking repeating them. Instead, Lord, help us to let go of the guilt and regret we carry because of our mistakes. For in remembering our mistakes, we are presented with the opportunity to learn and grow, enabling us to achieve greatness in our futures.
Amen.
Volunteer Signups Available Online with the Virtual Clipboard
Did you know that you can now signup to volunteer or to participate in social events using a simple online registration form right from your phone or PC? The Member Calendar has a complete list of upcoming volunteer opportunities and social events.
Announcements
- Mike Bevis announced that the Tom Frazier Tee Off for Youth Golf Classic went well yesterday. The net profit to CNO will be near $50,000.
- Tom Novak announced that the next flag deliveries will be on Wednesday, August 31 and the flags will be on display for seven days. There have been lots of growth this year and they need more volunteers to deliver and pick up flags. Please help if you can.
- Bob Glavin announced that TOP Soccer starts Sunday, August 21. He is looking for 1-2 more assistant coaches, no soccer experience needed. Please contact Bob Glavin if you can help. You may also sign-up online to help using the Member Calendar.
- Jesse Gaither announced that the next CNO 2.0 meeting will be August 18, 2022, and will be held at the Chop House with Lisa Barhorst of Drone Express as the speaker.
- Debe Dockins announced that the Tuesday lunch meeting on 8/23/2022 will be a picnic at Yankee Park in the Margaret Barclay Shelter. It will be catered by Lee’s Famous Recipe. They will also be serving Witt’s frozen custard! Please sign up online so that a good count can be obtained using the Member Calendar.
- Debe Dockins announced that the annual CNO Officer Installation dinner will be at the Presidential on September 27, 2022. No lunch meeting that day at Yankee Trace.
Memorial Educational Assistance Awards
Gary Smiga introduced two more recipients of the 2022 Memorial Educational Assistance Awards. Spencer Mills and Aidan Zink were not able to be at the meeting on 7/19/2022. You can read details of all 5 recipients and the three renewals using this link.
Operation Babylift, Ray Snedegar
Brent Richburg introduced CMSgt (Ret) Ray Snedegar. Snedegar was born and raised in Grange City, Kentucky and enlisted in the United States Air Force on August 7, 1958. He came today to tell the story of the ordeal he experienced when he oversaw the first flight of Operation Babylift and its crash where miraculously there were numerous survivors. He has kept in close contact with many of the adults who were infants on the day of the crash.
Read Snedegar’s detailed biography at the end of this article.
WARNING TO THE READERS OF THIS ARTICLE!!!
This article contains graphic descriptions of horrific events that occurred during a plane crash where lives were lost including infants and young children.
You can view photos from before and after the crash and photos of some survivors as adults using this link.
About Operation Babylift
Operation Babylift was the name given to the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other western countries (including Australia, France, West Germany, and Canada) at the end of the Vietnam War (see also the Fall of Saigon), on April 3–26, 1975. By the final American flight out of South Vietnam, over 3,300 infants and children had been evacuated, although the actual number has been variously reported. Along with Operation New Life, over 110,000 refugees were evacuated from South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. Thousands of children were airlifted from Vietnam and adopted by families around the world.
About Snedegar’s Operation Babylift Flight
Ray Snedegar was in the Philippines when he was briefed on the mission arranged by then President Ford.
These infants and kids were known as Amerasians because they had American fathers and Vietnamese mothers. It was well known that all these Amerasian children were going to be killed so President Ford started the operation to save these children.
While preparing for the flight, buses and vans were swarming the area delivering these kids.
Snedegar’s mission was the first in Operation Babylift, so he was very involved in decisions about how many people (mainly infants and a few adults) to take and how to place them in a C-5A Galaxy, the largest cargo plane in the world at that time. Initially, they thought about 1200 passengers could fit. Luckily It ended up being just 310 because of the crash. They put 145 babies in 75 seats. Any adult or child 5 and up was put into the cargo area. Unfortunately, all passengers in the cargo compartment died in the crash. There were a few adults in the troop compartment to help maintain their very young passengers. All of the adults in the troop compartment had to stand up for the flight. The exact count is hard to know as there was no manifest and it was complete chaos in Saigon at the time. Plus, during the loading process, numerous people went in and out of the plane.
The cargo hatch was not closed properly before takeoff because a bell crank was not properly installed. During the flight, the hatch opened and rapid decompression caused people and babies to be sucked out of the plane.
Normal controls for the plane were lost. Snedegar said all the cables around the hatch looked like spaghetti and red hydraulic fluid was dripping everywhere.
The only methods left to control the plane were to use airspeed and the ailerons. The pilots varied the thrust of the engines to keep it in the air. After falling 14000 feet the pilots got the plane leveled at 9000. The rest of the flight before the crash, the plane would climb until it stalled and them it would fall again. It was working for a while, but when they put the landing gear down, the pilots completely lost control and it crashed.
The plane was going 320 MPH when the plane hit a rice paddy and they bounced over the Saigon River, which is good, or they would have drowned. After the bounce the plane started breaking apart. When the plane stopped, they were upside down. In a daze and disoriented, Snedegar took off his seatbelt, fell several feet, and got his second concussion during the ordeal.
Babies were crying and bodies and parts of bodies were everywhere. Babies were handed through a window to get them out of the plane. Of 145 babies in the troop compartment, 144 survived. The crash killed everyone in the cargo compartment.
The survivors were rescued by Air America, who was leaving Vietnam.
About Some Survivors
Snedegar is still friends with several of the survivors and remains close with 10-12 of them. They were adopted by American families, many of which were celebrities. Of these survivors, 99% grew up to be highly successful adults.
These kids have no family history which can be a struggle medically. They also don’t know the date they were born or their original names.
Thank You
Thank you, Ray Snedegar, for sharing your experience with Operation Babylift.
Detailed Bio of CMSgt (Ret) Ray Snedegar
Ray Snedegar was born and raised in Grange City, Kentucky and enlisted in the United States Air Force on August 7, 1958. After basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas he attended a six (6) month Radio Intercept Operator school at Keesler AFB, Mississippi. His first assignment was working with the National Security Agency in the 6989th radio Squadron Mobile at Misawa Air Base, Japan. He returned to the states to Schilling AFB, KS where he retrained as an Aircraft Dispatcher in 1961. In 1963 A1C Snedegar was selected to cross train to the Aircraft Loadmaster career field and was assigned to the Air Commandos at Hurlburt Field, FL where he flew C/AC/EC-47 aircraft in the 319th Troop Carrier Squadron. SSgt Snedegarransferred to England AFB, LA with the 4410th Combat Crew Training Squadron where he continued to fly the same aircraft training students enroute to Vietnam. During this period he also became qualified on the C-119 and was part of the design team developing the AC-119 at Fairchild-Hiller Company in St Augustine, Fl.
Between 1963 and 1966, Ray served more than 10 months TDY in Vietnam flying combat and combat support missions.
In August, 1968 TSgt Snedegar left England AFB for his second overseas assignment and arrived at the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Ching Chuan Kang (CCK) Air Base, Taiwan. As NCOIC of the Loadmaster section, Ray led his loadmaster force flying C-130E “Hercules” aircraft in the Vietnam
theater for the next 15 months.
In December, 1969 Ray was assigned to Travis AFB, CA where he retrained on the C-141 Starlifter and was assigned to the 44th Military Airlift Squadron. Then in February, 1972 MSgt Snedegar was selected as initial cadre for the 22nd Military Airlift Squadron and retrained to fly the gigantic C-5A Galaxy.
He moved into 22nd MAS Standardization and Evaluation before moving up to 60th Military Wing Standards in 1974. SMSgt Snedegar was assigned to the Wing at the time he was flying Operation Babylift on C-5A 80218 departing Saigon, RVN on 4 April 1975.
In 1977 CMSgt Snedegar moved across base to Headquarters, Twenty-Second Air Force as Chief, Standardization and Evaluation, where he oversaw Loadmaster operations for one half of the Command. Chief Snedegar made another move to Wright-Patterson AFB, OH in December, 1980 where he was the sole Air Force Loadmaster responsible for evaluating and approving all outsized cargo for movement in Air Force aircraft. He was assigned for the last nine years of his Air Force career to the Air Transportability and Test Loading Agency (ATTLA).
CMSgt Snedegar retired from the United States Air Force 1 January 1990 with 31 years, 4 months and 24 days of honorable service. His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Airmans Medal for Heroism, 4 Meritorious Service Medals, 11 Air Medals, 6 Air Force Commendation Medals, 5 Outstanding Unit Awards with one V for Valor, 9 Good Conduct Medals, Antarctica Service Medal, 9 Vietnam Service Medals, Vietnam Civil Action Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, plus 29 other awards, decorations and ribbons.
After retiring from the Air Force Ray continued his aviation career for another 20 years as an executive with an all cargo airline where he retired as the Director of Ground Training and Regulatory Compliance. In this capacity he added a Loadmaster department to the airline which is still in place today.
Ray continues to be active today and currently is the driver/chauffeur for Baseball Hall of Fame writer Hal McCoy. Mr McCoy is legally blind so Ray drives him to and from all Cincinnati Reds games in Cincinnati and assists him in his daily work in the Press Box. In the three and a half months outside of baseball he works part time in a funeral home in Kettering, Ohio and volunteers part time at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
Education
Associate, Transportation & Traffic Management, Community College of Air Force 1981
Bachelor of Science, Industrial Technology, Southern Illinois University 1982
Master of Aeronautical Science, Aviation and Aerospace Operations & Management,
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 1997 Family
Ray has three children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His wife, Barbara, passed away in November, 2011 after nearly 53 years of marriage.
New Member Readings and Inductions
| Name | Sponsor | 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction |
| Luke Neff | Jesse Gaither | 3rd Reading |
Welcome Guests!
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Aidan Zink | Prpgram |
| Ansuyaben Patel | Program |
| April Somerlot | Matt Somerlot |
| Baldevbhai Patel | Program |
| Brian Murphy | Brent Richburg |
| Chastity Irwin | Brent Richburg |
| Jacob Dice | Gail Aiken |
| Karen Mills | Program |
| Lucas Dice | Gail Aiken |
| Megan Patel | Program |
| Mike Mills | Program |
| Ray Snedegar | Speaker |
| Spencer Mills | Program |
Happy Bucks
No time for Happy Bucks this week
Sergeants at Arms
No time for Sergeants this week
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Joined | Years |
| Fred Polizzi | August 9, 2005 | 17 |
| Maha Kashani | August 15, 2006 | 16 |
Birthdays
| Judy DeMarco | August 10 |
| Art Hung | August 10 |
| Paul Stull | August 11 |
| Larry Lynde | August 12 |
| Dean Lundgren | August 12 |
| Fred Polizzi | August 13 |
| Julie Shisler | August 13 |
| Vince Reidy | August 14 |
| Greg Wasmund | August 15 |
CNO Donations – 2013 through July 2022
Click here to see a summary of donations the club has made since 2013
Thank You Notes Received
No Thank You Notes Received this week