Vietnam Vet and AFA Leader Represents Air Force Heritage at Texas Museum

Col. Mark Tarpley, USAF (Ret.), a veteran of the Vietnam War and a prominent member of various AFA councils and committees, returned to his hometown of Greenville, Texas, on April 1 to speak at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum and share his experiences and some history of the Vietnam War. More than 30 people attended, including Vietnam-era veterans and members of the Northeast Texas AFA Chapter 416.

During the Vietnam War, Tarpley was a Navigator/Sensor Operator assigned to AC-119G Shadow and AC-119K Stinger flying gunships. Tarpley’s flight suit and jacket from his service in Vietnam are on display in the “Hall of Heroes,” a 3,700-sqare-foot military exhibit at the museum where he gave his presentation.

Tarpley’s presentation emphasized that airpower was a key component in the fight against communism in Vietnam. He told tales from the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, and of Operation Rolling Thunder in 1968. Tarpley shared how his own unit had casualties on the final day of the the war, January 27, 1973, right before the Peace Accords went into effect—casualties that included his fellow unit member Staff Sgt. John O’Neal Rucker, the last enlisted Airman killed in Vietnam, who was memorialized at an AFA-organized event in Linden, Texas, in 2023.

Tarpley took several questions from Vietnam-era veterans, AFA Chapter 416 members, and other members of the Greenville community. He also used the platform as an opportunity to champion the mission of the Air & Space Forces Association, and how its Northeast Texas Chapter 416 is making a difference in the area.