Another member of the 16th SOS. Paul was Lang's roommate at Ubon RAFB in Thailand and a good friend. He was lost on June 18,1972. The plane went down that night when a heat seeking missile (SA-7) hit an inboard engine (I think #3). It was this incident that really destroyed Lang mentally. There were 16 guys on Paul's aircraft that night and they were all crew members that Lang flew with regularly. Lang was exhausted from flying night after night and the scheduler gave him the night off. Afterwards, Lang kept thinking that if he had been there that night, he might have saved Paul and his crew.
When the plane was hit, Paul held the plane level to give his crew a chance to bail out. The plane kept level as the crew were diving off the ramp, trailing flames, with every gun for miles firing at it, when the plane exploded. Lang thought 5 people had bailed out, only three made it back alive.
I have tried to get in touch with some of the members of Paul Gilbert's friends and family without any success. If you can help me or have any information about Paul please contact me.
