Name: Alan Craig Martin, Jr. Rank: Sergeant Service Number: 452864744 Service: 50th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, 13th Air Force, United States Air Force Date of Birth: July 1, 1946 Place of Birth: Shelburne, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: Unknown Place of Enlistment: Unknown Religion: Baptist Date of Death: March 8, 1969 Age at Death: 22 Cemetery: Hillside Cemetery, Sable River, Shelburne Co., Nova Scotia Remembered on Panel 29W, Line 15 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, DC Remembered on the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Windsor, Ontario. Alan Craig Martin, Jr. was the son of Alan Craig Martin, Sr. (19xx-19xx) and Bonnie (Huskilson) Martin (19xx- 20xx), and brother Herbert Martin and Barbara (Martin) Dittler. Alan attended the Lockeport Regional High School in Nova Scotia. In the yearbook, Alan joked that his ambition was to, “duck the draft”, but Alan moved to the US and served in the USAF during the Vietnam War. Sergeant Alan Craig Martin died in crash in Taiwan. On March 8, 1969, United States Air Force Lockheed C- 130E Hercules aircraft #64-0545, from the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, crashed in poor weather at Ching Chuan Kang Airbase in Taichung, Taiwan, following a flight from Vietnam. The pilot reportedly was ordered to divert to Kadena Air Base in Japan; however, the Hercules orbited the airfield for an hour before attempting a landing. While on final approach, the aircraft experienced fuel starvation. The Hercules came in to the right of the runway, its right wing tip making contact and shearing off the wing. The aircraft flipped onto its back and came to a rest inverted. A fire burned through the cabin of the aircraft. Nine personnel were killed in the post-crash fire. Three survivors were medivacked but died on the 14th, 15th and 16th of March. In addition to Sergeant Martin, the lost personnel were Colonel Ralph A. Cone, Lieutenant Colonel Paul E. Garrett, Major William J. Griffin (died March 14, 1969), Technical Sergeant John W. Israel, Major Warren L. Long, Staff Sergeant Barry W. Murtaugh, Sergeant Eugene Pizzino II (died March 16, 1969), Major Raymond L. Tacke, Master Sergeant William B. Terry, Staff Sergeant Gordon L. Wheeler, and Staff Sergeant Robert L. Wilson (died March 15, 1969). The twelve airmen had their names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. in May 1986. Sergeant Alan Craig Martin’s body was recovered and he is interred at the Hillside Cemetery in Sable River, Shelburne Co., NS, and remembered on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall at the National Mall in Washington, DC, and the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The North Wall) in Windsor, Ontario. Vietnam Veterans Day is commemorated each March 29th in the United States of America.

Alan Craig Martin, Jr.

Sources: findagrave – Hillside Cemetery findagrave – Vietnam Memorial The VirtualWall.org The Wall of Faces by the Vietnam War Memorial Fund (background photo: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall)