Near Bayboro in Horry County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Military Air Crash Site

Photographed by J. J. Prats, March 19, 2025

1. Military Air Crash Site Marker, Side One

Inscription. Near here on Dec. 5, 1972, thirteen American military officers and airmen were killed on a training mission during the Vietnam War, when at 7:19 PM an S.C. Air National Guard F-102 fighter-interceptor from McEntire Air National Guard Base near Columbia collided overhead with a U.S. Air Force C-130E Hercules heavy transport from Pope Air Force Base near Fayetteville, N.C.

All aboard both aircraft perished, and the resulting explosion scattered debris across several miles, with one witness saying, “It looked like the whole world was on fire.” The transport wreckage landed just NE of here. Most of the fighter wreckage landed in woods 1½ miles away. No civilians were harmed. The crash was one of the worst military air disasters in S. C. history.

Erected 2020 by Department of Archives and History. Sponsored by Horry County Council. (Marker Number 26-31.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Disasters • War, Vietnam. A significant historical date for this entry is December 5, 1972.

Location. 34° 1.785′ N, 79° 6.192′ W. Marker is near Bayboro, South Carolina, in Horry County. It is at the intersection of Joyner Swamp Road and Good Luck Road, on the left when traveling east on Joyner Swamp Road. It is at the

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Horry County Joyner Fire Station No. 28. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4207 Joyner Swamp Rd, Aynor SC 29511, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Levister Elementary School (approx. 6 miles away); Waccamaw Tribal Grounds (approx. 6.7 miles away); Galivants Ferry (approx. 8.3 miles away); Holliday Highway (approx. 8.3 miles away); Galivants Ferry Stump Meeting (approx. 8.4 miles away); Taking Stock of Animals on the Farm (approx. 9.1 miles away); Raising Tobacco (approx. 9.1 miles away); The Legacy of Farm to Table (approx. 9.2 miles away).

Also see . . .
1. 1972 — Dec 5, USAF C-130 Talon, 12 crew, collides with SC ANG F-102, Conway, SC. Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-of-Life Events website entry (Submitted on March 27, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

2. Victims of 1972 Horry County plane crash to be memorialized. 2020 article by Katie Powell on MyHorryNews.com

A Dec. 13, 1972 article in Conway’s Field and Herald newspaper states that around 7:25 p.m. a fireball in the air was seen by people driving on U.S. 701. Drivers on U.S. 501 in Marion also saw it.

“It lit up the entire Earth. It was the brightest light you could imagine,” Richardson said of the fiery site of the C-130 crash. “We didn’t see the collision in the air, but we heard it. It shook the house awful hard.”

As she followed her father, who was holding
Photographed by J. J. Prats, March 19, 2025

2. Military Air Crash Site Marker, Side Two
her baby sibling in his arms, she saw her mother and siblings in the doorway, where her mother seemed to be frozen in fear. “I do remember looking back and seeing my Mama,” Richardson said. “I was crying, knowing in my mind I might not see them again [if the plane were to hit their house].”

While some may ask why her father took them outside, she believes her father did the right thing. “It was raining down pieces of plane,” she said. “My Daddy honestly felt it was coming on top of the house, and he knew if it landed there our chances of survival were none.”

(Submitted on March 26, 2025.)

Military Air Crash Site Marker and Memorial Monument image. Click for full size.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, March 19, 2025

3. Military Air Crash Site Marker and Memorial Monument

Military Air Crash Memorial Monument image. Click for full size.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, March 19, 2025

4. Military Air Crash Memorial Monument

In Memory
US Air Force: Lt. Col. Donald E. Martin • Maj. Keith L. Van Note • Capt. Douglas S. Peterson • Capt. John R. Cole • Capt. Louis R. Sert • Capt. Marshall J. Dickerson • 2Lt. Douglas L. Thierer • S.Sgt. Billy M. Warr, Sr. • Tech.Sgt. Claude L. Abbott • Tech.Sgt Robert E. Doyle • AIC Gerald K. Faust
SC Air National Guard: Capt. Thomas C. Haygood, Jr.

Credits. This page was last revised on March 27, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 26, 2025, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,446 times since then and 77 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 26, 2025, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.