Photos: Congo rescue 1964

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On Nov. 24, 1964, a joint force of American and Belgian troops staged one of the most audacious rescue missions in history, freeing 1,800 hostages who had been seized by Congolese rebels during conflict in the former Belgian colony. Atlantan William "Mack" Secord was the pilot of one of the C-130 transport planes that carried those hostages to safety. In this photo, Secord (upper right) meets in 2013 with several of the Americans he flew to freedom during the rescue mission in the Congo. They are (from the left, seated): Marilyn Wendler, Bob McAllister, Jean Larson and Al Larson; (standing): Ruth (McAllister) Reynard and Larry Southard. They stand in front of the C-130 that Secord piloted during that 1964 operation. The aircraft is now parked at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

American missionary Al Larson stands in a jeep headed to rescue a group of fellow religious workers during the 1964 escape from Stanleyville. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

A boy who was separated from his parents during the rescue mission is held by a Red Cross worker after being flown from Stanleyville to Leopoldville.

During the 1950s the C-130 turboprop became the aircraft of choice for transporting troops and for medical evacuations

Hostages in Stanleyville, who had been rescued by joint force troops, began walking to the airport, which was 1.5 miles out of town, on the morning of Nov. 24, 1964.

Injured hostages are transported to the airfield in a pickup truck.

In the days leading up to the rescue mission more than a dozen U.S. Air Force C-130s landed at an abandoned Belgian airfield in Kamina, south of Stanleyville. They waited there until the early morning hours of Nov. 24, 1964, when the mission began.

U.S. and Belgian troops help rescued hostages aboard the C-130 planes that would fly them to safety.

A rescued hostage is transported in a makeshift ambulance from the Stanleyville to the airport outside town.

This Belgian paratrooper checks his equipment in the predawn darkness at an abandoned airfield in Kamina, south of Stanleyville, where the joint force staged its operation.

Some 600 Belgian para-commandos assisted in the rescue operation at Stanleyville, dropping into the town before dawn to overpower rebel forces holding Americans and others hostage.

Many children were among the hostages rescued by U.S. and Belgian troops in Stanleyville.

Belgian paratroopers dropped from C-130 transport planes onto the runway of the Stanleyville airport in the early hours of Nov. 24, 1964, and cleared off junked cars and other debris placed there by Congolese rebels to thwart the landing of U.S. aircraft.

The sign at the Stanleyville airport would be changed eventually, when the city was renamed Kisangani.

Victims of rebel violence lie in the streets of Stanleyville during the hostage rescue operation code-named Dragon Rouge.

Joint force soldiers participate in the rescue mission in Stanleyville (renamed Kisangani) on the morning of Nov. 24, 1964.

An unidentified injured woman is carried to safety in Leopoldville, after being evacuated from Stanleyville.

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On Nov. 24, 1964, a joint force of American and Belgian troops staged one of the most audacious rescue missions in history, freeing 1,800 hostages who had been seized by Congolese rebels during conflict in the former Belgian colony. Atlantan William "Mack" Secord was the pilot of one of the C-130 transport planes that carried those hostages to safety. In this photo, Secord (upper right) meets in 2013 with several of the Americans he flew to freedom during the rescue mission in the Congo. They are (from the left, seated): Marilyn Wendler, Bob McAllister, Jean Larson and Al Larson; (standing): Ruth (McAllister) Reynard and Larry Southard. They stand in front of the C-130 that Secord piloted during that 1964 operation. The aircraft is now parked at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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