Armed Forces: Mac the Fac's Last Mission

In TIME'S recent cover story about the American fighting man in Viet Nam (April 23), an admirable member of the gallery of combatants was "Mac the Fac" — Air Force Major William W. McAllister, 36, a "forward air controller" who sought out Viet Cong troops and installations in his toylike L19 spotter plane.

Short (5 ft. 7 in.) and powerfully built, with a bowlegged, gangling walk, the blue-eyed, crew-cut McAllister looked like the all-American Butch —and had an all-American record. A careerman like most of his U.S. comrades in Viet Nam, he...

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