In a message to Ken Alnwick, Michael J. Clarke relates the following about Ranch Hand and a pending reunion of those who flew these missions:

"Hello again Ken,

Next week I'm attending the 50th and final reunion of Ranch Hand--Special Aerial Spray Flight at the Air Force Museum in WPAFB. The aircraft on display, a UC-123(K), tail number 64362, was nicknamed Patches because it had repair patches all over the exterior covering the nearly 600 hits it took on spray missions. It has the distinction of being the only aircraft in American air warfare history of taking so many rounds of enemy fire and never going down. I piloted 249 spray missions, was hit by enemy ground fire 91 times, many in this aircraft. Patches also earned seven Purple Hearts, one of which was mine. These are the things that happen when you fly the world's largest, lowest, slowest moving target.

"During the reunion there will be a special dedication ceremony of a Memorial Bench commemorating Ranch Hand and its mission. (I will send you the location of the bench as soon as I can nail it down.)

"As an aside, we used to paint the repair patches red, making our four aircraft look like they had the measles, this aircraft suffering the most. We were a big political risk during the first four years of our existence, balancing a mission need against the U.S. being accused of chemical warfare. As such, we had numerous visits from senior military and congressional committees. On one such visit a congresswoman became enraged when we told her what the red patches signified. She demanded that the red paint be removed, the Air Force and command structure rolled over, and with a few flipped middle fingers we removed something that was very meaningful to a close knit group of military men engaged in a very unique and dangerous mission. Obviously, secluded in her warm fuzzy world, she had no inkling of what "comradery" meant, especially to the "Ranch" and its eleven officers and sixteen enlisted men.