IN PROFOUND GRATITUDE
"The very soul of a nation is its heroes"
The Commander~
I wrote this last week for my mother for Mother's day, yes she was a WWII veteran~and yes she did it her way!
Only Hope For Some
Ever wonder why the Veterans Administration has to many chiefs and not enough "True Veterans Who Care"? Our Veterans Services should be ashamed on how Veterans in Arizona are being treated in Phoenix and Tucson. Did you know that the American Legion Runs Phoenix Regional Ratings Office? Yet, American Legion Reps say their no part of them. I now have a 2 year journal of recorded conversations that will make you sick to your stomach.
Real Soliders Don't Cry
A Dustoff crew risked their helicopter and their lives to evacuate a dead man and solider who doesn't appear to be wounded from the thick jungles of Vietnam.
Do Xa Strike Mission 50 years ago
On April 27th 1964 Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron, assisted by gunships of the U.S. Army's Dragon Flight, 52nd Aviation Battalion, both out of Da Nang Vietnam attacked a VC Stronghold 15 miles west northwest of Quang Ngai, near the village of Do Xa. For the 'Purple Foxes' of HMM-364, Dragon Flight and ARVN Troops the mission proved anything but typical.
Viet Nam: The War That Wasn’t…But Now Is
The Viet Nam war was never officially declared. It was the war…that wasn’t. For those of us who were there, the war that wasn’t still lives within us. Little do we realize how the war that wasn’t, is firmly etched in our souls. In a sense, the future is not ours. It belongs to the war that wasn’t. The war that wasn’t, has a mysterious effect on every decision we make. For those of us who participated, the war...that wasn’t...now is. We are Viet Nam veterans.
Congressional Delay for WWII Tokyo Raiders
Let's not wait nearly 75 years to honor our veterans.
The too perfect sound
No eyes are wandering as I look upon the faces of mourners, all eyes fixed on the soldier saluting the folded flag held over his partner’s heart. An older, higher ranked man squares his shoulders as the two soldiers step again in synch toward him. The folded flag is placed in his hands; the two salute the flag in one matched motion. The older man’s steps are more comforting, unperfected, and quiet. Around me more sniffle, someone discreetly sobs.
Answered Prayer
A door gunner recalls a mission in the Plain of Reed flying an experimental mission called Firefly in 1968.
My experience flying in the Secret War in Laos
The Ravens were a secret group of elite U. S. Air Force pilots who flew in civilian clothes and unmarked aircraft to help save the neutral country of Laos from being taken over by the North Vietnam during the Vietnam Conflict. They were highly trained fighter pilots who flew as Forward Air Controllers (FAC) in the single engine, prop driven, slow moving Cessna 0-1 Bird Dog to direct fighter-bombers onto heavy defended targets and provide bomb damage.