Blast from the Past

Craig began badgering me to write down my experiences from the time I spent in Vietnam. Actually he had been floating the idea for years, but now that he had me close by, he could make a concerted effort to wear me down. I wasn’t interested—it seemed like a lot of work.

Then, out of the blue, Kenny Fields (the guy I picked up on my last rescue), sent me an email with his version of the rescue (about 3-5 pages) attached. I became intrigued, and wrote a counterpoint of the rescue from my perspective. Surprise! It was a lot of fun.

Thus began an intense period where I began writing down all that I remembered of my various rescues, while Craig began organizing my photos. Incredibly, I located my old flak map and found that I had recorded the details of most of my rescues on the back, including one I had completely forgotten! What a goldmine of information it proved to be. All the maps in the book are courtesy of Craig, who did an enormous amount of work plotting the exact positions from the marks on my map.

In 2002, we proudly printed 10 copies of the book, entitled ‘An Old Helicopter Pilot Remembers Vietnam', bound with spiral combs—one to each son and granddaughter for a total of 6, one for me, and the rest in reserve.

I honestly never intended or imagined that the book would be anything more than a curiosity for my descendants, but word got around and family and friends began asking for a copy for themselves. I satisfied these requests by running off copies on demand on CD’s.

The only changes I made were to clean up some inevitable typos and to go from a two to a one column format. This was in answer to a suggestion made by a reader that allowed the pictures to be larger. Time passed, and a few more CD’s were requested and made. I believe I even sold a CD or two to non-family members.

Around 2003-2004, I got an email from George Marrett, who was writing a book about his experiences and wanted some input from me on the Fields’ rescue. As it happened, that rescue was my last and George’s first. George wrote a first class book, Cheating Death, which detailed the story of his tour in Vietnam.

Also, in 2004, I received a call from a former Pastor who now ministered in Colby, Kansas. The moving Vietnam Wall was scheduled to be there (the only place it would appear in Kansas that year) and I was invited to come as the keynote speaker on Sunday, the final day.

Kaye and I went. I have not seen the actual Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C., so it was an emotional time for me as I touched the names of friends and comrades I remembered. At the end of my talk, a lady came forward and profusely thanked me, after explaining her situation. I have included that story as a postscript in the eBook, so, if you want to hear it, you will have to get the book. www.vietnam-air-rescues.com