A Return to those 'Golden Days of Yesteryear'

Yikes! I had not intended to be away for so long. My defense, such as it is, is that I was fighting the battle of the website, which, I am happy to report, has been resolved in my favor, although the issue was in doubt for quite some time.

But, I am getting ahead of myself. The whole reason for this ramble is to support, and give some explanation for, the book, Vietnam Air Rescues, written by yours truly, which may be previewed at http://www.vietnam-air-rescues.com/ . I know you may think, or wish, that these remarks had been written as the events took place, rather than after the fact, but, as you will discover, the idea of a Blog occurred quite late in the scheme of things.

Thus, it seems fitting to me to return to those 'Golden days of yesteryear', so to speak, and describe how this whole thing came about. Here goes—

Back in 1967-1968, I was occupying my time as an Air Force Jolly Green combat rescue pilot in Vietnam. I had a quite eventful year and, just as I was preparing to return home, an incident occurred which precipitated what I am involved in now.

Specifically, I rescued a Naval pilot under somewhat grueling circumstances. Following the rescue, I was rotated back to the states, where I reunited with my family and transferred to Germany. Sometime after arriving in Germany, I was presented with a medal for that rescue. Otherwise, the events of my sojourn in Vietnam (actually, I flew out of Thailand) receded to the back of my memory as I was preoccupied with other matters.

David and Craig had been born before I went to Vietnam; Eric and Mark were born while we were in Germany (a fact that causes them difficulties to this day when applying for any official documents). We moved from Germany to Texas to Oklahoma to two locations in Georgia, before I finally retired from the Air Force and began phase two of my life’s plan.

Perhaps I should explain here that, while in the seventh grade, I determined that my future life would consist of a career as an Air Force pilot, followed by a stint in the teaching profession. Kaye still says she thought I was ‘unusual’ when she met me in HIgh School and I announced these plans to her. In her words, “Nobody knows how, in detail, they plan to live their life when they are in the seventh grade!” Fortunately for me, she married me anyway. (The account of our courtship, engagement and subsequent marriage is a subject for another time.)

Well, that would appear to me to be quite enough for now. When next we return, we will continue our exploration of the background to the book as this rambling dissertation continues...

Dave