O Happy Day

Here I am, continuing my saga of how www.vietnam-air-rescues.com came about.

Not too long after that, Kaye heard about a guy in Hawaii who was showing people how to print their own hard and paperback books. I contacted him, built my own press from his specifications (with a change or two of my own) and decided to see how it worked by redoing my Vietnam book.

Again, the changes were minimal. I did add some anecdotes that I had regretted leaving out of the first edition and produced six, large-size, paperback copies of the Vietnam book—sending one to each son (who seemed nonplussed at receiving yet another copy of a book they already had) and keeping two for myself--one for me and one as a loaner.

Time passed. George did an excellent job on his book, secured a publisher, who released his book in 2004, and sold a lot of copies.

Around the end of 2005 or the start of 2006, I received another email, this time from Kenny Fields, who, noting the success of Marrett’s book, decided to write a book of his own that would cover in detail and from every angle, his rescue. I gladly authorized Kenny to use my notes I had written in counterpoint to his and supplied him with several pictures. (by the by, Kenny, if you are reading this, I never got the pics back).

Kenny’s book came out this year (2007) and was an immediate hit. I was ecstatic for him. Both he and George are such an unassuming and humble people, they deserve any success that comes their way. Kaye and I went to Kirtland AFB in New Mexico in May, 2007 to help him introduce/promote his book. There I met his wife for the first time, who gave me a big hug and said, “Thanks for saving my husband.” A touching moment for all.

Kenny allowed me to go to a book signing with him, and I was surprised when people began asking me to sign the book also.

Then began an upsurge of requests from friends and outright strangers who heard about and wanted a copy of my book in spite of my telling them it was printed just for my sons. Wearying of making CD’s, I began to toy with the idea of putting it on the internet in eBook form. In fact, I told one requestor that, in about two weeks, the book would be available on the net.

Little did I realize what I was getting myself into. While possessing a comfortable familiarity with computers, I had zero experience with web pages, other than to assist my local church with a cookie-cutter variety. Fortunately, both David and Mark have a vast experience in websites. Although living many miles away (California for David and Italy for Mark), both promised help and advice.

BREAKING NEWS…I am nearly up to real-time in these musings and now break into these rambles with an announcement of momentous importance (at least to me)---I have sold my first book! Hallelujah, what a joy to finally see the fruits of my labors!

More good news—Kenny Fields, the guy I rescued on my last mission, sent me a forward of a press release he sent to the Abilene paper, suggesting they contact me and do an article for Veterans’ Day. What a guy! He is so thoughtful. If that does happen, I might get some local interest in the book.

Dave

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

On the Road Again

I was willing, but cautioned her that this would be, for the most part, an irreversible move. We finally decided to close up our California house, drive to Kansas and live there for a month to see how we liked it.

So, that’s what we did. Arriving in Abilene, we found the people cheerful and friendly. It reminded me quite a bit of California as I was growing up—before it got so crowded. We rented an apartment and spent the entire month of March enjoying life there before leaving our car with Craig and flying back to California.

Back home, we sorted our belongings; packed and shipped what we wanted to keep to Kansas; held a garage sale for the rest and tossed what was left. Then we put our home of 15 years on the market.

We couldn’t have picked a worse time. Nearby March AFB had closed, the economy was in shambles and new houses were a glut on the market; selling for the same or less than used ones. There were homes in our neighborhood that had been on the market for over 6 months—even, in some cases, when priced at below original cost.

Kaye heard about a guy who had devised a plan for selling your house in 5 days. We sent for the information, took a deep breath, and tried it. It worked! We self-advertised our home on a Wednesday and sold it the following Sunday. All, at a higher price than comparable nearby houses had sold in recent memory. Praise the Lord; we were on our way to Kansas!

It was with some sadness that we said goodbye to our church friends who all asked, “Abilene; why Abilene?”; but we drove our remaining car to Abilene, settled back into the same apartment and then began looking for a new home.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but we looked at 18 houses in Abilene (we were insisting on a home within one to one and a half miles of Craig, so the granddaughters could walk over if they so desired) before our Real Estate agent mentioned an area five miles away. We reminded her that we wanted to live closer—she mentioned it was on a small, private lake—“Let’s go look”, we replied.

Earlier, we had found a house Kaye favored, but I wasn’t too keen on. Later, we found another I liked, but Kaye wasn’t too keen on. Both sales fell through. On this particular day, we had three houses lined up to inspect. What is now our home was the first on the list. It appeared perfect—both of us liked it.

I said something to the effect that we should go and look at the other houses. When we got outside, Kaye asked, "Didn’t you like the house?” I replied I liked it very much. “Well then,” she said, ”I do too. Go on back in and buy it before someone else does!” I offered to pay the people their price if they would include a beautiful hutch and dining room set, as well as the downstairs furniture.

And so in 2000, we acquired our new home at a price over $30,000 less than we had been prepared to pay in town. Before leaving our California house, we had given our ‘Lazy Boy’ recliner chair to a neighbor who had a back injury and really needed it. Our new house came with two ‘Lazy Boy’ recliners! God was truly watching over us again.