OVER

WAR

“My heroes growing up were soldiers and pilots. They played big roles in the movies and stories of the time, making aviation look exciting and romantic. I daydreamed and sketched airplanes through my early childhood. This led to building and flying models until finally in high school, I got a chance to take flying lessons.”

“In my junior in year of high school, 1952, the Korean War was in full swing. Our fighter pilots were picking up where the aces of WW2 left off. Now in jets engaging in dog fights with the MIGs of North Korea and China. I wanted in. Went directly from high school to flight school. My all-time childhood dream come true.”

“The F105 – It was the sweetest thing you’d ever want to wrap your hands around. Once you got it airborne the sensation was like flying a Cadillac. 52,000 pounds, 65 ft long, 38 ft wingspan. Couldn’t turn with a MIG, but could out run them. Great airplane.” 

“I arrived in sunny Vietnam with 9-hours of Weasel training. During the prior two weeks, my new squadron had lost two planes and one crew. I remember drinking a beer at the O’Club bar in the midst of about fifty young warriors, wondering if I’d really have the guts to do what they were doing day in and day out.”

“I caught a ‘Golden Beebe’ in my engine… had to eject. My wingman told me I had a trail of fire coming out of my tail pipe. Keep in mind the ejection seat is fired by a 35-millimeter shell with the lead removed… I became the projectile. When you hit the wind stream it’s like getting smacked in the face with a snow shovel.”

“I remember at the time thinking, I’d rather be killed than captured. We heard about what they did to the guys taken prisoner. I’d rather die than go through that. Now, I wonder how many of my friends are dead because Washington shared our targets?”

“Finally, on December 19th, 1972, we were allowed to take off our gloves and fight. The North was stalling on attending the Paris Peace Talks, so we were ordered to go “downtown” (Hanoi), and hit them with everything we had. After eleven days, their white flags went up and they agreed to the terms of the Peace Accords. I still feel we let them off too easily.”

“You can’t run a war from the Oval Office. I would have loved to have McNamara or Johnson on one of the flights with me.”

“Looking back now, the numbers are sobering. Our tour length was 100 missions… so that was 100 chances to get shot down. Roughly two thirds of us were downed. About half were killed or captured, and half rescued. If physically able, those rescued went back to the cockpit.”

“I put my life on the line for freedom, democracy and peace. The same things the protesters in the streets at home wanted.”