This is my third and hopefully, my last attempt to make any sense out of this post. I've deleted the previous two because it's been really difficult for me to make some kind of a cohesive editorial that will fit into other posts I've made on the Air Cav Troop site that I belong to.
Even though they are similar in subject, it's difficult to explain this without you being aware of the comment section that follows the posts on the ACT site. As an example of that, here is a list of the subjects that are covered on both sites minus any comments from those subjects.
Draft Dodgers, Traitors, Former Presidents, The Character of Men, Teddy Roosevelt's statements about the conduct of Immigrants and what they must do to assimilate, The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, The ACLU, removing God from our schools, courthouses, public places, flag burning, freedom of speech, The Great Depression, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" and a few other things relative to each of the above subjects. Whew, what a list !!
You may well imagine how much information comes from the comments made about each of those editorials. Despite the wide variety of topics, one thing is common with all the subjects listed above. Veterans are pissed.
In response to the many complaints about the issues that cause so much concern, the subject of being discontented about current events was uppermost in every body's mind. When I began to discuss those we all agreed that there were so many problems out there, it was difficult to put your finger on exactly which one pissed you off the most. That's when I came up with the title: "Random, Unassigned Discontent".
Basically, my idea was to point out that there are so many things that are screwed up, one can go down a very long list of problems and conclude that a Random List, that is so long, doesn't require you to Assign a Specific Target to attack. You might say that we live in a target rich environment and that you can be furious, frustrated or discontent with any of many subjects on a very long list.
To further complicate things, now onto the scene, comes frustration. Throw in a little confusion and you have a situation that unchecked, produces a ship load of situational anxiety that screams for a leader to take us all out of these problem areas.
Many names of leaders who proved their worth come to mind but most of them are dead and gone. Churchill, Eisenhower, Patton, MacArthur, General "Bombs Away" Lemay and even the Nazi officers Irwin Rommel and Claus von Stauffenberg, who tried to kill Hitler, are all on that list of men who made huge sacrifices to rid the world of problems.
Can you imagine any situation where the names of two Nazi officers would fit on the same list as Churchill and the others? Well, they did as much as they could to stop the madness even though it cost them their lives.
What's the old saying about Evil? All that needs to be done for evil to exist is for good men to do nothing"? That may not be verbatim but it's close and I'm sure you get the idea. In any event, I think it's important to now mention an idea that may help you connect the dots of this post and the editorials on the Cav site.
Let's pick Teddy Roosevelt, Immigration and Flag burning.
To me, the problem with all that has a number of issues that need to be high lighted. First, there are many war dead who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending the flag. Second, and as a weird coincidence to the first item listed above, they also gave their lives for your right to burn it if that's what you chose to do.
Third, but most important to me, is Teddy Roosevelt's statement to Immigrants who wished to come to the USA. It was quite clear that he laid down the law when he said that they "Must Assimilate" to our way of life. There were statements with that where English was outlined as the language of our Country and with that, there was also A "Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag".
Without getting into details of the Constitution, laws, One Nation Under God or any of the many things that go along with that, let's simply say that Immigrants must assimilate and recognize that this is our Country, a Country made of Immigrants and that assimilation is the thing that kept us alive and connected to a common goal.
With that being said, I will say that there's a real simple and peaceful solution to the flag burning problem. Let them go ahead and burn the American Flag and make all of the statements they wish to make about how horrible we are. Do that just prior to the time that you have them deported to whatever Country their flag represents. There's no violence, no killing, no nothing involved but deportation.
Deport the flag burners and you solve two problems. One would provide them with a continued sense of pride in their own country where they could fly their flag in their front yard, side yard, back yard or where ever they wanted to fly it.
The second problem that would be solved by removing the disrespect to those men and women who died in wars while protecting our flag and the further disrespect to those of us who fought for it and are still alive.
If that's not a win win situation, I don't know what would be. Liberals may raise hell about that thought process but in the end, "I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag" does not have any addendum's to it that states "Unless I hate your Country and want to Push My Country's Ideology on Yours".
In any event, as I try to consolidate the editorials I think I've found a solution by posting them here and having Curt copy them for posting on the Cav site. I can't do both as it's simply too confusing. I'm 3 hours or more into this single post and I can't even think about trying to duplicate this on the other site.
So, if you don't like the flag burning solution, go on outside and burn the American Flag. If you do like it, let's get a leader involved and put a bill into Congress that makes flag burning by immigrants, an offense subject to deportation. Simple solution! No more discontent, no more anxiety, no more disrespect to all the Veterans who have fought and died for the Flag and the list reduces itself by 1 item and allows the next step to begin.
Don't you feel better now. Let's deport those sorry, traitorous, flag burning enemies of our Nation and get on with cleaning up the mess that is outlined on the list. Comments are appreciated.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Hello to "Coke Machine" and others from Xuan Loc
When we leave the military, combat aviators carry our call signs with us for the rest of our lives. It doesn't matter if you flew bombers, fighters, helicopters or Bird Dogs. Among that special group, we are generally considered as fighters and pilots. It's a strange, unique and wonderful brotherhood that I consider to be one of my most prized accomplishments in life.
Lately, the guys that come from my Band of Brothers have been surfacing here and on my personal email and face book page. We seem to come together during times of trouble and I think I know why.
I account for the brotherhood as something that comes when you need to surround yourself with men that have experienced the horrors of war and knew that they could depend on you and you on them. Coke is one of those guys.
He was on the other side of the airfield with us at Tay Ninh and before that, when I was with the 199th, we flew out of Xuan Loc at the same time. He flew Forward Air Control missions and was the guy that marked the targets for attack aircraft to use as a bulls eye during combat. In any event, welcome aboard to Coke, a great American and another real, live Patriot.
Recently, more and more guys like Coke are surfacing. I sense that this is happening as a result of many things that come from many places. We are getting older and as we recall all of our experiences as young men in combat, we often think about the guys that we were lucky enough to serve with and the circumstances under which we served.
In my group, we often think of and talk about the problems that our Country is experiencing right now. We don't limit those thoughts to a budget that is or isn't balanced and we don't think in terms or areas that are only limited to political or social problems.
If there ever was a group of men who had the capacity of thinking about the "Big Picture", I don't think there is a group better suited to doing that than the American Combat Veteran. I'm sincere about that thought and have always felt that way.
My brother is a combat vet with a tour of duty in Chu Li when he was with the Marine Corp serving in one of their air wings. My son served a tour in the Persian Gulf on board an aircraft carrier. I flew helicopters in Vietnam and Cambodia.
My Uncles fought in the Pacific Theatre and in Europe during the 2nd World War. One was captured by the Germans when the Muslims turned him over to the Nazi troops that served with Irwin Rommel and the Afrika Corp when they were fighting Montgomery and then Patton.
It's just a part of our life that lives at the top of the list and it will never be any other way. It's a reality that will never go away as we know that mortal combat can come in the blink of an eye and it's always only a second away from a day to day reality. In a sense, the recent massacre in Colorado is a good example of how fast an attack can unfold.
Now, for some reason, lots of my combat vet buddies are surfacing and communicating about things that trouble most of us. I can't quite put my finger on the exact cause of all the concern because there's so much stuff that we need to be concerned about. Despite that, I've heard it described as "Non Specific Discontent". We just know that there's something brewing out there and even though we can't point to an exact time and place where the trouble is, we know it's there.
I'm not trying to take credit for setting off an alarm through the editorials I've posted regarding the traitors among us or the many other organizations that concern me. I'm only saying that it's my sense that "Something is UP" and I'm really glad to be associated with the kind of men that can be relied upon to stand up to the plate and address the situation.
In any event, I just wanted to put something down here as I don't like it when my editorial duties elsewhere take me away from my own blog and the desires I have to communicate stories and thoughts that are mine.
Thanks to all of you who make comments here or send personal emails regarding the content of the subjects I discuss. Thanks to Dew, Curt, Bernie and all the others.
Tim, Fireball 28, Blue 28, White 8.
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Cheyenne Ranger
Wecome to Chet Bennett, the Cheyenne Ranger. I spoke to Chet today, a Ranger who is of Cheyenne ancestors and a 3 tour veteran of Vietnam. He served with the 199 th Light Infantry Brigade. Chet lives in Colorado now and is 100% disabled from a number of wounds, one of which is brain cancer.
One of the many things we discussed was the relationship I had as a school kid with many of the students that came from Indian heritage. Chet and I spoke about his grandmother, a woman who was very influential in his life. She lived to be 100 years old when she passed away.
Chet told me that she related a story to him when he was very young. It was about the white settlers that had moved into their part of the Country. She said that she asked; "How long do you intend to stay".
I won't go into the details of the 45 minute long conversation but will simply say that he had a comment to make about today's immigration problem. He said that someone told him that we need to hang a sign on the Statue of Liberty that says: "No Vacancy".
Welcome aboard, Chet.
One of the many things we discussed was the relationship I had as a school kid with many of the students that came from Indian heritage. Chet and I spoke about his grandmother, a woman who was very influential in his life. She lived to be 100 years old when she passed away.
Chet told me that she related a story to him when he was very young. It was about the white settlers that had moved into their part of the Country. She said that she asked; "How long do you intend to stay".
I won't go into the details of the 45 minute long conversation but will simply say that he had a comment to make about today's immigration problem. He said that someone told him that we need to hang a sign on the Statue of Liberty that says: "No Vacancy".
Welcome aboard, Chet.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Walt Disney? You better pack heat!
Well, here we go! Things seem to be getting worse rather than better.
There will be lots of gun control stuff coming out of the movie massacre and that's a shame. I always try to talk about things like this with big brother before I do my typical opinion and once again, he made sense.
He said everybody in that theatre should have been packing heat. If so, the killer wouldn't have made it past a few shots before he was taken out. He added; if everybody was packing heat, attitudes would change............. even when a 7' giant bumped into a midget, both would say "excuse me" and continue with their walking.
As this conversation with Leland was unfolding he told me that he was on his way to a movie and noted that it had free lemonade, free pizza and that the movie was free. He added that the movie was at his church.
When he told me it was at his church, I flashed back on a recent article I read where a bunch of rag heads came into a Catholic church and started throwing rocks at the parish members who were attending Mass. I think that happened in France or England but can't remember the exact spot.
Seems to me that history has proven the value of everybody owning guns. Admiral Yamamoto told General Tojo that he'd better not consider invading America because "Behind every blade of grass there is a gun". I like that idea alot.
Do y'all remember seeing the television clip where the guy walked into a bar or cafe with the intent of robbing all the patrons? Seems that the place was the favorite spot of the police department and they were there for a convention. It was full of cops and all of them pulled their guns out and foiled the robbery attempt. I liked that alot and since yesterday was one of my kin folk's birthday, all of this gun stuff inspired me so I gave her a pistol as a present.
In any event and in view of the recent massacre, I've concluded that it's not just okay, it's a MUST to carry heat with you in today's day and time.
I've only had one situation where somebody pulled a gun on me and to be perfectly honest, I really don't remember exactly what I did when he reached for the gun. I DO remember hearing my step daughter yelling at the top of her lungs that "The guy with the gun is coming up the drive way".
I was shocked at the comment and the obvious fear in her voice. When I asked what it was about they just freaked out and said he pulled a gun out when he was at the house during the yard sale.
I remember telling the kids to get upstairs and lock the door to their rooms. When that happened and I knew everybody was safe, I returned to the kitchen and looked out of the glass door that led to the garage.
That's when fat ass walked through the garage and I opened the kitchen door to see who was carrying a gun and what the hell he wanted with me. When I asked what he wanted, the situation went ballistic.
His opening statement was gruff and loud. He said: "It's about this damn desk"...... and then he reached in his pocket and pulled the gun. I'm not sure what I did then but I know that a moment later I heard the sound coming from his broken muffler as he cranked up and sped down the drive way.
I must have had a flashback, a moment of madness or something like that. The reason I say that is due to the comment his lawyer made to the judge when he didn't show up for trial.
His lawyer said that the guy that pulled the gun had moved to Mississippi and told his lawyer that as long as I was living in Alexandria, he would NEVER return to Louisiana. The judge ordered a bench warrant for his arrest and instructed that it be delivered to the Grant Parish Sheriff's Department in Colfax, Louisiana where he lived.
The judge then looked at me and said: "Mr. Butler, the court is prepared to proceed with this matter but it is impossible to clear this up without both parties in attendance. Would you explain to the court what happened?".
I proceeded to explain to the judge that I had never met the man before but I later discovered that the man had been there to purchase a desk that my wife was selling in a yard sale. It appeared that he hadn't brought cash and since he didn't have it with him, he insisted that my wife take his check instead of cash.
I was out of town on that day so I was only able to get the report of what happened from my wife AFTER he had returned the second time and after the incident, or what ever I did, was already over. I was really pissed that they didn't tell me what had happened but I understand that she knew I would have dealt with him harshly and she didn't want our names in the paper.
FWIW, this incident with the gun pulling occurred shortly after my next door neighbor shot and killed Tim Jr's dog for barking and scaring her horse. I was out of town on that one, too. I was in Alabama working and by the time I got home, the incident was over, no one was hurt except the dead dog and they thought I would deal with it in a manner more suitable to them, not me.
I should probably post an editorial about throwing her ass in jail so that you may have a better picture of the methodology I used in dealing with people that brandished guns around my family. That might explain why they elected not to tell me anything about fat ass pulling the gun.
I later found out that that fat ass, as he was shopping around the yard sale, found out that the neighbor had shot the dog. Hearing the story, he pulled the gun, waved it around in the air and said: "I know how to deal with problems like that". In any event, that's how they knew he had a gun and how he simply became described as the "man with the gun".
Moving along, my wife explained to fat ass that the desk was not ours and belonged to Greg and Ingrid, friends of ours. He became upset that he couldn't pick up the desk right then and there and stormed off the property.
The next thing I knew, Candy was yelling that the guy with the gun was coming up the drive way. I remember going into that place that a combat veteran goes when fear, shock, adrenaline and rage hits you at the same time.
I do remember opening the kitchen door the rest of the way and seeing the fear in his eyes I did so. I do NOT remember what happened after that but I assume that I may have attacked him before the gun fully left his pocket and that I may also have done something physical that totally freaked him out. I honestly do not remember.
In any event, I assume that had he known I was a gun advocate, maybe he wouldn't have been waving the gun around on his first visit and maybe none of this would have happened. I still support gun carriers and the 2nd amendment.
I'll check the blog to see if I posted the story about the neighbor that murdered Tim Jr's dog and let you know where to look if it's there.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Jim Rohrer Part 2
If you haven't already done so, please read the previous post about Super Scout before beginning this one. It will give you a better understanding about the character of Jim Rohrer.
In any event, I've tried to go over some more information to add details to the mission so I could complete this without having to write a book about it. In pursuit of that, I opened my files from Jim last night and went over as much stuff as I could.
I could not find the map of Haiti I was looking for but I did find an email from Jim that was written during the time frame when we were both going through chemo therapy. He was down to 150 pounds and very close to the end of his time but he was still hammering away on his lap top.
I reviewed Jim's files because I was wanting to copy the map and get Curt to put it on the Air Cav Troop site so you could see the two areas that he and I discussed as a point to insert our special passengers. I was particularly interested in a mountain that was close to the Presidential Palace near Port au Prince. On my old map I remembered that it was named "Massif ???????" (something or another) but I can't find it as today's map is different.
My target was Jeremie where rumor had it that Cedras had a private plane hidden in case another coup attempt was made. I found out that Jeremie was the birth place of Cedras and probably the reason he stashed a plane there.
I guess that we were really nothing more than a contingency plan that was put in place as an alternative if all else failed.
Despite the fact that Carter and Colin Powell finally managed to get things squared away, I always wondered what would have happened if they hadn't managed to inspire Cedras to seek political refuge in Panama. I thought it would be Venezuela because there were ties there that came from the time when Papa Doc Duvalier was in charge. That's another story all together and I don't think it fits the profile here so I won't go into it.
Despite all the things that ended up as the cause of cancelling our mission, I wondered about many logistical things had the mission proceeded..
I had never even considered long, over water, night time, rotary wing combat assaults. I had seen pictures of refueling probes mounted on the "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters and knew that long, over water rescue missions could be accomplished by refueling them at sea.
We never got far enough along to focus on the proposed method of refueling OH 6's over the Caribbean at night. I recall an estimated six or seven hour en route time requirement and that only covered the flight time from Puerto Barrios to Jeremie where Cedras had his plane hidden. I knew it would take several mid air refuelings to accomplish that and after the fact, knew that our part of the plan was a "last ditch effort" if every other effort to get him out of Haiti failed.
I hope that this little story has helped make the point about "Character" that has been a topic of discussion on the web site from the Air Cav Troop. I am already aware that some of you didn't know where Jim ended up and from that point, were glad to find out about some of the things he did after our time in Vietnam and Cambodia came to an end.
With regard to that, I think it would be better for me to open my files for the guys who are coming to Shreveport for a reunion. I think that Bill knows some of it but I'm not sure how much. When the reunion takes place, I will disclose all of those things including a couple of other missions that are more in tune with current events.
As I close this I wanted to say that we had no specific intent to kill Cedras. I'm not even sure if we were simply delivering snipers to take him out as he attempted to board his plane and make his escape or if we were simply taking them for security to insure that we could have kidnapped him and returned him to Guatemala.
Jim, rest in peace, brother. Curt Lambert said that you are still listed as a member on the site and that you always will be.
In any event, I've tried to go over some more information to add details to the mission so I could complete this without having to write a book about it. In pursuit of that, I opened my files from Jim last night and went over as much stuff as I could.
I could not find the map of Haiti I was looking for but I did find an email from Jim that was written during the time frame when we were both going through chemo therapy. He was down to 150 pounds and very close to the end of his time but he was still hammering away on his lap top.
I reviewed Jim's files because I was wanting to copy the map and get Curt to put it on the Air Cav Troop site so you could see the two areas that he and I discussed as a point to insert our special passengers. I was particularly interested in a mountain that was close to the Presidential Palace near Port au Prince. On my old map I remembered that it was named "Massif ???????" (something or another) but I can't find it as today's map is different.
My target was Jeremie where rumor had it that Cedras had a private plane hidden in case another coup attempt was made. I found out that Jeremie was the birth place of Cedras and probably the reason he stashed a plane there.
I guess that we were really nothing more than a contingency plan that was put in place as an alternative if all else failed.
Despite the fact that Carter and Colin Powell finally managed to get things squared away, I always wondered what would have happened if they hadn't managed to inspire Cedras to seek political refuge in Panama. I thought it would be Venezuela because there were ties there that came from the time when Papa Doc Duvalier was in charge. That's another story all together and I don't think it fits the profile here so I won't go into it.
Despite all the things that ended up as the cause of cancelling our mission, I wondered about many logistical things had the mission proceeded..
I had never even considered long, over water, night time, rotary wing combat assaults. I had seen pictures of refueling probes mounted on the "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters and knew that long, over water rescue missions could be accomplished by refueling them at sea.
We never got far enough along to focus on the proposed method of refueling OH 6's over the Caribbean at night. I recall an estimated six or seven hour en route time requirement and that only covered the flight time from Puerto Barrios to Jeremie where Cedras had his plane hidden. I knew it would take several mid air refuelings to accomplish that and after the fact, knew that our part of the plan was a "last ditch effort" if every other effort to get him out of Haiti failed.
I hope that this little story has helped make the point about "Character" that has been a topic of discussion on the web site from the Air Cav Troop. I am already aware that some of you didn't know where Jim ended up and from that point, were glad to find out about some of the things he did after our time in Vietnam and Cambodia came to an end.
With regard to that, I think it would be better for me to open my files for the guys who are coming to Shreveport for a reunion. I think that Bill knows some of it but I'm not sure how much. When the reunion takes place, I will disclose all of those things including a couple of other missions that are more in tune with current events.
As I close this I wanted to say that we had no specific intent to kill Cedras. I'm not even sure if we were simply delivering snipers to take him out as he attempted to board his plane and make his escape or if we were simply taking them for security to insure that we could have kidnapped him and returned him to Guatemala.
Jim, rest in peace, brother. Curt Lambert said that you are still listed as a member on the site and that you always will be.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
A Salute to Super Scout, Jim Rohrer.
Among the men reading this blog, many are combat veterans who come from the ranks of those who invaded Cambodia by helicopter when Nixon's Secret War went viral in 1970. Super Scout is a story about one of those men.
His name was Jim Rohrer and he was my instructor pilot, hootch mate, mentor, card partner and friend. Jim died of cancer and fought that battle with the same bravery that he had for everything he fought for or against. In the ranks of the 11th Armored Cav, his name is legend.
If there ever was a pilot who had the "look", he was that pilot. He had a large, blonde handlebar mustache and when he was flying combat missions, he always wore a tan colored scarf around his neck just like the fighter pilots did in the First World War when the days of open cockpits were common place.
He was so well respected that he was chosen over all the men in the Air Cav Troop, to accompany Dan Combs home when Dan and Blick were shot down and killed in December of 1970.
When I was finished with my job of bringing the Nighthawk Gunship mission to the Huey Pilots in the Air Cav Troop, I transferred to the Scout Platoon to fly the Hughes OH 6. Jim was the instructor there and filled the assignment / slot of instructing Huey pilots in their transition to the Hughes. He not only instructed in the flying portion of the transition, he taught us how to fly, scout and survive.
A few days ago, Mike Olinger posted a newspaper article about Jim that was made during the war. It is now located in the historical document section of the site. With all the editorials that have been posted on the Air Cav site, that article seemed to haunt me.
Voices from the past told me to post the story of a mission that he and I were involved in almost 20 years after our tour of duty in Vietnam was finished. I decided to do that as I think it is not only an honor to put this in writing for Jim but it is also a perfect fit for the posts that have been made about the Character of men. The following confession is the story of Jim Rohrer's continued service and Patriotism for the Country he loved so much.
One day, not long after Tim Jr and I moved back to Shreveport from 13 years of living in Alexandria, Louisiana, I found a letter in my mailbox. The envelope that arrived in the mail had the red, white and blue border that so many of us used for letters coming from Vietnam to the USA. It immediately caught my attention and was the first one I grabbed. The letter was Jim.
It came from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala where Jim was stationed. He'd been working there for the the Dept of Defense as a civilian. The letter contained a job offer to "Paint Cars". I wondered in the hell Jim was doing and what the car painting reference really meant.
I contacted Jim and found that his reference to car painting had a more sinister meaning. I guess I have to be a bit vague about it but will simply ask you to use your imagination when you consider what car painting really meant.
In short form, cars and trucks that belonged to certain individuals were "electronically marked from the air". It was done so to provide an "electronic signature" on top of the car that could be detected by any number of aerial surveillance assets as the vehicles moved around the country. Even though I had read articles about pilots spraying Paraquot (sp) on marijuana plants that were growing in Mexico and areas in South America, I had a sense that there were other bits of information missing. When Jim asked me to pick up a ticket at the Dallas airport and fly down to the Guatemala City, I knew something was missing.
I told him that I had continued to fly and had owned a Cessna 206 and a Piper Seneca II that I used to travel Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. I explained that the only helicopter flight I'd made was one between Alexandria and Little Rock in 1984 when I was test flying a Bell Jet Ranger for purchase.
He told me not to worry about my "ticket" and that we had plenty of time for recurrency training before the real work began. That's when the rest of the story began to unfold. As it turned out, I would be painting cars but I would also be involved in something that was far more intresting than that.
Many of you might remember when the democratically elected President Aristide of Haiti was overthrown by a military dictatorship run by Raoul Cedras. I may have mispelled the names as I'm recalling this from memory so you'll have to give me another mulligan for that one.
In any event, Cedras had caused a great deal of concern because of his socialist or communist thought processes. He was located too close to a Russian influenced Cuba, and to add insult to injury, Haiti, with the Domiincan Republic next door, was simply too close to the USA for comfort.
To further complicate the situation that unfolded from the overthrow of Aristide, some treaty or situation with Jamaica prevented us from conducting operations from there. As if that wasn't bad enough, Aristide had escaped death and run to the United States where he began his plea for help from the U.N. With that, and all the world wide attention that the story was gaining, the plot began to unfold.
Something had to be done and it was going to take covert operations to do it. The Russian Navy had a tremendous amount of assets in the area. The Atlantic Ocean, close to Cuba, and The Carribean, close to Haiti, was full of Russian subs.
I'm certain that satellite intel was only a part of the total picture of concern that reached beyond the fact that we knew the submarines were all over the place. There was no way in hell that we could get a fleet in there for an invasion without Cedras knowing all about it.
As it turned out, we were going to train in Guatemala for a month or so while negotiations were underway to return Aristide to Haiti. Most of that training would take place at a small dirt strip adjacent to Puerto Barrios which was a little spot close to the shores of the Carribean. If you look it up on the map, you may get a picture of what was about to unfold.
I'd never seen an OH6 with an in-flight refueling probe sticking out of the front of the helicopter and I never even knew those existed. You may well imagine the thoughts that ran through my head when I calculated the distance from Puerto Barrios and Haiti.
I'm running out of space here and I am forced to put a second page together to complete the story. Despite that, if you would, stop a moment and think about the kind of bravery that men like Jim possessed and connect that to the character that founded a commitment to his Country. I hate I have to make this a two part post but that's just the nature of the beast. I hope that breaking it up like that doesn't degrade the focus of honoring Jim's patriotism. I miss him alot.
More to come. Tim
. . .
His name was Jim Rohrer and he was my instructor pilot, hootch mate, mentor, card partner and friend. Jim died of cancer and fought that battle with the same bravery that he had for everything he fought for or against. In the ranks of the 11th Armored Cav, his name is legend.
If there ever was a pilot who had the "look", he was that pilot. He had a large, blonde handlebar mustache and when he was flying combat missions, he always wore a tan colored scarf around his neck just like the fighter pilots did in the First World War when the days of open cockpits were common place.
He was so well respected that he was chosen over all the men in the Air Cav Troop, to accompany Dan Combs home when Dan and Blick were shot down and killed in December of 1970.
When I was finished with my job of bringing the Nighthawk Gunship mission to the Huey Pilots in the Air Cav Troop, I transferred to the Scout Platoon to fly the Hughes OH 6. Jim was the instructor there and filled the assignment / slot of instructing Huey pilots in their transition to the Hughes. He not only instructed in the flying portion of the transition, he taught us how to fly, scout and survive.
A few days ago, Mike Olinger posted a newspaper article about Jim that was made during the war. It is now located in the historical document section of the site. With all the editorials that have been posted on the Air Cav site, that article seemed to haunt me.
Voices from the past told me to post the story of a mission that he and I were involved in almost 20 years after our tour of duty in Vietnam was finished. I decided to do that as I think it is not only an honor to put this in writing for Jim but it is also a perfect fit for the posts that have been made about the Character of men. The following confession is the story of Jim Rohrer's continued service and Patriotism for the Country he loved so much.
One day, not long after Tim Jr and I moved back to Shreveport from 13 years of living in Alexandria, Louisiana, I found a letter in my mailbox. The envelope that arrived in the mail had the red, white and blue border that so many of us used for letters coming from Vietnam to the USA. It immediately caught my attention and was the first one I grabbed. The letter was Jim.
It came from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala where Jim was stationed. He'd been working there for the the Dept of Defense as a civilian. The letter contained a job offer to "Paint Cars". I wondered in the hell Jim was doing and what the car painting reference really meant.
I contacted Jim and found that his reference to car painting had a more sinister meaning. I guess I have to be a bit vague about it but will simply ask you to use your imagination when you consider what car painting really meant.
In short form, cars and trucks that belonged to certain individuals were "electronically marked from the air". It was done so to provide an "electronic signature" on top of the car that could be detected by any number of aerial surveillance assets as the vehicles moved around the country. Even though I had read articles about pilots spraying Paraquot (sp) on marijuana plants that were growing in Mexico and areas in South America, I had a sense that there were other bits of information missing. When Jim asked me to pick up a ticket at the Dallas airport and fly down to the Guatemala City, I knew something was missing.
I told him that I had continued to fly and had owned a Cessna 206 and a Piper Seneca II that I used to travel Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. I explained that the only helicopter flight I'd made was one between Alexandria and Little Rock in 1984 when I was test flying a Bell Jet Ranger for purchase.
He told me not to worry about my "ticket" and that we had plenty of time for recurrency training before the real work began. That's when the rest of the story began to unfold. As it turned out, I would be painting cars but I would also be involved in something that was far more intresting than that.
Many of you might remember when the democratically elected President Aristide of Haiti was overthrown by a military dictatorship run by Raoul Cedras. I may have mispelled the names as I'm recalling this from memory so you'll have to give me another mulligan for that one.
In any event, Cedras had caused a great deal of concern because of his socialist or communist thought processes. He was located too close to a Russian influenced Cuba, and to add insult to injury, Haiti, with the Domiincan Republic next door, was simply too close to the USA for comfort.
To further complicate the situation that unfolded from the overthrow of Aristide, some treaty or situation with Jamaica prevented us from conducting operations from there. As if that wasn't bad enough, Aristide had escaped death and run to the United States where he began his plea for help from the U.N. With that, and all the world wide attention that the story was gaining, the plot began to unfold.
Something had to be done and it was going to take covert operations to do it. The Russian Navy had a tremendous amount of assets in the area. The Atlantic Ocean, close to Cuba, and The Carribean, close to Haiti, was full of Russian subs.
I'm certain that satellite intel was only a part of the total picture of concern that reached beyond the fact that we knew the submarines were all over the place. There was no way in hell that we could get a fleet in there for an invasion without Cedras knowing all about it.
As it turned out, we were going to train in Guatemala for a month or so while negotiations were underway to return Aristide to Haiti. Most of that training would take place at a small dirt strip adjacent to Puerto Barrios which was a little spot close to the shores of the Carribean. If you look it up on the map, you may get a picture of what was about to unfold.
I'd never seen an OH6 with an in-flight refueling probe sticking out of the front of the helicopter and I never even knew those existed. You may well imagine the thoughts that ran through my head when I calculated the distance from Puerto Barrios and Haiti.
I'm running out of space here and I am forced to put a second page together to complete the story. Despite that, if you would, stop a moment and think about the kind of bravery that men like Jim possessed and connect that to the character that founded a commitment to his Country. I hate I have to make this a two part post but that's just the nature of the beast. I hope that breaking it up like that doesn't degrade the focus of honoring Jim's patriotism. I miss him alot.
More to come. Tim
. . .
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Supporters, Detractors, Education, Ignorance and Stupidity
How's that for a title? "Supporters, Detractors, Education, Ignorance and Stupidity"!!!
I think it's most appropriate as I have recently received some comments from detractors who don't want to hear about the modern day threat from traitors which is clearly where this post will end up. I can't help what the past has delivered any more than I can help what's going on today. Despite that, sometimes people don't want to hear the evidence of things as it might violate their sense or belief in certain things.
I've also received notes from a very well educated historian who helps me with the accuracy of these ramblings. It's not like I'm doing this alone and I want you to know that I do have help with the details even if the help comes after I make the post.
Being somewhat discouraged by a couple of comments from the detractors, I almost decided to quit writing. Despite that, I had a very uplifting comment from my former mentor in flight school that has helped me to get off the "Quit" portion of my thought process and get back on track with the delivery of things that I feel are so important.
He told me that his daughter has been copying the posts and sharing them with her boss who seems to really appreciate the content and the opinion. He and she are not the only ones. It seems that there are many who want me to continue and I have decided to do exactly that.
I want to cover that part of the title that cites education, ignorance and stupidity before continuing with the main scope of things.
There's an old saying down here that goes like this: "There's a big difference between Education and Intelligence just as there is a big difference between ignorance and stupidity". I've used that saying many times before and almost always was successful in applying that kind of statement in specific circumstances.
Let's use Jane Fonda as an example. In today's day and time, where so much information is available at your fingertips, how could you possibly defend anything about Jane Fonda relative to her political activism or treason?
If you have not gained an education about Jane Fonda, you have, in a real sense, remained ignorant of the overwhelming volume of information about her.
All you have to do to cure the problems surrounding ignorance of anything, is to get an education about it. If you don't, and you rock solidly defend her, you are simply stupid.
What's that other saying? "Ugly is only skin deep but stupid goes all the way to the bone". Yeah, that's it.
In any event, my big brother keeps me out of trouble here and I value his suggestions to stay within the lines.........so to speak. I also value Mark's comments because he prevents me from putting out things that are inaccurate. Examples of Bernie's daughter copying the blog and sharing the posts with her boss, is also something of great value to me. With all those things in mind, I have decided to do one of those side step things and place a different editorial in place instead of continuing with the traitor posts.
I will get back to the posts regarding traitors but before I do that, I want to tell a story about a covert operation that I was privy to many years ago. It has to do with traitors but not traitors within our borders. This one came from Haiti and his name was Raoul Cedras.
Before I get into the post, I would ask that you keep an open mind about it, take a quick look at the map of Guatemala, Puerto Barrios, the Caribbean, Jamaica and Haiti. For the sake of understanding, I would ask you to look inside the map of Haiti, find the capital, the airport and a small town named Jeremie that's on the coast closest to Cuba.
I'll be back soon but I have to talk to one of my counselors at the hospital tomorrow before I continue with it. I just want to make sure that the Doc thinks it's okay to post it before I get into the entire story. Thanks to Dew, Bernie, Bernie's daughter, Curt, Mark, Leland and all those who have made comments regarding the blog. I appreciate it.
Tim
.
I think it's most appropriate as I have recently received some comments from detractors who don't want to hear about the modern day threat from traitors which is clearly where this post will end up. I can't help what the past has delivered any more than I can help what's going on today. Despite that, sometimes people don't want to hear the evidence of things as it might violate their sense or belief in certain things.
I've also received notes from a very well educated historian who helps me with the accuracy of these ramblings. It's not like I'm doing this alone and I want you to know that I do have help with the details even if the help comes after I make the post.
Being somewhat discouraged by a couple of comments from the detractors, I almost decided to quit writing. Despite that, I had a very uplifting comment from my former mentor in flight school that has helped me to get off the "Quit" portion of my thought process and get back on track with the delivery of things that I feel are so important.
He told me that his daughter has been copying the posts and sharing them with her boss who seems to really appreciate the content and the opinion. He and she are not the only ones. It seems that there are many who want me to continue and I have decided to do exactly that.
I want to cover that part of the title that cites education, ignorance and stupidity before continuing with the main scope of things.
There's an old saying down here that goes like this: "There's a big difference between Education and Intelligence just as there is a big difference between ignorance and stupidity". I've used that saying many times before and almost always was successful in applying that kind of statement in specific circumstances.
Let's use Jane Fonda as an example. In today's day and time, where so much information is available at your fingertips, how could you possibly defend anything about Jane Fonda relative to her political activism or treason?
If you have not gained an education about Jane Fonda, you have, in a real sense, remained ignorant of the overwhelming volume of information about her.
All you have to do to cure the problems surrounding ignorance of anything, is to get an education about it. If you don't, and you rock solidly defend her, you are simply stupid.
What's that other saying? "Ugly is only skin deep but stupid goes all the way to the bone". Yeah, that's it.
In any event, my big brother keeps me out of trouble here and I value his suggestions to stay within the lines.........so to speak. I also value Mark's comments because he prevents me from putting out things that are inaccurate. Examples of Bernie's daughter copying the blog and sharing the posts with her boss, is also something of great value to me. With all those things in mind, I have decided to do one of those side step things and place a different editorial in place instead of continuing with the traitor posts.
I will get back to the posts regarding traitors but before I do that, I want to tell a story about a covert operation that I was privy to many years ago. It has to do with traitors but not traitors within our borders. This one came from Haiti and his name was Raoul Cedras.
Before I get into the post, I would ask that you keep an open mind about it, take a quick look at the map of Guatemala, Puerto Barrios, the Caribbean, Jamaica and Haiti. For the sake of understanding, I would ask you to look inside the map of Haiti, find the capital, the airport and a small town named Jeremie that's on the coast closest to Cuba.
I'll be back soon but I have to talk to one of my counselors at the hospital tomorrow before I continue with it. I just want to make sure that the Doc thinks it's okay to post it before I get into the entire story. Thanks to Dew, Bernie, Bernie's daughter, Curt, Mark, Leland and all those who have made comments regarding the blog. I appreciate it.
Tim
.
Corrections and Thanks to Mark
I made an error in the last post and thanks to repeated historical help from Mark, I am now making the correction here.
Hamilton was not the President. He was heavily involved in political matters and that involvement was the thing that brought Burr and Hamilton to odds with each other.
My original intent with this post surrounded the many traitors we've had to deal with since our beginning. The stimulant that brought all that to the surface came from an editorial that focused on Draft Dodgers and how that action was deemed by many to be the act of a coward or a traitor.
As detailed as historical comments need to be, I'm probably over my head here and should communicate these thoughts directly to those on my email list rather than putting it out on the net.
The amount of medication that I have to take for the brain swelling and other things, have side effects that make it difficult for me to accomplish these things with a clear head. Whether you describe the side effects as being woozy, knocked out, stoned, drunk or in Lah Lah Land, I think you get the idea. It's just tough to do.
Thanks again to Mark and apologies for the error.
Tim
Hamilton was not the President. He was heavily involved in political matters and that involvement was the thing that brought Burr and Hamilton to odds with each other.
My original intent with this post surrounded the many traitors we've had to deal with since our beginning. The stimulant that brought all that to the surface came from an editorial that focused on Draft Dodgers and how that action was deemed by many to be the act of a coward or a traitor.
As detailed as historical comments need to be, I'm probably over my head here and should communicate these thoughts directly to those on my email list rather than putting it out on the net.
The amount of medication that I have to take for the brain swelling and other things, have side effects that make it difficult for me to accomplish these things with a clear head. Whether you describe the side effects as being woozy, knocked out, stoned, drunk or in Lah Lah Land, I think you get the idea. It's just tough to do.
Thanks again to Mark and apologies for the error.
Tim
Monday, July 16, 2012
Washington to Roosevelt? I don't think so.
Initially, I thought that I could make a quick point about Character and Leadership by pointing out a few things about the problems our founding fathers had with traitors. I thought that Washington's great and good character would be an excellent place to start as he had traitors to deal with during his time of leadership.
Seemed like Benedict Arnold was a great example of that so I used him as the first victim of my editorial. When I found him to be listed as #1 on the top ten list of American traitors, I felt pretty good about that choice.
Moving on, I began thinking about the time frames that would best suit my purpose and the goal of this editorial so I decided to jump forward to Teddy Roosevelt. I reviewed all kinds of things about the Rough Riders, Speak Softly But Carry A Big Stick, the Panama Canal, our industrial complex, labor, employment, his love of the environment and a few other things.
Just before I was ready to post my findings, I decided to make one more review of history so I hit the ole google button and pulled up a list of all the Presidents and Vice Presidents that served from day one until now. That's when I found Aaron Burr.
I remembered his name but couldn't attach anything specific or traitorous to his legacy. I simply forgot about him and concluded that my memory loss was the reason I decided to jump from Washington to Roosevelt. As it all unfolded, I read the accounts of his life in politics and his place as the Vice President of the United States. I also read about the day he killed Alexander Hamilton in an old fashion duel that took place in 1804. Did I forget to mention that Hamilton was the President of the United States? Oh well. More research.
In any event, I began to think of the time frame that began with the first Continental Congress and Aaron Burr's duel with Hamilton. It was only 30 years. Most of us have kids older than that and from that perspective, I concluded that it was a very short period of time. Seems to me that knowing this would allow one to logically conclude that we had a ton of guys with poor character messing with men of good character during the early days of the United States.
Not wanting to get too far off topic, I decided to do a more thorough study of traitors with the hopes that I might find a shorter route to the main point I wanted to make about "Character" and how that effects us today. If you will remember, all of this began from a focus on the Character of Draft Dodgers and how that demonstration of dis-loyalty or cowardice, still exists in our population.
It seems that we've had a ton of bad people around us from the very first days of our attempts to reach some degree of self determination. Lots of bad people trying to undo that then and apparently, trying to do that now. In the words of my friends Curt Lambert and Bill Reinhardt: "My God, it's a book".
In any event, I think that it's very important that we all take a refresher course in the sacrifices that have been made to keep the United States free from oppression, free from occupation by other Nations and free to operate within the concepts of "One Nation Under God". More than anything, this goal was the inspiration for me to skip from George Washington to Teddy Roosevelt because he was so clear and specific about the things necessary for us to stay on that course.
As time would have it, I have to try and accomplish that in smaller steps because it's pretty difficult to be stoned on meds and keep a focus on keeping the post simple and easy to understand. It's pretty difficult to do that when there were so many traitors out there trying to UNDO everything we were trying TO DO.
With that in mind, I hope you will understand why I'm not able to hit the point in time I wanted to in a very short series of posts. It just ain't that simple. Go to google and type in "The Top 10 American Traitors" and you will see what I mean. For whatever it's worth, Aaron Burr was number 1 and Jane Fonda was number 10. Despite that, there are lots of others in between those two and oddly, no one mentioned after that time.
I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway so that those who are helping me can assist with information here that may be off the mark. The key word here is Mark. He's one of the guys from the Cav that is helping with the informational edit. Hell, it may not have been Alexander Hamilton that Aaron Burr killed, but even if it isn't, two things will happen. Mark will find it, I will correct anything that needs correcting and you will eventually get the point about Character..........both good and bad.
This is the part about historical editorials that are so tough. They have to be accurate and SHOULD be written by someone better able to deliver that accuracy than me.
Seemed like Benedict Arnold was a great example of that so I used him as the first victim of my editorial. When I found him to be listed as #1 on the top ten list of American traitors, I felt pretty good about that choice.
Moving on, I began thinking about the time frames that would best suit my purpose and the goal of this editorial so I decided to jump forward to Teddy Roosevelt. I reviewed all kinds of things about the Rough Riders, Speak Softly But Carry A Big Stick, the Panama Canal, our industrial complex, labor, employment, his love of the environment and a few other things.
Just before I was ready to post my findings, I decided to make one more review of history so I hit the ole google button and pulled up a list of all the Presidents and Vice Presidents that served from day one until now. That's when I found Aaron Burr.
I remembered his name but couldn't attach anything specific or traitorous to his legacy. I simply forgot about him and concluded that my memory loss was the reason I decided to jump from Washington to Roosevelt. As it all unfolded, I read the accounts of his life in politics and his place as the Vice President of the United States. I also read about the day he killed Alexander Hamilton in an old fashion duel that took place in 1804. Did I forget to mention that Hamilton was the President of the United States? Oh well. More research.
In any event, I began to think of the time frame that began with the first Continental Congress and Aaron Burr's duel with Hamilton. It was only 30 years. Most of us have kids older than that and from that perspective, I concluded that it was a very short period of time. Seems to me that knowing this would allow one to logically conclude that we had a ton of guys with poor character messing with men of good character during the early days of the United States.
Not wanting to get too far off topic, I decided to do a more thorough study of traitors with the hopes that I might find a shorter route to the main point I wanted to make about "Character" and how that effects us today. If you will remember, all of this began from a focus on the Character of Draft Dodgers and how that demonstration of dis-loyalty or cowardice, still exists in our population.
It seems that we've had a ton of bad people around us from the very first days of our attempts to reach some degree of self determination. Lots of bad people trying to undo that then and apparently, trying to do that now. In the words of my friends Curt Lambert and Bill Reinhardt: "My God, it's a book".
In any event, I think that it's very important that we all take a refresher course in the sacrifices that have been made to keep the United States free from oppression, free from occupation by other Nations and free to operate within the concepts of "One Nation Under God". More than anything, this goal was the inspiration for me to skip from George Washington to Teddy Roosevelt because he was so clear and specific about the things necessary for us to stay on that course.
As time would have it, I have to try and accomplish that in smaller steps because it's pretty difficult to be stoned on meds and keep a focus on keeping the post simple and easy to understand. It's pretty difficult to do that when there were so many traitors out there trying to UNDO everything we were trying TO DO.
With that in mind, I hope you will understand why I'm not able to hit the point in time I wanted to in a very short series of posts. It just ain't that simple. Go to google and type in "The Top 10 American Traitors" and you will see what I mean. For whatever it's worth, Aaron Burr was number 1 and Jane Fonda was number 10. Despite that, there are lots of others in between those two and oddly, no one mentioned after that time.
I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway so that those who are helping me can assist with information here that may be off the mark. The key word here is Mark. He's one of the guys from the Cav that is helping with the informational edit. Hell, it may not have been Alexander Hamilton that Aaron Burr killed, but even if it isn't, two things will happen. Mark will find it, I will correct anything that needs correcting and you will eventually get the point about Character..........both good and bad.
This is the part about historical editorials that are so tough. They have to be accurate and SHOULD be written by someone better able to deliver that accuracy than me.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Character and the Foundation of Our Country
It seems that most of us think of George Washington when we consider the beginning stages of the foundation that was built for us to have our freedoms, our own Country. Stories unfold regarding the men, the weather and the lack of logistical support that found so many men without boots or even food in the middle of winter. Those were only part of the sacrifices that were overcome through the good character of men.
Of all the men that took part in those tough times, one in particular, brings about a strange consideration. Initially, he was described as the hero of Saratoga. As a result of that, he earned respect and admiration among the commanders of the Continental Army and he was almost always called for his opinion when strategies for upcoming battles were discussed.
Oddly enough, that man was Benedict Arnold, one of the most notorious traitors in American history. Whether you call him a traitor or a turncoat, his actions typify the point that has to be made about Character. I say that to point out the falsehood and deception that existed when he first came on the scene and how that so radically differed from the realities of who he was.
I can well imagine the shock, in the ranks our men, that came when he joined the British and we discovered that he was a traitor with the worst kind of character. It was clear, when he turned over the plans of the Fort located at West Point, that he was not only a traitor but a traitor who had a specific goal to crush the newly hoped for freedoms of the patriots who were dying for the Continental Army in their pursuit of a United States.
Not only did he have that goal, he was more than willing to participate in the specifics that would bring about the death of Americans who were fighting for their Independence. I suppose that we were lucky to not have more of his type during that stage of our history but despite that, despite the damage he did, we managed to overcome that kind of treachery.
I can't help but think about more modern times and how Jane Fonda played into the role of traitor during our lifetime. Even though she didn't turn over any plans of fortifications or layouts of our fire bases, she did play an important role in the public opinion war that was being waged by our enemy. About that, there is no doubt.
Unfortunately, history has shown that it's clear that there are always people of poor character among us and that the old adage "Be Ever Vigilant" was made for a very good reason.
For no other reason than establishing a point about Character and how careful we must be before we assume that someone has good character, we have rock solid evidence to support claims that sometimes a traitor's best weapon is hidden beneath an appearance of good character,
Before I move on to the leaders we had in the late 1800's, I wanted to mention these things so that the readers would NOT be complacent about this article and assume that I'm on a horn tooting trip to recognize and honor the men that have led us along the way. That's not what this article is about.
I'm not here to entertain, I'm here to share information and present evidence. You may take it any way you wish, you may like it or hate it, but in any event, please try to keep an open mind as there are other tales of this as our history unfolded.
I'm going to move on to Teddy Roosevelt in a short period of time but I just wanted to get this much of it started before I fall off this chair. If you will just hang in there, I will get it done and there is a point here. Thanks for your patience. Tim.
Of all the men that took part in those tough times, one in particular, brings about a strange consideration. Initially, he was described as the hero of Saratoga. As a result of that, he earned respect and admiration among the commanders of the Continental Army and he was almost always called for his opinion when strategies for upcoming battles were discussed.
Oddly enough, that man was Benedict Arnold, one of the most notorious traitors in American history. Whether you call him a traitor or a turncoat, his actions typify the point that has to be made about Character. I say that to point out the falsehood and deception that existed when he first came on the scene and how that so radically differed from the realities of who he was.
I can well imagine the shock, in the ranks our men, that came when he joined the British and we discovered that he was a traitor with the worst kind of character. It was clear, when he turned over the plans of the Fort located at West Point, that he was not only a traitor but a traitor who had a specific goal to crush the newly hoped for freedoms of the patriots who were dying for the Continental Army in their pursuit of a United States.
Not only did he have that goal, he was more than willing to participate in the specifics that would bring about the death of Americans who were fighting for their Independence. I suppose that we were lucky to not have more of his type during that stage of our history but despite that, despite the damage he did, we managed to overcome that kind of treachery.
I can't help but think about more modern times and how Jane Fonda played into the role of traitor during our lifetime. Even though she didn't turn over any plans of fortifications or layouts of our fire bases, she did play an important role in the public opinion war that was being waged by our enemy. About that, there is no doubt.
Unfortunately, history has shown that it's clear that there are always people of poor character among us and that the old adage "Be Ever Vigilant" was made for a very good reason.
For no other reason than establishing a point about Character and how careful we must be before we assume that someone has good character, we have rock solid evidence to support claims that sometimes a traitor's best weapon is hidden beneath an appearance of good character,
Before I move on to the leaders we had in the late 1800's, I wanted to mention these things so that the readers would NOT be complacent about this article and assume that I'm on a horn tooting trip to recognize and honor the men that have led us along the way. That's not what this article is about.
I'm not here to entertain, I'm here to share information and present evidence. You may take it any way you wish, you may like it or hate it, but in any event, please try to keep an open mind as there are other tales of this as our history unfolded.
I'm going to move on to Teddy Roosevelt in a short period of time but I just wanted to get this much of it started before I fall off this chair. If you will just hang in there, I will get it done and there is a point here. Thanks for your patience. Tim.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Price of Participation
Most recently, I've been heavily involved in a series of editorials that began with a focus on Draft Dodgers who evaded service during the Vietnam War.
The comments have been all over the place but generally speaking, they all agreed on one thing. That agreement surrounded and focused on the concept of "Character". Whether you agree or not, there can not be much doubt about the reality of a final decision to run and hide instead of answering a call to arms from your Country.
Any way you look at it, the end result was specific and easy to identify. They left the United States to avoid the draft. Even though amnesty was eventually granted, amnesty only protected them from prosecution. It did not remove the decision they knowingly made "not" to support their Country when the call to arms came.
Big Brother joined and served his tour of duty in Vietnam with the Marine Corp. I was drafted but got with the program and ended up flying helicopters as a Warrant Officer in the US Army.
Mark, one of the editorial contributors who also served as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war, introduced facts about a Conscientious Objector (CO) that was right on the money. The CO was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service as a medic. The point Mark wanted to make about this man surrounded his objection to killing another human being but, in spite of that, he made a choice to serve his Country in another area of support. He served despite his objection and he decided to do so instead of deciding to run and hide in Canada.
This disclosure brought up the subject of "Character". There were a number of statements made about character building and how important that is to leadership.
As the editorials continued to come in, more and more points were made regarding the difference in character between those that chose to serve and those who ran away. I found it very interesting to see so many Veterans deliver such a wide and varied opinion about something that was so sensitive to most Vietnam Vets. Once again, Big Brother's influences surfaced.
Not long ago, he and I had a discussion about the Vietnamese who had come to the United States after the war ended. During those discussions, I told him about a loan application I made to the SBA for a loan to fund inventory purchases for a fledgling industrial supply company I owned at the time.
When the loan was rejected by the local SBA authority, I was told it was due to funds that were already committed for use to purchase fishing boats for the Vietnamese Boat People. This effected me for years and set forth an attitude on my part that have never changed much. I simply could not accept that they could have a priority over any Vietnam Veteran. I still don't agree with the use of our taxes in certain areas and in fact, believe that we should have a larger influence in matters of this kind.
In any event, Leland and I both agreed that neither of us harbor any hate or even resentment for the Vietnamese Boat People. Tim Jr even threw in on that one as he worked with a wonderful Vietnamese woman at a restaurant in Baton Rouge when he was at LSU. She was from Nha Be, an area where many of my 11th Cav and 199th buddies had flown over and done recon work for. It's just on the south side of Saigon and used to be a Japanese Navy base and airfield that was used during the Second World War.
Having established that there wasn't a prejudicial bone in our bodies or in the hearts of most of the guys I flew and served with, we concluded that character is a very important part of the quality of citizens in our Country. With that, the editorial continued.
I began to research the character of men who proved to be such fine leaders of our Country. I began with George Washington and the American Revolution and moved forward. Some quotations of note surfaced during the research phase of that and many great quotes were listed. "Walk softly but carry a big stick" came from Teddy Roosevelt. I researched it and found that it was directed toward the Monroe Doctrine.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself" came from FDR during the Second World War and, as the quotes continued to surface, I found "Ask not what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country".
In any event, over time, we've had some really great leaders who possessed really good character.
Having said all of this, I want you to know that I decided to continue with the research and submit character examples to the web site of the Air Cav Troop where all this began. As I moved along and received a number of personal emails wondering if I was okay or wondering why it had been so long since I posted my comments here, I decided to continue with the comments on this blog and simply ask Curt to copy the comments and post them on my behalf to the Air Cav Troop site. Let's just say that I'm either too stupid or too lazy to do the copy and paste maneuver and do it myself. Sticking to this thought process at least allows them to edit my thoughts before not after, it is posted on the Cav site.
Please let me know if you are interested in me doing this here instead of remaining off the Church of What's Happenin' Now and focusing more on the Air Cav Troop site. Thanks. Tim
The comments have been all over the place but generally speaking, they all agreed on one thing. That agreement surrounded and focused on the concept of "Character". Whether you agree or not, there can not be much doubt about the reality of a final decision to run and hide instead of answering a call to arms from your Country.
Any way you look at it, the end result was specific and easy to identify. They left the United States to avoid the draft. Even though amnesty was eventually granted, amnesty only protected them from prosecution. It did not remove the decision they knowingly made "not" to support their Country when the call to arms came.
Big Brother joined and served his tour of duty in Vietnam with the Marine Corp. I was drafted but got with the program and ended up flying helicopters as a Warrant Officer in the US Army.
Mark, one of the editorial contributors who also served as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war, introduced facts about a Conscientious Objector (CO) that was right on the money. The CO was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service as a medic. The point Mark wanted to make about this man surrounded his objection to killing another human being but, in spite of that, he made a choice to serve his Country in another area of support. He served despite his objection and he decided to do so instead of deciding to run and hide in Canada.
This disclosure brought up the subject of "Character". There were a number of statements made about character building and how important that is to leadership.
As the editorials continued to come in, more and more points were made regarding the difference in character between those that chose to serve and those who ran away. I found it very interesting to see so many Veterans deliver such a wide and varied opinion about something that was so sensitive to most Vietnam Vets. Once again, Big Brother's influences surfaced.
Not long ago, he and I had a discussion about the Vietnamese who had come to the United States after the war ended. During those discussions, I told him about a loan application I made to the SBA for a loan to fund inventory purchases for a fledgling industrial supply company I owned at the time.
When the loan was rejected by the local SBA authority, I was told it was due to funds that were already committed for use to purchase fishing boats for the Vietnamese Boat People. This effected me for years and set forth an attitude on my part that have never changed much. I simply could not accept that they could have a priority over any Vietnam Veteran. I still don't agree with the use of our taxes in certain areas and in fact, believe that we should have a larger influence in matters of this kind.
In any event, Leland and I both agreed that neither of us harbor any hate or even resentment for the Vietnamese Boat People. Tim Jr even threw in on that one as he worked with a wonderful Vietnamese woman at a restaurant in Baton Rouge when he was at LSU. She was from Nha Be, an area where many of my 11th Cav and 199th buddies had flown over and done recon work for. It's just on the south side of Saigon and used to be a Japanese Navy base and airfield that was used during the Second World War.
Having established that there wasn't a prejudicial bone in our bodies or in the hearts of most of the guys I flew and served with, we concluded that character is a very important part of the quality of citizens in our Country. With that, the editorial continued.
I began to research the character of men who proved to be such fine leaders of our Country. I began with George Washington and the American Revolution and moved forward. Some quotations of note surfaced during the research phase of that and many great quotes were listed. "Walk softly but carry a big stick" came from Teddy Roosevelt. I researched it and found that it was directed toward the Monroe Doctrine.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself" came from FDR during the Second World War and, as the quotes continued to surface, I found "Ask not what your Country can do for you, ask what you can do for your Country".
In any event, over time, we've had some really great leaders who possessed really good character.
Having said all of this, I want you to know that I decided to continue with the research and submit character examples to the web site of the Air Cav Troop where all this began. As I moved along and received a number of personal emails wondering if I was okay or wondering why it had been so long since I posted my comments here, I decided to continue with the comments on this blog and simply ask Curt to copy the comments and post them on my behalf to the Air Cav Troop site. Let's just say that I'm either too stupid or too lazy to do the copy and paste maneuver and do it myself. Sticking to this thought process at least allows them to edit my thoughts before not after, it is posted on the Cav site.
Please let me know if you are interested in me doing this here instead of remaining off the Church of What's Happenin' Now and focusing more on the Air Cav Troop site. Thanks. Tim
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
I've been tied up with history
It's been a week or so since I've been here but it's not because I've been sick or anything like that. I've been really busy working on historical things and editorials for the 11th Cav / Air Cav Troop site. You may want to google that and see some interesting stuff from all the guys that flew helicotpers and served as infantrymen in Vietnam. Real interesting stuff there.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
July 4, 1970, Me and Wollman
I was scheduled to fly as co pilot for Craig Wollman on July 4, 1970. I didn't know it at the time but it would be a day that would live in my head forever and totally change my thoughts of July 4th. We would be flying the Command and Control ship for the Commanding Officer of the 199th that day, a mission that was always referred to as C&C.
The Colonel's Huey had a huge radio in the back that we referred to as "a scrambler". It was so heavy that we normally didn't carry much in the way of weapon systems. It was too big and took up so much room we simply didn't have the room for anything else.
We had the standard M 60's that were crew served by the gunner and crew chief but for the most part, that was it. No mini guns, no 50 caliber machine guns, just a pair of 60's plus 38's and 45's that were personal fire arms typically carried by all pilots.
As we were hanging around, waiting for orders to fly, I remembered hearing the order to "scramble".
We ran to the Huey, took off the air inlet covers, the rotor blade tie down strap, pitot tube cover and, as we were putting on our helmets and bullet proof vests, I saw the Colonel coming out of the TOC and running toward the Huey.
Wollman always had the ship preflighted and had the cockpit start up procedures already partially completed so we only had to hit the battery switch and start the engine. There was no long list of checking things such as "circuit breakers IN, radios OFF, anti collision light OFF and a number of other steps such as altimeter settings and Non Essential Buss in the Normal On position.
He'd already done all that and getting up and on the way was something he could do in a very short amount of time. This would be one of those days that Wollman's experience and Diable's attention to detail lessons proved to be worth their weight in gold when a large battle was underway and men's lives depended on us getting there asap.
One of our convoys had been ambushed and there was a huge ground battle going on between the NVA/VC and our guys. The ambush site wasn't far from Xuan Loc where we were on stand by. It only took a few minutes to reach the battle as it had occurred on the road that went by Fire Support Base "Mace" and wasn't far from our duty station.
Wollman would do all the flying that day and I would do none at all. As a result of that, I had more opportunities to observe the battle than usual. I was doing the cross checks of the instrument panel and reporting to Wollman that everything was in the green.
Both of us were given orders by the Colonel to stay on the west side of the road and told that there were gunships already in the area and already supporting the ground troops. In a matter of minutes, we saw other helicopters in the area and new that the battle was really close to our base.
We weren't going to be airborne very long but we had no way of knowing that. Generally, as I've written before, Wollman would follow the Colonel's orders to take up station at a specific point above and to the side of the battle so he could direct air support or artillery fire while keeping us from being hit by any of the incoming artillery shells.
As was typical for the Colonel, once we arrived at the scene of the ambush and he'd checked the map to determined the artillery lines of fire, he ordered Wollman to take up a holding position west of the road making north to south passes.
This put me in a position where, on the first pass we made over the fire fight, I could look out the cockpit window on the right side of the Huey, see the convoy stopped on the road, the tracers from out guys going into the area where the enemy was and the green tracers coming back toward them from the NVA. It also put me in a position to see a Cobra gunship preparing to make a rocket run on the target area where all the fire was coming from.
Wollman made a turn south but stayed on the west side of the road. I was now on the opposite side of the Huey and couldn't see as well as I could when we made northward passes. When we reached the southern end of our holding pattern, Wollman put us in a 180 degree turn and, as we passed through 090 degrees magnetic, he began to roll out and fly another northward pass.
When we were leveled out and heading north, I saw the Cobra begin it's rocket run. You have to remember that we were on the west side of the road just above and to the side of the ambush and the Cobra was on the east side of the road just beginning to dive on the target. He was right outside my window and I could clearly see the whole thing unfold.
To help illustrate that, try to picture yourself being on one side of an Interstate Highway watching a firefight on the other side of the Interstate. When you do that, try to picture yourself being 1,500' to 2,500 feet above that looking downward. That should give you an idea of the position I was in at the time.
I still had my co pilot duties and couldn't simply keep my eyes out of the cockpit and not pay attention to the instrument panel. A cross check of exhaust gas temperature, torque meter readings, turbine speed (N1), fuel gauge, altimeter and other checks didn't take long but it did take some time away from the direct eye contact I was having on the battle. It only took a second to miss the direct hit on the Cobra but I missed the exact instant the AA hit the gunship.
You can do the math and figure out how much distance a Cobra gunship can cover when they are flying at max speed in a dive. I recall it as being 190 knots which is roughly 16,000 feet per minute or 300' per second. I'm sure that's close or at least somewhat in the ball park. In any event, taking your eyes off the Cobra and making a cross check of the instrument panel will allow the Cobra to lose 1,600' feet of altitude in the blink of an eye.
As I finished my instrument check and re-established my vision of the firefight and the Cobra's gun run, I saw the largest fireball I had ever seen as the Cobra hit the ground and exploded. It was huge.
I had no idea how many of the rockets were still in their tubes when the ship hit the ground. It could have been as many as 38 high explosive warheads going off simultaneously. I also didn't know how much fuel was on board but it could have easily been 1,000 pounds of JP 4 jet fuel.
The fireball was very similar to the pictures most of us have seen when the magazine blew up on one of the ships that was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor. IF you stop a second and think about all the shots you've seen from documentaries presented about December 7th, 1941, try to imagine what it's like when it's not in black and white but in color.
Try also to picture what it might be like if you can hear it, see the red and yellow column of fire rising hundreds of feet in the air and all that happening while you watch the trees move with the incredible force of concussion that's moving at roughly 700' per second.
Add to that, the noise of the blast that hits your helicopter roughly 2 or 3 seconds after the ship crashed. It's a most frightful site and one that would forever be etched in your mind and impossible to erase.
I saw other crashes during my tour of duty but nothing would ever come close to this one. I've tried to explain the effects of things like this before and can only say that "Shock, fear, rage, adrenaline and vengeance" is the most powerful group of emotions that a human can simultaneously experience and that's why I still have these memories.
Wollman and I were both shocked to hear the order that came from the Colonel that said: "Let's get out of here". Even though we later knew that he was right when he gave the order, we were young warriors and automatically wanted to go on the attack. I had only been in Vietnam six weeks when that battle unfolded but I already had the heart of a gunship pilot and simply wanted to roll in and deliver the pay back.
Had we been in Wollman's Nighthawk ship, you can bet your ass that we would have been putting bullet holes in every square inch of the target area unless they'd managed to kill us, too. Despite that, our job was clear and the most important thing of all was supporting the ground troops, something we could not have done if we'd been shot down.
I don't know if Colonel Collins already knew that the other Commanding Officer from the 3rd of the 17th was on station but I do know that the Cobra wasn't from our unit and since we were the closest to the battle when it started, it's reasonable to conclude that it wasn't his primary job as the Commanding Officer of the ground troops and that he was only there to command the operation until the unit's commander arrived.
In any event, every year for 43 years, I go through this on July 4th and wanted ya'll to know that July 4th has different meanings to different people. These are part of mine. Thanks again to Craig Wollman.
Tim
The Colonel's Huey had a huge radio in the back that we referred to as "a scrambler". It was so heavy that we normally didn't carry much in the way of weapon systems. It was too big and took up so much room we simply didn't have the room for anything else.
We had the standard M 60's that were crew served by the gunner and crew chief but for the most part, that was it. No mini guns, no 50 caliber machine guns, just a pair of 60's plus 38's and 45's that were personal fire arms typically carried by all pilots.
As we were hanging around, waiting for orders to fly, I remembered hearing the order to "scramble".
We ran to the Huey, took off the air inlet covers, the rotor blade tie down strap, pitot tube cover and, as we were putting on our helmets and bullet proof vests, I saw the Colonel coming out of the TOC and running toward the Huey.
Wollman always had the ship preflighted and had the cockpit start up procedures already partially completed so we only had to hit the battery switch and start the engine. There was no long list of checking things such as "circuit breakers IN, radios OFF, anti collision light OFF and a number of other steps such as altimeter settings and Non Essential Buss in the Normal On position.
He'd already done all that and getting up and on the way was something he could do in a very short amount of time. This would be one of those days that Wollman's experience and Diable's attention to detail lessons proved to be worth their weight in gold when a large battle was underway and men's lives depended on us getting there asap.
One of our convoys had been ambushed and there was a huge ground battle going on between the NVA/VC and our guys. The ambush site wasn't far from Xuan Loc where we were on stand by. It only took a few minutes to reach the battle as it had occurred on the road that went by Fire Support Base "Mace" and wasn't far from our duty station.
Wollman would do all the flying that day and I would do none at all. As a result of that, I had more opportunities to observe the battle than usual. I was doing the cross checks of the instrument panel and reporting to Wollman that everything was in the green.
Both of us were given orders by the Colonel to stay on the west side of the road and told that there were gunships already in the area and already supporting the ground troops. In a matter of minutes, we saw other helicopters in the area and new that the battle was really close to our base.
We weren't going to be airborne very long but we had no way of knowing that. Generally, as I've written before, Wollman would follow the Colonel's orders to take up station at a specific point above and to the side of the battle so he could direct air support or artillery fire while keeping us from being hit by any of the incoming artillery shells.
As was typical for the Colonel, once we arrived at the scene of the ambush and he'd checked the map to determined the artillery lines of fire, he ordered Wollman to take up a holding position west of the road making north to south passes.
This put me in a position where, on the first pass we made over the fire fight, I could look out the cockpit window on the right side of the Huey, see the convoy stopped on the road, the tracers from out guys going into the area where the enemy was and the green tracers coming back toward them from the NVA. It also put me in a position to see a Cobra gunship preparing to make a rocket run on the target area where all the fire was coming from.
Wollman made a turn south but stayed on the west side of the road. I was now on the opposite side of the Huey and couldn't see as well as I could when we made northward passes. When we reached the southern end of our holding pattern, Wollman put us in a 180 degree turn and, as we passed through 090 degrees magnetic, he began to roll out and fly another northward pass.
When we were leveled out and heading north, I saw the Cobra begin it's rocket run. You have to remember that we were on the west side of the road just above and to the side of the ambush and the Cobra was on the east side of the road just beginning to dive on the target. He was right outside my window and I could clearly see the whole thing unfold.
To help illustrate that, try to picture yourself being on one side of an Interstate Highway watching a firefight on the other side of the Interstate. When you do that, try to picture yourself being 1,500' to 2,500 feet above that looking downward. That should give you an idea of the position I was in at the time.
I still had my co pilot duties and couldn't simply keep my eyes out of the cockpit and not pay attention to the instrument panel. A cross check of exhaust gas temperature, torque meter readings, turbine speed (N1), fuel gauge, altimeter and other checks didn't take long but it did take some time away from the direct eye contact I was having on the battle. It only took a second to miss the direct hit on the Cobra but I missed the exact instant the AA hit the gunship.
You can do the math and figure out how much distance a Cobra gunship can cover when they are flying at max speed in a dive. I recall it as being 190 knots which is roughly 16,000 feet per minute or 300' per second. I'm sure that's close or at least somewhat in the ball park. In any event, taking your eyes off the Cobra and making a cross check of the instrument panel will allow the Cobra to lose 1,600' feet of altitude in the blink of an eye.
As I finished my instrument check and re-established my vision of the firefight and the Cobra's gun run, I saw the largest fireball I had ever seen as the Cobra hit the ground and exploded. It was huge.
I had no idea how many of the rockets were still in their tubes when the ship hit the ground. It could have been as many as 38 high explosive warheads going off simultaneously. I also didn't know how much fuel was on board but it could have easily been 1,000 pounds of JP 4 jet fuel.
The fireball was very similar to the pictures most of us have seen when the magazine blew up on one of the ships that was hit during the attack on Pearl Harbor. IF you stop a second and think about all the shots you've seen from documentaries presented about December 7th, 1941, try to imagine what it's like when it's not in black and white but in color.
Try also to picture what it might be like if you can hear it, see the red and yellow column of fire rising hundreds of feet in the air and all that happening while you watch the trees move with the incredible force of concussion that's moving at roughly 700' per second.
Add to that, the noise of the blast that hits your helicopter roughly 2 or 3 seconds after the ship crashed. It's a most frightful site and one that would forever be etched in your mind and impossible to erase.
I saw other crashes during my tour of duty but nothing would ever come close to this one. I've tried to explain the effects of things like this before and can only say that "Shock, fear, rage, adrenaline and vengeance" is the most powerful group of emotions that a human can simultaneously experience and that's why I still have these memories.
Wollman and I were both shocked to hear the order that came from the Colonel that said: "Let's get out of here". Even though we later knew that he was right when he gave the order, we were young warriors and automatically wanted to go on the attack. I had only been in Vietnam six weeks when that battle unfolded but I already had the heart of a gunship pilot and simply wanted to roll in and deliver the pay back.
Had we been in Wollman's Nighthawk ship, you can bet your ass that we would have been putting bullet holes in every square inch of the target area unless they'd managed to kill us, too. Despite that, our job was clear and the most important thing of all was supporting the ground troops, something we could not have done if we'd been shot down.
I don't know if Colonel Collins already knew that the other Commanding Officer from the 3rd of the 17th was on station but I do know that the Cobra wasn't from our unit and since we were the closest to the battle when it started, it's reasonable to conclude that it wasn't his primary job as the Commanding Officer of the ground troops and that he was only there to command the operation until the unit's commander arrived.
In any event, every year for 43 years, I go through this on July 4th and wanted ya'll to know that July 4th has different meanings to different people. These are part of mine. Thanks again to Craig Wollman.
Tim
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