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.