Hand Salute to Fighter Pilot's Association

I've mentioned the Red River Valley Fighter Pilot's Association many times on this blog but I probably haven't done it enough. They do an incredible job in every aspect of our combat history and, as a part of that, they also include the present and the future.

For those of us who flew helicopters, let me offer a personal thank you for accomplishing the mission of owning the sky above us. It's often referred to as "Air Superiority" and they are the ones who delivered it.

The anti aircraft fire was bad enough but without the Fighter Pilots, I can only imagine what the helicopter losses would have been like had they not been around. I can not imagine how bad it would have been to fight Migs at the same time we were trying to dodge the radar guided anti aircraft position and small arms fire that I experienced in Vietnam and especially Cambodia.

Moving from the past and all of the historically important aspects of their part in the war, and proceeding to the present, they have put together a great organization to help with the wounded that we now see coming out of our military.

With regard to the future, they work very hard to help out the men and women of our military who will face difficult times as they try to re-enter society as our Wounded Warriors.

Among many things that makes them so extraordinary, their work for the future needs of our Veterans is probably the one that is the most admirable. I say that because it requires so much work. It goes far beyond fund raisers and hitting their check books to make the donations that are required.

They've gone far beyond the norm and I say that because they focus on intelligence gathering to point out and specifically identify the problems we have within our own system and how those problems negatively effect all of us.

Through them and their efforts, I have discovered a number of people who are more than unfriendly to the military and the Veterans. Despite the assumption that this might be a political statement, please be advised that it is more a statement of "fact" that should be described as "reality" instead of "politicizing".

With that in mind, I remain somewhat amazed at the officials who vote against the budgetary items that are good for our Veterans and current military men and women and instead, vote for foreign aid packages that degrade the necessary funding to do what George Washington wrote about during the founding times of our great Country.

I don't have the exact quotation in front of me at the moment but it basically says that" The effectiveness of your military is directly connected to the way they are treated after they leave the service and become Veterans".That may not be word for word but it's close.

As an example of that kind of statement being put into a context that focuses on the Red River Valley Fighter Pilot's Association, I have a very brief example to give you.

Recently, I received two emails from the Association. One came from headquarters and the other came from Mike Sloniker who was a good friend of my buddy from flight school, Fred Thompson. HQ and Mike told me that I was listed as missing in action. For the most part, that means that they had no address for me and they wanted to know where I was.

I understood how easy that could be as I had been in the VA hospital in Shreveport and Houston, then back to Shreveport and was no longer in Leesville near Ft. Polk, my last known address.

In addition to that, Tim Jr and Kristin had come home from the Navy to take care of me during the brain surgery, chemo and radiation treatments when I was unable to do anything for myself. That brought about 3 other changes of address that only further complicated the trail.

When I found out that I was MIA, I contacted headquarters and discovered that I was not a life member and that my dues was extended even though I was a year behind. I'm a life member of the 11th Armored Cavalry Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia and assumed that I was also a life time member of the RRVFPA. Not so.

Despite that, they knew about my health situation and had extended my membership anyway. Needless to say, I immediately fixed the address situation and prepaid my dues for years to come. Hopefully, that will give you some idea of the kind of characters that are in and run the Association. I say, that the way that the RRVFPA treats me now, is the way I hope our Veterans will be treated when this budgetary mess is fixed.

Having said all this, let me make one last point. Some of our members are wounded, some are former POWs and some are still working. Despite all of these things, they are still quite active in the day to day mission of keeping our Country and our Constitution safe..........even though it is no longer done from the cockpit.

This is a clear example of what true leadership is all about and how effective an organization can be when it spans the entire time frame from World War II and goes all the way to the battles.we will be forced to fight in the future.

Talk about the "Big Picture"! This is where it can be found. We even have a nurse with us and to say that "Dot" is a key player simply doesn't correctly identify who she is. Thank God for the Fighter Pilots, the Big Picture that they've given me, and the fearless work that they continue to provide for all Veterans and all Americans.

Hand Salute to all of you from CWO Timothy L. "Tim"  Butler, USA (Frmr)