Time has a way of robbing one of their memories. Brain surgery delivers a different result. I only visited that base 3 times. One was when I arrived, one was when I departed and the other one was an unscheduled stop to deliver a FAC pilot who had a mechanical problem in Xuan Loc. We gave them a ride back to their base so they wouldn't have to spend the night in one of our bunkers.
I only spent 4 months with the 199th before I was transferred to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment to begin their Nighthawk Operations. It was a really good unit that was commanded by a Major Roy Wulff who was one of the best commanders Vietnam ever saw. He knew how to handle 20 year old Warrant Officers.
Before I met the Captain that played the role of inspiring me to leave the Army after my tour, I had 3 men who I admired a great deal. Major Lewis and then Major Stiner at the 199th and then Major Wulff. I considered a number of things during a career counseling day and after being an instructor pilot at Rucker or obtaining a Chinook rating at Hunter Stewart, a slot that had already been approved, I thought about asking Major Wulff if I could follow him and be his chief pilot.
I don't want to get into the idiot ass Captain that was eventually kicked out of the Army but suffice it to say that he never should have been an officer or a pilot cause he sucked at both. I guess it turned out okay because I earned my fixed wing license shortly after I returned from Vietnam and eventually bought a Cessna 206 and then a Piper Seneca II. I had lots of time in both and flew all over the South for years. No captains there except me.
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