Years have passed, but the feeling was the same

My, my has it really been 41 years? No, it has been longer. My Army career began on Feb. 1, 1966. Fellow classmate, Richard Soden, and I joined together and headed off to Basic Training at Fort Ord, CA. We were sent to Fort Sill, OK for our advanced training.

During this time I was asked to attend pre-Officer Candidate School as my advanced training. Sounded exciting, so was transferred to the pre-OCS unit, which meant I would be attending the real OCS course.

During Artillery OCS, three of us were pulled from the group and asked if we wanted to attend Rotary Wing Flight School. Then my orders to flight school arrived. At the end the orders was a statement which stated these or similar words, “Upon graduation from Rotary Wing Flight School, go directly to Vietnam, do not pass go, do not collect $200.”

Well, most of us in OCS figured we were headed for Vietnam anyway, so why not be in the air, instead of on the ground. At least this is the way we justified heading to war.

The year in Vietnam was full of terrifying moments, to put the experience mildly. I was assigned to the 9th Aviation Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division. We were at a base named Dong Tam, which was located next to the Mekong River.

Much of our flying was in support of the Mobile Riverine Force. This was a combination of Army soldiers and Navy ships and boats.

My flying included various missions, including delivering mail, inserting and extracting troops on combat assaults, plus pulling out wounded and dead soldiers. My aircraft included Hueys and light observation helicopters.

A year at the Army Flight School at Fort Rucker, AL followed by 18 months in Korea, which was mainly flying mainly Hueys. After Korea my assignment was to Denver, CO in a fixed-wing aircraft unit.

About this time I was told my next assignment would be to Germany to an artillery unit. If I couldn’t fly, I wanted out of the Army. On Jan. 31, 1975, exactly nine years after joining, I walked out of my unit as a civilian.

This year marks 41 years from the end of my Army career, but the last time I was in a Huey was longer, perhaps 42 or 43 years.

I jumped at the chance when the Fairchild Air Force Base commander, Col. Paul Guemmer, offered a chance to become an Honorary Commander for the 92nd Air Refueling Squadron.

This allowed me to attend unit functions, along with base-wide functions. Garnet and I enjoyed the visits to Fairchild and especially the chance to spoil the airmen of the unit.

My next unit was the 36th Rescue Squadron, which uses Hueys to support the Air Force Survival School, plus they have made hundreds of saves, helicopter rescues, over the years.

Was there a chance to ride on a regular basis in a Huey, as happened on the 92nd Squadron’s KC-135? Not a chance on a regular basis. However, during a recent event including all of the units in the survival school group, rides were offered to the wives of the airmen and to the honorary commanders.

The date couldn’t have been a worse, as Garnet and I had another commitment earlier in the day. But we attended part of the first function and then scooted to Fairchild.

As we entered the event building, Lt Col Jason Snyder, the 36th commander, greeted us. There was one more flight. After a safety briefing and being driven to a grass field, the Huey came into view. Of course, I wanted the right seat, up front, but was assigned the far left seat, right next to the door.

In the left seat was Lt Col Chad Kohout and the right seat was occupied by Capt Erik Greendyke. The flight engineer, crew chief to us Army veterans, was MSgt Todd McKerracher. Three airmen wives were also on board.

The Huey came to a hover, pivoted left and took off at a fast pace. We passengers were told because we were the last flight of the day and because we had extra fuel, our flight would be the longest of the day. This was great news for my ears.

We flew over the Spokane River and downtown Spokane at less than 1,000 feet. Chad and Erik were demonstrating the maneuverability of the aircraft, explaining each turn beforehand; a climb, a dive, a hard bank right, then left. Todd then opened the doors and looking straight down brought back memories of viewing flashes of the enemy firing at my aircraft. Other memories were swirling and churning through my mind, both good and bad.

Finally we were headed back to Fairchild, way too soon for me. I asked if we could fly over the Veterans Cemetery at Medical Lake. We circled as a burial ceremony was taking place. I’m sure we created a memory for the family members. What if, just what if the veteran was a Vietnam Vet?

We landed and walked to the van. Yes, years have passed, but the feeling was the same. Lt Col Snyder, I’m ready for another ride.