Vietnam
The late 1960s and early 1970s was a very difficult time for this country, and for me. I was flying as captain of a 707 at that time delivering troops to Vietnam, and returning some to various locations throughout the Pacific for rest and recuperation.
A most difficult time for me was to hear the news give the daily and the weekly casualties numbers. It was not uncommon to hear numbers like 360 U.S. casualties this week. A 707 would carry about 160 troops. At times I would look aft from the cockpit and see all of those young faces and say to myself, 160 young men I'm taking to Vietnam and that will not supply the casualties for four days.
I recall one occasion departing from Saigon that we had a malfunctioning seat in the cabin, so someone had to get off. And, of course the lowest rating individual was assigned to leave the aircraft with the promise that he would be the first onboard the next flight for Honolulu. Later that week when I was comfortably at home listening to the news, one of the news items was of a bomb exploding in the airport terminal in Saigon.
I thought about that GI we had to leave in Saigon because of a broken seat. I begin to visualize the fate of that young man. I thought to myself, for many there is just no escape. With those thoughts in mind I wrote this essay, No Escape, in memory of all those men I flew to Vietnam who never returned. |
