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David Mitchell

Thanks Joe.

The Army and Marine "Medevac" pilots (also known as Dustoff)  in Viet Nam were conisidered as crazy as we who flew those low level "Hunter-Killer" teams were. Althought we performed most of our own Medivac pickups, I had two encounters with Dustoff pilots tha were memorable. One ended well (including a bit of humor) and the other one end in a disaster.

The first one was a request from another unit to come help another Dustoff who was atempting to make a pickup under fire. We swwitched to their radio frequency so we could hear the conversation and figure out how we could help. 

The Dustoff was talking to the guys on the ground, in a wide open rice paddy area, and a couple of wounded guys that needed rescue. The approacing Dustoff was talking to the guys on the ground and the conversation went like this:

   (abbreviated and making up names that I don't recall exactly)

"Red dog one four this is Dustoff one eight approaching from your south. Request you pop smoke (clored marker smoke)".

"Dustoff, this is Red dog we are under too much fire for us to pop smoke"

"Red dog, this is Dustoff. If you're worried about too much fire when you pop smoke, you wait till we set this Huey down right in front of you, and watch how much fire that brings on you. I need that smoke to mark exactly where you guys are. Lets be quick."

a slight pause on the radio - - -

then Red dog comes back - " Roger Dustoff. Popping smoke at this time. Popping smoke at this time."

We aligned our Cobra gunships along the access between the source of fire and the path of the Dustoff. They were in and out very quckly.

 -------------

My only other direct involvement with a Dustoff pickup went horribly wrong - one Dustoff shot down - several dead - and finished with a fight between me and my arrogant "Backseat" (a jerk of a Captain who I had already disliked from before).  

--------------

Anyone who ever saw a "Dustoff" pickup under fire would understand their crazy reputation.

David Mitchell

One of my all-time favorites!

Michael McLeod

Of all the stories I ever wrote, this was the most important, because I hope it helped, if only in a small way,  with the healing and understanding that was so needed after such a terrible event. Lordie!

https://www.orlandomagazine.com/the-healing-a-year-after-pulse/

Michael McLeod

Not sure what you mean by "downsizing," Jim.

Do you mean letting go of possessions, getting more lean and contemplative?

Michael McLeod

just checking testing testes,

David Mitchell

M/M,

 Intersting reference to "the boat".

I have made reference before to a group I joined about 12 years ago that gives Christian men's retreats - now all over the world. The most powerful and exciting spiritual experience I have ever encountered.

* (Not a Christian Nationalist movment)

It is caled "MARKED MEN FOR CHRIST" and we use a promo card tha asks if you are ready ro "Step out of the Boat?" (started by 2 Catholic men, but now multi-denominational)

this is the card

The card is outdated now. We are past 25,000 members including about 20 states and a large group on Slazburg Austria + Poland, Ukraine, Africa, Korea and the Phillipines. I've done most of them - including Cursillo - wondefrul) - but this tops them all by a mile..

** There is a womans group called "Womens Walk with Christ". It is much newer and smaller, only reaching about 3 states and Salzburg. Its an offshoot from wives of MMFC coming back so changed they wanted "in on this".

David Mitchell

Some of you may recall a shocking murder trial here in my neck of the woods about a Lawyer who murdered his wife and one of his sons. it was about two years ago. He was found guilty. And he also tried to have himself killed - it failed - and also probably covered up the death of a house maid.

Today this whole area is shocked to hear the news that his sentence has been overturned because od a mistrial.

The story is so crazy it's hard to grasp all the parts of it.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

David Mitchell

Something got switched around there??????

James Hamilton, M. D.

Clouds Within A Cloud

While sitting in the car while Janet was in a grocery store, I watched the clouds forming just prior to sunset. There seemed to be different types of clouds forming within the majority of dark clouds and catching the last rays of the sun as it settled behind hills and homes of the surrounding landscape. The backlighting of the trees also caught my attention so I grabbed my cellphone and snapped off a few shots before the sun set behind the hillside and distant mountains as darkness prevailed.

(The last time I saw a scene similar to this it was 2012 and was caused by those forest fires that resulted in so much damage to the west side of Colorado Springs and many - including us - being evacuated from our homes. Certainly not the case this evening .)

Jim

Mark Schweickart

Jim - This definitely looks like a a scary fire situation. So glad it wasn't. 

Michael McLeod

Jim: Is there another form of snowfall other than preciperatory? Just checking,

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL,

Hmmmmm....  Maybe an avalanche?

Jim

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike,

My all-time favorite form of frozen precipitation is graupel (sometimes spelled groppel) which is quite common here in Colorado. It is a form of frozen, small snow pellets - not flakes and not really hail - like small, BB- sized , soft, white snow drops. So far this strange winter (yes, I never say winter here is over until at least June) we had none of these.

Jim

Joseph D. McCarthy

I just received an Email concerning a Reunion that I wish I could attend, unfortunately I will be packing for my drive the next day to Columbus.  Besides Aquinas, I imagine there will be people from St. Mary's. St. Joseph's and Ready to ame a few schools.

Joseph D. McCarthy

If anyone wants I can forward the original email.

Joe

Donna Kelley (Velazquez)

Stunning photo of the clouds, Jim!

James Hamilton, M. D.

Donna,

Thanks! Nature provides the drama and cellphones are often around to capture it!

Jim

Michael McLeod

well gee I'm usually so quiet and shy but I'll see if i can come up with something.

hmmmmmm.

I've probably mentioned this before but my single story concrete block home has a shaded back porch that faces north, across a concrete deck on one side and a swimming pool and shaded garden on the other, and ilove sitting on the porch and knowing that home, meaning ohio, is out there, though I can't see it visually but my heart picks it up via invisible long distance vibes, otherwise known as heart strings. 

I really do love sitting out there looking due north toward what will always be home.

Michael McLeod

Copy that, Jim.

Michael McLeod

here we are in our twilight years, living through an era of historic governmental corruption, rotting from the top down. Sad.

Michael McLeod

Jim: that does sound sooo cool! Like a mega other worldly globular snow blob attack, like being transplanted to another planet. wow.

In the meantime I'm humbled. I just read up on the career of Kathleen Parker, a former coworker of mine at the orlando sentinel, who has become a pulitzer prize winning writer for the washington post.

way to go, kathleen.

anyway guess i better shut up for a while and just focus on being humble. I suppose it's good for me but it doesn't feel so hot.

David Mitchell

After Major Smith's arrival we were all feeling a sense of releif. A sense of calm and normalcy.

I was getting to know him more than most others in our troop because I flew as his co-pilot in the C&C (Command and Control ship) almost every time he flew. (remember, I had asked out of the Scout platoon on my return from my stateside leave) I also flew often with our XO - Captain Bud Beauchamp (another good guy). Not so much with our Operations Officer, whos name I cannot even remember.

Major Smith and I were sort of forming a freindship, or more like older brother - younger brother. I think he was thirty one and I was twenty one. We just sort of clicked. 

Then something quite unexpected happened. President Nixon ordered us into Cambodia.

This will no doubt bring about a mixed reaction from some of you - - (Kent State riots for example).

For us, having flown over a year along that southern Cambodian border, and seeing enormous build-up of NVA (North Viet Nam Army), and our monitoring of their large night-time troop flow into Viet Nam from just across that border, this was more than welcome news. Prior to this, we could not enter and engage those troops, no matter how obvious and threatening their positions were. At times we could see several companies (hundreds of men in khacki uniforms, and troop trucks parked in rows) practicing drill in the open fields less than a few hunded yards inside their border. And there were a few times whne we got into live fire exchanges with them that pulled us across the border, and we had to break off the contact and fly back across the border and leave them behind.  Frustrating!

Oddly, two nights before that scheduled incursion, I was called into the Major's "hooch" (about three cottages down the walkway from mine). Major Smith sat me down with Captain Beauchmp around a table (his hooch was more roomy and furnished than ours).

He began to lay out an explanation of what was about to happen in two days. In addition to the shock of this news, I was stunned that I was included in this briefing, Honestly, I was one of about 35 officers and Warrant Officers in our Troop, and I probably ranked about 25th in senority.

TBC

David Mitchell

I think God is looking out for all of you. I had a contunuing portion about Major Smith all typed out and lost it. Then I found it again - then lost it again. I think it was God's way of telling me to shorten it. 

David Mitchell

So, 2 nights later we were all awakened at 4:00 am and summoned to the "Operations Hooch" - a place with heavy bunker protection, and fitted out inside more like an office. Among other things (desks, file cabinets, and pilot and aircraft schedules) it contained our Troop radio desk (manned 24 hours a day by an enlisted man trained as a radio operator), and a couple of huge wall maps of the entire "Delta" region. 

Once inside Major Smith delivered the plans for the Incursion into Cambodia. For the first time we would be carrying out this mission as a whole squadron (all 4 Troops together out of one refueling location). It was going to be little (here-to-for quiet) Moc Hoa ("muck wha"). Muc Hoa was very close to the area known as "The Parrot's Beak", a part of south east Cambodia that forms a sharp point with it's heavy concentration of NVA regullars

It was also apparent that one troop was being "punished" with the most dangerous section of the mission. You could feel the collective sigh of relief that it was them and not us.

As we were dispersing I asked Major Smith about the roll of "our ship" in the mission. He explained that he would be using a different co-pilot in that first day - a day that was expected to be the riskiest and most intense. He was assigning me to sit with our radioman for the entire day - something about needing a person (Me) with more overall experience than just a radioman if something unusual happened.

I was upset, but I knew his real intensions. He was sparing me the risk of exposure, but without really saying so. I have felt both gratitude and disappointment for having missed out on that historical day.

We were given a few hours go back to sleep - if you could -  for a while before takeoff.

A "normal" day at Moc Hoa. One fixed wing landing srip, 4 refueling hoses, and my usual "Lunch crowd -often selling fruit, french bread (sometimes with spiders inside) and tall bottles of (re-filled) coke. And buying cigarettes or chewing gum.