Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve C.
Most of the troops rotating in and out of the country flew on chartered flights out of the West Coast. With a refueling stop, then on to Vietnam. On occasions some were loaded on air force cargo planes for the trip. On a rare occasion one of these Air Force planes would stop at our base in Taiwan in route to and from Vietnam. A few times I saw troops eating at our chow hall during a stopover, always in a group by themselves. To this day I still remember these rotating troops and the striking difference in physical appearance and the quiet, somber demeanor of those returning back to the world.
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My father in law did 2 terms in the Air Force. He does not talk about it. But one day he had a few drinks, and began talking to me about it. He told me the airplanes he flew over were barely air worthy. Still flying prop transports. Had oil leaking out ect. Once coming back to the states they were about 20 miles out of Hawaii and he was looking out the window, and a prop fell off. Gone. Plane began to shake and they started to loses altitude. They flew big circles losing altitude all the way, but made it.
The only good flight he had was his final trip out of Saigon. It was on a Pan Am flight, first time he got to fly commercial. The Captain told them to hold on and they took off full throttle getting as high as they could as fast as they could to avoid small arms fire. Said it was the best flight he ever had.
He never told any of this stuff to anyone else. His daughters never were told any of this. Told me of huge underground bases we have in the upper Midwest he was at that you would not believe. Would not give me the state though. He kept a lot to himself.