[Vhfcn-l] 50 Years Ago Today

[Roger W. Ek]

April 1, 1970: Fifty years ago today, I arrived in Vietnam on a contracted jet. I stepped off the jet in Saigon and into the year long sauna that was the Mekong Delta. It was a defining experience for most Vietnam veterans. I flew with the Seawolves, the only Navy squadron ever that was commissioned outside the USA and decommissioned outside the USA. I was Seawolf 25, the asst OinC of Det 2 flying overhead cover for the SEALs, River patrol boats and merchant ships along the Long Tau shipping channel from the South China Sea to Saigon. The Army offered us first generation Cobras. We turned them down because Cobras can’t shoot backwards. Our door gunners could. They saved our bacon on a daily basis. Hard to believe it has been a half century. Hard to believe so many of us got through it unharmed, but we lost 44 good men. RIP brothers. 

========================================================
              ///,        ////
              \  /,      /  >./    For those that have fought for it,
               \  /,   _/  /.      Freedom has a flavor the protected
                \_  /_/   /.      will never know.
                 \__/_   <
                 /<<< \_\_         Roger W. Ek
                /,)^>>_._ \        Seawolf 25              VHPA 3377
                (/   \\ /\\\            Gentleman Flyer of the Delta
                      // ````          China Post #1, AL, In Exile	VVAK
           ====((`=====      mequest at telplus.net    OWLS 	Molon Labe
========================================================

Please Note: It is OK to print this e-mail. Paper is a recyclable, biodegradable, renewable, and sustainable product made from trees. Growing and harvesting trees provides jobs for millions of people, and working forests are good for the environment. Working forests provide clean air, clean water, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration.