Pictures from places far. . .

far away. Here I am in the barracks at Ft Lewis, Washington, Army basic training. I was 18 yrs old. We were "buds for life." I can't remember their names & I don't know what happened to them. We all went different ways after basic training. Without hesitation, we relied on each other for everything.
This one below is Plieku Vietnam. All dressed up for guard duty that I pulled every third night. (Here I am standing in front of a bunker built between our hooches to run for cover during mortar/rocket attacks. The perimeter bunkers were just sandbag covered holes in the ground, and on the edge of our camp and jungle.) We sat on/in bunkers surrounding Camp Holloway. Each had the old, hand crank field phones. One hour watch, and sleep three, as there were four men to a bunker. A few scary nights and never enough sleep...

After I made Flight Engineer, (as below), I didn't pull guard duty anymore. It was "my helicopter" and had to ensure the periodic maintenance was always done and it was always ready to go. Had some 24 hour work days. I missed several meals coming in late and the shower water was turned off. I'm with one of my crew chiefs' waiting for pilots to fly out on some mission of resupply, pickup troops, etc. I can't remember his name either. I was 19. (it's a can of Pepsi in my hand) Notice the oil/grease stains... in retrospect, I was nuts.

I am a lucky man; husband, dad, grandpa and son!!