During the year of 2002 I was asked by Johnny Hubbs, the Owner of the 229th website (http://www.229thavbn.com/) to write a story that took place involving the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion. Actually, he broadcasted a request for stories, and I gave it some thought. I’ve never really liked writing, mostly because I’m naturally fidgety and hate being chained to a desk. Other reasons included general laziness and difficulty selecting topics.
The one and only time that I got a decent grade in English class was on a story I wrote about the personification of race cars. In high school I was definitely a car guy, particularly European sports cars and this paper was a father/son relationship using a Mercedes W125 and a W165 personified. Interesting enough Miss Williams was very encouraging with my A- story. Ironically she also gave me the only “F” I ever received for a term in high school. It may have been because I chose duck hunting with my friend Paxson over attending her 3rd period class. The waters were rising in the beginning of the great flood of 1964 and the ducks and geese were leaving the area. Priorities! I know I digress but from that experience I was encouraged to write a story for Johnny’s Website.
The problem was selecting a topic. Should I write a story glorifying myself in combat? What about a story about flying a non- combat mission like the beer run to the China Beach PX? Pretty petty and boring to the audience. I struggled with a topic for the story for several months. Finally, I made a list of topics of stories I had told to friends over the last 30 years or so who asked and softened me up with a beer or two. Below is that list. There are items on that list that I remember because they were very inappropriate behaviors and I’ve carried them with me in shame, but most are topics of experiences that got the adrenaline pumping. Unless I go home to the Lord, I’ll tell them all.
The last blog entry was about Combat Assaults and the next will be about Log missions. Both of which are meant to give the non military reader a basic understanding of normal day to day processes and vocabulary that will help in the understanding and their presence in the stories.
