How I Came to Write This Book

This book was both work and a labor of reflection on my experience in Vietnam as a helicopter gunship pilot. Twenty years prior to this book I was encouraged by my wife to write down my experiences before I forget the details. I did and then put the notes away and let them age so to speak before I decided to tackle this endeavor, which took three years.

I‘m pleased with the finished product; but when I began my editor told me I would re-write the book three times. I did it four times. Finally, I just told myself to stop as you can make changes every time you pick up the book. People have asked me how I came up with the sub-title; God’s Own Lunatics. Prior to my arrival in Vietnam, a war correspondent took a ride in a gunship on what turned out to be a very hot mission. When they landed back at their base he jumped out, puked on his boots and pointed his index finger at the pilots, and said, “I now dub you God’s Own Lunatics.” And that bit of wisdom stuck.

It was a long eleven and a half months in Vietnam so I had plenty of material to be sorted out and put in a reasonable semblance of order. This means it looked doable but underneath there was no order. I had piles of notes on my desk that needed to be sorted into an outline. I began building on this and the words began to flow from my head to my fingers.

Where to start? I finally decided to start when I made up my mind to quit college and join the army. Flying seemed so thrilling and they would pay me as a bonus. My dad flew fighter planes in WW II in Europe and what little he spoke of seemed like one big rush.