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Joe,

My Grandfather was a navigator in the RAF during WWII. His experiences in the war haunted him for the rest of his life, and he never liked to talk much about it. I appreciate the courage it must have taken you to write this inspirational post. I very much enjoyed reading it!

Cheers,
Gavin

Thanks for sharing some of your life Joe and Please continue enjoying those kids and the Great wife you have. I was simply shocked to learn just this week that 3 times as many Viet Nam Vets have committed suicide since the end of that war than the number of Americans actually killed in it. More shocking than learning that fact is it has taken the damaged Vets from Iraq and Afganistan to bring that figure out to the public. I am afraid T.V. shows like Magnum P.I. lulled we yanks into thinking all Vets had the ability to adjust to civilian life and quiet the ghosts that had returned with them from that war. The facts have turned out much differently....
We are all a bit richer for your life experiences shared with us here Joe. Our Thanks for your Post and your presence here with us! Dick

kwakers wrote: I was simply shocked to learn just this week that 3 times as many Viet Nam Vets have committed suicide since the end of that war than the number of Americans actually killed in it

That is incredible and absolutely shocking!

I'm approaching my late 30s, I guess that makes me a youngster here. I first "discovered" early RW models when I was in grade school, and the town library got a copy of the blue cover small "Matchbox Toys" book that was printed in the mid 80s. I already had a collection of then-current cars, and I loved the look of the earlier (say to D box era) castings, esp those with silver or grey wheels. Back then they were pretty hard to find - I only found a few before I gave up toys for other things. Off and on I would look if I happened on a flea market or something, but seldom went out of my way, and for many years never thought of them. About 5 years ago, I found a couple in a shop, and decided to start a collection - I collect what I like rather than every variation (although I wanted to have a complete A series 1-75 set). I consider myself intermediate at most, but I still like the cars as much as I did when I was a kid.

Interesting mention of stamp collecting too - for a few years around the age of 10, I collected stamps - even then, it was a waning hobby for kids. Seems quite a few who collect diecast collected stamps, they are similar in a way. I went to a show with my dad (who was into coins) and saw a wonderful loaded pre-1940 collection for sale which fascinated me, and I wanted to emulate that. I moved on from that in my teenstoo, but when I was about 30 I found a large collection being sold from an estate, and bought it. I sold most of it on ebay, and eventually lost interest again - selling was a lot of work, and I have to limit where money goes. I still have the collection I assembled, some of it from that estate, almost all prewar material.

Joe - my father in law was a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam. Can we still be friends?

Tinman my upmost respect for you and anyone who has been through such harrowing episodes , when I first started work on construction sites one of the site managers was an ex RAF navigator on bombers during WW2 , more than once I found him distressed about his experiences , he too survived several forced landings the last putting an end to his flying . Those of us who don't have to go through this can only humbly thank you and your comrades for all you have done

I would dearly like to go for a drink with Joe..I might even buy the round[It has been known] Nice one pal and keep those positive thoughts coming out.Its always a pleasure even when your sounding off about the deer hunter.....Cheers Ian.

I had one uncle who was a navigator in WW2 and another one who flew over 50 missions over Europe as a tail gunner. We had to get them both really drunk before they would ever talk about the war. The Canadian government is now in the process of chucking our Vets on the scrapheap. Disgusting treatment of those who fought for us.

Cam

My father was a P-51 pilot during WWII. His next oldest brother was a glider pilot on D-Day. A third brother was a B-17 pilot.

Despite my desire not to fly in a helicopter, I took one more "job" that involved a flight into a third world Caribbean island nation to rescue a good friend who was being held there by the government. This was in the mid 1990's and was quite an interesting effort. My friend was being held under house arrest and we took him out under the guise of extradition to the USA.

There is not much else about it that I am comfortable putting into print. Unfortunately for us, that country knows who all the participants are, so I won't be visiting there any time soon (read never again). That was twenty years ago. None of us (including my friend, whom we rescued) have ever been contacted by officials or any government agency of the U.S. (which is something we all worried about for a few years after the fact). I do know a formal protest was lodged with the U.S. Government about the incident.

Last January, we had a reunion of all the participants (including our rescued friend). It was one hell of a party. Some of us hadn't seen each other in over ten years and we all took back up like it was yesterday. A two guys there had new wives (new since the incident) and they were shocked to learn about the event at the reunion party. You know it's a good party when a bunch of old men are whooping it up so much that the neighbors call the cops.

It's only been since the reunion that I've felt at ease enough to talk about this event with others. My account of this extraction alone is worth the price of my bar tab! Getting my friend out of the grips of a banana republic was well worth setting my fears and strong feelings aside.

fixer wrote: more than once I found him distressed about his experiences , he too survived several forced landings the last putting an end to his flying

In the 70's, 80's & 90's, I would still deal with some nightmares. Time has a way of easing these things and they are few and far between these days. Sometimes you do wake up shouting or calling out and it's disturbing/troubling for the wives. The worst ones are where you go back to sleep and go right back into the same dream. I've spent a few nights where I would stay awake until it was time to go to work ... that was preferable to falling back asleep and back into that same nightmare.

Not talking about these things can be good for some but not for others. For me, it seems easier to bury certain memories than it is to talk about them. I think it's mostly because recounting specific events tends to cause you to relive the event. Since many such events are horrific by anyone's standards, it's best to try and leave them behind. My girls (and some close friends) would all like to know more, but I am grateful that they do not push the subject.

Since 1992, I've been compiling a journal of my experiences for my daughters. Not just of my military service but of other events and work over the years. I spent several years working part time as a commercial diver and have some interesting stories about that work. I've been on some very interesting construction projects and done a ton of work for NASA, the USAF and even worked on a SAT-OPS center for the CIA. I've worked on projects at Disney, also on their Big Red Boat (while at sea), Universal Studios and Sea World. Been involved with Sea Turtle Rescue operations and their Turtle Hospital. Worked nights as a repo man for a bank. Briefly worked as a Deputy Sheriff. Was shot in the line of duty while working private security. I've been aboard Air Force 2 with the VP. As a young man, I got to dive with Jacques-Yves Cousteau (& team) and there is a whole five seconds of me in one of his films. Worked as a skip tracer (bounty hunter). Worked as a Preparator for a Science Museum and a noted Museum of Art. Was lucky enough to be one of the people who restored a Gemini Space Capsule (restored after it's flight for display). Been lucky enough to meet and discussed various topics with several of the original Mercury Astronauts.

There was an incident when I was 18 years old where I tried to do a hammerhead stall with my uncle's twin engine Beechcraft (attempting to duplicate a maneuver I heard my father talk about performing with the P-51). There was some physical damage to the control surfaces on the airplane (as well as my underwear) and I caught holy hell for that. All these things (and more) are what I've been recording for my three daughters ... when I'll ever let them read any of it is still undecided.