I gave a presentation a few weeks ago to EAA Chapter 818 in Burlington, WA. It is about my time with Air America, the air arm of the CIA.
Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdaCdJqMEvA&t=5s
I gave a presentation a few weeks ago to EAA Chapter 818 in Burlington, WA. It is about my time with Air America, the air arm of the CIA.
Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdaCdJqMEvA&t=5s
A few weeks ago I got a phone call from a fellow named Tim Hampton, a historian with the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier Museum in Alameda, CA.
For those who don't know, during World war Two the U.S.A. launched 16 B-25 Army Air Force bombers off the Hornet near Japan in 1942 not too long after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Doolittle raid, as it became known, was led by Lt.Col. Jimmy Doolittle. It was a success in that we were able to bomb Japan and bring the war home to them. They were shocked that we could retaliate so quickly and bomb their homeland. It changed the Japanese mentality about our capabilities. Lt.Col. Doolittle got a Medal of Honor and a double promotion to Brigadier General for his leadership of the mission.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=youtube+doolittle+raid+on+japan&atb=v314-1&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtEhFhF-KfY4
That particular ship was sunk by the Japs later in the war, but another carrier was under construction, so the powers that be named the new ship Hornet. The Japanese called it the "Ghost Ship" because they knew the had sunk it, but it seemingly reappeared soon after.
Historian Tim Hampton and his filmmaker, George Retelas, have been doing an exhaustive search of the archives in MD and DC to find every member they can who crewed aboard the Hornet and are doing extensive oral interviews. One day in the MD archives, someone who remains unknown, said to them, "Hey I know of a guy who flew helicopters off the Hornet," and told them my name. Tim found me online, phoned me to ask if they could interview me. He knew by then that I had not actually flown off that carrier, but an H-34 helicopter on board the Hornet is from my squadron in Vietnam, and my log book shows that I flew that one 3-4 times in Vietnam. (BuNo. 150553 for those who care about such things.)
Years ago my daughter did a short film for me about my rescue of an U S Air Force pilot in Laos while I flew H-34s for Air America. This particular H-34 is featured in that short documentary. See Youtube: "The Rescue of Raven 1-1"
Yesterday, 11/3/2023, we rendezvoused at the Hornet. I brought along one of my best grammar and high school buddies, Gary S. and we met up with Tim and George at the ship. Here is a picture of that H-34 helicopter from near the rear of it:
I got to climb up into the cockpit and claim the helicopter as my own. Tim directed and George filmed. I will post the finished version of the interview online soonest.
After about an hour of filming, we were done, so Gary and I wandered all around the ship, looking at all the displays. (I was working on becoming a docent on the ship in 2008 when we decided to move to Idaho, so I know my way around the ship a bit.)
here is my idea for An actual mechanism to create peace in the world in our time.
Feedback will be greatly appreciated. at captwilco@gmail.com
I just found this old article about me in the Sandpoint READER a few years back. Flying H-34s for the USMC under most hazardous conditions in Vietnam.
https://sandpointreader.com/vietnam-veterans-sandpoint/
In 1976, Carson Helicopters of Perkasie PN got a contract to off-load ships in the harbor at Djeddah, Saudi Arabia. We used Sikorsky S-58Ts.
I was one of the pilots on this caper. We used 115' long-lines to haul 4400 pound loads of bags of cement from ships to shore so that they could quickly upgrade their infrastructure. It was hard and challenging flying. In the picture above, the cover of an Aramco company magazine, you can see the load, just at the water line, leaving behind a long trail of dust.
The ships were a mile off shore in the bay, and we got to the point we could make a round trip every three minutes for hours on end.
I will publish more pictures soon.