Mike,

I was a jarhead- grunt up in I Corps and I said good bye to beautiful Southeast Asia in September of 1969...so I just missed you.

Now...pilots are also all Heros in my book. It takes far bigger balls than I have to willingly strap your ass into a friggin rocket...and you guys LOVE it!

Rick

Rick,
that's a great story. M1Tanker really is a hero!

Rusty,

And in todays climate where that term is often tossed about so freely it is great to have some "real" ones to admire!

Bill exemplifies and upholds what all NCO's and Officers in the military are SUPPOSED to be like when it comes to looking out for the men under their command and placing their needs/welfare above their own.

I have the stangest feeling though that Bill would be like that whether or not he was in the military. People with true character are like that in all aspects of their life.

Rick

I'd just like to say that I've read the whole thread and a big thanks goes out to all of you who served your country. I salute you.
It sounds like M1Tanker is still serving his country today, as he has in the past, as I'm sure is the case with a lot of untold heros.
I'm proud to have such fine people as fellow Americans, it makes me proud.

JCN,
I will hold you to the offer of chukar hunting!!! I am only 5 years from the 20 mark. I still make it home almost every year for Xmas. My folks live up in Ashton and every time I get up there I have to kick myself pretty hard to come back to Ft Bliss. It is a little slice of heaven up there. I am lucky this year since I will get to go chase elk back home for the first time since 2000. We will be hunting in the Palisades area. Only 6 weeks to go!!!!

Yeah,
I think they will do a good job. When you have a bunch of shooters and hunters to start with they have a lot more "field sense" than kids from the city. When your twenty is up come on home and we'll kill some Chukar.
JCN

JCN,

I started my military career with B 2/116 out of Burley in 89. I spent a few years with them then went active duty. Spent most of the time after that with 1st CAV. I have been able to spend some time with the guys from B Co. It amazes me how after all these years so many of the same guys are still there. The 116th is a great bunch of soldiers. You can rest assured they will do their job well in Iraq. They are sweating plenty hard down here, from both the heat and the training.



The only training I do for them is their PMI training. (Pre-marksmanship instruction) My actual job here is as the Master Gunner for 5-52 ADA (Patriot)

Rick, you're right about those pilots. To set the record straight though, I was what was referred to as a "back ender" on the EC47s. To get a picture of what we did, go to our website www.ec47.com