By Pete Mecca Arranging an interview quickly turns into something even more exciting when the veteran suggests, “Let’s just fire up the old Stearman and fly down to Peach State Aerodrome for lunch at Barnstormer’s […]
Job description from a WWII B-17 training manual, “The inflight Armorer-Gunner inspects, repairs, maintains machine guns, cannons, bomb release mechanisms, bomb racks, aerial gun sites, the auxiliary equipment and chemical carrying release mechanisms, and flare […]
Shot down in enemy-held territory while on a bombing run in Vietnam near An Loc, 1st Lt. Michael Blassie was listed as MIA (Missing in Action) and the body said to be unrecoverable. In reality, […]
Mike was a spitting image of what most people believe a young Air Force officer should look like: tall, handsome, with a hospitable grin and approachable demeanor. A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy, […]
By Pete Mecca A ‘dustoff’ in Burma? Pete, you mean Vietnam, right? Yes and no. It’s true that I’ve been home bound for a few weeks, but no, the Corona quarantine has not warped my […]
By Pete Mecca Born and raised in Cajun country, Alan Gravel received a degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana Tech before obtaining a Master’s Degree in Environmental Health Engineering at the University of Texas.February of […]
By Pete Mecca An airfield in northeast Thailand designated as NKP (Nakhon Phanom) during the Vietnam War is actually a Royal Thai Naval Base. The Thais utilize NKP as a home base for river patrols […]
By Pete Mecca In the year 1427, celebrated Vietnamese patriot Le Loi defeated the occupying Chinese soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. Considered God-like by the Vietnamese, Le Loi’s birthplace village of Lam Son is regarded […]
By Pete Mecca From a special article in the New York Times on December 15, 1944: “Big strike on railroad marshaling yards in Rangoon by B-29 bombers cause devastating results. No B-29s were lost.” The […]
It’s rare for anyone to find… and then fly… the aircraft they made their first military flight in as a pilot a half century or so after the event, let alone on the anniversary of […]
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