Remembering Nguyen
by
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Today, our bird, Iroquois 666, was the tail end Charlie ship. The last in a line of six choppers sailing along at 135 knots, altitude – very low. Flying along serpentine-like below the treetops and staying below the treetops until forced to go over them because no gaps were available. Actually, contour flying is fun and lulls one into a state of awe and complacency. One forgets that trouble can be found rather suddenly. Whether it was complacency or just bad luck will never be known, but the fact was that one-minute it was a very enjoyable flight, while a split second later, it was absolute terror. We come to a jungle box canyon and play follow the leader over a fairly wide strip of very tall trees. Suddenly, bullets are slamming into our bird. The sound in unmistakable, audible over the engine noise, the wind-blast and through the flight helmet I’m wearing. It seems to go on forever. "WE’RE HIT!" Damn, I’m glad to hear that. "WE’RE LOOSING IT, WE’RE GOING DOWN!" I’m really glad to hear that. "ANYONE HIT?" "MAY DAY, MAY DAY – IRIQOIS TRIPLE 6, MULTIPLE HITS, TAIL ROTOR OUT, LOOSING OIL PRESSURE, WE’RE GOING DOWN – MAY DAY, MAY DAY". "BRACE YOURSELVES, WE ARE GONNA HIT HARD". Now this is just the right thing to hear through my headphones to really brighten up my day.
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About the Book
"REMEMBERING NGUYEN" is about my first trip to South Vietnam in the early 1960’s. And just in case you were not aware, Nguyen is pronounced as "When" in Vietnamese. I personally feel that this is a damned clever play on words. The book is a chronicle of events through out that 13 months tour of duty but it is different than most other books about the Vietnam experience. "REMEMBERING NGUYEN" looks at the country, the people and the strife through a more humorous eye, or so I fervently hope. So, If you are looking for a breathtaking story of heroism and hair raising adventures, then I fear you should look elsewhere. But if you would like to know what a rather naïve boy found that forced him into man hood and perhaps have a good laugh or two, then "REMEMBERING NGUYEN" is the book for you. Thanks and enjoy.
Ken Brawley
About the Author
Ken Brawley was born in Roscoe, Texas, in September of 1943. He grew up mostly in and around Roscoe but did travel across the world a bit more than the normal cotton farmer’s kid from West Texas. His world travels took him all across the USA and around the world two and one half times. Today he lives in Ft. Worth, Texas, with his family and works in the Civil Engineering/Surveying fields.