At Dartmouth, I had no view on the Viet Nam war. However, I did want to fly airplanes. As a music major and a new wife, I thought it would be practical to join the USAF. My wife did not want me to go to war. I said …no problem. It will take several years to get trained. Then it will be over.
I was wrong.
3 months of Officer Training School. 1 year of pilot training. 6 months of F-100 training. 3 months of 0V-10 training. Then…off to Viet Nam as a Forward Air Controller.
My job there, among other things, was to lead SARs (Search and Rescue) to rescue downed air crew.
In April of 1972, on the DMZ, I led a rescue attempt for Bat-21 Bravo. I was shot down by a SAM. and spent the next year in Hanoi.
End of story.
If you want to read about it, see the following books.
Bat 21 by William Anderson 1983
The Rescue of Bat 21 by Darrel Witcomb 1998
Saving Bravo by Stephan Talty 2018. (I get a whole chapter with a picture)
Or the movie Bat 21, 1988, starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover.