Salute!
Awwww maaaan, you guys are bringing back some great memories. Besides personally knowing two bonafide SR-71 pilots ( Shul and Glasser, and prolly another or two I could look up), and flying with one in combat, the helo stories related to the fellow under scrutiny are personally important.
I flew helo escort and was top cover for infil/extraction in early 1968 from Pleiku. Most were covering SOG folks outta Kontum and they were using basic U.S. Army helos. UH-1 slicks and heavily armed ones. One callsign was Typhoon, and I am having trouble with the other one after 50 years. We were called Mustangs, but normal in-country and nights over the Trail was Dragon.
Every now and then we would CAP up at 20K to avoid noise and some mysterious helos would come into an area with zero fanfare. They would check in with us to ensure we were there to help, do their thing, then simply wish us well and depart the area. Very interesting, those days. And they were my favorite months flying in combat --- night interdiciton over the Trail and the Tet Offensive that February thru March.
I know several folks I flew with that embellish their combat record, but no outright lies or false stories. I wrote down two of my memorable missions in the early 90's before I got too old. My biggest regret over the years was not keeping a good diary/log book. So that's great advice for all the wannabes and newbies here that will have super careers and maybe a few adventures.
Gums sends...