Great post, UNCTUOUS! Come grab a cup of joe in my hooch anytime! Some of the lingo made me dredge back into the grounds at the bottom of my brain! Found this:
Hustling back to basecamp after first light recon, swinging down from Rocket Ridge near LZ Fat City, the sun one disk above the horizon, burning a trail of fire on the South China Sea, the skids 10 feet above the paddys and the ADF playing AFVN loud and clear. First song up was "Good Morning Starshine" as if the scene had been planned. S turning into the rising sun, the world smooth green wet and scented with that heavy smell of wet rice plants, and the perfume of the breakfast fires from the villes. Swooping along at 135 knots, rising to clear the tree lines in 5 tons of screaming metal lifted by nothing more substantial than hot flames sprayed against little wheels! Bank toward a village and see the family lined up on the rice dikes, doing their morning constitutional and fertilizing all at once, one tike rocked backwards and fell in as the Cobra thundered no more than 5 feet above his head, moving like a trackless freight train. Next song was "Heavy Metal Thunder" by Steppenwolf. I cannot make this up, a lie this perfect would be a sin! There I was, Lookin for adventure with whatever came my way - Twenty years old, aviator sunglasses helping to block the glint, five hundred whole hours in type, a clear sky above, a green exotic paradise on all sides, three miles from friendly country and another day closer to DEROS.
People ask if I like flying, and I can't even start to tell them. That slice of life will be playing on the inside of my eyelids when I am layed down and checking out.