David, for better or worse I was an angry young man at having done my tours in Vietnam and receiving no thanks at all even for my service. Now that I am 65 years old I am still angry. At one point the good people of the USA decided to honor us Vietnam Vets by having a celebration about 10 years after the war. For me it was too little and far too late. I must say though that I still believe we could have won that war and we should have been there according to my understanding of SEATO. When my helicopter would come under fire The crew chief and door gunner (me) would have to ask permission from the pilot to return fire. Fortunately every pilot I flew with told us before lifting off that we had permission to return fire and not to waste valuable time asking permission. My understanding is our troops are still under the same stupid rules of fire. I wonder how many of our servicemen and women were killed while being politically correct. War is a bitch, bloody and brutal to the max but sometimes necessary to protect what is sacred to our country. But when war is necessary it should be fought as quickly and as brutal as possible to win in the shortest amount of time necessary IMHO. On that final note from me, let me wish each and every member and their family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Dennis
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