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| The USS Iwo Jima from a helicopter. |
The Owenton, Kentucky newspaper did a story on The Bad Season when it was first published. I used a fictional version of Owenton in my story. David Larkins, the lead character, is a Vietnam veteran. Lord of Homicides, the novel I finished a few years back has Nathan Bright, a Vietnam veteran. Maybe I deal with my own war experience through my characters.
Vietnam combat doesn't appear in either novel like it does in my novel Michael In Hell, but the characters react based on their war experiences. War has a sneaky way of altering your personality forever. All combat veterans return home different. My mother used to look at me and cry because I was emotionally cold and hardened toward life. Basically, I was a young man with the mind of an old man. I had seen too much of the real world while too young. I could never go back to my innocent days.
Vietnam combat doesn't appear in either novel like it does in my novel Michael In Hell, but the characters react based on their war experiences. War has a sneaky way of altering your personality forever. All combat veterans return home different. My mother used to look at me and cry because I was emotionally cold and hardened toward life. Basically, I was a young man with the mind of an old man. I had seen too much of the real world while too young. I could never go back to my innocent days.
The picture above is an H-34 lift off from the deck of the USS Iwo Jima, probably in December of 1967. The crew chief gunner is to the left. The Marine to the right is sitting on his helmet. Some guys did that, believing it would save their private parts if the chopper took fire. I never bothered sitting on mine, unless the door gunner began firing. Usually, by then, we were getting out anyway. The first time I went into an LZ, I saw gunships firing rockets and the doorgunner opened fire. This is it, I thought, I'm gonna die.
I had so much gear that my pack got stuck in the top of the hatch. The gunner had to boot me out and we were four feet above the ground. I landed upright and ran forward with several other Marines. We hit the ground, facing outboard, ready for a fight while the chopper made a fast exit. (It would have looked great on the news.) When nothing happened, we looked around. A group of Marines sat twenty feet away smoking cigarettes while waiting for resupply. All the action had been going on the outer perimeters. The LZ was secure. "Go get'em, John Wayne," one of the Marines said, and his group laughed. We stood, embarrassed, and all we could say was, "screw you guys."
The LPH (Landing Platform Helicopter) USS Iwo Jima is still in service and currently operates with Marines in the Iraq/Afghan Wars.
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