Rattler/Firebird Stories
Most, but not all, of these stories have previously appeared in the Association Newsletter. They are indexed here, with links into the newsletter in which they appeared in case you missed any of them.
Note: you can click on a column heading to sort by that column.
| Title | Author(s) | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Ride With Recovery Crew At Your Own Risk | David Abel (EM) | 65-66 |
| This Is Two-Nine Going Down | George Bailey (WO) | 66-67 |
| Friendly Fire | Vic Bandini (WO) | 68-69 |
| On Fire And Won't Let Go! | Vic Bandini (WO) | 68-69 |
| Who Are The Bad Guys? | Vic Bandini (WO) | 68-69 |
| May 17, 1970 - Heip Duc Valley, RVN | Mike Beaumont (OF) | 69-70 |
| Sniffer Missions | Steve Bernard (WO) | 69 |
| Reflections | Dick Birnbach (WO) | 65-66 |
| A Plea For Backup | Patrick Boltinghouse (OF) | 66-67 |
| The Rest of the Story | Hal Bowen (OF) | 67-68 |
| From Flight School To Fright School | Col. Whiz Broome (WO) | 69-70 |
| The Day CWO David Jackson Died | Col. Whiz Broome (WO) | 69-70 |
| The Day I Lost My Cherry or The Funniest | Col. Whiz Broome (WO) | 69-70 |
| Black Monday, The Rest of the Story | William "Whiz" Broome (WO) | 69-70 |
| I'm Burning Alive | Joe Bruce (EM) | 66-69 |
| You Can't Judge A Gunner By His Flakjack | Bill Burgner (WO) | 66-67 |
| Airbursts | Chuck Carlock (WO) | 67-68 |
| For Life | Frank Carson (WO) | 67-68 |
| Fire Team Leader Kelly McHugh | Robert Combs (WO) | 69-70 |
| The Real Story | Rich Davis (EM) | 66-67 |
| This is Rattler 2-9, We’re Going Down | Pete Dolbee (EM) | 66-67 |
| The Sniffer Mission | Will Drewry (EM) | 68-71 |
| Stealing the General's Jeep | Will Drewry (EM) | 68-71 |
| Not My Day To Die | Bob Falk (EM) | 66-67 |
| The Truth Shall Sit (Set) You Free | Roger Farrell (EM) | 67-68 |
| Just One More Flight | Ray Foley (EM) | 67-68 |
| Just Trying To Help A Buddy | Ray Foley (EM) | 67-68 |
| Vietnam: Blood, Sweat and Tears | Carl Fox (EM) | 66-67 |
| My Memory of a War Story | Michael J. Friel (WO) | 70-71 |
| Firebird 92 | Mike Friel (WO) | 70-71 |
| Down In Flames | Stuart Froehling (OF) | 70-71 |
| I Dotted His Eye | Duane Ginter (OF) | 64-65 |
| Charlie Cotton's Last Flight | Benny Goodman (WO) | 68-69 |
| Doing The Right Thing | Tom Griffith (OF) | 65-66 |
| 15 November 1969 - Death Is Always Near | Ed Gwynn (WO) | 69 |
| The Last Check Ride | Dennis Hand (OF) | 66-67 |
| Big Guns at LZ Center | "George" Hardeman (EM) | 69 |
| Black Monday | David Harris (EM) | 67-68 |
| Thanks For My Life | Steven E. Hill (WO) | 69-70 |
| The Day I Met Major Tommie P. James - December 2, 1969 | Johnnie Hitt (Colonel) | 1969 |
| The Rescue of Saber 6 | Johnnie B. Hitt (OF) | 69-70 |
| Black Monday | Johnnie B. Hitt (OF) | 69-70 |
| My First Day | Wally Honda (WO) | 69-70 |
| Instrument Flight Rules | Wally Honda (WO) | 69-70 |
| Who Would Have Thought | Doug Hopkins (OF) | 66-67 |
| Christmas in Viet Nam | Doug Hopkins (OF) | 66-67 |
| Welcome To The Firebirds | Steve Hopkins (EM) | 71 |
| 1st Flight, 1st Hit, 1st Shootdown, 1st | Jack Horn (OF) | 66-67 |
| Midnight Chow Run | John Hoss (EM) | 69-70 |
| Black Monday As Witnessed By Earl Ingram - 174th AHC | Earl Ingram (OF) | 69-70 |
| A Graceful Exit | Bill Irby (WO) | 70-71 |
| Lil' Mac Was One Cool Dude | Bill Irby (WO) | 70-71 |
| Changed Lives In A Time Of Change | Steve Israel (WO) | 69-70 |
| Going To War | Jesse James (OF) | 64-65 |
| It's Only Paper | Jesse James (OF) | 64-65 |
| Midair | Jesse James (OF) | 64-65 |
| Stinky TDY | Jesse James (OF) | 64-65 |
| The Rest of the Story | Jesse James (OF) | 64-65 |
| A Hot Time At LZ Ross | Jim Jobson (OF) | 67-68 |
| Dog Days | Jim Jobson (OF) | 67-68 |
| Snake Doctor Work | J.T. Johnson (EM) | 68-69 |
| Million Dollar Hill | Marlin Johnson (EM) | 67-68 |
| It's Wet Out Here | Bill Keller (OF) | 66-67 |
| On The Job Training | Bruce Kelly (WO) | 67-68 |
| It Wasn't Us, Sir | Don Kleiber (OF) | 65-66 |
| Lefty Frizzell Volunteered To Fly For Me | Don Kleiber (OF) | 65-66 |
| My Last Mission | Tom Knapp (EM) | 66-67 |
| The Night We Hung The Flare | Tom Knapp (EM) | 66-67 |
| Watch That First Step | Doug Lane (WO) | 71 |
| The Day Our Chow Changed in the 71st | Neal Lang (WO) | 69-70 |
| Merry Christmas - 1964 | Roy Lowery (WO) | 64-65 |
| Hell, I Was There | Don Lynam Charger 16 and Rattler 16 (OF) | 70-71 |
| Remembering "Pappy" Morehouse | Bob Mangum (OF) | 66-67 |
| The Bravest Thing I've Ever Seen | Marine Colonel | 68 |
| A Day Off From Flying Turns Into Crash | Steve Martin (OF) | 65-66 |
| Col. Ben Silver's Hat | Tom Marty (OF) | 70-71 |
| A Wonderful Memory | Mike McGraw (WO) | 67-68 |
| Mother's Day Letdown | Ed Mills (EM) | 67-68 |
| Gunships Sink 148 Boats | Walter Mitchell (EM) | 67-68 |
| Who's Side Are We Paying? | Jim Moore (WO) | 65-66 |
| Rocket Alarm Clock | Ron Olson (WO) | 69-70 |
| Mile High Harry | Chris Palmer (EM) | 67-68 |
| Riding Shotgun In Vietnam | Gary Parks (EM) | 65-66 |
| Wait Just A Minute | Bill Patrick (WO) | 67-68 |
| A Chicken In Every Pot | Jim Pfister (EM (POW)) | 67-73 |
| The Best Mission I Ever Flew | Archie Pitts (WO) | 65-66 |
| Memories Of LZ West | Tom Pratt (OF) | 69-70 |
| How My Aunt Mae May Have Saved My Life | Norman ND Pruitt (EM) | 70-71 |
| Bravery Under Fire | Ron Seabolt (EM) | 66-67 |
| TDY Tay Ninh - December 1966 | Ron Seabolt (EM) | 66-67 |
| Pappy Morehouse and His Crew Saved My Butt Too | Ron Seabolt (EM) | 66-67 |
| Excuse Me, I'll Take The Next Flight | Ted Shulsen (OF) and Vic Bandini (WO) | 69 |
| Aircraft Commanders | Larry Smith (EM) | 66-68 |
| From: Young and Invincible, To: Silver Eagles | Larry (Smitty) Smith (EM) | 66-68 |
| Polar Bears Under Heavy Fire | Southern Cross - 19 June 1970 | 70 |
| Pilot Reveals Chopper Crash | Southern Cross - 21 May 1971 | 71 |
| My First Ever War Story | Charley Sparks (EM) | 69-70 |
| Pucker Up | R.P. Taylor (WO) | 67-68 |
| Everybody Got Steamed, Especially The C. | Ron Taylor (EM) | 70-71 |
| Shotdown | Dennis Wheeler (WO) | 68-69 |
| Just A Swinging | R.J. Williams (EM) | 66-68 |
| Major For A Night | R.J. Williams (EM) | 66-68 |
| More F Troop Tales | R.J. Williams (EM) | 66-68 |
| How to Hover a Semi | R.J. Williams (EM) and Terrance Deemer (EM) | 66-67 |
| Rattler Heroism Recognized After 26 Years | Doug Womack (WO) | 70-71 |
| Quit Hitting Me | Phil Wood (EM) | 68-69 |
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