Chapter One
The way I ended up in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot was by
looking for a way out of Vietnam. I was a smartass kid a little
brighter and a little more cunning than the average turkey off
the turnip wagon. At least that was how I figured it. My old
granny always said when you weighed 125 pounds soaking wet
with a squirrel in your pocket and stood all of five-three and
three-quarters, it wasn't brawn that put you on top of the ant
hill. Brains was the only thing that kept you from going around
armpit high to the rest of the world.
Actually, I might not have been that bright after all. It was
my idea to join the U.S. Army in the first place.
"Tell you what," I said to my high school buddy, Randy
Huntzberry.
"What?" Randy said, biting.
"Let's join the army."
"I thought you were brighter than that, Ronnie Alexander."
Randy and I had graduated from South Hagerstown High,
Hagerstown, Maryland, in the spring of 1963 ... read full excerpt from Taking Fire ebook
