[exlrrp]

I always feel safer knowing youre out there on duty. I'd feel diferent if you were a cop, tho. (LOL!!)

Well, Ron, I sorta felt like I mighta done too much bitching about officers in the other posts. so I thought I'd tell you bout a couple of times I got along with officers.
3 or 4 times, after an exciting patrol, the helicopter pilots would have us into their base club for cold ones--this would be right after debriefing, which always happened first thing after.
We'd be sitting in these air conditioned clubs talking to these silck and gunboat pilots over a cold beer and it would be like: Miller Time. Excited people wooping and hollering and making their hands zoom around to show how they came in from this way and "opened up the flexis and watched 'er pee" was how I heard one put it.
Well they thought we were some pretty hot shit and I have to say it was gratifying for a teenaged high school dropout to sit there and bask in this. I mean colonels and majors would be setting them up!!
My team leader was on his 2d enlistment, 2d tour and he had the gift of gab (he retired as a lt col!) so I'd be sitting in the rear sucking up a cold one just nodding my head and going: "Yeah what he said" at the right time.
Sometimes we'd sell souvenirs we'd forgotten to put on the report--there was a brisk little trade going on.
These were experiences I'll never forget.

That was the best time I ever had with officers in the war.
Stay safe, Ron, if thats possible for you

James
Happy just to be alive