I was more or less terrified to go because of what I had been through in the past. But when I got there it was so very good to see these guys. Most were Medevac but there were a few guys in clearing companies. The term Medevac was invented by these guys. I learned that 1/3 of all Medevac crews during the war were shot down and killed. I learned the mongoose kept by the 1/9th near us in Quon Loi was named Agnew, not for the VP but for a particularly weasely officer in 1/9th. There were about 23 guys from 15th Med there and everyone there had at least one Purple Heart, some two or three, even us guys on the ground. Of these 23 guys, one was in a wheelchair from being shot in the head, another was on crutches, three had arms that were not functional. One guy had six bullet holes in his arms and legs. there was an entire crew there that in one day was shot down four times in the A Shau. Their own chopper was shot down, them two more Medevacs and finally a slick. They quit when they ran out of helicopters.
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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams
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