Original Message

I'd be all for renaming Fort Rucker "Fort Novosel".

I was in Vietnam at the same time as Mr Novosel and may have been present at some of his Medevac flights.

I remember one medevac that I covered with a Cobra team (and the USAF and the VNAF) that could well have been Mr Novosel:

Evening, and dusk is falling in the far south of Vietnam. My Cobra team had landed to refuel and rearm as I headed to the same stage field to refuel and brief for the nights' missions. Camau radio asked if I could do a medevac on the near side of the U Minh: of course I could (one didn't decline medevacs).

I turned West and called those on-site for a sit rep and the pick-up site came into view- a dry rice paddy dike taking fire frome the front and the side from L-shaped tree lines. I 'waren't' looking forward to that LZ, fire coming from the front or back and one side!

And then a VNAF Spooky showed up, checked in and I set up for the approach. And I heard the voice of an angel with salvation "Dustoff *** is 5 minutes out, whatcha got?" on the FM. My job changed to my more typical assignment, coordinating my Cobra team with what was happening...

I'm doing high right hand orbits over the Snakes and Spooky when Dustoff landed, the tree lines sparking with muzzle blasts and dust kicking up all around as the ground guys stuffed the wounded on board... not a peep out of Dustoff asking for more smoke on the bad guys. Honest to pete- the tree lines looked like they had christmas tree lights all over. I'm very, very happy not to be listyening to those rounds coming through my aircraft.

Dustoff takes a turning rise to a nose down departure away from all the hate.

35 years later I asked a fellow pilot who'd flown medevac there at that time if he had been the pilot? He wasn't sure, Dustoff were flying non-stop for 24, 36 and 48 hour duty periods and he was afraid he's slept through some excitement....