The Hand: A Helicopter Pilot's Story of the Vietnam War

We were like the “Lafayette Escadrille” flying our aircraft with precision and cunning like the World War I volunteer pilots, scarves around our necks, looking for a chance to even the score for that day’s fighting. Known as the “Purple Gang.” those we supported knew that when the Purple Gang were on call, they would be protected and had the best chance to come back from their mission alive. Later in life, as we gathered as old pilots, at my home near Charlotte comparing our lives; we reali...