Description
Book Synopsis United Sates Marine Sergeant Tim Fortner survived 14 months in Vietnam as a door gunner in a CH-46 helicopter, completing 27 strike flight missions. He was awarded the Air Medal for heroic achievement in aerial flight. Like many veterans, his real battle didn''t begin until he returned home, where he struggled to adjust to the new normal of American life in 1969, still haunted by his experiences during the nation''s most unpopular war. His memoir describes his military training, his unit''s harrowing missions inserting and extracting troops over landing zones under enemy fire, and his four-decade struggle with service-connected PTSD.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments ix
- Author's Note x
- Foreword by Peter J. Berman, Ph.D., ABPP 1
- Prologue: Happy Birthday, Tim! 5
- 1. Surfing, Sex and Justice 7
- 2. Journalism, Sex Ed and Extra Credit 12
- 3. Mom Dropping F-Bombs? 16
- 4. Two New Recruits 21
- 5. The Brutal Reality of Boot Camp 24
- 6. Getting with the Program 30
- 7. "I should have been on that flight" 36
- 8. Orders for WestPac 42
- 9. Danger Where You Least Expect It 50
- 10. Elephant Grass, Alabama Moonshine and a Terrifying Journey to the Twilight Zone 60
- 11. Lights and Landings 65
- 12. Your Wingman Is Down! 71
- 13. The Tiger Bar & Grille 74
- 14. Thank You, Anheuser-Busch! 78
- 15. Requiem for a Short-Timer 82
- 16. Lieutenant Dipshit and the Exploding C-rats 88
- 17. The Spoils of War 93
- 18. Keeping Watch and a Painful Loss 100
- 19. Extracting a Recon Team—When Every Second Counts 106
- 20. Is My Luck About to Run Out? 112
- 21. Boosting a Jeep from the Military Police 119
- 22. Seven Lives Gone 125
- 23. Heading Home 130
- 24. Sometimes Your Heart Hurts 137
- 25. Rest in Peace, Rusty 146
- 26. The Road of No Return 153
- 27. A Ticking Time Bomb 160
- 28. Adding Insult to Injury 167
- 29. A Light at the End of the Tunnel 173
- Epilogue: Coming Full Circle 177
- Appendix I: Motor Sports History 181
- Appendix II: Vintage/Historic Race History Results 183
- Appendix III: Statistics from the Vietnam War 187
- Appendix IV: HMM 262 Operations, 1968–1969 189
- Appendix V: Timothy R. Fortner: Citations and Awards 191
- Appendix VI: Timothy R. Fortner: Military Affiliations 192
- Glossary
- Index
