LZ: Louisiana (photos coming soon)

"Too late--we already got it painted..."

What are the odds? You're flying along in a helicopter that served only a few months in Vietnam before being taken down one too many times by the enemy and you just so happen to encounter one of the pilots who flew that particular Huey in Vietnam?

When Ernie Bruce was asked if he'd like to take the left seat for a flight he was so overcome that he had to sit down for a minute. He told a funny story about the 173rd AHC noseart and we were off on our way.

But, wait, there's more to the What-Are-The-Odds Bruce family story!

At LZ Austin a young woman bounced up to the aircraft. "My dad flew this helicopter in Vietnam." Maybe we weren't paying attention to her emphasis, so she said it again. "My dad flew this helicopter in Vietnam! And he flew it a few weeks ago in Louisianna!"

Well, we couldn't let that pass! At first light the next morning, Sharon was buckled into her dad's seat and into the air over the Texas capital. One of few remaining active Army Huey units, the Cajun DUSTOFF, joined the flight in tribute formation. “These are the men who went before us,” one of the young soldiers said. “I am proud to honor them.”

Bob Shine is a surprise. His baby face and gentle voice contradict what you’ll see when he takes his shirt off. When a man sees his friends die in combat, he might go to great lengths to remember them. If he’s Bob Shine, he’ll spend years with a tattoo needle in his back, enduring pain that he says “is so much less than theirs.”

Next ITSOTB Stop: Mississippi.

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