LZ: Mississippi (photos coming soon)

LZ TUPELO: Leslie's Girl

"I had always known that my dad flew a Huey and that he had died in one. But that's really all I knew... until one day 26 years to the day after he was killed, the phone rang..."

Kim Douglas Sistrunk was only a year old when the helicopter her father was flying was shot out of the skies over Vietnam. The death of 1st LT Leslie F. Douglas devastated his widow and parents and profoundly affected the life of his only child. Kim grew up in a family so grief-stricken that they wouldn’t discuss Leslie, and that is why it meant so much to her to when his war buddies John Goosman, Randy Clark, and Jim Coleman came from all over the country to be with her in Tupelo as she took her first Huey ride—in the same seat where her dad sat.

"I had lived with the pain of not having my father for many years, but I never really understood just how my father's death affected his comrades. All that changed when we sat together in the Huey and just talked."

Kim's story represents a lot of stories of children who lost their fathers in Vietnam. For her, meeting the men who knew him in war brings answers and comfort and a connection she's always wanted. And for the veterans themselves, who freely talk about how hard it was to finally connect with Douglas' family, it is a healing experience they'd hope will come for others. As Jim Coleman says, "If this whole event does anything, I hope it lights a fire in one guy to call somebody up and put it to bed."

"I am grateful and forever thankful that they took the time out of their lives to find me and to let me know my father through them..." -Kim Douglas Sistrunk

Leslie Forrest Douglas, Jr.
U.S. Army, B Company, 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion
1st Cavalry
7.7.45 - 6.30.70

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Behind The Scenes: ITSOTB's First Story... If ITSOTB led to healing, then healing led to ITSOTB, because it was Kim Douglas and John Goosman, visiting the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association reunion together in 2000 that told us we were on to a story. Goosman, the only survivor of the helicopter crashed that killed Kim's father, had taken her to the Washington DC event, and Patrick Fries, walking around with a camera and a stack of flyers, came upon the pair sitting in a static Huey. "So what does this helicopter mean to you?" he asked. And their answer told him that, indeed, if he followed his dream of flying a UH-1 across America, he would encounter tremendous stories. "I thought, someday someone will tell the story of the pilots and the crew members and the infantry. But who would ever tell the story of this daughter?"
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The Lecture To the Producers That Formed the ITSOTB Philosophy, July 2000

“You may be very nice people, but I don’t know you and I want you to understand something. This is sacred ground. This isn’t just a name on a Wall or a story you can tell and then turn away. This is a real person and this is a real family. I am happy to work with you as long as Kim wants me to, but if you ever, ever do anything that is not in her best interest, you will have me to deal with.”
-John Goosman

"It was my honor to be associated with the work you folks did in Tupelo for the Douglas family, the Pettit family and all the Vietnam vets that were there. This project is long over due and I thank those of you with the vision and determination to help tell our story. The sights, sounds and smells of the Huey brought back so many memories in such a short time that it was difficult to sort them out. On reflection, most importantly it brought back the sense of pride that all of us Slick Drivers had in doing a very difficult job for our grunts, for whom we had to respond when they needed us. I have never been associated with a finer group of people that the members of B Co., 227 Avn Bn., 1st Air Cav, 69-70. I want to thank all of you for helping the world to be exposed to a small segment of our story. Choo Choo Coleman, Potato Masher 13."
-Jim Coleman

LZ WEST POINT: Participatory Citizenship

"The only thing I wish is that I could have had all 2.6 million Vietnam veterans with me to see it."

The students and teachers of West Point Elementary School know how to honor heroes. After all, CW5 Randy Jones lives in their town. Jones, a veteran of both Vietnam and the “Blackhawk Down” mission in Mogadishu, is indeed a true American hero, and his small town’s blood runs red, white, and blue.

Landing Zone West Point even included apple pie for the ITSOTB crew. The tribute moved them deeply. “To have those children sing patriotic songs to us,” ITSOTB crewmember and Vietnam veteran Gary Roush says, choking on emotion, “Well, I only wish all 2.6 million Vietnam veterans could have been there to experience it.”

"We tell our boys their Momma wore combat boots..."

Bob and Claire Barrett are one of those couples who seem like they were born together. They finish each other sentences and don’t mind it. They met in the chow line in a Vietnam mess hall in 1967. She was a nurse. He flew DUSTOFF. Wounded boys passed from his care to hers.

“We tell our boys momma wore combat boots,” he says. “And I did,” Claire answers. Thirty-four years to the day after Bob graduated flight school, he took his bride on a flight. She gave him a thumbs up on landing. “I think DUSTOFF 30 still has his touch.”

From the Guestbook:

"Thanks for the ride today. What made it even more meaningful is that DUSTOFF 30 was at the stick. We both served in Vietnam from '67-68. Bob was with the 45th Air Ambulance and I was at the 93rd evacuation hospital. The sound of the helicopter brought back many memories. Keep up the good work!"
-Claire Barrett <cbbarr@yahoo.com> Aberdeen, Mississippi

LZ CARTHAGE: Gold Star Mother

"As long as I can hear that sound, he never leaves me."

Kathleen Crow Settlemire came to see the Huey clutching a photograph. She pointed to the shiny gold pin she wears over her heart. "They had a ceremony and they gave me this pin. That made me a member of the
Gold Star Mothers. This is what I have left of my boy."

Mrs. Settlemire told Patrick Fries that the "worst day" was when she was finally able to listen to her son's tapes home from Vietnam again she'd found they'd faded and she couldn't hear his voice anymore. That conversation haunted the film director and several months later he called to ask her to send the tapes. Determined to find a way to restore the son's voice for his mother, Fries recruited audio engineer Wayne Bell's help.

It worked. And now the voice of a mother's lost son lives forever:

You all take it easy, Dad
don't work hard mamma keep
them all going to church.
Okay.
I'm back now.
I'm back now.
These guns are going off
pretty regularly over here
now.
I'm sure nothing is going
to happen to me in Vietnam.
It shouldn't.
I want you to know that
love you very, very much...

David Reid Crow IV
U.S. Army, 48th Assault Helicopter Company
9.8.46 - 4.9.69

Meeting a Gold Star Mother like Mrs. Settlemire is humbling. It doesn't matter how long ago her son or daughter was killed; the loss leaves a hole that will never be filled, and you know that there is really nothing you or your nation can ever do to pay an adequate tribute to their sacrifice. Nothing reflects the price of freedom more than the eyes of a Gold Star Mom.

LZ CARTHAGE: Huey Crew Reunion

"It was a touching moment in the sense of you could feel the joy of
seeing each other, the respect for each other. But yet a sense of pain or loss from all of the years that have gone by without really staying in contact with each other..."

Pilot Larry Castagneto in the left seat. Crew chiefs Len Mallick and Walter Sharpes in the back. "Tail clear left, sir." It was like three decades had dropped away for these veterans of the 162nd Assault Helicopter Company. An aerial reunion that would bring these guys back together in a forever kind of way.

Additional Scenes:

I was in Vietnam from June '69 to July '70. I flew DUSTOFF in III and IV Corp. I continued to fly in the Mississippi National Guard in Tupelo, MS. I retired in 1995 with 29 years active and National Guard. I have over 4,000 hours in the UH1 and loved every minute of it. I also flew 212's and 412's along with Jet Rangers and BO105S until 1998 in the Gulf of Mexico.
-Jerry W. Kinsey <MOONPIE@PRODIGY.NET> Shannon, Mississippi

Jerry Kinsey still has a Vietnam map with a bullet hole in it. We met and filmed him in Tupelo. Look for his story on the DVD.

Next ITSOTB Stop: Texas.

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