T Bone
Well-known member
Hey all,
Something real cool has happened to my Dad. He was an USAF pilot during Vietnam. He was a FAC pilot flying the OV-10 Bronco and was shot down at low altitude in 1970 while flying a mission over the Ho Chi Minh trail. He was listed as MIA until recovered a few days later alive and mostly well.
Here is an email he received yesterday. It's worth the read IMO. His call sign was NAIL 28.
From: Marcus Rhinelander <mqrhinelander@___.com>
To: mikeltaylor@___.com
Subject: your old helmet?
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:51:06 -0700 (PDT)
>Hello-
>
>I got your e-mail address from Rick At____on, whom I
>met yesterday as part of a project on the Ho Chi Minh
>Trail. My research partner, Nat Stone, and I have
>spent a year and a half interviewing people who lived
>and served on (and over) the Trail to gain a picture
>of its importance to the war and see what remains of
>it today.
>
>We started this project by walking (mostly) from Mu
>Gia pass to the Cambodian border in Laos, interviewing
>villagers along the way. A month or so into our trip
>(January 2005) we came to a village south of Muang
>Nong where we found a U.S. flight helmet on a shelf in
>the headman's house. We eventually managed to get the
>story out of them- supposedly the headman got it from
>some Vietnamese who were scavenging a crash site for
>scrap metal.
>
>On our return, we contacted the MIA JTF search team
>working in Laos. They visited the village (which they
>recorded as Ban Taloung but we were told was called
>Ban Bloy) that October, searched the crash site,
>identified the aircraft as an OV-10, and traced it to
>the operational loss of Nail 28 on 7 May, 1970,
>Captain Michael L. Taylor. Who, I hope, was you.
>
>If so, I'm very happy to be able to make contact with
>you and to know that you made it back safely. I
>thought I'd send you a photo that I took that day- you
>may be interested to see you old helmet again. I'm
>afraid that I don't think I'll be in Idaho soon, but
>hope that maybe we can meet one day.
>
>Meanwhile, all the best,
>Marcus
>
>PS- I have a copy of this photo on my website along
>with other pictures of the Trail today, but it is
>unfortunately (and, I trust temporarily) down for repairs.
>
Dad is quite moved by the recent event and he says he wants his helmet back.
T Bone
Something real cool has happened to my Dad. He was an USAF pilot during Vietnam. He was a FAC pilot flying the OV-10 Bronco and was shot down at low altitude in 1970 while flying a mission over the Ho Chi Minh trail. He was listed as MIA until recovered a few days later alive and mostly well.
Here is an email he received yesterday. It's worth the read IMO. His call sign was NAIL 28.
From: Marcus Rhinelander <mqrhinelander@___.com>
To: mikeltaylor@___.com
Subject: your old helmet?
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:51:06 -0700 (PDT)
>Hello-
>
>I got your e-mail address from Rick At____on, whom I
>met yesterday as part of a project on the Ho Chi Minh
>Trail. My research partner, Nat Stone, and I have
>spent a year and a half interviewing people who lived
>and served on (and over) the Trail to gain a picture
>of its importance to the war and see what remains of
>it today.
>
>We started this project by walking (mostly) from Mu
>Gia pass to the Cambodian border in Laos, interviewing
>villagers along the way. A month or so into our trip
>(January 2005) we came to a village south of Muang
>Nong where we found a U.S. flight helmet on a shelf in
>the headman's house. We eventually managed to get the
>story out of them- supposedly the headman got it from
>some Vietnamese who were scavenging a crash site for
>scrap metal.
>
>On our return, we contacted the MIA JTF search team
>working in Laos. They visited the village (which they
>recorded as Ban Taloung but we were told was called
>Ban Bloy) that October, searched the crash site,
>identified the aircraft as an OV-10, and traced it to
>the operational loss of Nail 28 on 7 May, 1970,
>Captain Michael L. Taylor. Who, I hope, was you.
>
>If so, I'm very happy to be able to make contact with
>you and to know that you made it back safely. I
>thought I'd send you a photo that I took that day- you
>may be interested to see you old helmet again. I'm
>afraid that I don't think I'll be in Idaho soon, but
>hope that maybe we can meet one day.
>
>Meanwhile, all the best,
>Marcus
>
>PS- I have a copy of this photo on my website along
>with other pictures of the Trail today, but it is
>unfortunately (and, I trust temporarily) down for repairs.
>
Dad is quite moved by the recent event and he says he wants his helmet back.
T Bone
Hope it all works out and he gets his helmet back. What a story
