Courage

…Ly was the daring pilot who landed his single seat cessna with his wife and five children on the USS Midway.

The flight deck was crowded with U.S. sailors and Vietnamese people, just like that day 35 years ago. High in the sky above their upturned faces, a Cessna circled the aircraft carrier Midway, symbolizing the pilot’s desperate plea to land.

Bung Ly was surrounded by San Diego Bay this time instead of the South China Sea, telling the story of how he crammed his wife and five children into the two-seater Bird Dog plane, fleeing over the waters ahead of the advancing Viet Cong.

Extraordinary means to save those things that mean the most to you in extraordinary circumstances.

categories Military Thingies, Morality, Politics, World Stuff | | datetime April 28, 2015 10:40 pm

6 Responses to “Courage”

  1. Julie says:
    April 29, 2015 at 7:53 am

    Sis, the link isn’t working…

  2. tree hugging sister says:
    April 29, 2015 at 8:53 am

    THANKS! Should now, Julie. I left out a ” in the link. O_o

  3. Mr. Bingley says:
    April 29, 2015 at 9:22 am

    My goodness, I’ve never heard of this. What a moment.

  4. Jeremy says:
    May 1, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    Ly’s plane (O-1 Bird Dog) is in the Naval Aviation Museum NASP.

  5. Kathy Kinsley says:
    May 1, 2015 at 8:15 pm

    The memories that brings back. DAMN the government. We could have won. I lost friends in Vietnam – and made others (who had lost more than friends) of the so-called ‘boat people’.
    Peace with Victory, yeah…right.
    And, yanno – that’s why I’m not a Republican. They may be a bit less bad, but not by much.

  6. Kathy Kinsley says:
    May 3, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    Oops – that should have been “peace with honor” – was thinking peace with victory would have been a much better outcome. There was no honor involved there. We scurried out of there like rats from a sinking ship.

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