Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, 1975

Having grown up in the Vietnam War era, I’d seen the images of jungles, warfare, and war protest on the evening news nearly every day of my high school life. They told us that this was the first war that came into living rooms and that it was more “real” than any other war in history. When Saigon fell, in April 1975, I felt a keen sense of sadness mixed with relief. Perhaps now our nation could begin the healing process.

That summer, when I was living in Corpus Christi, Texas, with husband (now ex-husband), the helicopters that had participated in the evacuation of Saigon were sent to the Army helicopter repair depot that was located on the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. While we were driving through the base and past the helicopter depot, I saw these helicopters and for the first time, it seemed so real. The sight of bullet holes, cracked windows, and broken pieces of the aircraft have remained in my mind for these 35 years. And I learned that seeing something on the television news isn’t as real as seeing it up close.

Terry Beck
Sno-Isle Libraries

Photo credit: UH-1D helicopters airlift members of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment from the Filhol Rubber Plantation area to a new staging area, during Operation "Wahiawa," a search and destroy mission conducted by the 25th Infantry Division, northeast of Cu Chi, Vietnam., 05/16/1966 [Online version on May 5, 2010, available through the online catalog at www.archives.gov/research/arc/].