The Vietnam Veteran Thoughts

These days it seems the Vietnam war period is like ancient history. Those days are now so long ago that they seem like maybe another life, or something I read in a book somewhere. It was a time when I was young, my body responded well when it had demands placed on it, while today I seem to have trouble just getting around. I wake up and discover that I'm in my sixties. How did that happen? I still remember growing up in the '50's, like it was yesterday. I took my brother-in-law flying yesterday - he grew up across the street from me. We flew over our home town, Lumber City, GA, and he took pictures of the house that he grew up in, while the place I lived in is now a vacant lot. Someone bought the house after Mama died, and they tore down the house. The school where we attended, 2 blocks from home, has been torn down, and the whole town looks like a ghost town. Sad, sad. Flying around yesterday in my Cessna 172 was a real joy. Weather was clear and the ohly drawback was the haze. For most of the year around here, the haze goes up to about 10,000 feet, and it takes a lot of pushing and shoving to get a 172 up that high. Problem with the haze is that the higher you fly, the less you can see on the ground. We stayed between 2,000 and 3,000 feet most of the time, landing for a pit stop at Hazlehurst's little airport. Then, back into the air, and about 30 minutes back to Swainsboro, where the plane is based. It was just a nice day for flying, and we both had a blast. Next time I go to my orthopedic doc in Columbus, I think I'll take Mike with me for company. You can refer back to some of my earlier entries about flying to Columbus.

OK, that's it for now. I have to get out of here and work on my ham radio, call sign W1FKY....

73,
Joe

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