Page 25 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Fall 2021 - Online Magazine
P. 25

Bob Bell
                                                                "I Just Wanted                    army

                                                                to Fly!"                          vIetNam





                                                              position.  In fact,   I got my Warrant Officer bars and
                                                              my ambition was      my wings in November 1968, and
                                                              to be an Air Force   after a 30-day leave, I boarded a
                                                              pilot. I became      plane for Ft Lewis, WA. A week
                                                              friends with some    later, I was on a 20-hour flight to
                                                              Eastern Airline      Tan San Nhut Air Base outside
                                                              pilots. One of       of Cam Ranh Bay. I was initially
                                                              them told me         assigned, along with two of my
                                                              about the Warrant    Flight School classmates, to the
                                                              Officer Flight       61st Assault Helicopter Company
                                                              Training Program     (AHC) at Bong Son on the coast
                                                              in the U.S. Army.    of the South China Sea (Gun
                                                              They explained       Platoon).
                                                              to me that the Air
                                                              Force required       I turned 21 while flying a
                                                              a college degree     gunship under the direction
                                                              before they would    of my platoon leader, First
                                                              send you to Flight   Lieutenant Rich Benicewicz.  Rich
                                                              School.  The Army    liked having me as his co-pilot
                                                              only required        because he liked the way I shot.
                                                              a high school        I could fire the guns for two to
                                                              diploma or its       three seconds, release the trigger,
                                                              equivalent; I had    and quickly squeeze it again. The
                                                              the equivalent.      result was a near-constant rate
                 t was 1967; I was 19 years old.
                 The Vietnam War was raging,    The next thing I knew, the
              Iand it looked very much like     Army was flying me to Ft.
              we were about to win it.  That    Polk, Louisiana for basic
              was well before the Tet Offensive.    training.  After that, I was
                                                transferred to Ft. Wolters
              I was finished with high school,   near Mineral Wells, TX
              which is to say that I had        where we finally began
              dropped out one month into my     actual flight training.
              senior year and driven to the     At one point, nobody
              County Seat of Prince George      was flying because the
              County, Maryland, where I         weather was bad. We
              passed the GED.  The only class I   were all pretty bummed
              had really enjoyed was German.    until one of the Instructor
              That talent would stand me in     Pilots wrote this on the
              good stead years later.           chalkboard: “It is better to

              I was working for a printing      be on the ground wishing
              company, National Publishing      you were in the air than to
              Co., as a jogger, a flyboy –      be in the air wishing you
              obviously, not a long-term career   were on the ground.”                          Bob Bell's wife, Glenda




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