Summary of Patrick Henry Brady & Meghan Brady Smith'sDead Men Flying

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 I had just graduated from flight school and volunteered for Viet Nam. I hoped a combat tour would help me improve my mediocre career. The 57th Medical Detachment was the only helicopter ambulance unit in Viet Nam.

#2 The third commander of the 57th was Major Charles Kelly. He was reputed to be a bit of a rascal to work with, and he was getting weary of being separated from his beloved wife Jessie and their children.

#3 The first words I heard from him were, We never covered ourselves with glory today. During that morning’s operation, an American helicopter had gone down in the South China Sea. Kelly and his crew were overhead, heard the call for help, and almost beat the falling bird to the water.

#4 The crew of a Dust Off mission consisted of the pilot, a co-pilot, a medic to tend the wounded, and a crew chief who owned and maintained the helicopter. The medic and crew chief also served as door gunners covering the flanks of the helicopter on approach and take off.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669358138

IRB Media

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Insights on Patrick Henry Brady & Meghan Brady Smith's Dead Men Flying

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I had just graduated from flight school and volunteered for Viet Nam. I hoped a combat tour would help me improve my mediocre career. The 57th Medical Detachment was the only helicopter ambulance unit in Viet Nam.

#2

The third commander of the 57th was Major Charles Kelly. He was reputed to be a bit of a rascal to work with, and he was getting weary of being separated from his beloved wife Jessie and their children.

#3

The first words I heard from him were, We never covered ourselves with glory today. During that morning’s operation, an American helicopter had gone down in the South China Sea. Kelly and his crew were overhead, heard the call for help, and almost beat the falling bird to the water.

#4

The crew of a Dust Off mission consisted of the pilot, a co-pilot, a medic to tend the wounded, and a crew chief who owned and maintained the helicopter. The medic and crew chief also served as door gunners covering the flanks of the helicopter on approach and take off.

#5

I experienced the burning ears phenomenon many times, and it was a feeling I did not enjoy. I would never fly without zippers in my boots from then on. The rules should be changed, I thought, as a FNG.

#6

I was a captain and outranked my co-pilot, but he would be in charge until I got checked out in the area. He was a bit too cavalier for my tastes, and he seemed more curious than caring about the few patients we carried.

#7

There are two types of flying: flying a helicopter and riding in it. Flying a helicopter is an artform, while riding in it is just science. In a helicopter, man and machine truly bond.

#8

I was fascinated by the incredible variety of landscape around Pleiku, and how it could be seen from altitude and at ground level. I was only vaguely aware of how important this would be in my later flying.

#9

I became a medic by virtue of being a psychology major in ROTC. I had no stomach for a needle or blood, but I was able to fly across Vietnam and kill people without any problem.

#10

I