jenorv

[jenorv]

Remembrances of Deacon

2025 is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. It was not the war that killed Deacon; it was the years after the war. I had known Lt. Ed (Deacon) for two years before we became roommates. We flew combat missions in the backseat of the F-4 out of Udorn, Thailand. Deacon and I had gone to Navigation Training together and worked as a team during the Trek at Survival School. I was not…

[jenorv]

Complacency Can Kill

When you fly for a living, as I did for nearly 15 years, you learn to always remain vigilant while in the air. However, vigilance is not the fundamental principle of flying. Flying isn’t solely about skill levels, air traffic control, or aircraft maintenance. The key rule is to avoid complacency. Complacency is a trap, and I fell into that trap even before I began flying. My first assignment was…

[jenorv]

Snap Shots of Christmas

Writing our annual holiday letter this year was a challenge. At age 80, not many things have happened in our lives. In the past, we often had exciting or interesting news. In 2021, I had a large section of my colon removed as it was leaking; this provided a great deal of material for our letter. The pandemic, of course, allowed us to discuss how we were coping. Then things settled down for us,…

[jenorv]

Citizen Soldiers are the bedrock of the Nation

I come from a long line of American veterans who served our nation. My earliest ancestor was a captain in the Virginia Colonial military, and the family line of service has carried in every war with my father serving in the Army in World War II and Korea and me in the Vietnam Air War. We are good examples of citizen soldiers. The concept of the citizen soldier became deeply rooted in American…

[jenorv]

Respecting Fellow Veterans

There are three watchwords for military men and women who have served: duty, honor, and country. In the early 1960s, General Douglas MacArthur famously pronounced these words, and each veteran understands them differently.  For me, duty meant dedication. I have always thought of honor as trust.  Country means loyalty—loyalty to something greater than oneself. These three words—duty (dedication),…

[jenorv]

On turning 80

My wife and I both turned 80 this summer.  According to those who know, we are members of the Silent Generation (born 1928-1945). These folks exhibit the following characteristics:  traditional values, such as hard work, loyalty, and thriftiness; financial prudence, interpersonal respect, determination, a strong work ethic, and self-sacrifice. While I agree with sociologists about the above,…

[jenorv]

Raging Mice--A Vietnam War Story

Tom Lucas’ engaging new novel about the Vietnam War has a most unusual title: Raging Mice. Raging refers to a Rager. For a certain generation, a Rager was a party or event with a great deal of alcohol. Mice scurry about, for the most part, and live their lives or less undetected, much like the lower ranks of the military, who live their lives below the radar of the officers and others in…

[jenorv]

Coming Home

In his remarkable memoir of the Second World War: Quartered Safe Out Here, George MacDonald Fraser shares his experiences in the Burma Campaign as a 19-year-old private in the Border Regiment fighting the Japanese during 1944-45. In this work, he deals with many of the universal experiences of men in combat; he notes: Nobody in his right mind longs for battle or sudden death.  But once you’ve…

[jenorv]

The Road to the Future

In 1966 I was commissioned a 2nd Lt. through my college ROTC program, and then went to graduate school. While there my vision changed and I could no longer pass a flight physical. By 1968, I went on active duty at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. There, I reported to the 1100th Security Police Squadron as one of its officers. I did not know before I arrived that this was the Air Force…

[jenorv]

Today's Topic: Flight Surgeons

Flight Surgeon (FS) – the term elicited two responses from many jocks: Don’t see him unless you have to do it, and do not volunteer any information on your health. My first experience with a FS surgeon occurred in graduate school. In 1967, I received notice that I was to report to Griffiss AFB in Rome, New York, for a physical to determine if I could enter flight training. Sadly, my vision…

[jenorv]

Three Special Gifts for Christmas

The following piece appeared in the Finger Lakes Times in Geneva, NY Dec 23, 2023 The holiday season is a time of great expectations, which often are not fulfilled. When one experiences a special Christmas, it is a gift of great value. I have had three such Christmases. Christmas near Oswego, N.Y., 65 years ago: In 1958, I lived in a very rural area and decided to go out into the woods to cut…

[jenorv]

Once again we revisit the Christmas from Hades

A Norvell Family Christmas Vacation – or the holidays from h…

[jenorv]

A day in November and Beyond

In 1963, I was a sophomore at Hobart.  Thanksgiving was around the corner,  with a well-appreciated break from the usual round of studying, tests, and college life.  On Friday, November 22, 1963, I was crossing the Hobart Quad going to a biology laboratory when someone grabbed my arm and said, “The President’s been shot.” Lee Harvey Oswald had shot Kennedy from a sixth-floor window of the Texas…

[jenorv]

October 1973

From the end of May to 15 August 1973, I flew 42 combat missions totaling nearly 112 hours. That was the focus of everyday—combat: brief, refuel, bomb, and RTB. Now the war was over at we flew only training missions F’ing New Guys continued to arrive, and we, the old, grizzled war vets, welcomed them as much as we were welcomed earlier. I flew with a green lieutenant or captain who had just…

[jenorv]

My Navy - An interesting look at another service

As an Air Force F-4 fighter backseater, I knew little about the Navy. I had gleaned a bit from movies such as “Officer and a Gentleman” and the two “Top Guns,” but that was it. Even though I taught military history at the Air Force Academy, it focused almost entirely on land battles and air power. I knew about the classic naval battles: Trafalgar in 1805,  Jutland in 1916 during World War I, and …

[jenorv]

50 years ago - the end of air combat over Cambodia - some thoughts

This year is a significant anniversary for me.  First, 55 years ago-1968, I entered active duty as a new Air Force 2nd lieutenant stationed in Washington, DC. I had planned to go to flight training, but my vision changed, and the Air Force assigned me to the Bolling Air Force Base plans’ office there.  By 1971, as the Air Force needed more aircrews for the Vietnam War, I found I could qualify to…

[jenorv]

Buying the Farm

22 July 1973 started like any other bombing mission. We were fragged to go down and meet with a FAC near Phnom Pehn, Cambodia and deliver our bombs in an effort to stop the Khmer Rouge from taking power. We did our preflight routine, strapped in, and taxied to the arming area. For this mission, we carried 18 Mark 82–500-pound bombs, a standard drop. That was 9000 pounds of bombs hanging from…