IN MEMORY HONOR ROLL

I am not certain exactly what it was that made me decide to write this letter. Perhaps it was my oldest son's deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom as a United States Marine or maybe my second son's recent enlistment in the Marines and his possible deployment. Whatever the reasons, I now feel compelled to write this letter on behalf of my father, Richard Lewis Allen, and on behalf of other fathers, mothers, daughters and sons who lost loved ones under similar circumstances during the Vietnam War. At the start of World War II my father had just graduated from Colgate University in New York. He was a bright young man and a varsity letterman in several sports. Then, in December 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. My father was swept up in the patriotic wave that consumed America in 1942. He enlisted as an aviation cadet on January 14, 1942. He served as a pilot instructor from 1942 until December, 1946. My father always had a passion to fly. Although his primary mission changed from pilot instructor to information officer, both internal affairs and public, he always maintained a command pilot rating the highest in the Air Force. In April, 1968, my father was deployed to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Bien Hoa Air Base R.V.N. Following my father's return from Vietnam he never sat around and recounted war stories or told us how dangerous it got at times. He did talk about how he loved flying and about the different aircraft he flew while in Vietnam. He talked about flying "Puff the Magic Dragon" and the many defoliation missions he flew in UC-123 Providers spraying Agent Orange on the jungles of Vietnam. My father never boasted or even told us about the 200 combat missions he flew or that he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Force Commendation Medal for his ground operations while engaging the enemy during the Tet Offense from February 25, to February 28, 1969. He also never mentioned that he received the Air Medal for his 200 combat missions or the RVN Medal of Gallantry. He simply did his job and did it well. I only discovered his medals and commendations many years after his death when looking through a box of old photographs and his military records.