[TimDavie]

In Southern Vietnam there were a group of C-130's and C-123's set aside to spray the jungles and dense foliage that hid the enemy. Spray called "Pink Rose" and "Agent Orange." The group was called the "Ranch Hands" mostly because they acted like ranch hands after hours. During working hours however, they would take their fully loaded cargo plane and turn it into a crop duster. Flying low and slow, then pulling up into what almost resembled a stall turn....yep with a C-123. they would fly back down in the slot to spray the next row and not miss a beat while 4 more planes they were in formation with would do the same thing. Their patch was a green circle with a Brown stripe. The green represented the forest, and the brown represented the spray. Often called the most "shot at....and HIT" unit in Vietnam, the Ranch Hands only lost 14 men out of many hundred. A Bullet entered the window during one of those high-banked turns and took the life of number 8. It was May 21, 1967 when my brother and I lost our Dad.....41 years ago today.
Thanks for reading.