Oh, holy shit! The Ho Chi Minh Trail and SAM launches all over again!

[DemoTex]

SAM! SAM! SAM! VICINITY OF TCHEPONE!

A handful of you probably heard those (or similar) breathless warnings on 243.0 mHz forty some odd years ago. Sometimes the alerts came from King, Hillsborough, or Moonbeam (C-130 command centers for those of us flying the Ho Chi Minh Trail), but usually the warnings came from the first person to see the SAM (a low-level Navy A-6, a USAF "Misty" Fast-FAC F-100, a "Strobe" RF-4C, an Army Mohawk, etc).

I heard enough SAM (surface-to-air missile launch warnings) during Lam Son 719 to last me a lifetime. And I witnessed a few SAM launches, not with my name on them - thankfully! This morning I thought of those days and I truly thought I had witnessed the launch of some type of rocket about 25 miles to my east in the high desert open range.

I had been working a fire smoke 7.25 miles away (see pics) since 6:30 AM. That was over. A fire crew arrived at 9:00 AM and found another drunken party bonfire (in extreme fire danger conditions!). Shortly after the crew left the party fire, this incredible smoke trail caught my eye - in the same general direction but about 25 miles out.

By the time that I thought to grab my camera (which was already set up for shots in that direction into the brutal early morning sun), the "smoke trail" was being affected by light and variable winds. But it had come up just like I would imagine a ground view of a SAM launch would look: straight as an arrow (until lock-on) with a back blast on the ground at the launcher site. WOW, déjà vu all over again!

Since I was shooting into the sun, I had to manipulate the light in all of these shots (the "SAM launch" and the Rave Fire-II) to make the smoke stand out.

mac

BTW: I determined - with about 90% certainty - that what looked like a rocket launch was a very tall, thin dust devil. But ya' neva know out here in Area 51 land!


SAM launch?


Darkened in Photoshop for your viewing pleasure. This plume came up as straight as an arrow.


This morning's party fire. Man, these Oregon kids love to get fox-uniform in the woods!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear DemoTex!

Wow, talk about deja vu!

Scary stuff...:scared:

Love the darkened shot!

Thanks for posting, as always...

Recommended, with pleasure!

:hi:

[DemoTex]

3. Hi Peggy!

Did I tell you that I got some drift smoke from California yesterday? It was subtle and very caustic. Fortunately, our wind shifted today. But we have high winds and extremely low relative humidities (10%). The ERC (energy release component) is 67. NOT GOOD!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Where are the fires in CA?

I guess I haven't heard about those...

Even though I'm not responsible for them, I still feel guilty! :P

[DemoTex]

7. I don't know ..

Another lookout said SOCAL, but we would not be getting drift smoke from SOCAL.

We lookouts are just mushrooms.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. You are not a mushroom!

Nobody keeps you in the dark while they feed you shit!

:rofl:

[pinboy3niner]

2. Sort of a blast from the past, huh?

Some may not get your meaning, but though I only had to fly on Huey insertions and extractions as an infantryman with the 101st, and our visual danger signals were only tracers, I was in enough hairy situations to appreciate the terror you must have felt when you saw those smoke trails--and how those memories and feelings can be triggered, even after all this time. I'm glad you realized quickly that it wasn't a repeat of Lam Son 719. And I'm glad you made it.

[DemoTex]

4. Yeppers. You understand 100% - maybe 110%.

Thanks! Welcome home, too!!!

[sandnsea]

6. I've heard Oregon can trigger PTSD

Not necessarily your area, more the damp woods along the coast. But I thought I'd pass that along if you've had problems in the past.

That is a strange siting. Can't think if I've ever seen anything quite like it. A little tall for a dust devil, but maybe it's just the perspective from the pictures.

Or maybe you've uncovered a terrorist camp, lol. I say that about 98% in jest. There was that one down by Bly, so they say. Never know.

Stay safe!

[DemoTex]

8. To me, Oregon is a fantastic balm.

No PTSD here in Oregon, but I'll report back when I get back to Bob Jones University country in upstate SC at the end of fire season (late October).

[sandnsea]

10. Good deal!

I don't get it, just passing on what others have said. Maybe it's the endless rain in the winter.

So tell me, do the people who say Oregon's rural red areas are as bad as "Bob Jones University country" have any idea what they're talking about?

[DemoTex]

11. Well, I did not say that and I have not heard that .. BUT

As I drove into Bend last year (from Burns on US-20), I saw a trailer with the Confederate "Stars & Bars" flying. In the Deschutes NF, the sign damage from gun fire reminds me of the south. But, I seldom see the public praying over meals (except last season, when my BIL - a Presbyterian pastor - was here) like I see in the south

[LWolf]

17. Oregon's rural red areas are very conservative.

Here on the east side of the Cascades, Bend has some Democrats, and a few more liberal people as well. It's more balanced. Outside of Bend, the majority tends to be conservative and Republican. Not a surprise, since Democrats don't really connect with rural lifestyles. There are plenty of tea-baggers.

The rest of us are here, but we're a minority.

[DemoTex]

20. But Bend is a liberal oasis, compared to upstate South Carolina.

But I know what you mean. I met a raving right-wing lunatic in the bar at "900 Wall" last fire season (2009). But I have met far more progressives and liberals (including a meet-up with DUer Boppers a couple of weeks ago!) at "900 Wall" (and a few other haunts of mine in Bend). At least some of the right-wingers here seem to have a more enlightened position on environmental issues than those on the east coast.

[LWolf]

29. Bend is a liberal oasis compared to the rest of Oregon

east of the Cascades, as well. I can't compare it to SC, though. I've only been east of the Rockies once since I was 7, and I was only 16 then.

It's natural for Bend to have some sense of protecting the environment. Outdoor recreation, and natural beauty, are a big part of what draws people here.

I'm sorry I missed the meet-up a couple of weeks ago. I'll try to make one sometime this summer, if you do it again!

[pinboy3niner]

12. For some vets, treelines is all it takes to bring it back

Please indulge me in a long story:

In 1986, at a coffeeshop in VA, I met a guy, Pete Kennedy, who said he was writing a song, and I told him I was writing a story for a VN vets publication. He began peppering me with questions, and we moved to a booth and talked until dawn.

I told Pete about the war, about fighting in and around the A Shau Valley, the youth of the troops, the reception coming home, and a lot of other things. He said, "Maybe I'll write a song about this." Yeah, right. I figured he was some wannabe songwriter.

A few months later, at a VN vets meeting, I heard about a new song, "19 in Vietnam" by my coffeshop buddy. When we reconnected, he told me he'd put his notes from our meeting aside for a while. But something brought it back when he was driving through the VA countryside with a bandmate who suddenly told him, "I don't like the treelines. We always got ambushed from there."

The guy had been in Pete's band for years, and for a time they'd even lived together, and Pete never knew he was a VN vet. So Pete peppered him with questions, too, and wrote his song.

Pardon my long story. My point is that VN war memories can be triggered by forests. But they can also be triggered by other sights, smells and sounds that can occur anywhere, even in the desert.

And, to finish my story, here's Pete's song:

19 in Vietnam
by Pete Kennedy

Well I'm a bushhog scratchin' for a rat underground
in the jungle of the valley A Shau
I gave him 18 rounds and he didn't go down
I'm dealin' with the devil again

I turned 19 in Vietnam
19 in Vietnam

Well we started out thinkin' we were some kind of heroes
Fightin' just like our daddies did
But now the gung-ho crew is very few
and the rest are just frightened kids

I turned 19 in Vietnam
19 in Vietanm

You spend a year in hell feelin' so alone
Seein' more than a kid can bear
Countin' the days 'til they ship you home
But there ain't no welcome there

When you're 19 in Vietnam
19 in Vietnam
And Wond'rin' Why?

Pete got married, and now performs with his wife, Maura, as The Kennedys. Both are inveterate progressives, and in their concerts they wear their liberal hearts on their sleeves. If you have a chance to catch their folk/rock act at a local coffeehouse (their preferred venue), go for it. You won't be disappointed.

[sandnsea]

13. Speaking of coffee shops

I sat in a coffee shop in Klamath Falls with a guy who talked for hours about why he didn't feel like he should have made it back. Years later, I sat over coffee with another guy who talked about his fears of Iraq turning into another Vietnam. It's funny how the memories just sneak out like that. Thanks for the Kennedy tip, I will look for them. We get a lot of coffee shop type musicians through here.

Part of a short blog piece I wrote about John Kerry several years ago.

"In the course of my life, I’ve probably had more conversations about Vietnam than any other event that touched the lives of the boomer generation. It lurks among us like a festering ghoul, silent for awhile, only to seep through the cracks of our consciousness, rearing its ugly head again. A simple cup of coffee somehow turns to a conversation about coming home and guilt and loss and PTSD. A new friend suffers from Agent Orange affects, another from a long-ago lost limb. And with the horrors of the Iraq war, late night calls of panic as vets and former protestors see a familiar scenario play out, military leaders ignored, corporate crony influences and political lies."

[pinboy3niner]

28. I love your blog piece

It's insightful and beautifuly written. It's a great reflection on your intelligence and perception. As boomers, I think we'll be plagued with Vietnam "for the rest of our days", as "Chris" put it in 'Platoon'.

Coffee shops used to be a favorite haunt of mine. I'd go there planning to read, or write, and often end up in converstion with total strangers. After I first met Pete, years later I bumped into him a couple of times at a diner in Arlington, VA.

I used to live, at one time, where you are--and I remember that, about 10 years ago, Pete played there backing up Nanci Griffith (he's a master guitarist,and has taught advanced and master clases--and I've seen him play master guitar with a beer bottle).

I think Pete and Maura mostly perform on the Atlantic seaboard, but occasionally they come out West, so you may have a chance to see them.

I remember catching a Kennedys show at a BBQ joint in MD around '02, When they performed, for the first time, a tribute to Dickie Chapelle, the first woman journalist killed in the VN war. I think the writing credit went to Nanci Griffith, but I believe Maura Kennedy also worked on it.

One of my fondest recollections is the time Pete played with Tom Paxton at the Birchmere, in Alexandria, VA. They were both on stools onstage, and they got into a one-upmanship about who grew up in the smallest town. And Pete won it, hands down. When Paxton said his town was so small that they only had a Motel 6, Pete came back and said his town was so small, all it had was a Motel 5. (LOL!).

The last time I saw The Kennedys perform was in Vienna, VA, right after the '04 election. And they were not shy about delivering political commentary between their songs!

[DemoTex]

14. OK, looks like it was not a dust devil after all.

Another plume went up at 8:30 this morning, looking - again - just like a SAM launch. This morning's incident came up straight, just like yesterday morning's. By the time I could get the memory disk back in my camera the wind had worked on the smoke trail. Also, I was shooting into the sun so the image was blown out pretty badly.


Sunday 7-18-2010 08:30
Position fixed near an airstrip in the high desert

[MilesColtrane]

15. That's pretty out there.

Have you considered reporting this to Homeland Security?

[martymar64]

16. Do hobbyist rockets have a trail like this? I would imagine theirs would be smaller.

Unless they made a bigger rocket . . .

[DemoTex]

18. Another plume came up at 9:50 AM.

Exactly the same place, exactly the same color and morphology. I'm glad I have photo evidence. Some people wouldn't believe this shit!

[csziggy]

21. How far is that from Brothers?

I looked up the Oregon Rocketry Club and they had public launches this weekend off Hwy 20 between Bend and Brothers:

Calendar:
http://www.oregonrocketry.com/?page_id=54

Directions to site:
http://www.oregonrocketry.com/?page_id=78

Launch times 8 AM on.

[DemoTex]

22. Bingo! Thanks csziggy!

I fixed the position at N 43 48' 58.43'' W 120 36' 46.59'' (very near the Brothers Airstrip)! I think the mystery is solved. Thank goodness for DU, the source of all knowledge!

[csziggy]

23. Cool - that was just a stab in the dark

But I am glad it solved the mystery.

Did you see that the direction page gave the GPS coordinates as N- 43 47.900 W-120 38.864? Pretty good plotting on your part!

[DemoTex]

25. The comparison has already gone out to the boss

Like I say, he is going to be happy tomorrow on a number of fronts relating to this issue. Especially my plotting!

Thanks again, csziggy!

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. There are things that bring you back

to the time that are like shocking and such.

Hugs...

[DemoTex]

24. Just in case you thought old man Mac was losing it in the lookout solitude ..

This is a pic from the Brothers weekend rocket fest sponsors:



It looks like a damn SAM to me! The storied flying telephone pole!

[Oldtimeralso]

26. Great Juliet Oscar Bravo! out n/t

[PacerLJ35]

27. Could be a Smokey SAM

If you're near a range of some sort, it could very well be a smokey SAM (MANPAD simulator...AKA, very large bottle rocket). We use those often to simulate threats while operating in restricted ranges.

The smoke plume doesn't look anything like a radar-guided SAM, it looks a lot more like an SA-7 since it's got the corkscrew appearance. It could be quite possible that somebody was testing/evaluating an SA-7 or other similar weapon (ie, FIM-92, SA-7/14/16/18/24).

[AngryAmish]

30. Bigfoot defends his woods AND airspace