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On board the flight from Japan to Vietnam in Jan of 1969, the stewardesses threw one hell of a party.

They flirted with all of the troops, conducted sing alongs, told stories, allowed the guys to take over the microphone and sing.

At one point, the pilots got into the act by leading us in a song over the intercom, and during the chorus (I don't remember the song) he had the plane swinging back and forth.

I remember vividly, one of the stews had on a plastic apron, and she had put on the front of it in magic marker, "GOD BLESS THE USA".

One of the troops got a little out of line, and the stewardess made him get up in front of the entire plane and repeat what he had said. As he finished repeating what he said, the stewardess behind him who had filled a bucket of ice water, dumped it over his head. Everybody, including the trooper thought it was great fun.

I talked to the stewardesses after we landed in Bien Hua, and she said that they always tried to make that leg of the trip fun, because of what the troops were going to face for the next 12 months. One of them, with tears in her eyes said something I'll always remember. She said " I wonder how many will survive for the ride home".

I can't remember how long the flight was (I'd guess 2 hours) but it made everybody who was facing the hell of a year tour feel a little better.