Spirit

Back coverFresh out of Army basic training and fresh into Army helicopter flight school. I was as scared as any of the other new warrant officer candidates, or WOCs, as we were called. We were not yet used to the disciplined life of having strangers tell us what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. These strangers had that authority because their uniforms had more patches and brass on them than ours did, and they were going to teach us to fly... The first day our instructor informed us, "e;Gentlemen, there are three ways to learn to fly a helicopter: the right way, the wrong way, and the Army way. "e;We are going to teach you the Army way."e;Vietnam looms as a certainty when three young men enter the Army to fulfill their lifelong dream of flying. In the process of training they take their wives along on a journey that will remain in their memory and hearts forever. A journey of discovery, which takes them from childhood to a life they would have never imagined. A journey of hope, that sometimes disappears. A journey of friendship stronger than they have ever experienced. A journey that divided the nation, but united a generation as they became one in the Spirit. Join Jim McCoy, LJ Livingstone, and Brian Keen, along with their wives: Alice, Kathy, and Annie as they leave their childhood behind to join forces in this new world of loud magical machines, friendships, jealousy, and pain when they step into the future.