It was 1967, and the war was raging. I had been in college and Air Force ROTC. I had scored well on the national test for officer and pilot. I had dreams of flying F-104s, “the missile with a man in it." But college was not getting me where I wanted to go, so I dropped out and headed to the Air Force recruiter with copies of my test scores in hand.

“What's your degree in? he asked.

“I don't have a degree, but look at these scores.”

“Sorry, but the Air Force requires a degree to be a pilot.”

I tried the Navy, but they said the same thing. Disappointed, it was 0ff to the Army. I had lost my student deferment and didn't want to be drafted, so I figured I'd volunteer and hopefully get a good MOS. I didn't know that the Army had any aircraft. I thought all aircraft in our military were Air Force or Navy.

Sgt. 1st Class Marks was tied up with another possible recruit and said he'd be with me in a minute. I wandered over to a big rack of brochures with the “Be All That You Can Be” title. As I scanned them, I saw a picture of a Huey and information on the Warrant Officer Flight Training program. Marks approached me and asked what he could do for me. I said, “I want to be one of these!”

Six months later, I was in basic training at Fort Polk. After basic I was at Fort Wolters, Texas, in primary flight training, then to Fort Rucker for advanced training and then Vietnam. Fourteen months later, I left Vietnam with a Purple Heart, two Army Commendation Medals and 24 Air Medals, with 786 combat hours logged. I continued to fly in the Louisiana Army National Guard and Army Reserve until 1980, logging over 1,600 hours. I continued flying airplanes and logged almost 3,000 hours in those aircraft.

Why did I choose the Army? It gave me wings!

Paul Fitch, American Legion Post 66, Green Valley, Ariz.