Editorial

Flashback

David A. Lombardo

I thought I knew what a flashback was; I was confusing it with memories. Countless times over the years, things have triggered memories of my time in Vietnam, and I've talked with people about the inevitably funny things that happen in war-of the frustrations and of the challenges but rarely about the truth of it. In a battalion aid station, you see things you simply can't describe to someone who hasn't been there.

 I saw my first Viet Cong killed within days of my arrival, and within a couple of weeks a young second lieutenant was shot through the head accidentally while sitting on the back of an armored personnel carrier cleaning his rifle. His sergeant was sitting above him on the APC about to disassemble and clean his M-60 machine gun when it went off accidentally. I was only a few feet from the lieutenant when he looked up at me, smiled and was dead within a second. "Doc," my commanding officer, took me aside and said, "Sometimes you just need to swallow hard, put it out of your mind and get back to work." That's what I did; that's what we all did, over the G.I. with no arms and legs, the kid with half his face missing and an endless litany of others. It turns out you may not remember, but you don't forget. 

 This week I was producing and anchoring the news at the 2014 Heli-Expo in Anaheim, California. It's the world's largest helicopter show, and though it is a civilian aviation show, it is a simple fact that the majority of helicopter pilots are prior military. Matt Zuccaro, president of the Helicopter Association International, the organization that puts on the trade show, is a Vietnam era chopper pilot and always includes a "Heritage Area" consisting of a few vintage military helicopters. At the end of the show, all the vets gather together in front of the helicopters for a group photo. 

I decided we'd shoot it and use the footage as our closing segment for our last headline news of the show. I arrived early with our cameraman to shoot some B-Roll and walked up to a Huey gunship. While I had only flown on one a couple of times in Vietnam, I had flown on that same model Huey configured for Medevac many times. Out of nostalgia I sat down in the open bay door and put my feet on the skids as I had done countless times when I was 20 years old. It had been 47 years since I had last done that, but a wave of indescribable emotion rushed over me. 

I heard the unique, distinct wop-wop of rotor blades and could smell human blood and hot JP-4. All the sounds, sights and smells rushed back. They were followed by visions of bodies lying side by side and discussions of who to walk away from and who to start to work on. I could hear Doc saying, "You can't save them all; you have to take the ones that have a chance." 

Sitting there, it all happened within an instant, and I didn't know if I was going to break down or what. The intense emotion left as quickly as it came, and aside from feeling exhausted and having to fight back tearing eyes, the world slowly returned to normal. I didn't sleep well that night, but by the next morning it was back to work and life as usual. But for the first time I now understand what many of my brothers and sisters live with every day. I want you to know you're not alone, and it helps to talk to another vet who's been there and done that, rather than swallow hard, put it out of your mind and get back to work.

Sheriff say no appeal to

San Diego "Shall Issue" decree; A.G. yes

Earlier this month a ruling by the Ninth US District Court of Appeals struck down restrictions in San Diego County, California, over carrying concealed weapons. Last week San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore notified the County Board of Supervisors that he will not be seeking an appeal. "I see no need for me to petition for a hearing or rehearing en banc in order to be able to carry out my duties as sheriff of San Diego County. As a result, I have advised the Office of County Counsel that I will not seek such a hearing." Each of California's counties has the right to set their own requirements for issuing a concealed carry permit, which many gun owners suggest results in severe restrictions, making it impossible to obtain a permit. Gun owner Edward Peruta filed a lawsuit in 2009 after he was denied a permit by the county, and the case quickly gained momentum among gun rights advocates in the state. On Thursday of this week California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris said that she would challenge the ruling. "Local law enforcement must be able to use their discretion to determine who can carry a concealed weapon," Harris said. "I will do everything possible to restore law enforcement's authority to protect public safety, and so today am calling on the court to review and reverse its decision." 

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COURSE SCHEDULE

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FBI Preliminary Semiannual Uniform

Crime Report, January - June 2013

The FBI has released its Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report for the first six months of 2013. It reflects a downward trend in all violent crime offenses including murder, forcible rape, assault and robbery. Daniel Xu, in his February 21st article on Outdoorhub.com, points out it correlates with one of the largest booms for gun sales in recent history. The FBI report was compiled with data submitted by 12,723 law enforcement agencies in the United States for the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Compared to 2012, the first half of 2013 was marked by an across-the-board decrease in crime. The numbers of murders in January to June 2013 decreased by 6.9 percent, forcible rapes declined by 10.6 percent, aggravated assaults declined by 6.6 percent and robberies by 1.8 percent. Arson and property crime also plummeted in 2013. The biggest decrease of crime occurred in small towns with fewer than 10,000 residents, which averaged a drop of 9.2 percent in violent crime. The largest population group-cities with more than one million residents-saw a drop of 4.7 percent in violent crime. Regionally, the largest drop in crime occurred in the Midwest with a 7.4 percent decrease, followed by 5.9 percent in the South, 4.3 percent in the Northeast, and 3.7 percent in the West. While the FBI does not speculate why there was a drop in crime, and it is certainly true that it could simply be part of the cyclical ebb-and-flow of crime in general, one thing is certain-increased gun ownership is not a nexus to increased violent crime.