There Was No Music

"There Was No Music" is a recollection of a naval aviator and founding member of a unique combat aviation unit, the HA(L)-3 "Seawolves", the most decorated navy squadron of the Vietnam conflict. The unit is currently the subject of a Smithsonian sponsored historical novel and a nationally televised PBS documentary. The author is cited in the novel and appears in the documentary. In a parallel narrative, the author reflects on the aftermath of the combat experience, a quixotic journey, dogged by post-traumatic stress related to the combat experience. Though the subject matter is often grim, the author's perception is cast in a darkly humorous context.
This work evolves in two concurrent parts, one detailing my Vietnam combat experience where, as a decorated naval aviator the author logged in excess of 800 hours of combat flight time and was: twice wounded; twice shot down; and continually engaged in combat actions culminating in a top-secret rescue operation. The parallel story considers the authors reentry into civilian life, a unique odyssey inter-twined with significant socio-political events of the post-World War II era: the Southern California beach scene; Watergate and President Nixon's resignation; Aspen, Colorado evolving as a haven for refugees of the 60's cultural revolution and a celebrity mecca; Gary Hart's disastrous presidential campaigns; and the launch of the International Space Station.