Vietnam veteran Clark Mola of Rapid City was video-interviewed recently by South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
He shared his seldom-revealed thoughts on what it was like to serve as a US Army helicopter pilot, flying troops and ammo into ground-fire-intense Landing Zones, then extracting the dead and wounded. Needless to say, it was considered highly dangerous. Over 2,200 chopper pilots were Killed in Action.
Those looking for antiwar fuel won’t find anything in Mola’s story worth dwelling on. He’s not suffering from PTSD or expecting disability payments for life. He’s not mentally ill or homeless or suicidal or in need of a Crisis Line. Nor is he looking for free meals at restaurants or discounts at stores.
Instead, Mola saw the Army as just what he needed at that directionless time in his adolescence: “Before I went into the service, I didn’t have any direction. I wasn’t very responsible. I wasn’t disciplined. I was just having a good time.
“The military just made a much better person out of me. I think it was my salvation. I just loved the military. I loved everything about it. I loved the discipline. I loved the camaraderie. The missions were very eventful. There was never a dull moment. Every day was great.
“I don’t have any complaints about my time in the service. Aviation was just terrific. I could not have asked for a better occupation while I was in the military. It just straightened me out as a person.”
Army paratrooper COL Dale Friend, who spent most of his time in Vietnam leading combat troops into triple-canopy jungle as a young captain, surely must have crossed paths with Clark Mola at the Black Hills Veterans Writing Group, with both echoing the long-held view of the American veteran with rewards in service itself and a personal sense of a job well done.
Listen to Mola’s video-interview.
