Ken Whitley's Personal Account

I was an FNG Cobra pilot firing inside our own camp toward our runway. How could I ever forget? Only death will erase my vivid memories of fighting from eleven-thirty until dawn. I was gassed, shot at, scared, brave, bold, and left with a possibility of killing some friendly American's although I don't know this as absolute fact. Two plus two often adds up to a solution. An answer that I've debated inside my head ever since. It's a long scary tale that left me alive but mostly by accident rather than planning. I thought, "Never again will I live through something as bad as this," but over time I learned to never say never in war. This night was but a warm up in my struggle to stay alive for 365 days in Dau Teing, South Vietnam.

Kenneth Whitley

Based on West end of Dau Teing at D-229th, 1st Cavalry, 12/68-12/69, WO1, Cobra Driver