John Hope:  

I joined the Air Force a couple of months after graduation, and stayed for 30+ years. Along the way, I picked up a BS and an MBA from Golden Gate University, and an MS from George Mason University. I was fortunate enough to go through pilot training with my brother Ken, including flying a few formation rides on each other's wing. Ken & I served in Vietnam together on several occasions, and I actually flew a B-52 combat mission out of Guam with Ken and his crew once. We both commanded B-52 crews, when we were not assigned to other aircraft in Vietnam. When we were fighting over in Cambodia, I was stationed at Phu Cat, and Ken was at Chu Li, me piloting gunships, and Ken directing air strikes as a forward air controller. One day I was working over a target deep into Cambodia (yes, I know, we were "not there") and I heard Ken's voice on the radio. I called him & we arranged to meet a day later. He flew down to Phu Cat in his OV-10, and we had a great opportunity to catch up, as we had not seen each other for a year or two. I finally retired as a Colonel, living in the Northern VA, Washington DC area. After retirement, I tried a num...Expand for more