Capt. John Wuethrich, USMC, Army National Guard, Vietnam

John Wuethrich became fascinated by flying at a young age by listening to his father's stories of flying B-24's in the European theater of World War II. After joining the U.S. Marine Corps, Wuethrich went through Navy flight training but was eventually assigned to helicopters. He flew UH-1's at first but would pilot the CH-46 during his tour in Vietnam in 1969.<br /><br />In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Captain Wuethrich explains the missions he flew to deliver troops and supplies and to evacuate the wounded. He shares the story of having to make a crash landing and describes what it was like to fly into a hot zone. And he tells us about his mission after the peace agreement to remove mines from Haiphong Harbor.<br /><br />Finally, Wuethrich explains why he eventually left the Marines and later joined the U.S. Army National Guard, first in Illinois and later in Texas.