After being taken into custody Preston indicated he was upset over not being allowed to continue training to be a helicopter pilot, and staged the incident to show his skill as a pilot. He spent 1 year in prison, fined $2400, received a general discharge and 0 were the fucks he gave.
https://www.facebook.com/zerofoxtrot/photos/a.1513400125542098/2291829944365775/
https://www.facebook.com/zerofoxtrot/
https://www.facebook.com/instructorpilotwtfmoments/posts/823747274669018
Another one to file under 'this will be the highlight of your miserable little career.' Could be the problem wasn't with his piloting skills but with his temperament and stability?
ReplyDeleteyou are correct, he was skilled enough as a pilot, and when I read about it, I believe I came across that his rank wasn't high enough, and that was what the army was using as the deciding point. So, the way I figure it, it's a great story to post about a very unusual event, and it's pretty stupid of the Army to not just let the guy fly them in Vietnam. From the other posts I've done about the war in Nam, there were several size choppers, and the scouts were in short supply, as there was no armor, and the scout pilots sat on their bullet proof vests to keep from dying on the job.
DeleteWell, when you have someone this bullheaded to do what few will, and most die at, just go ahead and give him the damn keys to the chopper that will either make him a hero or a another cross in the cemetery