I wish to recommend for Silver Spur reading a book I received for Father’s Day. I have read only the last (10th) chapter and the epilogue, because they are about scout pilot Dennis Duarte and two of our KIAs, Dan Cheney and Walt Koslosky. I knew Walt but not Dan, who arrived shortly after I departed. They were lost in a Cobra on 6 January 1969. That one chapter made the book worthwhile for me.
The book is Mended Wings, available through Amazon, by Colin P. Cahoon, a helicopter pilot of later years. The chapter gives an in-depth account of the action that day which is different from any other I have heard. It seems well-researched and I have no reason to doubt the account. Four ships were shot down that day. Besides our losses in the Cobra, Duarte and two others, not Silver Spurs, were wounded. The chapter has a very emotional surprise ending. I do not know Cahoon and my recommendation is completely unsolicited.
And the epilogue is about Dan Cheney’s sister, Jerilyn Brusseau. She and her late mother, Rae Cheney, founded Peace Trees Vietnam, which clears unexploded ordnance and promotes education in Vietnam. They have founded a Dan Chaney Elementary School, among other good works. I know Jerilyn and I met her mother before she passed. I wrote a VHPA article about them a few years ago. See “Free Preview” below for a sample.
Chuck Oualline, Silver Spur 3
