News Flash March 7th 2024!
Morgan’s book Drafted! – Finalist in the War & Military Category!!
See: https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2023/war-and-military-2/
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We’re proud to announce that Spur 37, Morgan Miller’s book ‘Drafted! My Year in Vietnam’ is now available on Amazon, Linkedin & GoodReads! Reviews below:
‘Drafted’ by Morgan Miller – 2023
Morgan and I both served in the very same unit, and his memoir brought back many powerful memories for me. Our tours overlapped for eight months, so many of the events described in Drafted! coincided with my own, especially the losses of the brave young men serving with A Troop, 3/17th Air Cavalry.
Morgan’s memoir captures not only that bond, but also the profound bravery and sacrifices made. Ultimately, we fought for each other. We are truly a special Band of Brothers that time and space cannot separate!
Salute!
Roger “Bear” Young
Silver Spur Scout Crew Chief & Scout Line Chief
1969-1970
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“Drafted tells the story of Henry Morgan Miller’s year in Vietnam at the invitation of Lyndon B. Johnson. It is the story of a meat-cutter—wannabe commercial airline pilot—whose life was rudely interrupted by being inducted into a war that he considered someone else’s battle for a lost cause. It’s a story that could describe many of the almost 300,000 men drafted in 1968 along with Morgan, or, for that matter, the 1.85 million drafted between 1964-73. It is the story of your brother, your son, your friend—some who came home safe and sound, and others who perished, or were no longer whole.
“In his book, Morgan also exposes a major mechanical issue with Vietnam-era Cobra helicopters; so serious that had they been Ford cars they would have been subject to a major recall. He suggests that Cobra helicopter pilots were guinea-pigs for aircraft plagued with serious, not to mention deadly, hydraulic problems.
“Drafted is for readers who want to experience what it was like, on a day-to-day basis, to go through basic training, learn to fly gunships, and then be shipped out to the Vietnam war zone. What it’s like to be shot at and shot down. To serve your country honorably, while fighting a war you don’t believe in, only to return and be ostracized by a misguided faction of the general public.”
Video footage provided by Sgt. Phil Taylor & Morgan Miller
The description sounds like a bunch of whiney crap to me. Not going to waste a dime of money or a minute of my time on it.
I tried three times through Amazon Australia to purchase the book (A$46.27 in Oz) and each time the system failed, sorry Morgan.
I was particularly interested in the Cobra hydraulic issue. I was flying front seat with Spur 35 and we had one of the systems go out. We had a short discussion about the rumor that the remaining system could ‘bleed over’ to the dead system. I said my Dad, a WWII pilot, used to say “If you had a maintenance problem, get it on the ground before you became a passenger” -- We elected to set it down in a safe area and give the problem to maintenance. I was wondering about the story in Morgan’s book if something similar had happened.
Yes, Morgan does cover the Cobra hydraulic issue in his book. We need to work on getting you a copy Terry!
Roger, I’ll send the money to you if you will send the book to me. I have A$50 burning a hole in my pocket.
I’ve ordered the book for you, should arrive here by the end of the month. Merry Christmas!
Thanks Roger, I finished reading it and recognized many of the guys that were mentioned in the book. Morgan got his initial flight into A Troop with Capt. Reynolds and then the names kept popping up.
I read about the fatal crash of Edwards with the control problems. It was in Cobra 823, I’m wondering if that was the same aircraft that we lost one of the hydraulic systems in. We had that maintenance problem before the Troop deployed to Soc Trang. After reading Morgan’s analysis, I am bloody glad we put that aircraft down. It was more than just a ‘rumor’ it was a design fault that we all should have been briefed on. -- The two systems were fed by a SINGLE oil reservoir. If one system developed a leak, it would empty the reservoir and then you would loose the second system.
We made the decision to put the aircraft down within about 30 seconds after the problem arose. I wonder how much more flight time we had before we became ‘passengers’.