SPRING VALLEY, WI – A local ‘Nam veteran helicopter pilot shared this with us recently, “I think we went over for God and country and the American flag and found out how corrupt everything was. Both this government and our government at the time, so, then, it was more about your buddy. The guy on your left and the guy on your right. You wanted to bring them home.”
We (writing partners Teddy and Alex) were extremely privileged to get the opportunity to sit down and talk to spring Valley resident Jim Ottman over the summertime. He was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Ottman graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1965 and was deployed in 1969.
“We spent five months at Fort Walters, Texas in our primary flight school,” Ottman stated, “Then we went to Fort Rucker, Alabama for four months, and that was our advanced (training). And our last month was with guys that had flown in Vietnam, so we got a little taste of what they expect.”
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