My book title: Pull the Chocks, I’m Launching is an inspirational metaphor for removing obstacles in your path to obtaining your dream. In August 1967 I fulfilled my dream of becoming a fighter pilot when I was accepted into the 123rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, the Redhawks, of the Oregon Air National Guard. That dream became indelibly ingrained in my psyche when on the morning of my first day in Anchorage, Alaska during the Korean War, at the age of 12, I watched F-80 fighter jets make simulated gun strafing passes on a firefighter training tower at the city’s edge of the Cook Inlet. Circumstances in my life, from childhood to early adulthood, generated a host of highly unusual real-life stories, ranging from the humorous to the tragic. Several of these were woven into the fabric of then-current events that made their mark in history. The numerous million-to-one circumstances in my ‘Huck Finn story on jet fuel’ and the interesting people I came into contact with during this journey contributed significantly to the richness of those experiences.
