Once a Soldier

R. Renwick Hart

Description

This book is all about the author’s life from his early days as a child in Hawaii, in the mid 1930’s, through his days at West Point, his war tour in Vietnam and military career with two additional retirement careers: First, with he and his wife creating an import and retail operation and later as an aircraft accident investigator and consultant. The book also reaches back into his family history and the lives of his mother and father to provide a genealogy of his heritage.

As noted early in this memoir, “There is always time to ask your parents questions about their youth or how they met one another. After all, they are there and can answer those questions any day. So life rolls on and one day they are gone ... and the answers to all those questions are gone with them; FOREVER!” In this book, all those questions are answered, sometimes with great humor and occasionally with sadness, but always with accuracy and truth.

Sujets

• Academia Militar de los Estados Unidos
• Helicopter
• Biography
• ARDF
• Military
• Fixed-wing aircraft
• Vietnam War
• United States Military Academy
• Autobiography
• West Point
• Hélicoptère

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 25 novembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781475999631
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

ONCE A SOLDIER
A BIOGRAPHY SPANNING NINETY YEARS, TWO WARS AND FOUR THOUSAND HOURS OF FLIGHT TIME.
 
 
 
 
 
 
R. RENWICK HART
 
 
 

 
Once A Soldier
A Biography spanning ninety years, two wars and four thousand hours of flight time.
 
 
Copyright © 2013 R. Renwick Hart.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
 
 
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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ISBN: 978-1-4759-9962-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4759-9963-1 (e)
 
 
 
 
iUniverse rev. date: 03/13/2023
PREFACE
Many of my classmates and friends responded to the first edition of this book. They were more than generous with their comments, some of which I will list here.
Bob Ord, Lt General, U.S. Army Ret.
Your book is more than a just book.
It is a fascinating history of your fascinating life over 8 decades, a life of great significance in accomplishments and admirable compassion for your fellow human beings.
Even though we have been together a lot these last twenty-five years and shared much of our professional and personal history, I still enjoy learning even more of your and your families’ experiences. Thank you for the journey and for your friendship.

Leroy N Suddath, Major General, US Army
Dear Ren, the word is out that your book is a Block Buster, please send me a signed copy.
Three weeks later:
Ren – I received your book today and have already started reading it and am enthralled by it. This is a masterpiece; it captures one’s interest from the get-go. Good on you! I do not know how my mother and father met one another and have often wondered and never asked while they were alive.
Best Wishes, Your friend, Leroy

Bernd Sawaski, San Juan Kosala, Mexico
It was a pleasure to read the true story of a professional soldier, with a great sense of humor. The book reads very well, is interestingly written, it flows! One does not want to put it away. It is a document of a time past and a guide for the future with sound and passionate letters to his grandchildren. It will be an enrichment for our family to read about your life!
It is a book I will read again! Very well done!

BG John “Doc” Bahnsen on March 28, 2017
“Once A Soldier” is a book about an Aviator, a Soldier, and Uncommon Common Sense. It is a superb story of a talented soldier who did it all his way. Many chuckles and surprises in a career that is filled with uniquely told anecdotes of how to get along with difficult commanders. Ren’s flying experience makes you wonder how he survived all the close calls. His Vietnam flying duty in a top-secret unit will confirm America’s ability to listen to our enemies’ radio traffic. The cast of characters in the book include an unusual family, famous West Point classmates and a host of interesting people. Humor prevails in this well written summary of a man’s life. Military buffs, and especially professional soldiers, will enjoy the exploits of R. Renwick Hart.

Major General Perry Smith
A book not to be missed.
Ren Hart has a real talent--he tells such great stories. Chapter One will grab your attention---his dramatic flying experiences are sprinkled throughout the book. But there is much more. I especially loved his stories of West Point in the 1950s, combat in Vietnam, and investigations of aircraft accidents. All this plus how to enjoy “deep retirement”, advice to grandchildren, and so much more. Put this book. Just love it at the top of your reading list…not to be missed!

Ren, OMG…you are a great writer!!! Almost finished reading your book. Just love it! Truly a family treasure that will endure through the ages. Excellent ‘lessons learned’ in the appendixes. Your book is a masterpiece! The tremendous amount of work it took to compile, assemble, and publish, reflects great credit on your capacity on your capacity to hang with your project and polish the skills necessary to make it a most enjoyable and coherent story. Well done my friend. Simply outstanding work. Thank you very much for sharing.
Gary Weitz

Ren – You could not have focused better on what Judy, and I have been talking about, now that all our parents have passe., There is a gap in our knowledge of both the history and the reality of large portion of the lives of the ones we loved, who are gone. I have been up till one AM for the last two nights reading it!
Ian Mattox, Esquire

Ren – I recently borrowed a copy of your book from my neighbor and read it with great interest. For starters, let me tell you the book is terrific! You are indeed a modern-day philosopher. It was a light; quick and fun read and I was disappointed when I turned the last page and there was nothing more. I particularly enjoyed several parts – your early discussion of manners; the letters to your grandchildren, and the appendix of what you learned “in your first 80 years”. And the interview notes taken from a discussion about your great-great grandmother Sarah was a classic of what America was like in the wild west days. I enjoyed your book so much that my wife Mary Beth downloaded it from Amazon to read on her Kindle and enjoyed it as well.
With Best Regards, John Stokes (Colonel, USA, Retired)
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
We lived in San Francisco, a block from West Portal Grammar School; a short walk for a twelve-year-old. It was 1944 and I certainly wasn’t expecting my father to appear in the school yard during our morning recess. I hadn’t seen him since he left for the Philippines two years earlier. Now he was in uniform, standing six feet two, in our school yard, with ribbons on his chest, gold braid on his hat and eagles on his shoulders. That appearance shaped my life; it was the epiphany that left me thinking: “That’s what I want to be!”
Seven years later, the day after graduating from high school, I joined the Army. The Korean War was raging but my sights had long ago been focused on entering West Point. My father told me that West Point would be the best path for me to follow if I wanted a career in the Army. A year later, after basic training at Fort Belvoir, VA, I completed the Army’s Prep School, entered West Point and faced the full onslaught of Plebe Year’s Beast Barracks.
CONTENTS
Foreword
PART I
MY FIRST TWENTY-FOUR YEARS
Chapter 1 In the Begining
Chapter 2 Early Memories
Chapter 3 My Mother
Chapter 4 Father
Chapter 5 I Enter the Scene
Chapter 6 My Brother and Sister
Chapter 7 The Early Years - 1942 +
Chapter 8 Harold Rudolph Lomo
Chapter 9 The Mid Years - 1945
Chapter 10 My High School Years
Chapter 11 From High School to Basic Training
Chapter 12 West Point
Chapter 13 My Second Year
Chapter 14 My Third Year & My Future Wife
Chapter 15 I Graduate and Marry
Chapter 16 The Famous Durward Bellmont Rising
Chapter 17 Basic Infantry Officer Training
Chapter 18 Jump School!
PART II
THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS
Chapter 19 Flight School
Chapter 20 Fort Lewis, Washington!
Chapter 21 Korea
Chapter 22 Fort Benning and the Advanced Course
Chapter 23 Chopper School at Camp Wolters
Chapter 24 Fort Ord - 1962
Chapter 25 Germany and Our Trip Through Hell! December 1964
Chapter 26 Vietnam! 1966
Chapter 27 Presidio of San Francisco
Chapter 28 Fort Leavenworth
Chapter 29 Germany Again - 1970
Chapter 30 Fort Polk, Louisiana
Chapter 31 Back to San Francisco
Chapter 32 My Second Life Begins – to the Orient
Chapter 33 San Francisco Imports
Chapter 34 I Fly Again
Chapter 35 A Few Unusual Aircraft Accident Cases
Chapter 36 Deep Retirement
Part III
A COLLECTION OF PERTINENT EVENTS AND VIGNETTES
Appendix I A Visit with Aunt Sarah
Appendix II The Second Half of My Life: Vignettes
1. East Europe Tour
2. Night Flight
3. Precautionary Landing
4. The Traffic Expediter
5. On Getting Even
6. Touching the Face of God
7. Aircraft Accident Investigation 1992
8. Never Again
9. Fiftieth Reunion West Point, May 2006
10. Desert Song
11. Letters to my Grandchildren
12. Abduction
13. Lake Tahoe Summer 2006
14. We Fly to Banfffff
 
Appendix III What I Learned in My First 90 Years
Appendix IV Chronological Listing of Where I Lived
Appendix V Our Heritage
Appendix VI The Last Hurrah

Colonel R. Ren Hart – 1977
FOREWORD
Too late in life we reali z e one never learns enough about their parents. It seems when we are young, and our parents are still around, there is no impetus to take advantage of available information about them. There is always time to ask questions about their youth or how they met one another. After all, they are there and can answer those questions any day. So, life rolls on, then one day they are gone and all those answers to questions y