Bob,

Mang Buk was in a beautiful area, and so was the trip up there. First to Platteau Gi, then to Mang Buck. There were several waterfalls and fast moving rivers in that area, along with miles of tripple canopy forests. That is the only area that I can remember that had no rice farms along the valleys leading to the rivers.

The valley leading to Dak Pek was also beautiful, but there were signs of life everywhere, rice paddys and farmed areas, although there were no signs of hooches. The area was hot with activity from "our bad guys" shots rang out frequently, I even saw a couple of the bad guys one day when I landed in a rice paddy to pick up an Air Force pilot. They were shooting at us, so Rex shot back and put him down. The pilot that we picked up (who was white as a sheet) said, "Damn, you guys can see the eyes of those shooting at you", an understatement I thought. The country in general was beautiful.

I would go back if I had the freedom of flight in a helicopter, otherwise, I think that a great deal of the beauty that I saw and remembered would be lost.

Dave