We Dared to Fly Quotes

“We want you to run the Mekong River all the way to the Chinese border. We think they’re floating stuff down the river and possibly running trucks along remote roadways, using them as supply routes from China. That’s over three hundred miles each way, a good deal farther following the river and roads. You’ll have to watch your fuel carefully.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“I’d returned to a bloody page in American history. A big battle raged in the A Shau Valley, just thirty miles west. On May 10, 1969, the 101st Airborne Division launched the attack to clear the valley of North Vietnamese Army regulars along with Viet Cong”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“So, what was the secret? I suspected just to keep all this from the American people and possibly even from a more specific audience, Congress. I’d only learn much later that it was also to maintain the charade of the 1962 International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos in which all parties recognized the neutrality”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“I wondered what all the secrecy was for. North Vietnam knew what we were doing. Their communist Pathet Lao cronies knew as well. We were bombing the hell out of them.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“Our own work for MACV was all classified, and our missions into Laos secret. We knew of American Special Forces teams inserted into Laos by MACV-SOG.4 We saw and spoke with Air America pilots flying the skies over Laos, rumored to be the CIA’s airline.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“Yes, war raged in Vietnam, but Laos was an altogether different place. It was the lair of fire-breathing beasts, lying in wait—ready to shoot us out of the sky.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“This fascinating secret conflict, a hidden adjunct to the Vietnam War, was as deadly as it was alluring.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“They shared harrowing stories of extraordinary aerial exploits along the dark corridors of this very secret war. They told of Laotian generals and kings, loyalists and insurgents, of Thai commandos, Chinese mercenaries, American Special Forces, CIA operatives, clandestine airlines, and on and on. As I listened, those strange tales formed a vision in my mind. I saw a richly textured, darkly tangled, intriguingly beautiful thing with the face of Medusa—its very beauty there to destroy any who lingered too long.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“I felt the weight of my responsibility to him and his loved ones. Indeed, I did always, with every observer I flew.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“Pull at 4 Gs. Get away from the ground and back to altitude quick.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“Target fixation will kill you as quick as enemy fire. Pilots fly right into the ground, focused on hitting a target. You’ve got to pull up in plenty of time.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“Every night, as I journeyed further into war, I caught glimpses into my being, discovering a bit more of myself.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War

“More coastal SLAR missions followed.”
― William Reeder Jr., We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War