StoryCorps Nashville: Vietnam Veteran Recounts His First Airstrike And A Trigger-Happy Co-Pilot

Darrel Kilburn headed off to Vietnam right after college. He was a helicopter gunship pilot- often tasked with flying over dangerous territory and patrolling for enemy combatants.

Now in his 70’s, the retired Army Colonel still remembers one of his first experiences facing enemy gunfire while flying with a new co-pilot. What could have easily turned tragic, thankfully ended in a humorous memory of two young men acclimating to war.

Kilburn was interviewed by his son-in-law, Kent Crossley, also a veteran and retired colonel, at the Nashville Public Library. Their StoryCorps interview will be archived in the library of Congress.