Local war vet hopes Air America stamp takes flight
By Jason Harris
Staff Writer
February 24. 2003 12:00AM
CHEROKEE – Ray Jeffery fought in World War II and Korea, then flew with
Air America in Laos. After a life spent fighting, he figures he's got one
good fight left in him.
Jeffery is the only former Air America pilot in northwest Alabama. He
retired from the Air Force as a major in 1965 and joined the CIA's air
transport service a few days later.
The CIA didn't recognize the civilian pilots who risked life and limb in
Southeast Asia until 2001. Now, the Air America Association, a group of
retired Air America pilots, is shooting for recognition on a wider scale.
The group has spent the past eight years trying to get the U.S. Postal
Service to issue a commemorative stamp as a tribute to the civilian pilots
who served with Air America.
"I'd do it again in a minute," Jeffery said in his blue jacket emblazoned
with the Air America insignia. "You got the feeling you were doing
something to help the people, to feed them."
The CIA was active in Laos before and during the Vietnam War. The U.S.
military could not cross into that country, so the CIA performed covert
and humanitarian missions. Air America, an air delivery service owned by
the CIA and staffed with civilian pilots, ferried food and supplies into
and out of Laos.
"We handled everything from ducks, geese, pigs and people all at the same
time," Jeffery said. "Most of the missions were hazardous to say the
least. No navigation instruments, no lights. We had dirt runways on the
sides of mountains.
"It's really not a lot of fun getting shot at when you can't shoot back,"
the former fighter pilot added. |
 |
|
War veteran Ray Jeffery shows a photograph of one of the types of planes
he flew in the Air America operations. JIM HANNON/TimesDaily |
Air America's reputation was damaged, and some would say ruined, by a 1990
movie starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. called "Air America."
The film portrayed Air America pilots as corrupt, whiskey-soused drug
mules and gunrunners. Jeffery agrees his fellow pilots were "hard-working,
hard-playing guys," but categorically denies that any Air America pilot
knowingly carried opium. The service's motto, he pointed out, was
"Anything, Anytime, Anywhere Professionally," and drug-sniffing dogs
inspected crews before and after flights.
"I flew with Air America for nine years, and as far as I know, I never
carried one ounce of heroin," he said. "I'm sure we probably hauled people
that had it, but it was never known to the crews."
Because the pilots were civilians and the CIA wouldn't admit they even
existed, Air America pilots are largely ignored in the annals of history.
None of the 217 Air America crewmen who died in Laos are listed on the
Vietnam Memorial. Other than a small
plaque at CIA Headquarters and a monument at the University of
Texas-Dallas placed there by the Air America Association, there are no
public memorials to the pilots.
In an effort to rehabilitate the service's reputation and earn the
recognition they feel they deserve, the Air America Association began a
campaign in hopes of having a stamp commemorated.
"The Last Day," a shot taken by UPI photographer Hugh Van Es of refugees
escaping the fall of Saigon from the roof of the U.S. Embassy, is one of
the most famous Vietnam-era images.
The crew of the waiting helicopter worked for Air America.
"We won't say who the Air America pilot was," Jeffery said. "We want to
let the whole group take credit."
Getting a stamp approved is an arduous process. The Citizens' Stamp
Advisory Committee reviews all stamp proposals and selects 25 from the
thousands of submittals each year.
It can take three years between the time a design is accepted for
consideration and when the stamp of that design is issued.
Jason Harris can be reached at 740-5757 or
jason.harris@timesdaily.com.
This article appeared in
TimesDaily.com of
Alabama on February 26, 2003
