The Last Journey
Article #19 “Helicopter Rides”
18 August 2010 Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan
In 1992, while living on the
Big Island of Hawaii, I met a man that owned a helicopter company in Hilo,
Hawaii. I was looking
to get my younger son Jimmy, a ride on a helicopter for his birthday. At that time I had a bunch of hunting knives
and was trying to trade for a helicopter ride.
No one would do it, 
until I came upon a man named Dave Griffin. He had just come to the Big Island of Hawaii
with one of his helicopters that he and his sister and his brother in law
owned. Dave is from Green Bay, Wisconsin and is a tough business man. He is 4-years younger than me. He hammered me hard for some of my knives and
gave in to doing a trade for my son Jimmy who was turning 12-years-old. Dave has a big heart behind all his
gruffness. I bothered Dave for a job for
one week and on the 7th day, he said, “you can wash the
(explitive) helicopters for $6.50/hr”.
I took the job. My sons and I
washed helicopters in the evenings on the tarmac at Hilo International Airport, in Hawaii. That was the
beginning of my plan. Later, I became
extremely involved in booking helicopter flights and learned quite a bit about
ground operations. Through Dave, my son
Jimmy caught the bug to learn to fly helicopters. Jimmy and daddy had many more free rides in
helicopters thanks to my good friend Dave Griffin. Today, W3 Jimmy Spiri flies CH47 Chinook
helicopters for the United States Army.
That was my plan all along.
Some say that I come to
places like Afghanistan just for the helicopter rides. I will admit that I absolutely positively
without a doubt, love flying in helicopters, and especially in the war
zones. Today was one of those days that
I got to be a passenger in a hel
icopter flying over Afghanistan. I never get
tired of flying in a helicopter, no matter how greuling obtaining the ride may
be. But once in the air and feeling the
rotors turn and the air whipping up against me, I feel at ease. No matter how tired I am or hot or dirty,
whatever the case may be, riding in an older helicopter is really a way to put
me in a good mood. I love it.
I watched in FOB Boris for
almost two weeks, people try to get out via helicopter. Due to weather and other reasons, some just
get stuck. It is not unusual to get
stuck for over 1-2 weeks. Today I needed
to get to Salerno to satisfy my PAO’s request to get me to the
southern part of the country in time for my next embed which begins with the
Marines soon. I had been waiting on some
other things that would have kept me busy with the soldiers but it was
determined that I should try to get to Salerno as soon as possible.
So, being the good embed that I am, I followed the directions of my PAO
handler. However, I did not have any
information about when helicopters were to arrive nor did I know what to expect
on the other end once I arrived. But, I
happened to run into Capt. Watson early in the morning and he told me he was
going to Salerno on this day. I
immediately told him that they are requesting me to get to Salerno also and he said the bird would be in at such and
such time. Okay, now I had a plan
developing.
The night before I managed to
get things all squared away as I was preparing for one of two things that could
happen. Either I would participate in a
scheduled event or I would fly to Salerno, or maybe 
both. Either
way I had to be completely packed and ready to go on a moment’s
notice. That’s the hard part
always. Due to some circumstances the
event I was going to photograph got nixed.
Weather again. So, next move was
to push to get to Salerno which is the first step towards heading to the
USMC. I had become well aquainted with
my surroundings and was set and settled, so to speak. But, time goes by fast and it was time to
move on whether I wanted to or not. I
did not want to leave, yet.
The first helicopter arrived
early and was not going to my destination.
I had a choice to go to this particular destination and then onto Salerno from there, or I could wait and take my chances with
the Captain who I knew was going to Salerno. But, how many
seats would be avialibale. I chose to
stay behind and two of the other pax got on the bird headed to Orgun E. That’s the name of a place another FOB,
bigger, but still out here in the sticks.
I figued I know approximately when the next bird would come but I had a
feeling it could come early. I decided
to put all my stuff at the LZ and go back and forth between the LZ and my
quarters. At a certain point in time, I
had staked out my place in the quarters in the event I got stuck. But, I did not think getting stuck today
would happen. Each time a bird lands,
some people get off and stay, which means, my spot in the quarters could be
taken. So, now I had to secure my spot
in the quarters in the event I got stuck, and be at the LZ early, in case
helicopter comes ahead of schedule.
Sure enough, the helicopter
was ahead of schedule and the other folks that were wanting to get a ride to Salerno were not at the LZ when the helicopter arrived. I was there and the Capt came stolling up
right as the bird landed. We got on
together and the helicopter lifted off.
The whole helicopter for me and the Captain, at this point. Finally, I made a good call and it took me
half a morning to get out. That’s
probably a record at Boris. But then
again, I listened to my PAO and the Captain.
And I was at the LZ early. Things
just happen that way sometimes.
Now I’m in the
helicopter, we’re flying away from FOB Boris and it’s just me and
Captain Watson. We had become
friends. I pretty much stayed to my own
business in Boris and never bothered the Captain. He had way to many things to concern himself
and the last thing
a Captain in his shoes needs is some whiny media
person asking for this and that. It soon
became apparent that I had been befriended by the entire contingent there at
Boris and this made the Captain’s life much easier. He had read many of the things I’d
posted and kept asking me, “what’s next?”
The told me they are reading
my stuff and looking forward to what I write next. It’s a compliment. And it is why I push myself to write as much
as I can, no matter what the circumstances are.
The soldiers actually appreciate it.
The helicopter made two stops
prior to landing in Salerno. One was to
get fuel in Orgun E, and pick up additional passengers. Sure enough, two of the folks that got on
that morning in Boris were now getting on this bird in this stop. One of the passengers was my roommate,
Durrel. He smiled when he saw me and we
all just laughed. I took their photos on
the helicopter as we now headed over the eastern Afghanistan landscape below.
The scenery is always nice from the helicopter view point. I found myself looking out the window behind
me the whole time. The actual window had
been removed and the air was blowing across my body. It felt great and I liked being able to see. Below were large square areas built by what
looked like adobe walls with living quarters contained with in the walls. Patches of green were all around but one
could tell that usually there would not be this much rain. It’s a harsh country, geographically as
well as politically.
We landed in Salerno. I got off,
took my bags to the pax terminal, called the PAO office and they came and
picked me up in less than five minutes.
Now I find myself here in Salerno with not too much information coming my way,
yet. Turns out, CBS is swarming the
place in the next 36-hours and from 
what I can tell from having been gone for the past two
weeks, the population appears to have doubled.
I knew the push was on. But, I
did not see it happening this fast, but I had heard about it. It’s no secret now. Here comes the build up and all that goes
with it. I looked up my friend Anthony
and we had a good laugh about things.
It’s always good to see a familiar face. I went over to the bazzar and looked up my
friend who fixed my glasses once before and asked him to fix ‘em up one
more time. They had been through the
ringer lately. Upon my arrival at the
MOC (media operations center) here in Salerno, I was greeted by my friend,
“Sword”. We embraced one
another and all the folks here that were not here last time I was here, watched
these two strangers greet one another. It
was obvious I had made an impression here.
It was good to see Sword. I would
tell him that we would talk later and get together.
Once settled into familiar
surroundings at the MOC, I got my things put away for my temporary stay here at
Salerno. I could be
out of here tonight or I could be here a few days. Either way, I will make good use of my time
here. I walked to lunch around noon here and was facinated at how the population here had
multiplied in just two weeks. It’s
crowded now. People are coming. The surge is on. I miss FOB Boris, even with it’s
IDF. I never understand exactly what it
is I am doing sometimes. I just know
usually where I’ve been and what it was like there. I really don’t like to change things
up. One thing I’ve seen however in
the Army is this….things are always changing.
I’m not sure what it is
about helicopters that so intrigues me.
Perhaps truth be know, I would have liked to turn the clock back and
taken a job as a crew member on one of the birds I just came in on. I remember the day vividly when Dave Griffin
of Blue Hawaiian Helicopters said I could wash helicopters for him and earn
$6.50 an hour in Hawaii. I figured then I would ride in his helicopters at
least once in a while. That was a while
ago now. I have a birthday coming up on
Friday. These days I’m not trading
hunting knives for my son to get a ride on a helicopter for his birthday. Now I’m recording history one sentence
at a time in Afghanistan during the surge of the summer of 2010 and for that,
I get to ride in a helicopter in the war zone once in a while with America’s finest at the helm. Like son, like father. Or is it the other way around? I like to ride in helicopters in Afghanistan. I probably
would even wash one given the opportunity.
Jim Spiri
mailto:jimspiri@yahoo.com?subject=The
Last Journey
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