Quote from Scataphagos:
I served in the Air Force on Okinawa and Taiwan during Vietnam... never was in country. From Kadena, Okinawa... we sent B-52 bombers and recon planes over Vitenam. The first day I was on Okinawa, I saw an SR-71 and a U2 in flight and landing on the base.
Had guns as a kid. Used to practice shooting postage stamps as targets. Unfortunately for the local birds, I was a good shot.
In HS, we had a rifle team. Shot .22s... the "10-ring" was the same size as the .22 bullet... smaller than an aspirin. Everybody on the team could regularly shoot nearly 100 on 10 targets except for the standing/off-hand position.
One summer our team got to fire on the Ft. Carson Army range with M-14. The recoil kept jacking the end of the receiver up into my lip. Swollen and bloody (well, bleeding a bit) by the end, but I wasn't letting that deter me from trying to make an Expert Marksman qualification at ranges up to and including 400 yards.... same as the regular Army qualification.
You're probably the only guy around here that can say that ! The SR71 is funny. From what I recall, the first flight was 1964. But that was well after the US entered the war. I've heard the blackbird was in service well before that - late 50's. Do you remember the year you saw her? Must have been quite a sight at the time - that bird still looks futuristic by todays standards. What type of aircraft did you fly? I always wanted to be an airforce pilot back in grade school. My dad talked me out of it, bad vision and tall (6'4). Bit too lanky for a cockpit. Chicks seem to dig it, tho. That's a hell of a shot.