Featured Veteran
Bill Monger Supporting The Troops By Mike Kent
T
he Vietnam War touched Bill Monger’s life nearly every day in 1968. Though he was hundreds of miles from the war zone, his bed would rattle when fighter jets took off and landed from the flight line. He would make a mad dash to help fix the battle-scarred jets when they returned from combat. He would count the flight formations that took off in groups of four and pray they didn’t return as a group of three. He didn’t want to think that one of these pilots was shot down on the mission.
Monger chronicles his life supporting the pilots in a newly published book, Support Troops: Behind The Scenes Of The Air War In Vietnam. This book recognizes that for every soldier on the front edge of the combat spear, there are thousands of people that support the combatants. “One of the motivations in writing this book was to honor those who served during the Vietnam War,” says Monger. “Especially those who served in non-combat roles. I want to emphasize that just because you never got shot at doesn’t mean you didn’t serve honorably, with pride.” Monger’s service in support of the War effort started just before Christmas in 1967. He left his new wife and headed halfway around the globe to Takhli, Thailand. He would be gone for nearly a year. There he worked on a wide array of equipment on F-105 fighter jets. It was his job to make sure the equipment was working properly and, if not, swap out the broken parts.
12 – GATHER Veterans
