Sam Beamon enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in April 1965 on the delayed entry program. He went on active duty on August 26,1965. He completed 19 months in Vietnam as a Helicopter Crew Chief. He flew over 300 combat missions and was awarded 16 Air medals.

He arrived in Vietnam from December 1966 with HMM-262 and tranferred to HMM-164 in February 1967. He returned home in August 1968.

After being honorably discharged from the military service, he worked at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft for a year. He then joined the Police Department in Waterbury, Connecticut and rose through the ranks to the level of Lieutenant. For his last 12 years, he was in charge of the Juvenile Division, He retired after 28 years of service.

He is a licensed private pilot and still lives in Waterbury, where he was born and raised. He has two children -- Sam,Jr. and Susan Shapiro.
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Flying Death - The Vietnam Experience
ISBN - 978-1-41 40-8300-1 (HC)

This story has never been told before and gives a different prespective of the Vietnam War. No matter what conflict that a helicopter flies into, the job, responsiblities and dangers of a flight crew are the same -- support the troops.

Did the troops ever think about the people that were flying these complex machines? What did it take to get the helicopter off the ground? What kind of pressures did the crew faced on a daily basis?

This is a true life story of a Marine dealing with the perils of flying and the dangers of combat, along with the social problems of the time are brought to light.

For more information, reviews and guestbook -- Please checkout my web site -- www.sambeamon.com

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