
VIETNAM CHRONICLES
CAPTAIN RICHARD L. KLOPPENBURG
SHORT STORIES FROM 1966-1967 IN VIETNAM
BELOW ARE SOME TRUE BUT UNTOLD STORIES
VIETNAM WAS THE GREAT ADVENTURE OF MY
GENERATION


KLOPPENBURG PASSPORT PHOTO---1967


Hot Rocket
At the end of the last rocket mission of the day, I returned to the Bao Loc airfield. I inadvertently had NOT fired one of the rockets. I had also left the arming switch in the HOT position. When I was rounding out to land, I hit a rut in the runway and squeezed the stick, and trigger, which was on the stick. I fired the armed rocket during round out. I can still see the rocket fire upward. I could see the smoke trail. It landed somewhere in the adjoining tea bushes. I could hear the explosion.