Dennis Ely

Dennis Ely was born in a little town in central Ohio and brought up on a small farm. He had an ideal childhood in the fabulous 1950's until a trauma on his fifteenth birthday changed it all. After high school the Viet Nam war appeared on the horizon.

Dennis, like most young men of that era, became eligible for the military draft. He avoided it as long as possible, but finally it caught up with him. He struggled to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with the country's need to wage war.

After he was inducted into the U.S. Army, he volunteered to fly helicopters and was off to Viet Nam. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for combat missions. His friend from flight school flew medivac missions and contributed to the story. Now, after fifty plus years, he decided to write about it. Pictures he took prompted the memories.