On 23 Apr 2004 02:21:58 GMT, (BUFDRVR) wrote:


MiG trapped at six hosing your
brains out with his 37MM the memories are very explicit.

The more emotional the situation, the less likely for memory accuracy....at
least according to psychologists.

I think if you review your psych books you'll find that traumatic
experiences (near-death events) can either result in partial
amnesia--blanking of the unpleasantness; or at the opposite extreme,
near photographic recollection. To this day I can recall voices,
phrases, images of my F-105 tour, but six years later during my F-4
combat experience I have much less vivid recollections of the tour.
Quite often I can't recall the members of a flight or even who was in
my back-seat on a given day. Some of the missions are very clear
(particularly the LB II,) but other droners into Laos, lower Route
Packs or SVN just didn't register with the same intensity.

Since it was me engaged with the MiG and not the flight lead, I'll
lean heavily toward my perceptions as correct.

Unless coroborated by other eyewitnesses, you may have the edge in accuracy,
but not good enough to be used as a factual reference.

That's a leap in logic. Let's say I'm a witness to a murder. I'm the
only one. I report my facts during the trial. While I may not be
supported, the accuracy of my observations is not diminished. If no
one else sees the event, does it somehow lose factuality?

Buying your book this weekend.


BUFDRVR

'Bout damn time! Your book report will be due in ten days.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8