A Rock in the Clouds: A Life Revisited

by Us Army (Ret ) Col Joseph Tedeschi

Overview

"On 4 October 1966, a C7-A Caribou airplane flying through blinding cloud cover crashed into Hon Cong Mountain near the base camp of the 1st Air Cavalry Division at An Khe. There were thirty-one people aboard the aircraft, an air crew of four along with twenty-seven passengers. Thirteen people died in the crash. I was one of the survivors."

Joe Tedeschi lives his experience with you in A Rock in the Clouds. Taking you through the life events that led to that fateful day, he describes the horror of the crash and relates the aftermath of recovering from his injuries and continuing his life as a career Army officer. As his journey reveals his faith-based purpose and destiny, he hopes to bring hope and inspiration to other Vietnam-era veterans, their families, and people of faith.

rockintheclouds.com

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646634804
Publisher:	Koehler Books
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Pages:	278
Sales rank:	994,636
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Joe Tedeschi began his college education at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, before initiating his Army career at West Point, graduating in 1957. He earned his master of science degree from Iowa State University in 1963 during his service to fill roles in nuclear, biological, and chemical operations and materiel acquisition. Upon retiring from military service as an Army colonel, he worked fourteen years in the defense industry, developing a counter-battery radar for three European nations, and then entered the deaconate program in his Catholic diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, where he served for eighteen years, retiring in 2020. His first book recounts how his 1966 combat tour in Vietnam was cut short by a violent airplane crash, his near-death experience, and the fifty-five years of learning answers to the ultimate question, "Why am I (still) here?"

Table of Contents

Foreword 1

Part 1 Free to Search for Something Good

Chapter 1 Conflicting Motives 9

Chapter 2 My Beginnings 12

Chapter 3 Major Changes 17

Chapter 4 Looking Ahead 22

Chapter 5 Risky Adventure 28

Chapter 6 West Point Remembered 36

Chapter 7 New Horizons 40

Chapter 8 Another Look at the Army 44

Chapter 9 Change of Orders 48

Part 2 The Upheaval

Chapter 10 4 October 1966 59

Chapter 11 Evaluating the Aftermath 71

Chapter 12 Vertical Rescue 79

Chapter 13 2nd Surgical Hospital 86

Chapter 14 Notifying Folks Back Home 93

Chapter 15 Medevac 99

Chapter 16 A Long Three Weeks 107

Chapter 17 Home by Christmas 115

Chapter 18 Down to Business 123

Chapter 19 The Long Road to Recovery 131

Part 3 A Life Examined

Chapter 20 Aftermath 141

Chapter 21 First Survivor Contact 149

Chapter 22 A New World of Discovery 162

Chapter 23 Making Life-Changing Connections 169

Chapter 24 Other Witnesses on the Scene 174

Chapter 25 Bringing It AH Together 186

Epilogue: The Story of a War Never Ends 195

Acknowledgements 211

Appendix A Virtual Vietnam Wall Memorials 212

Appendix B River + Mill = Town 238

Appendix C Military Notes 242

Appendix D Supporting Material 255

Appendix E The Ray Family 261

Endnotes 265