Digital Museum for United States Veterans

Veteran Stories

The Stories

Donald G. Brutnell – Don’t Tell My Wife

Donald G. Brutnell, a captain in the Army during Vietnam, recounts how the military was pushing pilots through training quickly because they needed helicopter pilots in Vietnam. During training, he was involved in a crash in which he rescued the pilot, who had become disoriented and passed out. He tried to keep the crash a secret from his wife, but she found out from a neighbor.