THE SIXTY -SIX PUKE

by George Thatcher

A Sixty-Six Puke's what I'm proudest to be,

I've flown and I've fought and I've sinned,

My E-Bird and me, helping keep the skies free,

We'rejammin' and chasin' the wind.

The Sixty-Six was a sleekit beast,

On a rugged Douglas frame,

With Allison engines, (their thrust the least!),

As a sad by-the-way to her name.

She could eat up two miles of runway,

On a heart-thumping takeoff run,

And you'd swear every trip was a one-way,

As she heaved herself into the sun.

But she'd give you a real taste of flying,

With her sweet-feeling sense of the air,

She would loop, roll, split-S without trying,

And give you a few knots to spare.

She was built to handle the flexible task,

From bombing to photo recon,

And electronic war, where she prowled under mask,

Blinded the threat and was gone.

Or, with a bomb bay bulging with Spooks,

Would listen to freq' s and tones,

While forward, her pilot, with jinks and jukes,

Made damn sure they all got home.

At Takhli we were the "66 Pukes,"

Disdained as inferior crews,

But any BUF Crew Dog would put up his dukes

In defense of the 41st TEWS,...

who orbited, jammed, took buckets of rounds,

And buffered the BUF from the Baddies,

So they could make moonscape out of the ground,

And puddles out of their paddies.

A new day of warfare has dawned, I fear,

Sixty-Sixes have now had their day,

But they bought the freedoms we still hold dear,

While holding the threat at bay.

Yes, a Sixty-Six Puke's what I'm proudest to be,

I've flown and I've fought and I've sinned,

My E-Bird and me, helping keep the skies free,

Ever jammin' and chasin' the wind.

George Thatcher @ 2002

A Sixty-Six Puke and Damn Proud of It!