Blood Road Page #7

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I don't know how I'll feel.

Yes.

RUSCH:
I knew the trip

would be unpredictable

and I would learn things,

like you said,

that I didn't expect, but...

I think I'm learning more

about myself than I expected.

Maybe the missing part

of myself is here.

MAN:
(AS STEPHEN)

"Dear Judy, Sharon and Becky,

"I'm not looking forward

to this next year.

"I love the flying

and the airplane,

"but I don't like the job.

"Regardless of

any opinions I have

"about this war or any other,

"it is hard to think

about the killing

"that I will be doing.

"I try to rationalize and say

that it has to be done,

"but I can't see any reason why.

"If anything

should happen to me,

"please don't let me die

to Sharon and Becky.

"That is very important to me.

"I'll close now.

"I've been rambling enough.

Be good. Steve."

RUSCH:
The original

schedule as planned

was to visit the crash site

on the anniversary

of my father's death.

We had a huge ride

in front of us.

We were late,

the clock is ticking,

but we pushed on

and we finally got to Ta Oy,

a small village really close

to the crash site.

DUVALL:
Yeah, for locating

the actual crash site,

we had historical documents

from the Joint Pacific

Accounting Command,

who'd actually

excavated the site

and had GPS coordinates.

We could match them up

with modern-day maps,

go in and actually find

the crash site,

with the help

of the local villagers,

who had actually been there

at the time.

If you go to the crash site

or go to Ta Oy,

we have to get permission

from Liban, the village chief.

The village chief.

RUSCH:
It's his land where

the plane went down,

and so we have

to follow that protocol.

It's just the way that it works.

It's not like

faxing over a document

and signing it and you're done.

It's like, you sit

on the floor with them,

and you drink

some mystery alcohol,

and it's... You kind of be

in their environment.

RUSCH:
Logistics and difficulties

in finding

and contacting the chief

meant that we didn't get

to the crash site that day.

I was frustrated.

We were so close

to the crash site,

but now it was clear that

we were not gonna be there

on the anniversary.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RAKESTRAW:
My name is Don RAKESTRAW.

I was in the other aircraft

on the morning

of March 7th, 1972,

in which I saw

Stephen's aircraft get hit.

This is my statement

as to what exactly happened.

"On the 7th of March, 1 972

"Gunfighter 60 and 61

departed Da Nang Air Base

"to search for trucks

moving early in the morning

"on the route structures

in southern Laos.

"We sighted two trucks

"and called them out

to Stephen's aircraft,

"which also

had the trucks in sight.

"He called he was rolling in

on the target.

"A few seconds later, we notice

muzzle flashes on the ground

"and tracers from a triple A

gun, going what appeared

"to be right across

Stephen's flight path.

"I then saw a bomb explode,

and right after that

"I saw Stephen's aircraft

hitting the ground.

"In my estimation,

"Stephen's aircraft

was hit by ground fire

"which disabled the crew,

and they went in

with the aircraft."

RUSCH:
For one of the first

times, we actually halted.

And for me, it was a time

to organize my thoughts.

This country just moves

at a different pace,

different than America,

you know.

I was just letting that happen.

Don was pouring over his maps

and cross-checking

the GPS coordinates

with the military documents.

There's two different

points marked.

One of the actual GPS

coordinates

that they quoted is right here,

and apparently

the other excavation site

would be down here.

They're separated by 500 meters.

It's a large area and, well,

don't get

your expectations too high.

RUSCH:
PAHN came back with the news

that finally the village chief

was able to meet with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(PAHN SPEAKS IN LAO)

(RUSCH SPEAKS IN LAO)

This,

the head of the village.

Mr. Airh.

(PAHN SPEAKING IN LAO)

(AIRH SPEAKING IN LAO)

So this is his culture.

If guest come to visit,

have to have Lao whiskey.

First for the spirit

of the house.

PAHN:
For take care our team.

How it taste?

(CHUCKLES)

Strong.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

PAHN:
He heard from the

elder of the village.

Talked to him about...

plane crash in 1972.

In 2003, he go to join the team

to looking for the plane crash.

He was on the team that went?

Yeah, he also join the team

for looking for...

Wow.

AIRH (IN LAO) When they

excavated, I joined them.

I worked as a laborer.

When we found something hard,

the Americans would come get it.

Then they told us whether

it was the bomb or plane debris.

It's incredible to meet somebody

who helped find my dad.

It was really important

for me and my family, so...

(SPEAKS IN LAO)

NGUYEN:
(IN VIETNAMESE)

Mr. Airh told us what happened.

They screened to search

for the remains

such as bones, teeth,

or things like nails.

They found

and screened two teeth,

and they brought them

back to the U.S.

Luckily,

they were Rebecca's father's.

There was another pilot,

but he wasn't lucky.

He flew with Rebecca's father,

but his remains

were never found.

(IN LAO) They shot the plane

from far away and followed.

(CONTINUES IN LAO)

(TRANSLATING) After the plane

dropped, two Vietnamese soldiers,

one head of the village

at that time,

his father go to check

and see the dead person,

and they put under the tree.

He'll show you

at the crash site.

His father buried my father?

Yeah, his father.

Mmm.

(SNIFFLES)

(SPEAKING IN LAO)

It's okay, it's okay.

(CONTINUES SPEAKING

IN LAO)

Mmm.

And the tree is still there,

the exact tree?

It's still the same.

Still... Still over there.

He will show you the tree.

Okay.

Yeah.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RUSCH:
How I found him

and found this village,

there's no other explanation

than it was meant to be.

There's no other way

to explain it.

So, I mean, I sat there

in shock, and it's like,

"Okay, I'm ready.

Now we really have to go.

We have to go to this site."

(IN VIETNAMESE) How blissful

and ecstatic she was.

(CONTINUES SPEAKING

IN VIETNAMESE)

A daughter who lost her father

since the age of three,

and in all those years

until she is 46,

she has always been longing

to return to her father

and reconnect with him.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(CHATTERING IN LAO)

tree over there, you see?

RUSCH:
He pointed around the corner,

and you know,

at the top of the tree,

and kind of gestured that

that was the tree

that he was talking about.

How far we've come to be here.

And how many years

I've waited for this.

And now, this moment

was staring right at me.

NGUYEN:
(IN VIETNAMESE) It was

a very strange tree, very old.

I could sense

Rebecca's intense emotion.

And I thought she looked

at that tree

as if she was waiting for

her father

to emerge from the tree.

RUSCH:
"This journey down

the Ho Chi Minh Trail

"has brought me here to meet you

"and stand in the place

where you died,

"where you died

for me and your country.

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