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From: Ross Rainwater With help from Mike Law, Mike Sloniker, Leslie Hines, and a host of others, VHPA Database Chairman Gary Roush has assembled an amazing collection of information about "The Helicopter War." Along with that audio track that opens the CD-ROM, you are met with a menu selection of "History Documents," "Video," "View Pictures," and "Search Database." When I selected "History Documents," Adobe Acrobat Reader (included with the CD-ROM) offered me an almost overwhelming number of choices: Easter Offensive 1972, parts 1-4; "The Falcon - Above I Corps" from 1968-1969; VHPA Newsletters beginning in 1993 through Sept/Oct 2000 (many with full-color photos, although not in all issues); OPLAN El Paso (about the Ho Chi Minh Trail); Lam Son 719 history; Helicopter Units North of Da Nang; Americal Division's "Southern Cross," 1969-1971; selections from the Pacific Stars and Stripes; histories and after-action reports galore; "Army Reporter" 1966-1968; numerous ORLL's ("Operational Report-Lessons Learned"), and even an extract from the New York Times. Had I wanted to print everything, it would have taken over 9 REAMS of paper to print the 4,527 pages! Particularly useful is Adobe Acrobat Reader's "search/find" feature. As a test, I chose to "find" all instances of mention of my unit, 1/9 Air Cav. Entering "1/9" took me to each page where that could be found. (Cav modesty prevents my giving the total number of instances!) Entering the name of a flight school classmate took me to a couple of listings where he was mentioned. Each search took just a few seconds. Selecting "View Pictures," I was presented over 35 beautiful full-color photos of various combat helicopters, all of which may be printed. A "Video" option took me to 8mm movies of the aftermath of a sapper attack on a group of CH-47s, many of them still burning. The database, included on the CD-ROM, allows the user to search on a variety of criteria: pilot name, aircraft tail number, unit, MOS, call signs, flight classes, and several others. (Note: the database search feature is the only function not available for Macintosh users on the entire CD-ROM.) All too often the claim of something being a "must have" for an enthusiast's collection is nothing more than marketing hype. However, the new multi-media VHPA CD-ROM fits that category well, and is a quantum leap over the original, like comparing a Cobra to an OH-13. This one is a definite keeper.
From: "Raymond J. Norton" <rayn@nortoncapital.com>
From: "Douglas Decker" <dougd43@hotmail.com>
From: Richnam@aol.com Gary, returned home today to find the Vietnam Helicopter History disc. I am just getting started reading through it but it is certainly the best product I have ever seen. You are one of my heroes. You have my deep thanks, Dick Hites/JTFFA.
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 18:30:39 -0500
From: "Leslie Hines" <Pelican.123rd.avn@worldnet.att.net> Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 10:42:16 -0600 Gary, This VHPA CD-ROM would be very useful to many people in the Americal Division Veteran's Association (Vietnam era). The CD-ROM we are producing requires Microsoft Word compatible word processors, and provides some graphics of maps and photos from the Americal division that are not on the VHPA CD-ROM. However, the bulk of our text resources such as the Americal ORLL's, Southern Cross documents, and etc. are on the VHPA CD-ROM and it is indexed and easier to use than our CD-ROM for most of the members of our association. I am going to copy this to the ADVA newsletter Gary Noller. and some other representatives from unit associations that have members who would very likely benefit from purchasing the VHPA CD-ROM. The ADVA CD-ROM is not as easy to acess as it requires knowledge of word processors, however it may have more information related to the association. This may be irrelevant if someone is having difficulty using a word processor. The VHPA is set up to be simple to use the index features of ADOBE ACROBAT which is part of the CD-ROM program setup. Very cool. -----
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