This is an excerpt from the book
A Cobra Pilot in Vietnam: True Tales and Otherwise".
Available at Amazon: A Cobra Plot in Vietnam

Even though I was an Army helicopter aviator, I felt I was qualified for Navy aircraft carrier operations. That’s because I was trained to land on, and take off from, the deck of a Navy LST. In fact, I think I could make the case that I was more than carrier qualified because, with an LST, it was harder to land and take off than it was for a carrier’s large waterborne airfield. Not only was an LST deck smaller, it bounced around more. And as a practical matter, I was convinced that an LST was a much better vessel than an aircraft carrier for satisfying the Navy’s desire to exterminate Army helicopter pilots.

At one time in my young life, I considered becoming a naval aviator, and for plenty of good reasons. Not only did I think I would look good in one of those white dress uniforms, it was my observation that girls were attracted to those uniforms. Also, it was my understanding that the Navy had the best food of all the services. I could just see myself as a naval aviator, dressed in a spotless uniform, Miss April clinging to me, while I dined on lobsters and clams.

Then, my dream was shattered when I learned that naval aviators spent a considerable amount of their career flying over large bodies of water. I didn’t like large bodies of water. As far as I was concerned, they were unnatural, something to be feared. I attributed that strongly held opinion to the influence of my West Texas relatives upon me when I was a child.