Former Pilots Say Misunderstandings Still Linger

The University of Texas at Dallas is hosting a symposium this weekend to mark receipt of 10,000 formerly-classified Central Intelligence Agency documents dealing with Air America. The airline, operated as a civilian service in Asia following World War II, was also a front for covert CIA operations in the region.

Former naval aviator Don Boecker, now a 71-year-old retired rear admiral, will speak at the university Saturday night. He plans to recall his rescue after bailing out of a stricken plane over dense jungle in Laos in July of 1965. He says he evaded armed enemy soldiers through the night, and finally escaped, hanging terrified from the skid of an Air America helicopter. The civilians rescued him, because the military could not be caught operating in Laos.

Boecker tells The Associated Press the work of Air America's civilian pilots and crews has gone unappreciated.

"Most people don't even know it occurred. It was a secret society," he said. "They flew in all sorts of danger... flying every day in terrible wartime conditions. They did a beautiful job."

The documents released to the university by the CIA came through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the school. They reportedly include firsthand accounts of Air America missions, commendations, and even the evacuation of the American Embassy after Saigon feel in 1975.

Brian Johnson is a former Air America helicopter pilot who says the public misunderstandings about the company are gradually being turned around. He says the 1990 movie, "Air America," starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey, Jr., painted a picture of corruption and drug-running. The liberal Air America talk radio network added to the confusion, he adds.

UT-Dallas is getting more than the documents and participation in its symposium. The school was also chosen by the Air America alumni group as the site for a plaque listing about 240 names of fallen fellow employees.

FMI: www.utdallas.edu/airamerica