As an "Air America Brat" and the daughter of a pilot who lost his life supporting the effort in Laos I am doing what I can to preserve the memory and promote the truth about the true mission of Air America in Southeast Asia.

Recently the Discovery Channel aired a three part documentary titled "CIA: Secret Warriors". The program was very critical of Air America (a CIA proprietary "airline" that supported covert intelligence agents and military personnel) and alleged that the company was involved in drug smuggling and other illicit activities at the direction of the CIA during it's mission in Southeast Asia. The Discovery Channel, long recognized as a source of truthful and quality programing, unfortunately gave credibility to unfounded rumors that are not warranted or deserved by this distinguished group of men and women, many of them veterans.


Air America provided a valuable service to this country in the defense of freedom. The pilots, crews and other civilians, confronted danger on a daily basis and many of them never returned home. My Father, Ben Coleman, was a pilot with Air America from 1962 until his death in 1972 in north central Laos. He was on a humanitarian mission - flying rations and medical supplies to a village that had been cut off from supply routes for weeks due to the weather - when his plane went down. For years, he and the others, have remained unrecognized and undecorated by our government due to the nature of their mission although they made the supreme sacrifice serving the cause of freedom while working for the United States Government and the Central Intelligence Agency, which was their ultimate employer.

Through the tremendous efforts of the Air America Organization, we have come closer to realizing one of the most powerful statements of recognition for those who were involved in the Southeast Asia mission with the consideration by the US Postal Service to go forward with a commemorative Freedom Stamp. It would be a real tragedy if this effort comes to a halt because of the unfair and very untrue portrayal of Air America in the Discovery Channel series.

In the interest of preserving the memory and the honor of these men I am respectfully dedicating my home page to promote the "truth" - and asking for your assistance in an effort to support the Air America Freedom Stamp issue as well as persuading the Discovery Channel to amend/correct/delete the portions of their series that contained the misinformation that was related as "fact" about Air America. If you have an opinion or comment, please email me at the link below!

One voice is not enough but hundreds of voices can make a difference. None of us should be allowed to forget that freedom is not free! Nor should any of us forget those who made the supreme sacrifice serving the cause of freedom.

I invite and encourage you to visit the "Links" page to learn more about these courageous men and women, their families and the legacy left for us to preserve in their honor.

AIR AMERICA BRAT'S LINKS PAGE

View My Guestbook


Sign My Guestbook

You are Visitor #

next page

Tribute to Operation Iraqi Freedom / CAT / AA Aircraft / Aerial Views / Evacuation 1975

The Soldiers

JTFFA - Our MIAs

/ Memoriam /Jerry Fink's Memorial Address / Dad

Email AirAmBrat