Charles Logan Flynn

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Ray Nixon on June 14, 2016:

I remember Professor Charlie from my days at Embry-Riddle. In particular, he was always advising me to study harder and get my grades up so I could fly fighters - which he described as an experience like none other that can be had in this life. I used to go in to office hours with him when I could just to listen to the stories. I remember the day I learned what the term "Shack" meant. He was telling me about a mountain cave somewhere in the jungle that they knew was an enemy ordnance cache. So they go in to bomb it, or at least try to, except that the entrance was tough to see. They were expecting to make several passes and maybe cave it in or damage it as much as they could. Charlie rolls in and turns loose the first bomb and it goes directly into the hole. They knew this was the case because the entire top of the mountain came off, propelled by a bright ball of fire! After a few seconds of silence, someone came on the radio and said, "Shack one, I guess." And they went home with full bomb loads, except Charlie. He was proud of that, but readily admitted it was almost completely dumb luck. He couldn't stop laughing at the image of a VC sitting cross-legged in the entrance of the cave eating a bowl of rice, and watching the bomb pass right in front of him as it flew in. Quite a cartoonish image, like something out of a Yosemite Sam skit. He told such vivid stories. Just before I graduated, he told me that he had gone in for kidney stones, and shortly thereafter I heard that he was gone. I had never been so shocked and saddened by a death up to that point in my young life. He was very missed by his students, I can say that. And by many others, it seems... Rest in peace, Colonel Flynn.

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