The Rustics published their first version of “The Rustics-A Top Secret Air War in Cambodia” in 1999, but only limited copies were available to Rustics and their families. As a result, in 2002 Dick Wood, Rustic11, wrote “Call Sign Rustic” an excellent abbreviated history of the Rustics story. This book was made available to the public and was well received, but, unfortunately, it is now out of print. The good news is the Rustics completely revised their original coffee-table size book in 2011 and it is now available to the public. Below is the story of how these two books came to be written.

By Richard Wood

The genesis of how these two books came about starts with a chance meeting between Claude Newland (Rustic 19) and Jim Lester (Rustic 01), in Ft Walton Beach, Florida in 1996. Neither knew the other lived in that area. The discussion turned to the possibility of a Rustic reunion and obtaining the official U. S. Air Force history of the Rustic operation. Claude recruited a fellow airline captain, Jim Reese (Rustic 57) who lived near Atlanta and could visit the Air Force Historical Research Agency in Alabama. The prospects were encouraging as the USAF had recently declassified much of the material relating to the war in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, there was no official history. It was so  secret at the time no history was kept. Beyond the names of the Rustic commanders (Jim Lester was the first one) there wasn't even a statement or a description of the Rustic mission.

The first Rustic reunion was held in 1997 and the attendees were told that there was no record of what they had done. Worse, a lot of the Rustics, particularly the interpreters, had never received the decorations they had earned and never would if there was no record of the operation.

The mood of the attendees shifted from disbelief to anger and finally to indignation and resolve. There absolutely would be a record of what they had done and there would be action to obtain recognition for those who deserved it but never received it.

A committee of volunteers was formed and duties were assigned. Jim Gabel (Rustic Bravo) was in charge of historical research and became the official arbiter of the
chronology of events and how Cambodian place names would be spelled. Doug Aitken (Rustic 16) developed techniques for scanning pictures, which came to him in
all shapes, sizes, and formats, into a computer for inclusion in the book. Jim Reese became senior editor and took on the job of collecting the stories and data
submitted by the Rustics in whatever form they had available. This ranged from
handwritten notes to tape recordings to computerized stories. This process proved unmanageable for one person. An editorial committee was formed and the task was divided among them. I became one of the editors because I was a published author and had some experience with the writing and editing process.

Cambodians who had worked with the Rustics and were living in the United States were located and interviewed. Those tape recordings were transcribed for use in the book. Mark Berent, who was the Air Attaché at the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh, was located. He not only agreed to write the Foreword to the book, but he provided an unusual insight into the diplomatic side of the operation.

The final draft was sent out to the 15-member book committee for comment and technical review. Jim Reese, Claude Newland, Doug Aitken and I met and spent an entire week keeping three computers humming while we incorporated those review comments. By the spring of 1999 we had a book. Dick Roberds (Rustic 21) took on the
job of proofreading it.

The book was self-published in a limited number of copies strictly for ourselves. It was a coffee table-sized book with nearly 300 pages and close to 150 pictures. It was distributed at our next reunion in the fall of 1999 and we liked it.

At the reunion, the question of a commercial version came up. I was not optimistic, but I agreed to explore that with some publishers. Sure enough, the consensus among publishers was that it was too long, too technical, and too full of individual stories. Since we were there, it wasnt too long or too technical for us and we liked the individual stories. They were our stories.

After a lot of discussion, I agreed to rewrite the book and submit it for publication. Since most of the research and data collection had already been done, we agreed that the Rustic FAC Association would receive 75% of any royalties and they would be used primarily for Cambodian relief.

The act of writing Call Sign Rustic, (published in 2002) turned out to be an interesting experience for me. The Rustic operation lasted a little over three years and the
standard combat tour for air force personnel was generally limited to one year. Thus, none of us experienced the entire operation from start to finish. I was there when it started and I was fascinated to learn all that had happened after I left. When the end came in August of 1973, I could feel the same frustration and disappointment felt by those who were actually there. In both books I hope we have been able to pass a little of that feeling on to the reader.

04/29/2025