Jim Hanson grew up in a military family. His father completed a career in the Infantry, serving in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and his mother was a career military spouse. He attended high school at Fort Leavenworth and in the Panama Canal Zone, where he also attended college. He enlisted in the Army for flight school, opting to become a Warrant Officer, and his Junior ROTC experience served him well in Basic Training. His primary flight school was at Fort Walters, Texas, and his advanced flight school was at Fort Rucker, Alabama. After qualifying on both the OH-23 and the UH-1, he deployed to Vietnam, where he was assigned to A Co, 4th Aviation Battalion, in support of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. During his first tour, he survived the Tet Offensive and daily combat assaults. Returning home, he was assigned to the Panama IAGS (Inter-American Geodetic Survey) team and helped cartographers map Central and South America. In that assignment, he pushed the OH-23 to its limits, flying through the mountains with Side Looking Airborne Rader to “fill in the map.” He married his wife Mary in 1969, and returned to Vietnam in 1971, where he served with the 173rd Assault Helicopter Company. In that assignment, he flew on the Lam Son 719 mission, in the A Shau Valley, and near Chu Lai and Marble Mountain. After his second tour in Vietnam, he returned to Panama, where he served from 1976 to 1979. He concluded his career with service at Fort Bragg and in Korea. After retiring from the Army, he continued to serve as a flight instructor at Rucker, as an advisor in Saudi Arabia, and as a contractor in Iraq. In this interview, Jim talks about growing up around the world, basic training, flight school, and the types of airframes he flew. He describes his two tours in Vietnam in great detail, and provides insights about his assignments in Panama. His discussion about mapping in Central and South America is fascinating. Finally, he reflects upon his career. “Saying Goodbye Never Got Easier”: A Spouse’s Reflections On Military Families’ Service To The Nation Mary Hanson grew up in a military family. Her father served in World War II, and then became an Air Force Chaplain. She attended Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, where she met Jim while he was in flight school. She later attended the University of Georgia, where she pursued a nursing degree. During Jim’s deployment in 1971, she moved in with his parents. When he returned she helped her husband cope with malaria and Post Traumatic Stress, having had to deal with her father’s alcoholism earlier in her life. In this interview, she talks about growing up in a military family, and continuing that lifestyle as an Army spouse and as the mother of another Army spouse. She discusses the un-recognized Post Traumatic Stress that Army wives experience. She concludes by stating that military spouses give their lives in service to the nation.