interviewer: july 4, 1968, when his helicopter was shot down in the mekong delta. tell me about how you learned about his death. katherine: well, i had not seen my parents in -- gosh. four years. -- oh, this was an awful time. interviewer: i'm sure. that was almost the first thing that came over wes' desk. he had to wait until they acknowledged it, and then my older brother, who was class of '46, he was in washington. to fayetteville , where my parents were, and of course i had not seen my mother in, i guess, three or four years . and she was so happy to see me, -- i just shook my head she did not know yet until you got there. that must've been difficult. katherine: we drove around fayetteville because carol and my brother's wife lived there, and i didn't know where she lived, and my brother didn't either. -- i just said to van, we've got to tell his wife before we tell our parents. it seems like the right thing to do. and we couldn't find her. .t turned out she was not there she was in blacksburg, virginia. , you know, sowas happy. just kept myr, i head. interview