Hundreds of nameless faces in pain passed through Ron Martin's medevac helicopter in Vietnam in the late 1960s. He thought he might tell himself that most of them "made it," but he'd never know for sure.

Now he knows that Doug Field made it. Martin and Field met recently in the parking lot at the Peachtree City Post Office, 32 years after Martin flew Field away from a hot battle zone near Tuy Hoa. It was an operation known as "Nathan Hale," and the two discovered by comparing where, when and with which outfits they served that the rescue did indeed involve the two of them, at that time and place.

Both men are residents of Peachtree City, relocated from other parts of the country. Martin is from Galax, Va., and Field from Orange, N.J. Field was serving with the 2nd Battalion, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a part of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.

It was Martin's "airborne eagle" car decal that prompted Field to speak to him in that parking-lot encounter. He says the 101st was one of several outfits to which his unit, the 498th Helicopter Ambulance Company of the 44th Medical Brigade, was "attached" in Vietnam.

"Man, just to see him," Martin says of Field, "to know he's walking around, in good shape, a productive citizen... it took me about three days for my feet to touch the ground again." It's experiences like this, Martin says, that help overcome the trauma that he has suffered along with many other Vietnam veterans.

Field says too that meeting Martin has furthered a healing process for him. His wound at the time of Martin's medevac ride was one of three, he said, but the circumstances of the last one would come to haunt him for many years.

"There were 15 of us," he says, "on one of those 'search and destroy' missions, at night. At exactly 12:30, we were overrun by about 300 North Vietnamese. Twelve of us were killed, including our commanding officer, Capt. Joe Mack of Marietta. I was one of three who somehow, by the grace of God, made it out of there. But I'll never forget Sept. 17, 1966."

Martin too describes his life as "a mess" when he returned to what the men and women in combat areas in Southeast Asia referred to as "the world." Martin says he now loves to march in parades because "I never got my parade when I came back; none of us did." He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and several other veterans' groups. Both men are not afraid to say that it took a lot of time, and counseling, to bring them to the "productive citizen" places where they are now.

Martin is a senior planner for Fulton County, working mostly in Sandy Springs, and Field is the manager for agency and corporate relations for Delta Air Lines. Field and his wife, Arline, have a son, 18, and a daughter, 17. Martin is divorced but maintains frequent contact with his twin sons who are juniors in college, and his daughter who is a sophomore at McIntosh High School.

Field is a Rutgers University graduate who started off with Pan American World Airways and later became part of the Delta team. Martin went to East Tennessee State, then graduated from the University of Tennessee.

"The campus atmosphere was good for me at the time," Martin says, "but then the protests and demonstrations against the war started up. There were a bunch of us veterans, so we started organizing demonstrations to 'have a conventional war,' win it and get out of there. History has shown we were right. There's been a lot of agonizing since then over what was and was not done in Vietnam. But now at least we can talk about it and share our experiences with other people."

Field says, "He's right. Just a few years ago I would not have been able to give this interview. But I think people are beginning to realize that what we did was a sacrifice, and counted for something in the history of our country. I know I have a tremendous admiration for what the medevac pilots did. They had to go in under fire most of the time, and if it was at night, there was no way to tell exactly what the terrain was. I think they had to be the bravest people over there."

"Nope," says Martin. "Had to be the guys on the ground getting shot at."