Larry Tart has lived the history about which he writes. He served in USAFSS for twenty-one years, retiring as a senior master sergeant in 1977. Trained as a Russian linguist, he had seven overseas tours (England, Germany, Japan and Greece) and logged 3,000 hours conducting aerial signals intelligence reconnaissance—receiving eleven Air Medals and three Meritorious Service Medals. Instrumental in creating the Aerial Reconnaissance Memorial dedicated in Maryland in September 1997 to C-130 60528’s shot-down crew, he was inducted into the Air Intelligence Agency Hall of Honor in 2000 and published The Price of Vigilance, about the shoot down, in 2001.