Desert Ducks

Their role is less glamorous than the fighter and bomber pilots’--but the DESERT DUCKS have played their part. The Ducks--Sea King helicopters from a Virginia-based detachment--have been ferrying people, mail and cargo across the Arabian Peninsula since 1972. The Ducks, following a military tradition, also like to mark their presence. A large sponge cut in the shape of a duck’s foot is dipped in yellow paint, smacked on a ship deck and everybody knows “the Duck stopped here.” The Duck print has been slapped on some bombs with the inscription: “Duck this, Saddam.”