Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3 Volume 9 | Page 43

C AN Y OU S AY …
G UILTY C ONSCIENCE ?
“W HEN P IGS F LY ” S HORT S TORY S ERIES
R ON C ORBIN
R ONALD C ORBIN , A FORMER A RMY COMBAT HELICOPTER PILOT AND V IETNAM VETERAN BECAME A L OS A NGELES PO-
LICEMAN , AND EVENTUALLY A PILOT FOR LAPD’ S A IR S UPPORT D IVISION . AN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF A
PILOT TRAINEE AND PUT R ON IN THE HOSPITAL WITH 2 ND AND 3 RD DEGREE BURNS OVER 70% OF HIS BODY . N OT ONE TO
BE SLOWED DOWN , R ON WENT ON TO WRITE MULTIPLE AWARD - WINNING STORIES . W E NOW SHARE THEM FOR YOUR
ENJOYMENT .
O
ne day I was flying Air-3, which basi-
cally had responsibility for everything
south of the Hollywood Hills and the
Mulholland-Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles.
Of course, even with responsibility for as-
sisting 12 patrol divisions, most of our calls
involved ones over the Southwest, Newton,
and 77 th St Divisions—the three divisions
generally considered “South LA.” Those
were some of the busiest for active police
F ALL 2019
work in all of the 17 divisions in LAPD's’
jurisdiction at that time.
Southwest was originally known as
University Division since the USC campus
resided in the northeast corner of the area.
It consisted of a potpourri of cultures—
Asian, White, Black, and Hispanic. And each
had their gang influence. 77 th St Division
was infamous for the 1966 Watts Riots and
demographics that made it a “hotbed” for
P AGE 39
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE