MATTHEWS, N.C. -- It's Memorial weekend and it's a time when many veterans reflect on the one's they lost and their own close calls.

• Capt. Carl Gamble flew 244 combat missions in the Vietnam War.
• As a commercial pilot for Piedmont Airlines, he had to lean on his training to keep the 60 people on board his Charlotte to Miami flight alive.
• Gamble retired from flying in 2003, but wrote "My Blue Yonder" about his 37-year career as a pilot.

For retired Matthews pilot, those close calls are still very fresh in his memory.

Capt. Carl Gamble flew 244 combat missions in the Vietnam War. But in 1969, a machine gun fired on his plane.

Gamble managed to land minutes before the aircraft exploded.

But it wasn't just the war where he would face danger, as a commercial pilot for Piedmont Airlines, he had to lean on his training to keep the 60 people on board his Charlotte to Miami flight alive.

"Hearing the word hijack is one thing but when she said the hijackers had a bomb, when you get going, your adrenaline kicks in and your training kicks in and you know exactly what you're supposed to do," said Gamble.

Gamble retired from flying in 2003, but wrote "My Blue Yonder" about his 37-year career as a pilot.

He hopes to inspire others, especially minorities, to pursue careers in aviation.