Helicopters and Dirigibles

* A note of information for ya'll who may not be real acquainted with me. I served in the US Army as a Second Lieutenant during the first Gulf War. I was medically retired after I suffered a stroke and I now walk with a cane. I still hear from my Army comrades from time to time. Here's a story from one of them. Hope you enjoy it.

I get mail from my Army brothers and sisters who are still serving, some of them cowboys in uniform, stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They so inevitably tell me of "wrecks" that that only a cowboy can appreciate.
The military is using reconnaissance dirigibles,balloons lighter than air, to detect enemy presence and to protect bases from terrorist activities. They're tethered to the ground by a cable and go hundreds of feet in the air, not unlike Napolean used 200 years ago during some of his battles. Although Napolean had a Frenchman in a basket with binoculars, the modern dirigibles are unmanned, filled with the latest photographic and digital surveillance devices available, and monitored by a ground crew.
Out of the clear blue of the Persian sky, a helicopter approached the base, and one of its blades hit a dirigible cable! A quick call was made to headquarters as they watched the freed balloon rising into the prevailing winds and drifting towards Iran.
I'm sure many cowboys would be thinking, "What would I do?" A biplane with a hook, or a team roper on the wing? A helicopter approach from the top, lowering a bull rider on the dirigible with his Moore Maker balloon-piercing knife? Have two fly fisherman from Bozeman, Montana parachute by and reel it in?
Not the Air Force.
They called in an F-15 Eagle with instructions to intercept and disable the dirigible gingerly so the billion dollars' worth of top-secret equipment could be recovered. Explicit instructions over the radio ordered, "Be careful not to hit the instrument cluster." "Roger, Captain!"
On the initial, and only, strafing pass, the deadeye pilot pulled down on the target and pressed the trigger. The explosion could be heard at the Syrian Embassy in Fort Worth, Texas! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Al Jazeera's heart skipped a beat! It lit up the skylike a sunrise! Flaming clumps, shreds and pieces cleaved the atmosphere like streaking meteorites into the wild blue yonder!It was obliterated, all save but one piece of twisted scrap metal about the size of a Volkswagen that was found 10 miles away.
I understand the pilot is in the process of applying for a medal recognizing his valor in recovering and disabling top-secret material before it fell into enemy hands.
The hunk of metal has been recycled and is now a doorstop in the mess tent.