Around Johnston County, Parker Peedin was a witty jack-of-all-trades known to everyone as Mack. But during the Vietnam War, Peedin was an unflappable B-52 bomber pilot his crew knew as Speedy.

Peedin, a lifelong resident of Selma, died Oct. 30 of heart trouble brought on by a virus. He was 74. He was remembered fondly last week by family and friends.

"He was always joking and punning," said Patrick Bunce, Peedin's nephew. "He was always kind of witty with his remarks; even when he was sick or when he was not feeling well, he could make you feel better. He was a real calm fella, never got too upset about anything, never got in people's business."

Peedin's sister, Merilee Bunce, said he didn't like to talk about his Vietnam experiences because he was haunted by the thought of civilians walking the supply routes he was ordered to bomb."He said he hated to do that because he knew he was killing children and civilians" as well as North Vietnamese troops, Merilee Bunce said.

But Peedin's wartime service was featured in a National Observer article in 1966 when a reporter rode along with him and his crew on a bombing mission.

On the day Peedin met the reporter, he had been up since 2:30 a.m. attending hours of secret pre-flight briefings. The mission that day was to strike North Vietnamese troops and supplies in a mountainous area 72 miles west of Da Nang.

B-52 crews, including Peedin's, were responsible for striking routes approaching Mu Gia Pass in North Vietnam, which was a main point along the trail the enemy used to get supplies to the south.

But perhaps his most trying experience in the Air Force came in the United States, when he and his co-pilot were the sole survivors of a crash in the Maryland wilderness. There were nuclear warheads on the plane, but fortunately, they didn't go off. It took rescuers two days to find Peedin, who had built himself a shelter using survival skills he learned in training.

"He was real enduring and a tough fella when it came to being in tough situations," Patrick Bunce said.

The nickname Speedy, which stuck with him throughout his military career, came from an incident in which Peedin was rushing to a briefing and ran straight into his squadron commander. After dusting himself off, his superior asked, "Where you going, Speedy?" and let him go on his way.

After retiring as a captain from the Air Force, Peedin continued to be a pilot, flying for commercial airlines like Pan American and Middle East Airlines.

In his later years, Peedin enjoyed repairing engines at F&P Auto Parts.

His body was cremated last week according to his wishes.