This is true for the pilots and quartermasters of the Nuri helicopters in the 1970s. They had to fly sortie after sortie to destinations at the northern border towns of Kroh and Gubir, where the jungles were infested with communist terrorists (CTs).

Their job was to supply food and ammunition to the troops fighting the terrorists and to send troops to the areas or pull out the injured and dead from there.

For retired Lt Col Chong King Lay, 77, and his regular air quartermaster, WO1 Mohsain Hashim, to be alive today is something of a miracle. The choppers they flew in were hit a total of eight times, with one getting back to base with 200 bullet holes and shattered windscreens.

Mohsain once had a narrow escape. A bullet grazed his left biceps when he opened the door to pick up an injured soldier. Another soldier who was providing them cover in the aircraft was shot in the forehead and died in a hospital.

The heroic deeds earned Chong a Pingat Tentera Udara, which entitles him to a monthly allowance of RM1,000.

But Mohsain, 73, whose helicopter was fired at in three incidents, was among the non-commissioned officers who were not given the award although they were in similar missions doing the same job and facing gunshots and grenades fired by the terrorists.

“I have no regrets serving the nation at such a crucial time,” Mohsain said. “Not many have gone through this, risking their lives so that Malaysians could sleep peacefully.”

Recalling an incident in 1978, he said Chong piloted a Nuri dispatched to pick up a soldier who had been shot and he was the quartermaster tasked with winching the soldier into the helicopter.

“It was Ramadan and we were about to break fast when we were given orders to pick up the injured soldier,” he said. “When we were about to land, the CTs started firing at us. I called out to the army man who was providing us cover, but there was no sound.

“I turned around and saw that he was bleeding. Chong then decided to fly out of the area and go back to base 20 minutes away. The injured soldier was rushed to the Penang Hospital but he died.

“It was a difficult moment for all of us.”

The same crew flew back to the site the next day to pick up the injured soldier and send him to hospital.

Chong, who survived five shooting incidents, recalled one in which he had to make a quick decision to take off when the CTs started firing at his Nuri. He had just flown off when a grenade exploded at the exact spot where his helicopter had been minutes earlier.

In another incident, he said, he saw “bullets flying past as close as 2in from my face” and had to keep his cool before deciding to take off.

Chong said he had no regrets making sacrifices for the country, but he said the government should rectify what he called a “lopsided” pension scheme. The scheme entitles someone of his rank who retired after 2013 to twice the amount of pension he gets.

“This involves thousands of armed forces personnel who retired before 2013,” he said.