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An up close and personal interview with U.S. Air Force Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
SSgt Lonny G Wagener U.S. Air Force (1965-1969)
PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE AIR FORCE?
The uncertainty of the draft that we were under at the time prompted me to join. I chose to enter a branch of the military that would allow me to educated myself in a way that would also be beneficial in civilian life.
WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK.
As I recall, testing indicated strength in three fields: aircraft maintenance, heating and refrigeration. I forget the third one. I was allowed to arrange them in order of my priority. My first choice was aircraft maintenance, followed by heating and refrigeration. I was chosen to be trained in  jet aircraft maintenance. I remained in this field until around August 1968 at which time I went to Wing Logistics with Captain Cartwright. I held this position until discharge in March 1969.
The heating and refrigeration field held a burning desire within me that drove me to take classes while in the service. It was these classes that set the stage for my employment once discharged. I retired from the HVAC field in 2005 after a very rewarding career.
All in all, I appreciate the time I spent in uniform honoring and protecting the United States of America. To this day I realize firsthand how precious our God given life is and how quickly this can all change.
While stationed at Bien Hoa AFB, Vietnam, we lost a few very good men. To this day I can still see their smiling faces as we all worked diligently performing our assigned duties. These memories have set a lifetime course for me of always honoring our God, country and mankind in all that I do each day.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN COMBAT OPERATIONS? IF SO, COULD YOU DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH WERE SIGNIFICANT TO YOU?
While stationed at Bien Hoa AFB Vietnam and Korat, Thailand my units supported the war in Vietnam.
At Bien Hoa AFB Vietnam in 1966-67 we had the five minute alert pad that always involved a lot of high stress operations, and ultra-fast turnarounds. Added to that stress, there was the occasional enemy rocket or mortar round exploding somewhere on base. The primary targets were the parked aircraft which they sometimes hit. Sometimes the rounds hit buildings. We had sandbag bunkers outside our hooches we could jump in when there was in-coming.
Although rare, there was the occasional enemy infiltration of the base. I remember being on the trim pad one night after midnight with a bird tied down, aft section off and the engine being adjusted. Operations came on our headset advising us to do an engine and NF2 shut down, we had company sneaking in.
In mid-1966 I volunteered for a special ops mission to Danang. We were TDY for two weeks with a marine detachment. As I recall we only took three  aircraft and flew missions over the north day and night with time off just for eating and sleeping. I still remember the marines, those guys were neat. Their motto should have been 'get-r-done' because one way or another, they did just that.
In January and February 1968 we were at McConnell AFB Kansas preparing for our deployment to Thailand. The USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea. All guard and reserves were brought onto base and we were sent down town for lodging. Eventually we continued our unit deployment to Thailand.
My first six months in Thailand in 1968-69 were spent on the flight line with the F4's. I remember launching aircraft in rain so blinding that you could barely see your hand in front of you
The next six months I worked in Wing Logistics with Capt. Cartwright and was far removed from the flight line in an office with air conditioning. However my living quarters were not air conditioned but I believe the pilots had AC in Thailand.
OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH ONE WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
Ironically, my service inside the Vietnam theater is my fondest. It was there that the most tolerances of life became known to me. My first impression upon entry into the country was a jeep passing across in front of the ramp of the plane we disembarked from. This jeep was  equipped with a machine gun and gunner in place. It was at this moment that I realized for sure where we were.
Almost on a weekly basis we were aware of the lack of support back home by our fellow Americans. It was during my time in Vietnam that I found out what a true friend really was. It was also at the time that I began to learn of Jane Fonda--person I have never learnt to like or appreciate.
My least favorite memory would be when the ammo dump at Long Binh blew up. I was standing on the wing of an airplane in the refueling pits at Bien Hoa working with the pilot before engine shutdown. I was on headset with the cockpit when a very loud noise erupted, so loud that it temporarily deafened both me and the pilot, probably because of our mics being on.
Not knowing what was taking place we did an immediate shutdown and left the pits area. If I recall correctly, the noise came first, then the ground shook as monkeys fell out of the rafters of a nearby hangar, then a big mushroom cloud went up. In the pit of my stomach, I knew that second many of our fellow service men had lost their lives. Again, if I remember correctly, this was the fall of 1966.
I think of these lost brothers often, wondering where were they from, were they married and did they have children? Something you don't forget, and really do not want too.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE SERVICE CAREER WHAT PARTICULAR MEMORY STANDS OUT?
After tech school I was assigned to the 401th TFS at England AFB in Louisiana. This squadron was getting ready for deployment to Korea. Since I did not have a top secret clearance to be with the nukes, I was transferred to a sister unit, the 90th TFS. A few  months later we received blank PCS orders with nothing more than our name, rank and serial number on them. All leaves were cancelled. As the days went by we grew a little anxious because of the uncertainty. Eventually we boarded a plane and flew to George AFB, California. We put twenty four or twenty five F100 to bed for the night.
The next day we flew to Hawaii and spent the night. The third day we flew to Guam and spent the night. By this time we all knew where we were going. The 4th morning we stood on the flight line waiting for the B52's and KC135's to get off, and then we followed. Our next stop was Bien Hoa AFB, Vietnam. A little later we discovered that our unit was replacing a unit that was destroyed when the flight line blew up killing 26 and injuring several others. Because of this, revetments were built that our planes were parked in. This prevented a chain reaction should we have incoming or an accidental detonation of a bomb or napalm canister.
 My next order of business was the bathroom. I found the latrine. This one was a community latrine with about twenty holes, walls of screen wire and a screen door on each end. OK, this will suffice for a year.
Our accommodations were a "hooch" or hut also with screen wire walls and an adjustable slatted shade screen on the outside to keep the sun and rain out. Right out of our front and rear doors were sandbag bunkers. I think this was to keep the bicycles from speeding through the compound. We had no hot water or air conditioning, but always plenty of ice cold milk in chocolate or white. This was the best tasting milk I have ever had.
We always used mosquito netting over our beds for obvious reasons. Each week we removed our top sheet, exchanged it for a clean one. We placed the clean one on the bottom, raised the bottom one to the tops.
Our showers were hanging cold water bladders, once they were empty, no more showers for that day. Shaving in cold water for a year caused issued my first night home. I spent an hour under the warm shower head, followed by a shave. Just imagine becoming accustomed to shaving in cold water for a year, then shaving after soaking in hot water. It took about a week to grow the skin back I took off with the first pass of my razor.
While stationed at Bien Hoa we had a F-100 come back with one drop tank completely missing and the other hanging, ailerons hanging, rudder shredded, wings had holes in them, and the gun purge door was full of bamboo. This plane had flown through a hut with the guns firing. The pilot, whose name I forget, got the plane back in the air and returned it to base. That was one very fortunate man.
Our 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron and other 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing units were honored by the Army's 1st Infantry Division for close air support during two large-scale Viet Cong ambushes of its rifle companies.
February 1967 we rotated back to the states. When traveling from Bien Hoa to Tan Son Nhut I recall passing by a POW camp. That was a morbid sight to see on our way home. Departure was from Tan Son Nhut, just outside of Saigon, on a Braniff jet. Before starting our takeoff roll, the pilot instructed us that ground fire was being picked up off the end of the runway, and that he would be making a steep ascent. We soon determined that was a new term for banging the tail section on the runway during your climb.
 Our next stop was Hawaii. Miniskirts came into fashion while we were gone. I just knew that I had died and was in heaven. We had gotten our greenback dollars back and reintroduced to American women all within the same day. It did not take long to get Ho Chi Minh off our mind.
One time when re-entering the country, an older lady was sitting on a bench seat as I was walking through the airport. She gently gave me an apple without saying a word. She had such a look of peace and kindness in her face. I was overwhelmed with her kindness as it was not often back then that people showed much kindness to servicemen returning from Vietnam.
I also recall a stewardess offering me a blanket as I returned home in the dead of winter from Vietnam. Even though the aircraft was warm and cozy, I was cold. This lady recognized that and gave me a blanket.
OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, QUALIFICATION BADGES OR DEVICE YOU RECEIVED, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE ONE(S) MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
I would have to enter here the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon. Vietnam was not a popular solution back home, but to the military we recognized that our efforts helped keep China in line and communism at bay. All of this took place so long ago that it's a blur, but yet sometimes causes you to wake up in the middle of the night.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
 I do not recall many names from this time frame. We had many pilots that showed the ground crew much respect, as we did them. Despite the rank, we were a family dependent upon each other. One of my greatest thrills was to give the pilot a salute as I gave him command of the aircraft, wishing him a safe flight. I still remember those who did not come back and the flyovers for them. Goosebumps still cover my arms whenever I think of them.
CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Basic training--once I realized that it was to teach us to work together as a team--all went rather easy. You could almost see daily those that also started getting the big picture and falling in line.
The incident I remember the most was the morning we marched to the firing range. Our instructor advised us that the first unit to reach the range would be riding back on a bus. His game plan involved us going to the chow hall, signing in, and then forming up out back for the march to the range. This went really well for about thirty minutes then the hunger pains of a missed breakfast set in, but to ride back in a bus was a great privilege as the afternoon temps could get quite hot. As we neared the range, we became aware of another unit that had camped there overnight. Now we were out breakfast, no bus ride and a gnawing hunger eating at us. No bus showed up for anyone, we all marched back to camp. I find myself still laughing at that.
WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
 I became a HVAC service technician, and retired on 27 February 2005.
Before retiring we build a new home in 2004 close to the family farm I grew up on that was homesteaded in 1837 by my 2nd grandfather. I truly enjoying my retirement drinking coffee, taking naps, mowing grass, gardening, piddling with my neighbor, fishing and touring the US on tour buses. Best way in the world to travel.
Winter time I spend beside the fireplace with a hot cup of coffee as the cold winter winds blow outside. We have contemplated going south for the winter, but my wife and I are both homebodies and enjoy our own bed. Our home is large enough that we do not feel cramped through the winter. Even our chocolate Labrador Retriever (Hershey) enjoys lying beside the fireplace following my every move with her eyes or her feet.
WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
American Legion. I enjoy taking advantage of the Veterans day rabbit fry each year and communicating with other vets.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER?
During my civilian career I performed as professionally as possible following military standards. I held my head up high, honored God and country in everything.
BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE AIR FORCE?
 Realizing how profoundly important our freedom really is, especially today as the world we live in gets smaller and more deadly, please stay alert, stay healthy and stay vigilant. Thank you for your service. Learn all that you can and strive to be your best; no one can do that for you. Someday when you look back, just be sure that you would approve of your life.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
I cannot say that I have ever forgotten my military career or the men I served with. We grew into a uniquely privileged unit. While on a TDY assignment to Danang, mid 1966, our pilots and ground crew did a spectacular job, received recognition and returned gallantly to Bien Hoa. Those were special men, men I have never forgotten.
I've seen it written many times that you never forget the band of brothers. For me, this holds true today. Many times in church on Sunday mornings I recall them, knowing that many have fallen, many suffering agent orange afflictions, many doing quite well, but all very special within my heart, and not forgotten.
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