Best Friends Ernie Oestreicher, Roger Hamilton, Felix Diyorio, Dutch Hendrix, Lou Abshire, Al Baxter
Best Moment Being one of five men selected in my AF specialty to move to Glen Avon and help the Collins Engineers install the SAC Short Order Transmitters which relayed information between SAC Headquarters, Looking Glass, which was the airborne command post and all SAC bombers worldwide during the Cold War. I learned a lot during this part of my career and loved the work I did while there.
Worst Moment Getting notified of being on DEFCON 2 status at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis on 14 October 1962.
Chain of Command
Other Memories Playing double deck pinochle with partners. Trips to the mountains and beaches on three day breaks. Cookouts with Red and Sue Oestreicher. The visit of my older brother Joe while he attended the SAC NCO Acadamy at March, AFB. As usual he excelled and received the Commandants Trophy while attending. Visits with my parents during many of my three day breaks. Cuban Missile Crisis on 14 October 1962 and going DEFCON 2 status for the duration. Only going home for rest, meals a bath and having to be near the phone until time for your team to relieve the team on duty. Our wives had to do all the shopping and run all the errands during the entire period of the crisis. Needless to say we were pretty stressed out but all were happy to see it end on 28 October 1962. As long as the Sky King broadcasts were going out every 15 minutes we knew that all was well. No buttons had been pushed.
