Other Comments:
Chuck worked for the Bank of America in Hawthorne, CA from 1941 to 1942. During this time, he acquired a private pilots license.
Chuck entered the U.S. Army Air Corps on April 15, 1942. He graduated from the Air Cadets as a pilot and was commissioned 2nd Lt. on April 12, 1943. He flew his first 1000 hours as a pilot in a bombardier school in Deming, N.M. He flew 515 hours of combat time, during WWII, flying The Hump across the Himalayas, from India to China and back. After the war, he flew a military passenger run from Calcutta to Karachi until January of 1946. He was transferred to the European Theatre, where he attended flight operations officer school in Paris. Chuck was then assigned to Vienna, Austria, where he flew the Balkan run from Vienna to Budapest, to Belgrade and on to Bucharest, Rumania, returning the next day. In April of 1946, he was assigned as station commander of the air support detachment supporting the U.S. Allied Control Commission in Bucharest, Rumania.
Chuck married Marta Gonda in Bucharest in January of 1947. They returned to the United States in March of 1947, and he was assigned for a while to Pope Field, North Carolina. In December of 1947, he was transferred to Bergstrom Field in Austin, Texas, where he underwent four-engine training in the C-54 and gliders. While there, he was deployed with his squadron to Germany, where he flew 135 round trips from Frankfurt to Berlin on the famous Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles).
Upon returning to the States in January of 1949, six months after the start of what was to be a 45-day Tour of Duty (TDY), he was assigned to Strategic Air Command (SAC) in a photo-mapping and aerial electronic geodetic survey squadron, at Forbes AFB in Topeka, Kansas, another move for Chuck and Marta. While there, he underwent B-29 training at Tampa, FL. Chuck then went back to Topeka, where he started an annual summer TDY to Alaska for the next five summers. During this period, he was transferred to Barksdale AFB, Shreveport, LA for a year and then on to Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico, where he was assigned for the next three years. While there, he started flying the Boeing RB-50, which was to be his primary aircraft for the rest of his career. Following Ramey, he was assigned back to Topeka (Forbes, AFB) for about a year, and then out of SAC and in to MATS (Military Air Transport Service) and assigned to Palm Beach AFB, FL for five years. He had TDYs to Alaska, 3 months to Tucson, AZ, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio for 8 months and England for 6 months. Marta was in Ohio and England with him for these two TDYs. He had one more TDY before leaving Palm Beach, which was to Clark Field in the Philippine Islands for 6 months. While there, he flew into Borneo, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, during various aspects and requirements of his missions. During these assignments, he was appointed the Commander of the Aerial Survey teams, which numbered approximately two hundred officers and men. While he was at the home station in Palm Beach, he was the Squadron Operations Officer, and when on TDY, was the Aerial Survey Team Commander. In January 1959, he and the complete photomapping group were again transferred, this time to Turner AFB, Albany, GA. He was to spend the next seven years there, and it was to be his last transfer, although not his last TDY. While at Turner, he had various assignments. He was the Photo-Mapping Groups Operations Officer for about two years. When the group was elevated to a Wing, he was assigned as a Commander of a Flying Squadron. He held this position for the next five years, before being transferred up to the Wing as Assistant Wing Operations Officer. During all of the time he was assigned to Turner AFB, he retained the additional title of Aerial Survey Team Commander, and had numerous TDYs to Iceland for 3 months, twice to South America, twice (once for 6 months and once for 3 months) and to Greece for 5 months. Marta went to Greece and was with him on this TDY. Chuck retired from the military on March 1, 1966 as a full Colonel and a Command Pilot, after 24 years of service including 17 years with the photomapping unit.
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