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Contact Info
Home Town Fresno, California
Last Address Fresno, California
Date of Passing Dec 30, 2019
Location of Interment Fresno Memorial Gardens - Fresno, California
He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on Feb 14, 1952. During his USAF career he flew/worked on the A-26 Invader, the B-36 Peacemaker, the SM--65 Atlas E missile, and the B-52 Stratofortress.
While flying as a tail gunner on a B-52D during a combat mission over Hanoi, North Vietnam, on Dec 28, 1972, his aircraft was hit and he was forced to manually bail-out, as the early-model B-52's didn't have ejection seats for the gunner. He was taken as a POW by the North Vietnamese and was held in captivity for the next 91 days. After his release during Operation Homecoming on Mar 29, 1973, he continued with his Air Force career and retired as a Chief Master Sergeant on Jan 31, 1979.
Aircraft/Missile Information
Specifications (Atlas ICBM)
* Length: 75 ft. 1 in. (22.9 m) with Mk 2 re-entry vehicle, 82 ft. 6 in. (25.2 m) with Mk 3 * Diameter: 10 ft. 0 in. (3.05 m) * Launch weight: 255,000 lb. (116,000 kg) for Atlas D, 260,000 lb. (118,000 kg) for Atlas E and F * Range: 10,360 miles (16,670 km) for Atlas D, 11,500 miles (18,500 km) for Atlas E and F * Powerplant: 1 × Rocketdyne LR105 rocket engine with 57,000 lbf (254 kN) thrust, 2 × Rocketdyne LR89 rocket engines with 150,000 lbf (670 kN) thrust, 2 × Rocketdyne LR101 vernier rocket engines with 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) of thrust * Warhead: Mk 4 re-entry vehicle with W-38 warhead (4 MT yield) (Atlas F) * CEP: 4,600 ft (1,400 m)
