PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE AIR FORCE.
Upon graduation from high school in Elliott, Iowa, I worked at an auto parts warehouse in Omaha. I returned home before Christmas in 1950, I was contacted by some old high school buddies. They said, "We are going to enlist in the Air Force. Want to join us?" I replied that would be great and we could all go through basic and be assigned together. January 5, 1951, we told our friends and families goodbye, not to worry, we were all together.
That day, after being sworn in, we were put on a train to Texas. We unloaded at Lackland AFB, where it was bitterly cold, put in different flights, assigned a tent to sleep in and thus our initial dreams dissolved into a cold, hostile environment where the evil Drill Sergeants, who undoutabtly were born out of wedlock and I suffered from severe constipation because of no bathrooms, only joint use latrines (a word alien to my world) existed. This was quickly remedied by a small bottle of white liquid which I am certain was radio-active due to the soon to be explosion in the latrine which, being highly motivated, I did locate at about 3:00 AM. But then, who keeps time in Basic?
A very few weeks later after processing and filling out my forms telling them where to ship my broken body. I left Lackland and the friends I had joined with in order to conquer the Air Force. I arrived at F. E. Warren AFB, Cheyenne, Wyoming at 2:00 AM. I stepped out of the train into the crystal clear, air of Cheyenne, where the first greeting was, "Cover up your faces, it is 36 degrees below zero!"
I was assigned as a Medic to some medical group. I do not remember the Unit designation, though I suppose I could research it. They did teach me how to shake down a thermomitor, make beds, push wheelchairs, empty bed pans, and to be fair, I am sure there was additional training, though I honestly do not remember any. Oh yes, we had some films on "Short Arm Inspections" and suffered through the experience (if you do not understand, just forget it). Our barracks was two story, with bunk beds and a coal fired furnace. Extra duty was "Fireman" duty. An all night assignment to keep coal in the furnaces of all three of the barracks buildings. In the winter you would still wake in the morning with the "Butt Cans" nailed on the center posts (with water to quench the cigarette butts) would be frozen solid.
One great assignement as a medic was to be on the standby medical team at Frontier Days in Cheyenne. This is the highlight event of the year (in 1951) and supposedly the largest Rodeo in the USA!
I was reassigned to a Supply AFSC and worked with the Medical Kitchen Cooks.
I remember little about the routine job, but learned about cooking!
I was called to the Squadron Commander's office and told I was going to be shipped out. I had my choice of Korea or England. As I say, I was not too smart, but smart enough to know I could not speak Korean and I was pretty fluent in English!
I had a 30 day leave in which I married my high school sweetheart, then boarded a bus for Camp Kilmer where I processed for England. After a 6 day "cruise" and a short train and bus ride I arrived at Sculthorpe RAF station in East Anglia, Norfolk.
I was assigned as a truck driver and ended up refueling B-45 bombers, a nuclear delivery aircraft. My wife joined me in England and we lived in Hunstanton with an English family and eventually or own apartment.
Our son was born in Wimpole Park hospital near Cambridge. We experienced the hurricane of 1953 where 26 people died in our little town, including 16 Americans. I was promoted to Staff Sergeant while in England.
Returning to the USA was a beautiful experience. Again I had a 6 day cruise, with me and other enlisted military bunked below decks and just below water level. My wife was in a small cabin with another enlisted wife above deck.
I was assigned to Lake Charles AFB in Louisiana, elevation 3 feet. Miserable assignment after three years in England. I was told I had exceeded my enlistment and could reenlist for my choice of assignments. We were then assigned to Lowery AFB, Denver, CO, still refueling aircraft. I worked at the base 4-12 pm and picked up a job as a Ward worker at a private mental hospital where I worked from 7 am to 3 pm, 5 days a week. Air Force pay was not too great in those days.
A friend from our England assignment visited us and encouraged me to apply for OCS. I was accepted and we moved to Texas with our son, newborn daughter. We pulled our 41 foot New Moon mobile home behind our 1955 Ford Fairlane station wagon to Houston, then San Antonio, OCS was an experience. Six miserable months, separated from my family with upperclassmen who were not nice to me. Oh well, my day came too! Then Moore AF at Mission, Texas (Primary flight training) and then San Angelo (multi-engine training) then Nuclear Weapons school, survival school, then B-47 pilot training at Wichita, KS, and Topeka, KS (Forbes AFB). and eventually to the 345th Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Wing, Lincoln AFB, Nebraska where we lived and flew for nearly 6 years.
Lincoln AFB was closed and we were assigned to Sewart, AFB, near Nashville, TN. I flew C-130 aircraft with a short assignment for training at Pope AFB, NC. I flew missions for paratroopers from Fort Brag, and missions in Greenland, Dominical Republic, and Vietnam. I flew to Hawaii, Midway Island, Wake Island, Guam, and Okinawa. I also flew test missions at the research center near Yuma, AZ. Then my assignment to Vietnam, which is another story.
I was notified that I was being assigned to Vietnam and asked if I was volunteering. I asked if it made any difference and was told "it doesn't matter, you're going anyway. We were living in Nashville Tennessee and had a lovely home and lots of Christian friends in and near the town of Una. That is right, Una. We attended the Una Baptist Church and loved and was loved with true Southern Hospitality. I had to leave my family of Janet & Terry & Cindy in Nashville. It soon was evident that our family needed help and so my Air Force wife (they are true warriors) sold our home, sold (I said gave away) my little VW to a needy student from the church. She then bundled everything up and moved back to our home town, Elliott Iowa. She rented a little home in Grisworld where her aunt and uncle lived. They were a blessing to her and the children.
But back to Vietnam. There were 40 C-130 Instructor Pilots interviewed by a General for duty as Tactical Airlift Liasion Officers with the Army. It was a volunteer assignment as you would be living and ex[eriencing duty with the Army and Special Forces. I thought
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