Was Gene in the Army?
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Mithra
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Bud Dickman
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Prof
- El Pontificator de Porceline Precepts
- Posts: 1209
- Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 9:27 pm
- Location: East of the Pecos
What about me? I was initially issued an M-14, which predated the M-16; my first tank platoon was made up of M-48A1's -- I think the hulls were cast before I was in grammer school, but these were withdrawn from active service when I was in high school.Bud Dickman wrote:Paul wrote - the carrier you spent the most time on (Kennedy), you start to feel like a relic
I was on the Wasp, that makes me really old.
"My Health is Better in November."
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Paul
My dad flew B-17s during the war, was recalled during Korea, and stayed in. He was in SAC, flew recon in B-29s and then B-47s and, when he was too old to fly, was involved in the U-2 and SR-71 progams. They only started declassifying some of the things that SAC recon was doing back in the 50's -- I knew he spent weeks at a time flying out of Thule, Greenland, so they could be closer to the USSR, but he never mentioned that every now and then they would fly completely over the place, to land in Turkey or Japan or England, just to see how the Soviet air defenses would react. "Tickling the bear". Not all of them came back, and Francis Gary Powers wasn't the only one who spent time as a guest of the Soviets.
He died in 74. I like to joke about my "career" hiding out on a carrier, but I'm embarassed to even be in the same room with some of his old friends.
He died in 74. I like to joke about my "career" hiding out on a carrier, but I'm embarassed to even be in the same room with some of his old friends.
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Truthstalker
B-47s
As a kid I had a torrid affair with the Stratojet. For several years I lived in Dhahran, SA as an ARAMCO brat. Our house was just a couple miles from the American air base.
I didn't think I could love any airplane more than the giant B-36s with their six pusher props and four turbojets as they screamed over my house daily. But I think it was in '57 when the first '47s arrived and it was love at first sight.
My dad's Air Force buddy arranged a base tour and I got to see them up close and personal and at the time I couldn't concieve of a more beautiful aircraft. And when we witnessed the JATO demonstration, it was utterly orgasmic! I'm sure it was much more mundane to your father, but I was just a kid.
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Bud Dickman
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Prof
- El Pontificator de Porceline Precepts
- Posts: 1209
- Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 9:27 pm
- Location: East of the Pecos
Although I served with CMH winners at the JFK Center in 71-72, I never had the honor to actually sit down and visit with one. While your list is impressive, the most impressive to me is to actually have broken bread with one of that incredible group of heroes -- especially one fortunate enough not to have been awarded the medal posthumously. Congratulations.CaptainKickback wrote:Having lived on or near USMC and Navy facilities most of my life I have sen lots of fun stuff, some of it foreign. Through in the big airshows at Edwards and trips to air museums and I have seen a lot.
Coolest formations - 10 F-14s, wings all the way back flying in a big, triangular formation. That or an FB-111, B-52, B-1 and B-2 making a fly-by.
Have visited subs, destroyers, cruisers, carries and was even on the New Jersey when they brought it out of mothballs, circa 1981 or 1982 - same day I saw the Spruce Goose.
Then there was the day I was lucky enough to have lunch with my dad and one of his buddies, Col. Archie Van Winkle - who won his CMH in Korea as a staff sergeant. They went through OCS together.
"My Health is Better in November."
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Paul