MARCH 2004 AIR COMMANDO LEGEND ADERHOLT HONORED … · air commando newsletter page 2 march 2004 air commando association, inc. board of directors officers president: robert a. downs

INSIDE FEATURESCHRISTMAS PARTY pg. 18CCT NEWS pg. 10EDITORIAL pg. 2HALL OF FAME pg. 14HAP’S COLUMN pg. 9LETTERS pg. 5McCOSKRIE T.F. pg. 12MEMBERSHIP pg. 4PRESIDENT’S RPT back pg.ROSSEL’S REPORT pg. 20

AIR COMMANDO LEGEND ADERHOLTHONORED WITH FITNESS CENTER

NAME DEDICATION

SECAF HONORSAIRMEN FOR

HEROISM & VALORBy TSgt Andre NicholsonHurlburt Public Affairs

Twenty base airmenwere honored at an awards cer-emony Tuesday for their actionsin support of the Global War onTerrorism to include OperationsEnduring Freedom and IraqiFreedom.

The hour-long ceremonywas held in the corrosion con-trol facility and was presidedover by Secretary of the AirForce Dr. James Roche and Lt.Gen. Paul Hester, Air ForceSpecial Operations Commandcommander.

The event provided anopportunity to recognize mem-bers of the AFSOC community,with the presentation of fourSilver Stars, 15 DistinguishedFlying Crosses and a PurpleHeart.

As distinguished guests,families, friends and co-workerslooked on, General Hester ex-pressed the importance of theceremony.

See AWARDS pg. 3

By MSgt Ginger SchreitmuellerAFSOC Public Affairs

He is a recipient of theAir Force Special OperationsCommand Order of the Swordand the U.S. Special OperationsCommand prestigious BullSimons Award.

The accolades andachievements for retired AirForce Brig. Gen. Harry “Heinie”Aderholt are extensive, recog-nizing the contributions of aman many consider the fatherof Air Force Special Operations.

In celebration of his 84thbirthday, one more honor hasbeen bestowed on “Air Com-mando One” with the naming ofthe main fitness center in hishonor.

A plaque designating theAderholt Fitness Center wasunveiled duringthe openingevents of theAFSOC head-quarters staff ’sFit for Fighttest, Tuesday.

A F S O Cleadership in-vited GeneralAderholt to helpkickoff the testunder the guiseof his commit-

ment to physical fitness.“Every day at 5 a.m., you

can find General Aderholt in thegym,” said Brig. Gen. JohnFolkerts, AFSOC’s vice com-mander. “It’s only fitting we ask

him to join usfor this test, es-pecially sincetoday he cel-ebrates his 84thbirthday.”

After around of “HappyBirthday” andthe presenta-tion of a cake,G e n e r a lFolkerts turnedthe celebration

over to the 16th Special Opera-tions Wing commander.

“General Aderholt’s sup-port to this community is excep-tional, and in honor of his dedi-cation to Special Operators theAir Force Chief of Staff has au-thorized the naming of the fit-ness center in his honor,” saidCol. O.G. Mannon, 16th SOWcommander.

The event was a true sur-prise, said General Aderholt.“This is incredible and quite thebirthday present,” he said. “Butevery day is a celebration whenI can be associated with (Spe-cial Operators).”

The newly dedicated Aderholt Fitness Center on Hurlburt Field.

General Aderholt speaks to the earlymorning crowd gathered at the gym.

Photo by SSgt Carrie Hinson

See FITNESS pg. 6

MARCH 2004

PAGE 2AIR COMMANDO NEWSLETTER MARCH 2004

AIR COMMANDOASSOCIATION, INC.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERSPRESIDENT: ROBERT A. DOWNS 2004VICE PRESIDENT: DICK GERON 2005TREASURER: FRANK CLEMENTS 2006

DIRECTORSJOE HARRIS 2005CHARLES E. MACDANIELS 2005EDWIN “JERRY” RHEIN 2004FELIX “SAM” SAMBOGNA 2004LARRY SANBORN 2006GORDON H. SCOTT 2005BOB WHITE 2006FRED PLATT (FIELD REP)

CHAPLAINCHAPLAIN DARRELL BRUNINGEXECUTIVE SECRETARY

PETE BOWMANTHE BOARD OF DIRECTORS NORMALLYMEET AT 9:00AM THE LAST SATURDAY OFEACH MONTH (EXCEPT DECEMBER) AT 2502W. HWY 98, MARY ESTHER, FL.

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ACA NEWSLETTERPUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY: THE AIR

COMMANDO ASSOCIATION, INC.

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By Col David Hackworth, USA (ret)

Citizen soldiers havesaved our country since thebattle of Concord in 1775, whenMinutemen fired “the shotheard around the world.”

Today, such patriots aremembers of the reserve compo-nents -- the National Guard andReserve elements of all services-- and our armed forces couldn’tdefend America without them.Especially since, as in the earlystages of almost all of America’swars, our active-duty militaryis presently stretched mightythin.

But even though ourstanding-duty GI Joes andJanes have more missions thantroops and gear to fulfill them,the Pentagon is foolishly gut-ting the ranks of these valiantpart-time soldiers. LegendaryMarine leader Gen. “Chesty”Puller hit the center of thebull’s-eye when he warned,“When war comes, there willnever be enough professionalsto do the job.”

Since 911, tens of thou-sands of Reserve and Guardsoldiers have reported to thecolors, responding to the cry,“Call up the reserves!” Morethan 200,000 of thesemislabeled “part-time warriors”have been activated and areserving in the bloody trenchesof Iraq and Afghanistan.

Our reserve-componentwarriors have traditionallybeen a backup team. Whenevertrouble strikes, our regularsmove to the vanguard and en-gage the enemy, while the Min-utemen gear up. But since thehuge cut in our active forces atthe end of the Cold War, somuch more of the burden ofpicking up the slack has fallen

RESPECT YOUR RESERVE HEROES, TOOon the shoulders of our reservewarriors that they’re beingtreated more and more as regu-lars and are sometimes rushedinto the breach in front of theso-called First Team.

Minutemen areAmerica’s original all-volunteerforce, dedicated patriots whodon’t join up because it’s a joboffering three squares a day andperks such as college tuition af-ter the enlistment runs out.Most already have good civilianjobs and join up for purely noblereasons: love of country and adeep-seated desire to defend thehomeland.

Being a reservist is notabout playing paintball. It en-tails long hours, personal sac-rifices, and weekday eveningsand weekends spent on the drillfield instead of with loved ones.More than one-third of the200,000 reservists alreadycalled to active duty are miss-ing civilian promotions and los-ing money by serving. Many saytheir military medical planthat’s supposed to replace theircivilian plans sucks; thousandsof our activated reservistschoose their civilian medicalplans over the military’s andpay for same out of their ownpockets.

Too many of the recalledreservists have been finding outthat the old axiom “hurry upand wait” is alive and well intoday’s force. After droppingeverything when Uncle Samsays, “Get here quick smart,”they kiss the spouse and kidsgoodbye only to find themselvessitting on their duffel bags atBase X or Y, doing demeaning,keep-’em-busy stuff.

A reserve Army demoli-tion expert with nine years’ ac-

tive duty blowing things up wascalled up and assigned to a postheadquarters as a data-entryand filing clerk in an officestaffed with civilians. “Whathappens when we really needreservists?” he wants to know.“Many of my pals have alreadydecided to quit when their cur-rent activation is completed. Ican tell you now, after my re-lease from active duty, I’ll beleaving, too.”

Many Army reservistsare royally upset by active Armyleaders treating them as dumbcountry cousins who can’t betrusted with critical tasks. Eventhough Army spin is that regu-lars and reservists are equal, noone’s bothered to brief the ac-tive regular leaders in the field— who too often still treat re-servists like inferior weekendhelp. An activated Reserve colo-nel says, “Believe me, we’veseen far more than our share ofactive-duty bigotry.”

A senior Pentagon officerwho’s asked to remain anony-mous says: “[Secretary of De-fense Donald] Rumsfeld and therest of the Pentagon brass don’thave a decent plan to fix theseproblems. They study the issuesto death but don’t have a clue.”

Unless wise headsquickly fix these problems, we’ll

See RESERVES pg. 3

PAGE 3MARCH 2004 AIR COMMANDO NEWSLETTER

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“It is important we rec-ognize the heroic actions ofthese airmen on the field ofbattle, in defense of our greatNation,” the general said. “Forthose of you that are here rep-resenting the greater AFSOCfamily, this ceremony is a trib-ute and a salute to the indi-vidual actions and collective ef-forts in Afghanistan and Iraqand in other battle fields aroundthe world. No one sets out on thefield of battle to earn medals.

These airmen rose tounique challenges and dis-played courage, skill and an ac-tion that comes from a belieflarger than themselves.”

Upon presenting theawards, Secretary Roche com-mented on the bravery of therecipients.

“Today we honor the war-riors who serve on the front linein the war on terrorism,” saidSecretary Roche. “Brave airmenwho’s selfless devotion to dutyhave delivered victory in a timeof conflict. We reward their gal-lantry and heroic service to ournation.”

The secretary said thosegathered to witness the cer-emony demonstrate the solidar-ity and cohesiveness of the com-munity.

“The airmen and thecommunity that supports themcontinues to teach me the truemeaning of duty, honor, devo-tion to country and military ser-vice,” the secretary said. “Theyteach me about the value of ourSpecial Ops and provide visibleexamples of what it means tolive life according to the dictatesof war.”

While the ceremony hon-ored airmen who’ve returnedfrom the war on terrorism, thesecretary asked everyone to also

remember those who didn’t.“Let us never forget all

the fallen members from eachof the services and their fami-lies,” he said. “They made theultimate sacrifice for freedomwe Americans enjoy everyday.Our lost warriors are foreverwith us in spirit.”

Honored during the ceremonywere:

SILVER STAR

Capt Benjamin Maitre, 15thSpecial Operations SquadronOther Silver Star recipients re-quested their names not be pub-lished.

DISTINGUISHED FLYINGCROSS

Maj Ronald Baldinger, AFSOCMaj Paul Pereira, 16th OGSSgt John Stott, 20th SOSCapt Ian Marr, 19th SOSTSgt Robert Fisher, 19th SOSCapt Paul Mancinelli, 15th SOSSSgt. Nathan Shero, 15th SOSLt Col Thomas Markland, 8thSOSMSgt Gregg Jones, 6th SOSLt Col Gerald Harris, 16th SOSMSgt John O’Dell, 16th OGMaj Enrique Gwin, 9th SOSTSgt Charles Swanson, 9thSOSCapt. Terry Sears, 4th SOSTSgt Burton Toups, 4th SOS

PURPLE HEART

A1C Douglas Batchelder, 347thRescue Wing, Moody Air ForceBase, GA.

AWARDSfrom front pg

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see a huge exodus of reserve-component personnel that willdestroy this vital force and placeour national security in evengreater jeopardy.

RESERVESfrom pg 2

Why are Americans sounited? They would not resembleone another even if you paintedthem all one color! They speak allthe languages of the world andform an astonishing mixture ofcivilizations and religious beliefs.Still, the American tragedyturned three hundred millionpeople into a hand put on theheart.

Nobody rushed to accusethe White House, the army, andthe secret services that they areonly a bunch of losers. Nobodyrushed to empty their bank ac-counts. Nobody rushed out ontothe streets nearby to gape about.The Americans volunteered to do-nate blood and to give a helpinghand.

After the first moments ofpanic, they raised their flag overthe smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colorsof the national flag.

They placed flags on build-ings and cars as if in every placeand on every car a governmentofficial or the president was pass-ing.

On every occasion, theystarted singing their traditionalsong: "God Bless America !" Iwatched the live broadcast andrerun after rerun for hours listen-

ing to the story of the guy whowent down one hundred floorswith a woman in a wheelchairwithout knowing who she was, orof the Californian hockey player,who gave his life fighting with theterrorists and prevented theplane from hitting a target thatcould have killed other hundredsor thousands of people.

How on earth were theyable to respond united as onehuman being? Imperceptibly,with every word and musicalnote, the memory of some turnedinto a modern myth of tragic he-roes. And with every phone call,millions and millions of dollarswere put in a collection aimed atrewarding not a man or a family,but a spirit, which no money canbuy.

What on earth can unitethe Americans in such a way?Their land? Their galloping his-tory? Their economic Power?Money? I tried for hours to findan answer, humming songs andmurmuring phrases with the riskof sounding commonplace.

I thought things over, butI reached only oneconclusion...Only freedom canwork such miracles.

ANOTHER COUNTRY’S PERSPECTIVE

Land of the Free Home of the Brave

God Bless America!

Land of the Free Home of the Brave

God Bless America!

We rarely get achance to see anothercountry's editorial aboutthe USA. Read this ex-cerpt from a RomanianNewspaper. The articlewas written by Mr. Cor-nel Nistorescu and pub-lished under the title"C"ntarea Americiimeaning "Ode ToAmerica") on September24, 2002, in the Roma-nian newspaperEvenimentulzilei ("TheDaily Event" or "News ofthe Day").

Submitted by Robert Eveleigh, ACA Member #806

~An Ode to America~


IN MEMORY OF

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

NEW ANNUAL MEMBERS

ANTHONY J. CAROTACHRISTOPHER J. IRELANDRUSSELL T. KASKELROBERT G. KLEINSTEVE PETERSPHILIP J. RECHNITZER, JRHAROLD E. TOWLERTOM WILSON

NEW LIFE MEMBERS

JACK MOSESNHIA XUE XIONG

CONVERTED TO LIFE

DONOLD W. BAXTERJOSEPH S. CASTRONOVAFRANK H. HOTTWILLIAM T. LEMENAGERPHILLIP C. MARSHALLWILLIAM J. MOYLEJAMES A. RICHMOND

JAMES W. CHASTAINDECEMBER 2003

ROBERT M. DETWIELERUNKNOWN

HARDY F. LEBELNOVEMBER 2003

PAUL A. PETTIGREWDECEMBER 2003

BOB L. PROSSERAPRIL 2003

WILLIAM O. ‘SAM’ SCHISMMARCH 2003

PAUL A. SEIFERTJULY 2002

WALTER VON RYIKJANUARY 2004

GEORGE R. TOTHJANUARY 2004

ON THE MOVE

JEAN AHMANN3115 PICKETT STCOLUMBIS, SC 29205

GLENN R. ANDERSEN, SR2415 DAVENPORT AVEDAVENPORT, IA 52803

DORIS BAILEY6750 N ORACLE RDTUCSON, AZ 85704

BEVERLY BARNESRR 1 BOX 2343MILES CITY, MT 59301

ANDREW W. BIANCUR13634 PARADISE VILLAS GRVCOLORADO SPRGS, CO 80921

C. O. BOST, JRPO BOX 255CHICOPEE, MA 01021

WALTER M. BRIGMAN, JR1596 PERRY SMITH RDBAKER, FL 32531

LORI BROWN4011 MARQUIS WAYANCHORAGE, AK 99502

RONALD D. BROWN, JR4011 MARQUIS WAYANCHORAGE, AK 99502

ROBERT S. COOPER, JR4880 MEADOW GREEN RDMIMS, FL 32754

BOBBY J. DIXON, SR1111 BROOKWOOD LN #46DALTON, GA 30721

BRIAN K. DOUGHERTY1124 SUNNYHILL CTSEASIDE, CA 93955

WILLARD L. ELLEDGE, JR1415 WOLFTRAP RUN RDVIENNA, VA 22182

ROBERT A. FOGARTY

RR1 BOX 5KGRANGEVILLE, ID 83530

WALTER B. FORBES2300 PORTAGE ST #233KALAMAZOO, MI 49001

MAURICE S. GASTON27634 SUGAR LOAF DRWESLEY CHAPEL, FL 33543

GARY GLOVER8244 HARTINGTON DRNAVARRE, FL 32566

NEAL T. GOLDENPO BOX 3262KEY LARGO, FL 33037

JAMES M. HARRIS122 CHURCHCLIFF DRMARIETTA, GA 30188

VIRGINIA A. HEINPO BOX 169FREEPORT, FL 32439

GARY W. HOLLAND9730 STIPP STBURKE, VA 22016

JEFFERY A. HOYT7719 HOODSTAR AVE NWALBUQUERQUE, NM 87114

ROBERT T. HUGHES163 UNION CHURCH RDBYRON, GA 31008

ROBERT L. HUTCHINSON10320 PROVERB CTNEW PORT RICHEY, FL 34654

JAMES W. LAIR237 CR 2540MERIDIAN, TX 76665

THOMAS E. LEE2159 WESTGLEN CTVIENNA, VA 22182

ROBERT W. NELSON9312 VANDIVERE DRNAVARRE, FL 32566

T. RANDY O’BOYLE522 DOVER PLALEXANDRIA, VA 22311

ROBERT N. PINARD3805 MISTY WAYDESTIN, FL 32541

LARRY G. PORTERPO BOX 1491HINES, OR 97738

PATRICK D. RODEHEAVER101 CENTURY BLVDWARNER ROBINS, GA 31088

JANICE SANBORN224 SOUTH ST NEFT WALTON BCH, FL 32547

LARRY K. SANBORN224 SOUTH ST NEFT WALTON BCH, FL 32547

THEODORE R. SCHWEITZER8895 E LAKE MEAD BLVD#A6-158LAS VEGAS, NV 89156

DONALD SHIRKEYPO BOX 253CENTER POINT, TX 78010

MAX L. STEVENS321 BREAM AVE #208FT WALTON BCH, FL 32547

MARY TILTON1512 PRESTON TRLHARLINGTON, TX 78552

CHARLES R. TIMMS101 STONE RIVER WAYTAYLORS, SC 29687

MICHAEL D WARBIS3700 63 AVE N.E.EVERETT, WA 98206

LGEN JOSEPH G. WILSON900 GULF SHORE DR #1106DESTIN, FL 32541

JOHN C. WIREN295 SYCAMORE SPRINGS TRLMOUNTAIN HOME, AR 72653

LOST MEMBER

BETTY CARSON��


LETTERSDEAR ACA

Before I forget my obli-gation, please find enclosed pay-ment for my 2004 dues. Almostforgot till the Quarterly News-letter arrived. Keep up the goodthings the ACA is doing.

Thomas Hill ACA #373955224 Galliver CtoBaker, FL 32531-8394

DEAR ACA

I wish to return to the Ft.Walton/Mary Esther area. Ifany one could send me any infoin the real estate area, moder-ately priced, I would greatlyappreciate it. Thank you.

Sincerely,

H.J. Pease, ACA #3520780 22nd Ave N.W.,Naples, FL 34120

DEAR ROBERT

You will remember thestory Robin told about the four-ship airshow he led that, amongother things, cost him a Legionof Merit he was to receive at endof tour. The pilot who wastasked with planning that 4-ship was then Capt. TomHirsch.

Tom and I were in theTriple Nickel and often flew to-gether. Several years ago hetold me the details of that "mis-adventure" with Olds, so I knewabout it before we heard thestory at the banquet.

Jimmy Ifland took a picof Robin, Heinie, Dick and me,so that I could send it to Tom(who lives in the UK). I sent thepic to Tom with a Christmascard, and, in a reply, Tom toldme that he has a cartoon thatone of the squadron pilots drewof Olds' exploit back then-- a 4-

ship diamond in -101s.Tom would like to send

the cartoon to Robin but haslong since lost track of his ad-dress. Could you, or someoneelse on the ACA staff, look forhis address, possibly in corre-spondence connected with hisjoining us in Oct.? Probably hewould enjoy hearing from Tomand receiving the cartoon de-picting his younger-and-wilderdays (although he still appearedto be pretty wild after the nightof drinking with you "hosts"!!

Thanks,Larry Harwood614 Periwinkle CourtSumter, SC 29150-2326

DEAR ‘CHASTAIN’FRIENDS

We received a sad notethis past week that our friendand ACA Buddy Jim Chastainpassed away December 1, 2003in Turtletown, Tenn. He was myShop Chief at Hurlburt Field.

We have known Jim fromback in the late 50’s early 60’sbefore he and Sue were mar-ried.

As you may remember,Sue was killed instantly in thecar wreck on their way to theACA Reunion in 1997.

Jim Chastain was a goodfriend, a good Shop Chief, anda good “Jungle Jim” buddy thatwill be sadly missed.

Sincerely,Dan & Fran Daniels240 C.R. 790Clanton, AL 30545

DEAR HAP

Hope you folks are allwell. It’s too cold in KY thisyear; but, I’m glad I’m not inMinnesota…!

Please list my son Mikeas “ON THE MOVE” again. He’s

a Life Member ACA, who justcame back from Iraq, stayed for40 days, and then back to Iraqthis past December.

He looks forward to eachACA Newsletter. Mike’s newaddress is:GYSGT. Mains, W.M. USMC1st BN. 5th Marines Alpha Co.FPO AP 96609-9738God’s blessing and our prayersto all…!

Bill and Lis Mains

DEAR ROBERT

I am enclosing a briefsummary and news articleabout my family escaping as theCommunist took control ofLaos. In 1965-66 I flew C-123’sin the 311th Air CommandoSquadron at DaNang AB Viet-nam. Thereafter I had TDY’sand flew numerous missions in‘Nam from 1967 to ’75.

ESCAPE FROM LAOS

After a 3-1/2 year stint atKadena AB Okinawa in the 18TFW, I was assigned to the 60thMAW at Travis AFB as a C-141pilot, QC Test Pilot, with a sec-ondary AFSC as a C-5 Mainte-nance Officer in 1973.

I received orders to Laosas Embassy Pilot, C-47/ArmyU-21 and Chief of the DefenseAttaché Office (DAO). My colo-nel at Travis called me to hisoffice and accused me of“rangling the assignment”. Idenied this and he asked if Iminded him pulling strings atthe Pentagon to cancel my or-ders. I said no. He was told by athree star General that I wasthe only one available who wasqualified in the C-47 with lim-ited conversational French anda secondary maintenanceAFSC.

So in September 1974 off

we went to Laos (wife, daugh-ter 10, and son 5). We had a fourday stopover in Honolulu forCINCPAC briefings and thenceto Bangkok with four days atthe Dusitani Hotel while wewaited for Visas for Vientiane,Laos.

The Army Embassy U-21(Beach Queen Air Turbo Props)flew us to Vientiane. We movedinto the KM-6 Housing Com-pound (140 houses four milesoutside Vientiane housingUSAID civilians, military, anddependents).

Laos is bordered byChina, North and South Viet-nam, Cambodia, Thailand, andBurma and was divided in halfby the 1962 Geneva Accords andthe 1973 Peace Accords.

A Coalition Governmentwas formed and headed bySouvanna Phoumi (Royal Laos– our side) and his half brotherSouvannouvong (CommunistPathet Lao side). The PathetLao had about a battalion oftroops in Vientiane designatedby the Accords to secure the air-port. They also had barracksdowntown near the Palace.

In April 1975, the USabandoned Saigon and shortlythereafter Phnom Penh, Cam-bodia. We knew then that theend was near for us in Laos.

In May I flew the Em-bassy C-47 to Long Tieng in themountains to pickup GeneralVang Pao. He had an Army andAir Force of made up of MeoTribesman. I flew him toVientiane and drove him to thePalace to see SouvannaPhoumi. A company of PathetLao and a Russian PT-76 tankhad crossed the Coalition lineand were headed towardVientiane. The US Army andUSAF Air Attaches along withVang Pao had plans to interdict

See LETTERS pg. 6


See LETTERS pg. 7

the Pathet Lao with troops, 105howitzers, mortars, and T-28ground support fighters.

Vang Pao came out of thePalace sans his stars, He toldme that Souvanna would not lethim fight whereupon he re-moved his stars and resignedSouvanna refused to accept hisresignation. He then ask me tofly him to Udorn AB Thailand,some 26 Kilometers south of theMekong River.

That same day,Kamprasert (my Lao #1 man inDAO) came to me and said thatthe Pathet Lao had killed his

Lao USAID neighbors (hus-band, wife, and two children).He asked me for my help and Igave him an InternationalScout Embassy vehicle and a.38 cal long barrel revolver anda box of ammo. That nightKamprasert drove his and twoother families south to theMekong River and crossed incanoes safely into Thailand.

The next day on the wayhome from the USAID Com-pound to KM-6, a Pathet Laoplatoon had the road blockedwith barbed wire and a Russiantank. They stopped me, confis-cated my Embassy vehicle andprodded me with AK-47’s. Iwalked to KM-6.

Shortly thereafter stu-dents and Pathet Lao sur-rounded the USAID Compound,Embassy, and blocked the KM-6 gate; and patrolled the perim-eters. They had taken over theradio station and the telephone.No one was allowed in or out ofKM6. An army Captain wholived in KM-6 had a PRC-21field radio. We ran the antennaup a tall tree and contacted theArmy and Air Force Attaches inVientiane. They kept us abreastof the latest developments.

After four days in thecompound, we were informed byGeneral Round (the ArmyAttaché) that he and the USCharge d’affaires, ChristianChapman, had negotiated withthe Pathet Lao to bus theUSAID civilians and depen-dents, excluding US Military,out of KM-6 to the airport forevacuation to Thailand.

The next day three largebuses arrived at the KM-6 gateand after an hour or so, were letin and loaded with about 180people (USAID, Embassy, civil-ians and their dependents).

We decided to send themilitary wives and dependentsbehind the buses in our civilian

vehicles, hoping the Pathet Laowould not identify them as mili-tary. There were four carsloaded. My wife drove ourChevy wagon with our two kids,another wife and her two chil-dren, and a teenage boy, I andfive other military men wereordered to stay behind. At thegate, after an hour and a halfwait, the buses were boardedand searched as were the cars,I watched with binoculars downthe road and saw the Red Stu-dent Demonstrators surroundand shake the vehicles.

The Army Attaché andUS Charg’e d’affares were out-side the gate along with thePathet Lao and Red StudentDemonstrators. The buses andcars were finally released. Thebuses drove to the airport forflights to Thailand and mywife’s entourage with four carsdrove to the US Army bachelorquarters in Vientiane. In theearly morning dark the nextday, my wife’s group weredriven to the airport and flownto Udorn AB, Thailand in a USC-47. They were put up in ahotel downtown. The next day,my wife’s group was flown toBangkok and thence to the Phil-ippines and the US. My wifeopted to remain at Udorn withthe kids and await my arrival.She had no idea if or when Iwould get out of Laos.

In the meantime at KM-6, I and other military men wereordered to get belongings wecould out of the houses, placethem in piles at the school gym-nasium with owner’s names oneach pallet. We were also or-dered to pour all alcoholic bev-erages down the drain. Many ofthe homes had been burglarizedby “Stealy Boys”, who cut holesin the 10 foot high perimeterfence at night.

After four days I got tothe airport to hopefully evacu-

ate our Embassy C-47 to Udorn.Our bird was dwarfed by a Rus-sian four engine jet on one sideand a North Vietnamese threeengine jet on the other. A pla-toon of Pathet Lao surroundedthe C-47. We cranked and tax-ied hoping we wouldn’t gethosed. As far as I know, we werelast military to get out ofVientiane.

I was reunited with myfamily poolside in Udorn at thehotel and started shaking badly.I thought I had malaria, but mywife said I just needed somerest. After 12 hours sleep, I feltfine.

We got my family on a C-141 to Clark AB two days later.I stayed at Udorn a week to sub-mit reports, do OER’s and En-listed Effectiveness Reports.

Thereafter, I was re-united with my family inWooster, Ohio. I finished mycareer at McGuire AFB, NJ asa C-141 flight commander, in-structor pilot, and flight exam-iner; and retired in 1980.

Al MongeauMajor, USAF (ret)

DEAR PETE,I am sending a newspa-

per article that I think is inter-esting and entertaining.

The one titled Army Gen-eral.... was interesting. I wasnumber two sitting alert at BienHoa with Mouse Nordmanwhen we got scrambled. We satat the end of the runway for acouple of extra minutes for anemergency on final approach.

When we got airborne wewere directed to the ForwardAir Controller (FAC) frequency.On check-in with the FAC, FritzEichler, he said, “go burner, goburner, we are under heavy at-tack.”

LETTERSfrom pg 5

For more than six decades,General Aderholt has made it apoint to wake early and do someform of exercise. “Trying to stayas fit as possible is important tome,” said the general. “I have nospecific workout program; I juststart at 5 a.m. and go for an hour.Let me tell you, after 60 years itdoesn’t get any easier!”

General Aderholt said dur-ing his tenure at Hurlburt Fieldthere wasn’t a fitness center perse, but six days a week all thecommanders were expected to getout and run with their troops.The general served as the vicecommander, then commander ofthe 1st Air Commando Wing from1964-1965.

“I haven’t stopped workingout since then,” he said. “Thoughit will seem a bit strange walk-ing into the center each day andseeing my name, I’m going tokeep working out until I can’twork out any more.”

General Aderholt retiredfrom service in 1976 after morethan 34 years of service to thenation.

FITNESSfrom front pg

��


LETTERSfrom pg 6

It was a North VietnamRegiment that had come acrossthe Cambodian border and setup an ambush and hit an U.S.armored column. The first tankwas burning and the last tankwas burning blocking any move-ment. The tanks and APCs weregetting hammered from bothsides of the road, and the enemyhad anti-aircraft positions allover the place. The ceiling was300 feet, but there were someholes in it.

We had CBU 2 ClusterBomb Units (CBU), Napalm,and 800 rounds of 20mm.

Mouse led us down one ofthe holes and we found the tar-get. The FAC requested CBUfirst. Mouse said he would takethe right side of the road andfor me to take the left. Mousestarted his run — 250 feet and400 knots. I was lining up on theleft and saw my airspeed as 300knots so I lit the burner. Aboutthat time Mouse said “I’m hit,I’m hit, I heading for Bien Hoa.”I said to Mouse, “if you are run-ning OK I’ll stay here.” Therewas a pause then Mouse said“it’s still running OK, I’m, com-ing back.” (Later we found thatthey had hit a can of Napalmand it blew up on his wing).

In the meantime I ammaking my CBU run and I cansee muzzle flashes everywhereI look. I finish the run and turnleft for another pass. It seemslike the left wing is touching thetree tops and that the rightwing is touching the clouds. Butthe sucker didn’t want to turn,so I looked inside and saw I wasdoing 700 knots — I had forgotto come out of burner becauseof Mouse’s emergency.

Anyway, we finished upour ordnance, and I think we

did the most damage to the en-emy as we were the first flightat the scene. There were 18flights put in and all airplaneshad holes in them except mine.I think they must have beenshooting behind me. Everyonegot a Silver Star except me be-cause I didn’t have any holes inmy aircraft. I was awarded anAir Medal.

I later was a FAC at LaiKhe and worked for the FAC,Fritz Eichler, who had put us onthe target. He was very grate-ful for the help we gave him thatday.

George Savage4170 E. Welter Ave.Las Vegas, NV 89104

LATE OBITS

PAUL SEIFERTWe learned from Paul’s

wife Joan that Paul had passedaway on 2 July 2002. Remark-ably, we only learned becausePaul’s name had been scratchedthrough on his forwarded news-letter to a new address. Afterrecognizing something quiteuntoward, I wrote to Joan andasked of Paul’s current circum-stances. I sent a letter with aself-addressed envelope andJoan revealed Paul’s passing.

Paul was an exemplaryCommando Medic. We workedtogether on many assignments.Additionally, he was assigned toProject 404 on several occasionsand won high praise from hispeers and superiors alike.

I extend sincerest sympa-thy and personal regards to JoanSeifert and family members.

Hap

JOE C. VADENI received a call from

Mary Vaden on the evening of14 February that Colonel Joe

had passed away the previousday and I was quite shaken withthis sad news.

Colonel Joe was one ofmy Commanders daring one ofmy tours on Detachment #6(Waterpump) at Udorn Air Base,Thailand. We had many color-ful times together daring thattour. Chief among those memo-rable days was his going into thebush with us to assist in ourMedical Civic Action outreachprogram. He did so in spite ofhis other heavy tasks as Detach-ment Commander.

Colonel Joe was un-equaled in his deportment withthose of us assigned under him,his peers, and his superiors. Hishigh standards were firm, butalways fair. I am profoundlyproud to have served with himand for him.

I extend sincerest condo-lences to Mary Vaden in her loss.

Hap Lutz

Glenn Frick, Karl Leuschner,Bob Brown and many othersworked for Colonel Vaden atWaterpump and we all had thegreatest respect and sincere ad-miration for Joe. He was oneheck of a guy.Robert Downs - President

The following information isfrom Bob Safreno - L 2741,[email protected]

WILLIAM A. CONKLINFriends, I am sorry to

have to tell you that Bill Conklinpassed away. Information listedbelow was sent to me and I ampassing it along. For your in-formation the residential ad-dress and telephone number is:

Gloria Conklin10 Ormand CourtNovato, CA 94947-3009(415) 897-3748

Bill passed away on Feb-ruary 22, 2004, at the age of 73. See LETTERS pg. 8

Dear ACA,

The Air Commandoshave lost one of its most uniqueindividuals. Sgt. Walter F. vonRyik died on January 27, 2004.Enclosed is a copy of the obitu-ary and eulogy delivered by hiswife. Enclosed also are somephotographs. In the group pho-tograph, Sgt. von Ryik is thesecond from the right. The nextphotograph is Sgt. von Ryikwith his prize cat from Panama,Sam who later became themovie star in Disney’s movie“Charlie, the Lonesome Cou-gar.” I request that due recog-nition be given to Sgt. von Ryikon his passing by an article inthe Commando Newsletter.

There is something Iwould like to add. I was just ayoung, rather innocent secondlieutenant when I arrived atHurlburt field in May of 1964.My father’s advice to me uponentering the service was to “finda good Sergeant and do everydamn thing he tells you to do!”I chose Sgt. von Ryik. I’m glad Idid. I’ll save you the long storyof all he taught me. I will tellyou a bit about him.

Sgt. von Ryik was aformer Luftwaffe pilot. Therewere some stories there. Oncehe was ferrying a fighter to theEastern front when he encoun-tered a Mustang- In an effort toshake off the Mustang, he doveunder a bridge. He made it, theMustang didn’t. He wore AirForce fatigues with a little ex-tra touch by wearing a AfricaCorps cap and bloused his fa-tigue pants over his boots likea German trooper. That rankledregular Air Force types, but Ifigured he earned the distinc-tion.

Then there was Sam.Sam was “procured” by Sgt. von


Ryik while TDY to Panama. Hegrew up in the Intelligenceshack at Hurlburt field. Hewent with us on field exerciseand was always the first to exitthe ramp from our C-123 on achain followed by Sgt. von Ryik.The green beret boys remem-bered us. Sam, who slept besidemy desk, loved to “play” byjumping on your back and pre-tend to be biting at your neck.He was heavy and usually youfell from the weight. One day a

JAG type Major wasshortcutting through the Intel-ligence shack to get to the legaloffices. Sam leaped onto mydesk and with the agility only acat possesses jumped over aplastic partition wall, and fellupon back of the hapless Majorwho fainted dead away. Sgt. vonRyik shooed Sam away and re-vived the Major. The Major’sfirst words were, ‘I just didn’texpect to be jumped by a moun-tain lion.” Alas, Sam was ban-

ished from the base. It’s OK;however, he went on to becomea movie star.

We had some special andunique types in the Air Com-mandos and the intelligenceoutfit was no different. Sgt. vonRyik was, perhaps, the mostunique. I am proud to haveserved with him and will be evergrateful for his leadership, aswell as protection.

Yours very truly,Luther G. Jones IIIAttorney at Law14785 Preston Road, Suite 550

Dallas Texas 75254

Dear Mr. Jones,

Thank you for your con-tinued interest in my husbandWalter. I wish I had knownmore about his military career.We met after he had retired,and while he told wonderful sto-ries, I knew few actual detailsof his military life. He did oftentalk about you and Bob Waters.

Thank you for sending

the pictures and kind note. Hesat on the side of his bed withtrembling hands and lookedand looked with a sweet/sadsmile. Eight days later he wasgone. What a nice memory foryou to know that you touchedanother’s life at that moment.

Enclosed is a copy ofWalter’s obituary. I am pleasedto know that you will put it inthe Air Commando paper. Inever would have thought of it.I have taken the liberty of en-closing also a copy of the eulogythat I gave at his memorial ser-vice. He was a real characterand his absence has left a hugehole in my soul.

Best Wishes,Luisa von Ryik

WALTER’S LIFE

Walter would feel so hon-ored to see how many of youhave come to celebrate his life -and to wish him farewell. Hewas a dynamic, vibrant, spir-ited, one of a kind man. Hewanted us all to know that hedid it his way - and everybodyusually got the point!

I remember an incidentthat happened shortly after webecame members of this fellow-ship. During the service Walterburst from the men’s room, in-terrupted the minister from theback of this room, and pro-ceeded to lecture in quitegraphic terms on the conditionof the men’s room, and howsome parents needed to traintheir children in how to use thefacilities.

Who was this man whoso loved living life on the edge -this man who was a fighter pi-lot, a parachutist, a sharp-shooter, a multilingual fighterwho worked in special opera-tions behind the lines duringwars? Who was this man who

LETTERSfrom pg 7

Sam the cougar and Sergeant Walter von Ryik, two of the mostunusual Air Commandos to ever work in an intelligence office!

Security was never a problem with Sam around.

raised a mountain lion namedSam? Sam became a movie star- but that’s another story.Walter raced motor cycles, carsand anything else that moved -even to get out of his own drive-way. Anyone who rode in a ve-hicle with him as the driver didso only one time - and afterwardvolunteered to do the driving.

If there was action hewas there to join in, and yet heplayed the sweetest accordionmusic you have ever heard. Hewas a romantic man who lookedinto the eyes of women ages 9-90 and melted them on the spot.

The Walter I knew for aquarter of a century was agentle, shy, soft-centered guywho was born in the CarpathianMountains in a picture book vil-lage called Kronstadt in the re-gion of Transylvania in Roma-nia. The Austrian language wasspoken in his home, and he at-tended Austrian elementaryschool. Bubi - (little boy- as hewas called) spent his time tak-ing care of his wolf/dog - hikingand skiing in the mountains be-hind his house and runningfrom bears, wild wolves andgypsies.

He attended Romanianhigh school where he had to re-learn math and science in a newlanguage. Even though Ger-many was already at war,Walter’s father sent him thereto attend an aeronautical engi-neering university. Later this18 year old naive young manwas drafted into the Luftwaffealong with his fellow students.

He served on the Russianfront, and froze his toes duringthe winter retreat. Eventuallyhe would no longer fly due tosevere injuries -injuries thatwould give him problems therest of his life. He spent time inRussian prison camps, and es-

See LETTERS pg. 34


See HAP pg. 11

Sadly, retired ColonelPaul A. "Pappy" Pettigrewpassed away on New Year's Eve,following a long illness, atMcLean, Virginia. He was, un-doubtedly, the finest Air AttachéI had the noble honor to knowand work for during several ofmy tours in Laos. He was re-nowned for his high profes-sional standards and was re-vered by his counterparts in theRoyal Lao Air Force.

I've told this story before,but it's definitely worth repeat-ing: Along with Roy Dalton("Captain Loy"), I was posted toNongbulao, Laos, assistingColonel Nouphet (ultimatelyMilitary Region III Com-mander) with his sick andwounded troops as we were at-tempting to capture Donghene,Laos.

It was Christmas Day of1966 and an unannounced AirAmerica H-34 landed on ourcrude jungle runway. "CaptainLoy" and I joined ColonelNouphet in meeting this inter-loper. It was none other thanour Air Attaché, "Pappy"Pettigrew. His wife Ann hadcooked a turkey dinner for us,with all the trimmings, and hewas our "Santa Claus” deliver-ing it! He also brought a fifth ofCrown Royal and JohnnieWalker, which we couldn't par-take of because of our precari-ous undertakings.

It is the most memorablestory of any of my tours in Laosand further defined the wonder-ful traits and character of"Pappy" Pettigrew. "CaptainLoy" in this story is retired Colo-nel Roy Dalton.

HAP’SCOMMENTS

Genuine USAF issueBlood Chits are available. Toobtain a Korean War BloodChit, all you have to do is re-cruit a new member. If that istoo hard for you to handle, itwill cost you $15.95 to purchaseone of these authentic 1951 Ko-rean War issue Blood Chits.

There are three varietiesof Blood Chits available. TheKorean War vintage was issuedin 1951. The S.E. Asia vintagewas issued in 1963 and costs$29.95. The East European andMiddle Eastern vintage was is-sued in 1951 and costs $49.95.

These authetic BloodChits are ideal for framing.Your satisfaction is guaranteedor your money back.

To order a Blood Chit,write to the following address: Blood Chit 25 Miracle Strip Pkwy SE Ft. Walton Beach, FL32548or call (850) 243-0442 and askfor Rose.

If you are recruiting anew member, make sure you

indicate on the application thatyou recruited the new memberso that Pete can give you creditfor your Korean War Blood Chit.Get busy today so you can getyour chit together!

��

Official Korean War Blood Chit1951 issue from survival kits

Authentic Blood Chits

Quoth the RavenBy Jim Roper

A no-nonsense memoirof Covey nights over the Trailand Raven days aroundLuang Prabang. This greatread can be purchased on theinternet atwww.PublishAmerica.com orphone 877-333-7422.

If you want a signedcopy of his book, you can callJim Roper at 703-250-6233 oremail him [email protected]. You canwrite him at 11200 RobertCarter Road, Fairfax Station,VA 22039. The book sells for$18.95 plus $2.85 S&H.

��

By Robert Downs

We are starting an ambi-tiously large MTF BuildingFund soon. Don’t have exact fig-ures, but $500,000 to $750,000will be needed to buy or pur-chase a warehouse to supportour MTF operation.

We have outgrown thenumerous small storage unitscurrently used which are scat-tered about the local area. Us-ing these small storage unitsare extremely labor intensive.Materials are handled four tosix times before final shipment.

Our guys are beatingthemselves to death trying to

meet schedules and loading re-quirements. We have grownconsiderably and are movingmuch more than we were in thepast.

Sea containers oftenhave to be loaded and back onthe road less than two hours af-ter arrival. Talking aboutstrain, this demands real “buttbusting” work from our volun-teers to meet such schedules.

A large warehouse witha loading platform is a must ifwe are to continue to meet thedemand for humanitarian assis-tance at home and abroad.

��

McCOSKRIE/THRESHOLDFOUNDATION WAREHOUSE


by MSgt. Scott Elliott - Air Force PrintNews

WASHINGTON -- Thesecretary of the Air Force un-veiled a memorial at ArlingtonNational Cemetery on Jan. 8 tohonor the service’s highest-deco-rated combat controller.

Tech. Sgt. John A.Chapman, from the 24th Spe-cial Tactics Squadron, waskilled March 4, 2002, whilefighting against the Talibanduring Operation Anaconda inAfghanistan. He was posthu-mously decorated with thenation’s second-highest awardfor valor, the Air Force Cross.

The memorial, a glass-enclosed life-size model of acombat controller in full combatgear, features SergeantChapman’s award citation andphotos of him on duty in Af-ghanistan. It will remain on dis-play in the cemetery’s visitorcenter until March 15, afterwhich it will move to Air ForceSpecial Operations Commandheadquarters at Hurlburt Field,Fla., for two weeks. The displaythen will travel to the Air ForceEnlisted Heritage Museum atthe Gunter Annex of MaxwellAir Force Base, Ala., where itwill be permanently displayedbeginning March 31.

A duplicate memorialwill be on permanent display atLackland AFB, Texas.

“This display exemplifiesall we value in the Air Force,”Air ForceSecretary Dr.James G.Roche toldS e r g e a n tChapman’srelatives andrepresenta-tives of thecombat con-trol careerfield. “John’sp e r s o n a lbravery inthe face ofthe enemywas emblem-atic of thew a r r i o rethos.”

A c -cording to hisaward cita-

tion, Sergeant Chapman wasattached to a Navy SEAL teamwhen their helicopter was hit byenemy machinegun fire. Arocket-propelled grenade thenhit the helicopter, causing aSEAL team member to fall fromthe aircraft into enemy-heldterritory.

Sergeant Chapmancalled in an AC-130 gunship toprotect the stranded team afterthe helicopter made an emer-gency landing more than four

miles fromthe fallenSEAL.After call-

ing in an-other heli-copter toevacuate hiss t r a n d e dteam, Ser-g e a n tC h a p m a nvolunteeredto rescue hism i s s i n gteam mem-ber from thee n e m ystronghold.He engagedand killedtwo of theenemy be-

COMBAT CONTROLLER NEWS

SECAF DEDICATES MEMORIAL TO HIGHEST DECORATEDCOMBAT CONTROLLER

fore advancing and engaging asecond enemy position -- a dug-in machinegun nest.

From close range, the ci-tation reads, SergeantChapman exchanged fire withthe enemy from minimum per-sonal cover until he succumbedto multiple wounds. His engage-ment and destruction of the firstenemy position, and advance-ment on the second enemy po-sition, enabled his team to moveto cover and break enemy con-tact.

The Navy SEAL leaderpraised Sergeant Chapman un-equivocally with saving thelives of the entire team.

“It takes a particularbreed of warrior to accomplishthese missions,” said SeniorMaster Sgt. James Lyons, com-mandant of the Air Force Com-bat Control School. “(It takes)an exceptional brand of courage,as well as confidence and patrio-tism, not mention just a littlebit of daring.”

The memorial’s unveilingcomes nearly a year to the dayafter Secretary Roche and AirForce Chief of Staff Gen. JohnP. Jumper presented the AirForce Cross to SergeantChapman’s widow, Valerie.

“John died fighting ter-rorism, and we continue to livefree today because of his sacri-fice and the sacrifices of others,”the secretary said.

Sergeant Chapman’saunt and uncle, Sallie and DaleChapman, helped SecretaryRoche unveil the memorial,pulling off the olive drab para-chute that had covered it.

“It’s wonderful; what atribute,” Sallie Chapman said,her voice breaking with emo-tion. “My favorite part is thephoto of him holding the (Af-ghan) child. I think they cap-tured, in just this small display,every part of him.”

24th Special Tactics Squadron

��

AF hero memorial unveiled byAir Force Secretary Roche

In memory of TSgt John Chapman.


Air Commando AssociationMembership Application

Membership is open to:A. Persons who served with or supported Air Force Air Commando/Special Operations Units.B. Widows of persons eligible for regular membership qualify as non-dues paying members.C. Other units/interested parties may join as non-voting associatemembers with approval of the Board of Directors.

-- Newsletter is published quarterly.-- Annual Reunion held in October

Type Membership requesting:

_____ $20.00 Annual Regular_____ $20.00 Annual Associate_____ $150.00 Life Regular _____ $150.00 Life Associate

_____ Widow (No Dues)

Name: _____________________________ Rank: _____________Address: _______________________________________________City: ___________________________ ST: _____ ZIP:_________Home Phone: (____)__________Work Phone: (____)__________E-mail:________________________________________________________Branch of Service: ❑ USAF ❑ Army ❑ Navy ❑ USMC ❑ Other

Please list: ___________________________________________AFSC/MOS: _____________ Job Title: _____________________________

Dates of Service: From ___/___/___ To: ___/___/___ Retired? Y or N

Air Commando/Special Operations Service:From ____/____/____ To: ____/____/____ Unit ____________________Location ______________________________ Aircraft _________________

From ____/____/____ To: ____/____/____ Unit ____________________Location ______________________________ Aircraft _________________



Present Occupation:__________________________________Spouse Name: _______________Permission to provide Phone Number/Address to other Members only?

____ Yes ____ NoPermission to publish Phone Number/Address in ACA Newsletter?

____ Yes ____ NoAmount Enclosed: $_____________

Signature: ______________________________ Date: ____/____/____

Return application to: Air Commando AssociationP.O. Box 7Mary Esther, FL 32569-0007

For Office use only:Membership Number: _______________ Amount Paid: __________Date: ____/____/____Entered in Mailing List: _______ Entered in Accounting Log: _______Welcome Letter: _______________ Membership File: Sponsor: _______

HAPfrom pg 9

��

Two quite famous peoplehad knee replacements duringthe recent past. They would beDee Roberson and Joe Coleman.Dee was first and has graduatedfrom walker use to cane. Joejust got out at this writing andhe's probably on the cane bynow. Both are progressing wellwith home therapy.

My recent telecom withDee was just after she andRobbie had returned from judg-ing a wine tasting event at theTampa State Fair. But shehasn't let radical surgery im-pugn her activities schedule oneiota. In fact, we are all going toThailand in May for two weeks.

My recent telecom withJoe was somewhat different.The "high end" pain suppres-sant they administered him re-sulted in some rather bizarreafter effects. He envisioned hewas back on active duty and heand "Heinie" were attackingand overcoming all the "badguys" in the area.

Joe was breaking up ashe related this story and he hadme in stitches too. And sincethis was told to him by his "cap-tors" (nurses and aides), it musthave had the whole hospitalward on guard!

I gave a brief overviewabout our annual ChristmasSocial in the last newsletter. I'mgoing to revisit that event justbriefly. First I want to thank allthat attended and brought anonperishable food item for"Sharing and Caring." It was atremendous first time success-ful event. When Shirley(MisHap) and I took our almostfull pickup truck there for de-livery, the folks were quite over-whelmed. (We received a nicethank you note from the direc-tor, but it's lost somewhere in

550 Mary Esther Cutoff,Ste. 14

Ft Walton Bch, FL 32548PH: 850-986-5555

Carry out availableCall for party reservations

the mail chain.) So, look formore of the same this year.

Mr. "T's" promiseof "heavy hors d 'oeuvres"turned into an all you can eatbuffet sit down dinner. Andfolks, for $10 each it was quitespectacular. And his golf course"Two Trees" restaurant is theperfect venue. Thank you Mr."T" and staff for a flawlessChristmas social.

"Rajun Cajun" RayBourque, our reunion fish frymanager, just stopped in. He re-vealed that he's getting a pacemaker this Thursday. In histypical carefree fashion, he said,"It beats the alternative." Raywill be our Friday reunion fishfry manager again this year.And again, in his words, "If I'mstill around."

Talking reunion, ViceGeron is way into planning.During our recent meeting, heapprised the Board of the stepshe has already taken towardsanother enjoyable reunion.With view to this being the 60thanniversary of Air Commandosworldwide, it is going to requiresuper efforts by all. Hope youmake it!


McCoskrie/ThresholdFoundation Update

MTF ASSISTS NEEDYIN GUATEMALA AND

HONDURASBy John Grove

The McCoskrie Thresh-old Foundation (MTF), in con-junction with the National Fo-rum Foundation (NFF), theOkaloosa County School Dis-trict, Bless the Children Inc.(BTC), several moving and stor-age companies, and many vol-unteers provided one large loadof supplies for schools in Gua-temala and Honduras.

The US Government andUS Southern Command havein place a program," New Hori-zons", which builds schools andcommunity projects in foreigncountries. This January 2004 aload of building materials wasshipped to Honduras and Gua-temala for that purpose. Theylacked school fixtures and ourcommunity had lots of them.

Several months ago TacoSanchez and the local schoolfolks were discussing the MTFmission and it was determinedthat the school has had in stor-age for many years, schooldesks that would probablynever be returned to service in

our schools. Taco notified ourMTF folks, and the plot wasstarting to hatch.

I had contacted AudraMurray of the NFF regardinganother shipment and she saidthat Southern Command waspreparing to ship materials andsupplies to build schools start-ing in January.

The Okaloosa CountySchool District followed by au-thorizing a gift of 1000 desks forshipment. Many thanks to theSchool District for their sup-port.

The heavy lifting startedin early Jan 2004 with prepa-ration of the load; see the vol-unteer list for who helped. Ply-wood crates were either donatedor provided very cheap by mov-ing companies. They were filledand sealed in Crestview FL atan old school facility.

On 28 Jan 2004 ScottMoreland trucked 18 large ship-ping boxes to meet the shippingschedule deadline.

Another part of the loadwas school kits and they weresupplied and coordinated ByAudra Murray and Col CraigTate of the Civil Affairs groupin Pensacola. The load was di-vided into 4 locations, One crate

to Trujillo Hon-duras, Onecrate toProNino, ElProgresso Hon-duras, and theother 16 cratesdivided equallyb e t w e e nthe Hondurasand Guatemalab u i l d i n gprojects.

The loadconsisted of 18

large plywood shipping cratesweighing 28,000 lbs. Contentsconsisted of: 651 student desks,562 from Okaloosa schools, 1teachers desk, 1 podium, 28chairs, 4 drafting tables, 3 stu-dent tables, many student kits,books, and paper, 7 chalk andbulletin boards. and book bagsfrom BTC. Volunteers were: ColCraig Tate, Audra Murray, TacoSanchez, Tom Palmer, BobWhite, Clyde Howard, EdHoward, Tim Mursch, RobertDowns, Asa Stackhouse, TomGreen, Lon Lancaster, ScottMoreland , and several schoolemployees especially DaleWalker who provided access tothe school facility.

NOTE: Our next mission willinvolve more of the same heavylifting, so we can use all the helpwe can get.

Call John Grove 243-4010 or 496-4007 cell, or callBob White 581-0661 or 585-5023 cell to volunteer.

MTF SENDSMUCH NEEDEDSUPPORT TO

THE REPUBLICOF GEORGIA

The McCoskrie Thresh-old Foundation ( MTF) hasteamed with the Georgia AirNational Guard for severalyears in support of the State ofGeorgia, Partners in Peace pro-gram, in the Republic of Geor-gia ( part of old Russia).

We work with Col EdWexler and SMSgt WayneBradford of the Georgia Air Na-tional Guard, who coordinatethe loads, assists unloading andorganizes the offload crews.

The dynamic duo of Jack

and Norma Hassinger, of theAtlanta area, advise us of theparticular needs for the ship-ments, and I believe do most ofthe coordination with theUSAID folks for the shippingand distribution.

On 18 Dec 03, Bob Whiteand Juan the chopper pilot de-livered one large trailer load ofgoods consisting mostly of warmwinter clothing and blankets, tothe Georgia ANG Storage facil-ity at Dobbins ANG Base inMarietta, GA. The load washuge and was all we could haul;but not nearly enough to fill a40 foot Sea Land container.Norma advised us that a newand most pressing need was forhospital items.

Noting that we had justwhat Norma requested in ourstorage units; we started pre-paring an additional load. Dur-ing the next few weeks, the ACAload crew of Roger Klair, SamSambogna, Bob White and sev-eral hard working folks loadedthe necessary items.

On 4 Feb 04, a secondlarge load was delivered toMarietta. Two loads and twolong 685 mile round trips werenecessary to deliver the follow-ing inventory of goods and sup-plies badly needed during thefrigid cold Republic of Georgiawinters: Inventory as of 4 Feb04 follows: Walkers - 85;Crutches - 42; Potty Chairs - 21;Walking Canes - 9; WheelChairs - 4; Patient Chairs - 2;Bath Chair -1; Adult Stroller –1; Knee Brace System -1. Listof boxed Hospital Textile Itemsfollow: Clothing – 74 Boxes;Blankets – 13 Boxes; Sheets -12 Boxes; Towels – 8 Boxes; Dia-pers – 6 Boxes; Baby Pillows –3 Boxes; Misc. Baby Items – 2Boxes; and Aprons – 1 Box.The load is estimated at 10,000lbs and the value is probablynear $40,000.00.

��

��“Wheelchair Bob” inspects pickup truck load of

donated wheelchairs.


By 1st Lt. Gabe Johnson16SOW Public Affairs

Some caught the flighthoping for a unique experience.Some wanted to briefly visit an-other culture. Some went be-cause they volunteered last yearand couldn’t stay away this year.But they all volunteered be-cause children were counting onthem.

A routine training flightover Central America Tuesdaybecame the perfect platform for“Operation Christmas Wish” tocomplete its mission. Thirty-seven Hurlburt Field airmenmade the most of space-avail-able travel aboard an MC-130Combat Talon II, as they hoppeda four-hour flight to deliver9,500 pounds of supplies andtoys to orphanages in Honduras.

The first stop wasGoloson International Airportwhere ‘Operation ChristmasWish’ was greeted by the Hon-duran Air Force. U.S. and Hon-duran airmen off-loaded 5,000pounds of supplies.

Half of the supplies weredonated to the families of Hon-duran Air Force members andthe other half were loaded ontoa truck for delivery to AldeaInfantil SOS La Ceiba, a localorphanage and home to 115youth ages 2 to 19. The Hurlburtairmen loaded onto a bus to per-sonally accompany the delivery.

“There’s something aboutthe hills here that reminds me

of Jamaica,” said Staff Sgt.Candacy Wint, 16th SecurityForces Squadron personnel spe-cialist. Born in Jamaica, shelooked out the window of the busand saw many parallels to hernative country. They passedmiles of green pineapple fieldsthat ran into steep hills that jut-ted through layers of hangingclouds.

“Last year I couldn’t be-lieve I was in Honduras and Ihad so much fun,” said SergeantWint, a second-time volunteer.“The kids greet you like celebri-ties, and they know how to saywords like ‘hello’ and ‘thankyou.’ They played music and dida little show for us.”

“I came this year becauseI’m the point of contact for thesquadron. We sponsor 86 of thechildren at the orphanage,” said

the sergeant.“Sponsorship iswhen your unitgathers a list ofthings the kidsneed like hy-gienic products,e d u c a t i o n a lsupplies and weeven includelittle toys. Wepackage each

kid’s stuff in separate boxes forshipment.”

Upon arrival, all 115 chil-dren were lined up to greet theentourage all smiling and un-able to contain their excitement.

Staff Sgt. Juan Llantin,16th Equipment MaintenanceSquadron, came dressed asSanta Claus and was almostunable to walk through the frontgate of the orphanage becausechildren lined up to hug him.

Another little girl imme-diately grabbed the hand of 1stLt. Drew Cunnar whom she rec-ognized from the previous year’svisit. “I met Alma last year whenwe came down here,” said Lieu-

tenant Cunnar, 15th Special Op-erations Squadron navigator.“My wife and I have been send-ing clothes to her and her sis-ter.”

“Santa” began giving theprepared boxes to the childrencalling each one by name tocome up and receive their gift.

“There’s a lot of excite-

ment around the orphanage forabout a week before the airmenarrive,” said David Ashby, a vol-unteer from California now re-tired in Honduras. They’re allvery anxious to see what’s insidethe box when their name iscalled.”“This is the only military unitthat comes here, and they lookforward to the visit every year.”

Staff Sgt. VanessaHansen, 15th SOS aviation re-sources manager, has been toHonduras on various missionswith her unit and was born inBoaco, Nicaragua. “I love Hon-duras. The people are so humbleand they really open theirhomes to strangers,” SergeantHansen said. “I can really iden-tify myself with them beingfrom Central America.” “It’s justgreat to see the kids. If you gavethem a tiny toy from a happymeal they’d be so happy aboutit. They appreciate everythingthey get.”

Operation ChristmasWish departed after two hours

leaving the children playingwith toys, eating candy, andshouting “Gracias!” from behindthe walls of the orphanage play-ground.

On the way back to Hurl-burt Field, the Talon II stoppedat Soto Cano Air Base, Hondu-ras, to deliver the remaining4,500 pounds of toys and sup-plies. There, the 612th Air BaseSquadron would make deliver-ies to orphanages in their sur-rounding areas.

With all cargo offloadedthe crew and volunteers settheir sights toward home, butthey had one more delivery tomake. Senior Master Sgt.Michael Roberts, 612th Air BaseSquadron civil engineer, camealong for the ride to spend theholidays with his family livingin Navarre, FL. “It’s a great op-portunity and it really showshow space-A travel can comethrough for people,” said Ser-geant Roberts, who has spentthe last six months at Soto Canoon a remote tour. “My wife andmy 3, 5 and 8-year-old have noidea that I am coming home,they are going to be so surprisedto see me. We thought I wasn’tgoing to be able to come homethis year.”

Before take off ChiefMaster Sgt. Dennis Desilet,612th ABS chief enlisted advi-sor, boarded the aircraft to ad-dress Operation ChristmasWish. “What you did tonightgreatly impacted many lives inHonduras. Go back to Hurlburtand tell everyone what you sawin the children’s faces at LaCeiba.”

President’s Note: MTF pro-vided wheelchairs, crutches, andwalkers; also, a pickup truckload of Oreo Cookies for this mis-sion. Kudos to all the HurlburtAir Commandos who helped.

TRAINING FLIGHT AIRLIFTS ‘CHRISTMAS WISHES’

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��

ACA Hall of Fame Nomination PolicyEligibility Criteria:

1. Nominee must officially been assigned or attached to a recognizedUSAF or Special Operations/Special Air Warfare Unit.2. Served honorably while on active duty and in civilian life.3. Made a significant, unique contributions to the betterment of AirForce Special Operations (AFSOF) .

Nomination Procedures and Requirements:

1. Anyone may nominate any Air Commando/Special Operations mem-ber who meets the criteria to the ACA HOF.2. Nomination packages will include:

a. Verifiable and detailed personal information (DD Form 214) andcomplete justification for selection.

b. A one paragraph citation to be used in an induction ceremony.c. The name, address, and phone number of two additional refer-

ences.3. Nominations packages will be sent to the ACA HOF Committee,PO Box 7, Mary Esther, FL 32569, to arrive NLT 1 June of each year.

By Jim Ifland

For those of you not ableto attend the 2003 Reunionthere is an excellent article inthe December 2003 Newsletterthat high-lights theHall ofFame cer-e m o n ythat tookplace dur-ing theReunionBanquet.The ar-ticle fur-ther rec-ognizes the recent inductees,their background and the cita-tion that accompanied their se-lection for this prestigiousaward. We continue to have anexcellent Hall of Fame programand outstanding nominees forthe selection process. Ourthanks to everyone for their rec-ommendations and the qualityof their inputs.

Its time to start thinkingabout the nominations for 2004and your Hall of Fame Commit-tee chaired by Maj Gen DickSecord, USAF (ret) is seekingyour recommendations. This se-lection process provides aunique opportunity for each ofus to recognize those individu-als that have made significantcontributions to Air Force Spe-cial Operations. Air Comman-dos have been deeply involvedin both overt and covert opera-tions in all parts of the globespanning from WW II, Korea,Vietnam, Desert Shield/DesertStorm, Kosovo and more re-cently, Afghanistan and Iraq.We have many unsung heroesfrom each of these eras whowhere “just doing their job” but

in fact were designing, impro-vising, developing new proce-dures/equipment/tactics andlaying the ground work for Spe-cial Operations as we know ittoday. Don’t overlook our Active

D u t y ,G u a r dand Re-s e r v ef o r c e sthat areperform-ing insuch ano u t -standingmannerin cur-

rent operations around theworld.

I urge each of you to takea moment to reflect on your vastexperiences and recall those in-dividuals who stood out and re-ally made a difference. Remem-ber, this process isn’t just aboutmedals and decorations and theaircrews that earned them, it’san opportunity to recognize the“troops in the trenches” whosesignificant contributions wereso vital to our success.

The criteria are includedon this page. Your recommen-dation should include in-depthdetails of the individual’s sig-nificant contributions and orcontinuous outstanding AirCommando performance.

Please include informa-tion such as awards and deco-rations, a copy of the DD 214 (ifapplicable) and any other sup-porting data that would assistthe committee in their selectionreview.

R e c o m m e n d a t i o n sshould arrive at the Air Com-mando Association office nolater than 30 June 2004.

AIR COMMANDO HALL OF FAMECOMMITTEE SEEKS NOMINEES

��

The following letter was received alongwith notification of this award to theAir Commando Association.

The American Associa-tion of Webmasters Awards areprimarily designed to supplyformal recognition towebmasters and designers whohave shown outstandingachievement in web design con-tent and creativity.

Congratulations! Yoursite, www.aircommando.net(Welcome to the Air CommandoAssociation), has been selectedto receive The American Asso-ciation of Webmasters, "Silver"Award. We see all the hardwork and dedication that youhave put into constructing yourweb site and your efforts arewell deserved. Your site dis-plays: Excellent Design andLayout of Website, with qual-ity content and informative in-formation for your visitors.

A link to your site hasbeen placed on our winners list.

You may verify this by going toour site atwww.aawebmasters.com and

ACA WINS SILVER“WEBBIE” AWARD

click on the award type youhave won and the month, fromour drop down menu.

Congratulations onceagain on a wonderful websiteand contributing interestingcontent to the World Wide Web

We wish you all the best.Sincerely,Awards Committee - AmericanAssociation of WebmastersDonna Snyder – Founder

Ed. Note: This prestigiousaward is the result of many longhours of imaginative attentionto detail and demonstrates theexcellent work of our previousVice President, Rip Kirby. Thesite has valuable informationfor our members. Visitwww.aircommando.net andspend some time getting ac-quainted with the content.

You’ll find schedules,past ACA Newsletters, a tour ofour Headquarters, ACA Mem-bership Application, leadingstories of interest, pictures ofHeinie’s adventure on the“Trail”, links to importantwebsites, and much more.

Thanks Rip from all Air Commandosfor a job well done!! Robert Downs

The Hall of Fame Board in the board room at theACA HQ building. The HOF now has 99 membersand will pass the 100 member mark in 2004.


By Charlie Jones, Combat Controller

As Combat Controllerbrothers will remember, Com-mando Combat Controller AndyGuillet was shot down in May,1966, while on a Forward AirControl mission in Laos. Theshootdown was over one of themost heavily defended sectionsof the Ho Chi Minh Trail, wend-ing down into Laos and SouthVietnam from the North. Thebodies of Andy and his pilot, LeeHarley were never located.Their fate has never been estab-lished by any evidence at all.Andy's name is inscribed onvarious monuments at Hurl-burt and elsewhere.

Andy's faithful and pa-tient sister, Doris Maitland, hasbecome a dear friend to manyof us. She has been an inspira-tion of diligence, and stays inconstant contact with militaryand other officials, determinedthat no stone be left unturnedin efforts to one day account forAndy and Lee, and to bringthem home if fate and eventswould ever turn this way. Doriskeeps her persistence and pa-tience in perfect balance, and nobody would assign to her anymeasure of the kind of radical-ism too frequently seen in someothers in similar circumstances.We love you Doris!

Doris told me last weekthat the USAF Casualty Officenotified her of the possibilitythat Andy's shoot down site inLaos may have now been lo-cated! Based on determinationof the accuracy of this, excava-tion and other work may beginto discover some evidence of thefate of these two brave com-rades. She will keep us postedas this unfolds.

What a great joy we willall experience on that day whensome news and evidence ofAndy's fate is established. Joywill flood our hearts with theevent that Andy's earthly re-mains can finally, after almostforty years, be brought home.He can then peacefully sleepnear his boyhood home, or per-haps be interred at some otherlocation worthy as a final rest-ing place for this brave brother!This would then close the bookson our MIA CCT brothers. Wedo remember the great joy weexperienced when our otherMIA brother from the VietnamWar, Controller Paul Foster wasbrought home from Laos, andlaid to rest in Arlington Na-tional Cemetery. (I shared thisgood news with you in a previ-ous article.)

Let us keep out hopesand prayers strong for Andy,and for those who faithfullywatch and wait in his behalf.May God give strength and di-rection to those who work toclose this piece of combat his-tory and sacrifice in that longago war!

POW/MIA STATUE OF MIA COMBATCONTROLLER ANDY GUILLET

��

By Charlie Jones

Fellow Commandos:I received the following

somber observations from ananonymous member of the "OldGuard," the very sharp soldierswho take care of honoring ourfallen comrades upon their ar-rival back home in the UnitedStates. It is worthy of your read-ing!

HONORING THEFALLEN, QUIETLY

There are no reporters onthe tarmac at Dover Air ForceBase. The public is not allowedto witness the military traditionof "receiving the remains." In-stead, there are soldiers, rousedat dark hours to stand in theconfines of what seems like asecret as the dead are broughthome.

I am one of the soldiers.Nearly every day we learn of an-other death in Iraq. In our col-lective consciousness, we tallythe statistics of dead andwounded. The number is over500 now. But none of ourconjurings are as real and tan-gible as the Stars and Stripesfolded perfectly over a coffincradling one of those statisticson his or her way home.

It does not matter wheresomeone stands politically onthe war, but I believe that allwho have an opinion shouldknow the cost of that opinion.When a soldier dies in a foreignland, his or her remains are re-turned to the United States fortheir final rest. The remainsarrive in Dover, Del, withoutfanfare. No family member ispresent. There are no youngchildren to feel sad or confused.Just a small group of soldierswaiting to do their duty andhonor the fallen.

"Dover flights" are metby soldiers from the U.S. Army's3rd Infantry Regiment, the sto-ried Old Guard. They are truesoldiers, assigned to an es-teemed regiment, but it is a unitdefined by polish, not mud. Itseems that they quietly long tobe tested with their comrades"over there." But it is clear tome as I watch them that theyfind immense pride in honoringtheir country this way.

I am a helicopter pilot inthe U.S. Army, and it is my jobto have the honor guard at Do-ver at whatever hour a flightarrives. In military-speak, theplane's grim contents are re-ferred to as "HRs" --- "humanremains." Once the plane ar-rives, conversation ends. Thesoldiers form a squad of twoeven ranks and march out to thetarmac. A general follows,flanked by a chaplain and theranking representative from theservice in which the fallen sol-dier served.

The plane's cargo dooropens slowly, revealing a cav-ernous space. The honor guardsteps onto a mobile platformthat is raised to the cargo bay.The soldiers enter in lock-stepformation and place themselveson both sides of the casket. Thesquad lifts, the soldiers buckingslightly under the weight. Theremains have been packed onice into metal containers thatcan easily exceed 500 pounds.The squad moves slowly backonto the elevated platform anddeposits the casket with a carethat evokes an image of frater-nal empathy. It is the only emo-tion they betray, but theirgentleness is unmistakable andcompelling. The process contin-ues until the last casket is re-moved from the plane. On badnights, this can take over anhour. The few of us observing

See HONORING pg. 17

COMING HOME


MY SECRETWAR

56th SECURITYPOLICE K-9 AT NKP

By George L. Conklin

“Mix'n it up with some Commu-nist Thai’s (CT's) on the perim-eter at NKP late ‘70. Every doghandler can't wait till he has torelease his dog and allow thedog to get his "pound of flesh".

Score: "Ango" ... 1, "CT's" ....0.To better explain, read on...as Iremember it, 56th Security po-lice K-9 Nakhon Phanom, Thai-land, 01 April 1970 - 31 March1971. In direct support of thewar in Viet Nam, I received myorders to the war in SoutheastAsia while I was stationed atNellis AFB Las Vegas, Nevada.I was first to return to LacklandAFB to receive further training.I entered the 3AZR combat pre-paredness course. This encom-passed the use/training ofheavier weapons than I waspreviously taught as well as amuch greater detailed trainingprogram.

After taking 30 daysleave, I found myself at ClarkAFB in the Philippines, for twoweeks of Jungle survival and E& E (escape and evasion) schooland then on to my duty stationat Nakhon Phanom Royal ThaiAir Force Base, located inNortheast Thailand; just 230air miles from Hanoi, NorthVietnam.

The country of Laos,which was communist con-trolled, was just 20 miles away.Nakhon Phanom, was locatedon the Mekong River in N.E.Thailand. I was assigned to the56th Air Commando Wing, 56thCombat Support Group, 56thSecurity Police K-9. Our duties

were command and control ofthe areas within our assignedpost; which was to include thebase perimeter, weapons stor-age area, flight crew quarters,fuel storage areas, as well asother sensitive areas of thebase.

We were also used as lis-tening posts and were sent toguard downed aircraft in Laosand Thailand until sensitiveequipment and/or documentscould be recovered or the air-craft destroyed. We were alsoused to detect trip wires, boobytraps, mines and tunnels.

Several times through-out my tour, my dog “Ango,” eartag OK31, was to save my ba-con.

Well, this particular daywasn't so different. As I don't re-member the day, I do rememberthat I was downtown at“Johnny's” (a quaint little baralong the Mekong River) withsome of the local talent. Havingto work that night, I decidedthat I would catch a decentmeal. We had pretty good chowat the “Skyraider Inn” namedafter our many A-1 Skyraiders(call sign HOBO/SANDY).

So I jumped on the busand got off at the main gate andtook a taxi back to the hooch. Itwas when I got back to thehooch, that I heard this F-105Thunderchief (Thud as theycalled it) was inbound withbattle damage, a fire warninglight and smoke in the cockpit.Word traveled fast. Well, thisLtCol couldn't make it in andpunched out. He hit the silkabout a quarter mile out.

The aircraft impactedjust outside the base perimeterand the debris splash took outour concertina wire, tangle footand numerous trip flares; leav-ing a gaping hole in our de-fenses.

Continuing on, the air-

craft (or what was left of it) slidacross the perimeter road andslammed into the observationtower and the M-60 machinegun bunker at its base. B-29 orBravo-two Nine (as it was bet-ter known) was located at theend of the active runway, wasnow destroyed. Given the factthat it was daylight, there wasno USAF Security Policemanposted there, but we did lose thelife of the Thai guard posted inthe bunker. The pilot made itout just fine.

At guardmount thatnight, I was taken aside andmet with my flight chief, ken-nel master and some brass fromthe head shed. I was thenbriefed on the "events of theday" and was promptly givenmy post. Yep, you guessed it......that gaping hole at Bravotwo nine.... My mission was toenter that area just off base andsecure it. I was assured thatthere was no ordinance left inthe area as EOD had cleared itand deemed the area safe. Yeah,right, the check’s in the mail,too! Hell, there was 20 mike-mike rounds scattered all overthe place. But, who am I to ar-gue. After checking out my as-signed weapon and a few extra"slap flares" (hand fired para-chute illumination flares), I pro-ceeded to the kennels andpicked up my best friend andpartner, Ango, a dark dog of 5years and about 75 pounds. Heknew his job and did it well.This night he was to save mylife.

Upon entering the area Iimmediately sized up the situ-ation, wind direction, cover andconcealment and the best wayout should things really heatup, bunker locations etc. My callsign was “Night Fighter SixFour.” Earlier at the briefing itwas best determined that I clearthe area and then take-up a de-

fensive position where, if anyone entered the area, I could callin the dog's alert and then re-ceive the necessary help fromthe sector’s QRT (quick reactionteam), the QRF (quick reactionforce), the Thai AF, and (ofcourse) our nightly orbiting HH-3E Helicopter with flare kicker,"Sunspot"search light and 7.62miniguns. We also had a veryeager mortar pit crew at ourdisposal and K-SAT (K-9 secu-rity alert team).

The vegetation wassomething else, as you could getdown on your hands and kneesand see for many yards. Yet, ifyou stood on your feet you thencould only see for a few feet. AsAngo and myself were clearingthe area; he stopped and look-ing over his right shoulder,streaked passed me and pro-ceeded to rip into one of threeindividuals lurking under thisbush just inches by my side. Ilet him chew, as I was now verybusy with two others that failedto heed my challenge. I'm now'"popping illumination" andsqueak'n and freak'n on the ra-dio. It did not take long for theQRF in their M-113 to comebustin’ in, as did the QRT frombravo sector in their 706/V100armored car. I had learned laterthat they were never very faraway.

Well, One Thai nationalgot away, which we figured wasOK as he/she would tell the oth-ers that, "It's not the dark youhave to be afraid of, but whathunts in the dark,” and that youdon't fool around with those K-9 cops at NKP. One of the otherteams caught another “CT” andof course, Ango, my dog, had histrophy. As things settled downand we debriefed, it was thendetermined that the Thai thatAngo had caught a US issue

See ANGO pg. 17


bayonet on him (I wonder wherehe got that?) and at the time thedog had struck all this guywould have had to do was tothrust his hand and arm up andhe would have got me betweenthe ribs and probably my liver.I would have just bled out rightthere.

With only thirty days leftof my tour at NKP I found myself “short.” A term all of us “incountry” would use as our timehere was indeed short. Wewould celebrate this time in ourlives with the “Shortimers Cal-endar.” This calendar was incartoon format and each dayhad a square that was to be col-ored in as the days went by. Aswe got closer to our day of rota-tion ( the day we would go backto the world (states), our dutiesgot lighter as this would assureus of going home, supposedly.Our last night there was a partyfor those of us who were goingback. Then all would accom-pany us to the terminal andwatch us leave on the “FreedomBird” and would sing “Leav'n ona Jet Plane” by John Denver.

Can you imagine a hand-ful of guys drunk and or hungover singing out of tune...everyone in the area was laughingand joining in. Flew back to DonMuang, in Bangkok, an overnighter, and then onto thestates.

Once on board the Com-mercial flight, there was a lotof hopping and hollering, yell-ing and screaming, a party allthe way home. As each of us re-ceived a bottle of wine, cheeseand some crackers.

Our arrival at TravisAFB California was very anti-climatic and we encounteredthe war protesters and theirbothersome chants and cat

calls, booing etc. We felt hurt,betrayed and angry. It's takenme sometime now, for me to getover it, but I feel I have for themost part.

~In Retrospect~

As I look back, somethirty years later, I know thatGod had his hand on my shoul-der, as he did for all of us dur-ing those difficult times. Some-day I hope to return to Thailandfor some closure and to remi-nisce. As for my dog "Ango"there isn't a day that goes bythat don't think of him.

I am proud to haveserved with the 56th and the AirForce during those difficult andsecretive years. That year Ispent over there was quite pos-sibly the most influential yearof my life and I most certainlyhad the time of my life. That’snot to say it was good times, onthe contrary, there were timesof great sadness, fear, sorrow,and heartache. But none theless, .....I am proud to haveserved.

~Today~

There is not much left ofthe airbase as we knew it. Asmost all of the buildings havebeen salvaged or removed. Thejungle has reclaimed the areaand the snakes and animalshave moved in. The runway andthe taxiway have been main-tained and there is a new ter-minal which is used on a dailybases. The Thai Army has asmall detachment there as well,and what it takes to maintainthat mission. The city ofNakhon Phanom is, of course,still thriving in spite of the eco-nomic down turn. New hotelsand shops, the river front beachwith its park and a general re-newing of the city is all gearedtowards the booming touristtrade since the war has ended,

as people are discovering justwhat a beautiful country Thai-land is.

I have since learned that“Ango” was humanly put downin August of 1974 due to com-plications of soft tissue sarcomaand died peacefully in his homekennel at Nakhon PhanomRoyal Thai Air force base.

Submitted by Sandy Sanborn

Ed. Note: Great story! Cur-rently George is not a member,but I’ll bet he will join if we canlocate him!

ANGOfrom pg 16

say nothing, the silence abso-lute, underscored by somethingsacred. There is no rule or or-der that dictates it, but the si-lence is maintained with a dis-cipline that needs no command.

The caskets are loweredtogether to the earth, where thesoldiers lift them into a van, oneby one. The doors close, and thesquad moves out. Just beforethe van rounds the corner,someone speaks in a voice justabove a whisper. We snap toand extend a sharp salute.

There are those whowould politicize this scene, mak-ing it the device of an argumentover the freedom of the press.But if this scene were ever tobe exploited by the lights andcameras of our "infotainment"industry, it would be offensive.Still, the story must be told. Ademocracy's lifeblood, after all,is an informed citizenry, andthis image is nowhere in thepublic mind. The men andwomen arriving in flag-drapedcaskets do not deserve the dis-respect of arriving in the darkconfines of secrecy. But it is asoldier's story, and it must betold through a soldier's eyes. Inthe military, we seldom discusswhether we are for or againstthe war. Instead, we know in-timately its cost. For those ofus standing on the tarmac atDover in those still and inkynights, our feelings have noth-ing to do with politics. They arefeelings of sadness, of empathy.And there is nothing abstractabout them.

��NO, FREEDOM ISN’T

FREE

I watched the flag pass by one day,It fluttered in the breeze.A young Marine saluted it,And then he stood at ease.I looked at him in uniform,So young, so tall, so proud,With hair cut square and eyesalert,He'd stand out in any crowd.I thought how many men like him,Had fallen through the years.How many died on foreign soil,How many mothers' tears?How many pilots' planes shotdown?How many died at sea?How many foxholes were soldiers'graves?No, freedom isn't free.I heard the sound of Taps onenight,When everything was still,I listened to the bugler play,And felt a sudden chill.I wondered just how many times,That Taps had meant "Amen,"When a flag had draped a coffin.Of a brother or a friend.I thought of all the children,Of the mothers and the wives,Of fathers, sons and husbandsWith interrupted lives.I thought about a graveyardAt the bottom of the sea.Of unmarked graves in Arlington.No, freedom isn't free.

Submitted by Ken Spring

HONORINGfrom pg 15

��

��

� BANGKOK CLEANERS �

Chosen as one of America’s Best Clean-ers. Continued Supporter of the AirCommando’s MTF Humanitarian Mis-sion. Support the folks who support us.Call 850-243-4556 for personal service.

AIR COMMANDO ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY - 2003PAGE 18 MARCH 2004 PAGE 19 AIR COMMANDO NEWSLETTER AIR COMMANDO NEWSLETTER

ugie Jones, Robert Downs, Charlie Jones,and Treasurer Charles

Anne Bruner, Heinie, Dee Roberson, andRay Bourque

Joe Harris, Rita Harris, and Eva Whippe Heinie and Gloria Doster World’s Greatest Fighter Pilot Mike Horganand Dee Roberson

Dick Secord and Dick Geron

Carlous “Chris”, Peggy, and John Christian Kay and “Editor” Jim Boney Joanne and Ray Bourque with Roger andDorothy Klair

Geraldine and Gaylord Hall George Rosentrom, Leon Rowland, and AceShepherd

Cake Cutter Bonnie, Hap Lutz, and Santa’sElf

Lori Lutz, Steve Baldwin, and Shirley Lut

Ace Shepherd and Bea Shehan Carol and Pete Bowman with Gene Traczyk Sam Sambogna, John Grove, Mr. “T”, andJoyce and Dave Harrington

Joy Downs and Betty Kenyon Anise and Orvin Copeland with CarlousChristian

Juan and Gretchen Bazan Mrs. Grove (John Grove’s mom), ReimaAtkin, and Mary Lou Hugher

Charlie and Marie Wheelahan Jerry Rhein with Bruce and Ann Keller Charlie and Beverly Kapsa Sam Sambogna flanked by Bill and DottieRyan

Bob White and John Grove Fred Saunders with Anise and OrvinCopeland

Marie Howell with Ted and Barbara Sande

Da’ cake !!


ROSSEL REPORT

See ROSSEL pg. 21

I RECEIVED THIS 2003CHRISTMAS card from the brotherof Paul Windle B-26 pilot and O-1FAC KIA Vietnam.Gene

Thank you for having meon the ACA Newsletter mailinglist. It always has articles that areof interest to me. Thanks forkeeping the memories of the AirCommando alive. The memorialdedicated in October 2002 tothose who served in Jungle Jim isgreat. It contains informationnew to me.

Because of the article youwrote about my brother Paul,which is on the Internet, I wascontacted last year by PaulMcDaniel (Corvallis, Oregon)who was the camera operator forPaul on his second tour to SVN.He sent me some photos of themand their airplane.

Thanks to the ACA News-letter I learned aboutwww.virtualwall.org I loggedonto it and found J.S. (Duke)Granducci II, had included a nicearticle about my brother. He re-placed Paul as a FAC. He in-cluded information, which wasnew to me. We exchanged a fewe-mails.

I think about you everyACA Newsletter. However, Iprocrastinated and never thankedyou. We do have email now,([email protected]) which Nanuses frequently.Sincerely, Leaford Windle, 1205N. Mesa Road, Belen, NM 87002-3369

ON 14 JUNE 1943 at 0602 in themorning, just off the Coral Sea, aB-17C Tail Number 40-2072crashed after take-off fromMackay, Queensland, Australiareturning 41 R&R troops and

crew back to Port Moresby, NewGuinea.

The families of the killedreceived a telegram, which said“your son/relative died on 14 June1943 in South West Asia” and thatwas all. It was very similar tosome of our early Air Comman-dos who were killed in Vietnam.

The Australian apprecia-tion of American effort in WWIIand their yearly remembrance ofthis disaster got American veter-ans interest through the Internet.Today they have an organizationof Australians and Americanssearching for any living relative ofthose killed. Through the broth-erhood of the military the USAF5th Air Force in Japan, which theplane was assigned to this com-mand in WWII, is officially noti-fying these families of what actu-ally happened with their lovedones in 1943.

To this date 24 relatives ofthe crash victims have been foundand during the 60th Anniversaryat the monument in Australia,there were 6 families of those whodied who attended the Memorialservice on 14 June 2003 becauseof the efforts of the Australian andAmerican Veterans locating themafter all these years. Many of theother families couldn’t attend be-cause of age and cost of the trip.

We are looking (includesseveral ACA members who are in-volved and who have found someof the families to include BillBrown) for the remaining familiesof the following American mili-tary that were killed in this crash:

Rank/Name State

PFC Jerome Abraham FLTSgt William A. Briggs SCTSgt James A. Copeland KYSgt Carl A. Cunningham ARTSgt George A. Ehrmann CAFO William C. Erb CA

PFC Norman J. Goetz ILPFC Vernon Johnson NJSgt Charlie O. LaRue TXPFC Raymond D. LongabaughKY2nd Lt Jack A. Ogren OHPFC Frank S. Penksa PACPL Charles W. Sampson NYCPL Raymond H. Smith PACPL Franklin F. Smith NCPFC Frederic C. Sweet MICPL Edward Tenny WVSSgt Frank E. Whelchel GA

If you have any informa-tion on any of the families pleasecontact Gene Rossel at 909-930-5700 work, Tel/Fax 909-591-7342home, 6083 Rosa Ct, Chino, CA91710 or [email protected]

FROM A NAVAL AVIATIONVET.... A little Military Aviation"History" Lesson....C-130 Landson aircraft carrier 1963.

The pilot, Jim Flatley, wasour Air Group 3 LSO in USSSaratoga in 1964-1966. His dad,James Sr, was a WWII ace whomade 4 stars. Last I knew, Jr wasa RADM.

Not only did the C-130land on and take off from an air-craft carrier, but what is evenmore amazing is that the planedid so unassisted--without usingarresting gear to reduce the land-ing roll or using the ship's cata-pult to become airborne.

The astounding feats oc-curred from the deck of the USSForrestal in October 1963 using aMarine Corps KC-130F

The motivation for thesetests, ordered by the Chief of Na-val Operations, was to determinethe feasibility of using the exist-ing C-130 aircraft as a long-rangecarrier on board delivery (COD)transport.

At the time, the Navy wasusing the C-1 Trader for COD du-

ties, but the plane was limited toa rather small payload and a 300-mile (480 km) range. When oper-ating far out at sea, carriers wereunable to receive desperatelyneeded supplies without steam-ing closer in to shore. It was hopedthat the larger, long-range C-130would be able to address that de-ficiency. And so it was, on 8 Oc-tober, that the Navy received theKC-130F refueling tanker (BuNo149798) on loan from the USMC.Prior to the tests, Lockheed hadmodified the plane by installingan anti-skid braking system, re-moving the underwing refuelingpods, and adding a smaller nosegear orifice. The aircraft carried acrew of four: LT James Flatley aspilot, LCDR W. "Smokey" Stovallas copilot, ADR1 Ed Brennan asflight engineer, and Lockheedflight test pilot Ted Limmer.

Initial flight-testing beganon 30 October when the C-130made its first landing on theForrestal into a 40-knot wind.Helping to guide the C-130 alongthe deck was a special dashedcenterline, but even with thisline, the aircraft's wingtip clearedthe carrier's island control towerby less than 15 ft (4.6 m).

Adding to the challenge ofoperating the large aircraft from acarrier deck was a relatively heavy


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sea state. In the words ofLockheed's chief engineer, ArtFlock, who was aboard to observethe tests, "The sea was pretty bigthat day. I was up on the captain'sbridge. I watched a man on theship's bow as that bow must havegone up and down 30 feet." Toease the operations, the ship in-creased speed to provide morewind speed over the deck and re-duce the unsteady rocking andheaving motions. "That airplanestopped right opposite thecaptain's bridge," recalled Flock.

"There was cheering andlaughing. There on the side of thefuselage, a big sign had beenpainted on that said LOOK MA,NO HOOK."

Perhaps one of the mostamazing accomplishments of theplane was described by Lockheedpilot Ted Limmer, who had quali-fied test pilot LT Flatley to fly theC-130. "The last landing I partici-pated in, we touched down about150 feet from the end, stopped in270 feet more andlaunched from that position, us-ing what was left of the deck. Westill had a couple hundred feet leftwhen we lifted off. AdmiralBrown was flabbergasted." LTFlatley was eventually awardedthe Distinguished Flying Crossby the Navy for his participationin the test program. All told, theflight tests included 29 touch-and-go landings, 21 unarrestedfull-stop landings, and 21 unas-sisted takeoffs at gross weightsranging from 85,000 lb (38,555 kg)to 121,000 lb (54,885 kg). At the

lower weight, the aircraft man-aged to come to a complete stopin only 267 ft (81 m), which islittle more than double theplane's wingspan.

Even at maximum weight,the C-130 required only 745 ft(227 m) for takeoff and 460 ft (140m) for landing. Landings weremade shorter by reversing thepropellers while the aircraft wasstill a few feet above the flightdeck.

Based on these tests, it wasdetermined that the C-130 couldcarry 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) ofcargo and personnel to a carrier ata range of 2,500 miles (4,020 km).However, the risks of operatingsuch a large aircraft in the hecticday-to-day carrier environmentwere considered too great, andthe idea of using the C-130 as aCOD aircraft was abandoned.The C-130 has never been oper-ated from a carrier since, and themuch smaller C-2A Greyhoundwas later selected to fulfill theCOD role.

WASP WWIIA partial extract from the ReunionMagazine about the brave female pi-lots in WWII.

The Women Air ForceService Pilots (WASP) in WWIIconsisted of almost 2000 aviationdriven ladies. The WASP pilotsflew over 60 million miles, deliv-ered planes to pilots who flewthem into battle and inspired gen-erations of women to follow theirdreams. From September 1942 toDecember 1944, WASPs battledthe enemy by flying every type

of plane that saw service duringWWII.

General Paul Tibbets, pi-lot of the B-29 Enola Gay, calledthem the best pilots in WWII re-gardless of gender. The “FlyGirls,” as they were called in the‘40s, came from across the coun-try, from all walks of life, for thechance to fly the same planes thatmale HPs (Hot Pilots) flew to be“Miss HP.” Many of the womenwere not rookies. Some were fly-ing instructors for years before thecall went out in 1942 for womento fill non-combat duties, freeingmen to fight overseas. Of 25,000women who applied, 1830 wereaccepted and only 1,074 earnedtheir wings. Qualified women fer-ried planes from factories to air-fields. They were shot at whileflying target planes, and test-flewplanes after repair or design.They performed every Army AirForce required activity exceptcombat. “The WASP provedwomen could do it. They flewthrough snow and dark and theyflew through their period. Theyflew planes as fast and far as menbut safer!” wrote the AssociatedPress about the WASPs in 1944.

They paved their ownway. They bought their own uni-forms and even paid for transport-ing the remains of those who diedin the line of duty. With all theiraccomplishments and sacrifices,the WASPs were not recognizedas part of the Armed Services un-til November 23 1977.

LETTER ON PRESIDENTGEORGE BUSH and the criti-cism of his landing on an aircraftcarrier.

As a retired Naval Officer,with two Gulf carrier deploy-ments under my belt, I find yourcriticism of President Bush’s visitto the Lincolin offensive in theextreme! This is the first timethat the Commander-in-Chief

took time out of his schedule topay a visit to thank those whoserved in the line of fire, in a waythat was both dramatic and mean-ingful to those on the carrier. Andit wasn’t lost on me that the Presi-dent spent thirty seconds shakinghands with the Admiral, CO, andCAG. He then spent the next 45minutes putting himself at thedisposal of the people who makethat ship work-the yellow shirts,the green shirts, the purple shirts,the chiefs, the sailors. Notdressed out in formal uniform (Iunderstand at the President’s re-quest), but in their greasy, smelly,sweaty work uniforms. Workinga flight deck is hot and hard work.And yet he, in his flight suit, puthimself at their disposal. Thiswas their moment for 19 or 20something year old young men,many just out of high school, toget a picture of themselves withthe President of the UnitedStates, his arm draped aroundtheir shoulder.

That was a moment thoseyoung men never dreamed wouldhappen to them, maybe not evenknew when he was comingaboard. Surely, he would see thebrass, not the troops. But it wasthe troops to whom he gave histime and it was the most naturalmoment in the world. You mighthave thought it was a family re-union, and in a way it was.

The President is one ofthem, the common man, andwhile he is still the most power-ful man on the planet right now.He has not lost his touch forthem. Was it a political moment?What moment of a President’s lifeis not a political moment? Was itgrandstanding, to come in to anOK pass to a 4 wire, a bit high inclose, correcting, left ofcenterline? Well, hell, he didn’tfly the approach anyway, though


I understand from the pilots whoflew with him that he did a prettygood job at formation flying,tucked in close for a lead change.You can always tell a fighter pilot,you just can’t tell him very much.And apparently after 30 years, itall came back with a little coach-ing, I am sure. Frankly, I wouldlike to see him come aboard in anFA-18 but the Secret Services ve-toed that, and the President ac-cepted their judgment. Again, amark of a good leader.

Lewis F. McIntyre CDR, USNRet.

COMMANDO BILL LEACH,ACA Member #0195 retires afterflying 50 years and 20,000 hoursin the cockpit as reported by theAtlanta Journal Constitution, 8January 2004 by Eric Stirgus.

Bill Leach thought some-thing was wrong when the con-trol tower at DeKalb-PeachtreeAirport asked him to delay hislanding. Then he noticed twoDeKalb County fire trucks on thetaxiway. When Leach was allowedto land, the trucks doused hisplane with water, not because ofany trouble with the aircraft, butas part of a celebration of his finalflight.

Last week, after 50 yearsas a pilot for the US military andfor corporate clients, Leach, 71made his last flight as a pilot anhour and 45-minute round tripfrom Atlanta to Moultrie GA.

“It’s been a great run,” saidLeach, surrounded by severaldozen relatives and friends whofor more than six months hadbeen aware of the surprise.

Leach, who lives nearSnellville, has been flying for cor-porate clients based at DeKalb-

Peachtree Airport since 1986. Hislove of flight blossomed duringchildhood in upstate New York.Relatives have photos of Leachholding a model airplane as a 10-year-old boy.

Leach graduated fromhigh school during the KoreanWar. He joined the Air Force,earning the Distinguished FlyingCross during a 20-year career thatincluded stints in Africa, Europe,South America (605th ACS) andVietnam.

With about 20,000 flighthours, Leach made a decision toretire last summer after his wife,Mary, retired from a teaching ca-reer.

Leach’s son, Jonathan, wasunsure whether his father wouldactually call it quits. “Not untilthey pried his hands from thethrottle,” Jonathan said.

Leach said he plans totravel with his wife. But he won’tbe doing the piloting to their des-tination. “It’s unusual for peopleto spend their lives doing whatthey love,” he said.

A LITTLE HUMOR FROMTHE FRONT OFFICE. It iswith the saddest heart that wemust pass on the following news.Please join us in remembering agreat icon of the entertainmentcommunity.

The Pillsbury Doughboydied yesterday of a yeast infectionand complications from repeatedpokes in the belly. He was 71.Doughboy was buried in a lightlygreased coffin. Dozens of celeb-rities turned out to pay their re-spects, including Mrs.Buttersworth, Hungry Jack, theCalifornia Raisins, Betty Crocker,the Hostess Twinkies, and Cap-tain Crunch.

The gravesite was piledhigh with flours. Aunt Jemima de-livered the eulogy and lovingly

described Doughboy as a manwho never knew how much hewas kneaded. Doughboy rosequickly in show business, but hislater life was filled with turnovers.He was not considered a very'smart' cookie, wasting much ofhis dough on half-baked schemes.Despite being a little flaky attimes he still, as a crusty old man,was considered a roll model formillions.

Doughboy is survived byhis wife, Play Dough; two chil-dren, John Dough and JaneDough; plus they had one in theoven. He is also survived by hiselderly dad, Pop Tart. The funeralwas held at 3:50 for about 20 min-utes.

SOLE SURVIVOR of the worstaviation disaster in WWII and inAustralia then and now, FoyeRoberts died peacefully in hissleep on 4 Feb 2004 in WichitaFalls, TX. Corporal Foye K. Rob-erts, US Army Air Force, of the 6TCS of the 374 Troop CarrierGroup, New Guinea, was the onlysurvivor of 41 aircrew and passen-ger who were on a converted B-17C, which could no longer beused as a bomber because ofstructural damage from divingfrom the Japanese attacking PearlHarbor in December 1941,crashed on 14 June 1943 at Bak-ers Creek, near the city ofMackay, Queensland, Australia.40 of the 41 on board were killed.Foye Roberts was the only onewho survived due to being in therear of the aircraft and cushionedby all the other people in the air-craft when it crashed and burned.All the passengers had been onR&R from New Guinea inMackay, and were returning toNew Guinea-a 4.5 hour flight.They were literally packed in theaircraft, most sitting on the aircraftfloor without seat belts. The B-

17C, tail number 40-2072, had justtaken off from the airport atMackay when it developed prob-lems and was returning to thefield. The aircraft’s wing hit theground and it cartwheeled in aflame of fire. A few survived fora short time but died within theday. Foye Roberts suffered agreat deal from the crash, whichwas to affect him the rest of hislife.

VO-67 IS ATTEMPTING TOLOCATE COL CONRADBROWN, USAF who was as-signed to VO-67 as a NordenBomb site instructor at NKP. Itappears that the 13 VO-67 Bom-bardiers may have been the onlyones to use the Nordon bomb-sight during the Vietnam War.Colonel Brown was very specialto this group and if he is still liv-ing we would like to get him onour reunion roster. The Colonelwas able to secure a copy of theNorden Bomb Sight training filmfrom WWII and some trainingmanuals from the Smithsonian In-stitute to train the Bombardiers.Contact Bob Reynolds, VO-67SQ, www.VO-67.org, via [email protected].

QUESTION FROM JOHNKNOWLRON. I was flying theC-123s out of Tan Son Nhut withthe 310th Air Commando Sq from1963 to 1965.

MACVSOG was recog-nized and awarded a PresidentialUnit Citation. Are we, as ACAmembers, eligible to receive thesame specially minted coin thatthe esteemed Major John Plasterreceived?

This question was answered by AlBrashear, 605ACS, SOG, C-123/130, [email protected]

Answer: The award that

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Army personnel received for ser-vice while in MACVSOG was nota Presidential Unit Citation is-sued by the Department of De-fense, but by the Secretary of theArmy. It is only for US Army per-sonnel. Plaster was given an Hon-orary award only because hewrote the book.

I doubt seriously that theArmy would allow a non-Armyperson to have a copy of the coin.If the Secretary of the Air Forcewere to issue a similar Presiden-tial Unit Citation, it would stillonly be for the USAF personnelthat served in MACVSOG, whichwas very limited…and that wouldhave been in the headquarters inSaigon, or one of the three flyingunits based at Nha Trang, ie De-tachment 12, 1131 USAF SpecialOperations Squadron (C-1`23K),Detachment 1, 779 TAS (PopeAFB, C-130E) and 20th Helicop-ter Squadron.

Most people still misun-derstand when they see the acro-nym MACVSOG, which was notpart of MACV. It was a covername for a CIA controlled groupconsisting of members from all 7of the uniformed services of theUS-Army, Navy, Marines, AirForce, Public Health Service,Coast Guard and NOAA.

I served in Det 12 (C-123K) at Nha Trang for 6 monthsand then in MACVSOG Head-quarters in Saigon for 8 months,planning and controlling the C-123 and C-130 missions. I hadtime in both aircraft.

Thanks and a tip-o-the-hat to AlBrashear for his excellent history (andmemory) of MACVSOG.

Ken Griswold,[email protected]. I’m interested in the

partial history of how all theformer Navy A-1 series aircraftwent from storage in the US toNKP and their final dispositionwhen NKP closed and the warended?

LES STROUSE PROVIDES AFIGHTER PILOT’S ATTI-TUDE AND ANSWER TOTHE QUESTION.

When I went throughUSAF pilot training in 1955/56the Pilot Training classes were di-vided into single engine and multiengine. We all started out at thesame base for primarytraining (PA-18 and T-6); but,then according to whether youwere selected for single engine ormulti engine you went to a basethat specialized in that training.

In our case, multi enginecandidates went to train in the B-25. Single engine candidatestrained in the T-28 and T-33. I wasa single engine candidate and wewere indoctrinated from day oneof our Basic Single Engine Pilottraining, to be FIGHTERPILOTS. We were trained tohave an attitude! You are thebest. There is only one way to fly,single engine single seat jetFIGHTER’s. You are the BOSS,you are the BEST that the USAFhas. You will be the bestFIGHTER PILOTS in theworld. We believed all of thatstuff….until graduation when wehad only one fighter assignmentand 5 interceptorassignments! The rest were B-47co-pilots or observers training forpilots

I was lucky that I had ahigh enough class standing to getone of the interceptor (F-89/F-94)slots. That is, up until the timebefore graduation when MATScame through with a priority andthe five of us who were going tointerceptor school were advised

that we were going to C-124 co-pilot school.

Talk about a blow to one’sself esteem! I was indoctrinatedto be a FIGHTER PILOT! So,I spent two years as a C-124 co-pilot and then upgraded to Air-craft Commander. My ATTI-TUDE was long gone! But, I be-came the youngest C-124 AC inMATS at the time-a 23-year-old1/Lt.

My attitude returned! Ithink all pilots have a bit ofattitude. It goes with theterritory. It is just Fighter Pilotshave more of an attitude and it isneeded to survive in that atmo-sphere.

Many thanks to Les Strouse, Thai-land, member of the ACA, 1st ACW,Air America and other such organi-zations for being a great story teller.Contact him [email protected].

A MEMORIAL SITE FOR FACLT BILLY COLEY, killed at SocTrang on December 20th 1963,can be found atwww.jacklummus.com For anyT-28 driver who may have flown#38364, be it known that she isstill alive and can be found onwww.warbirdaviation.com.au.

Many thanks to William “Bill”Verebley, [email protected]

Paul Parkosewich, ACA #0106,[email protected]. Toview summary of the 81st JFA forcase 0343, go to http://w w w. a n d r e g u i l l e t . c o m /summary81stJFA.html.

Lynn Jackson McFadden,Shreveport, LA,[email protected]. Youhave compiled a lot of data for theACA home page. Thank you foryour hard work. I would like to

hear from anyone who knew myfather USAF Capt Carl EdwinJackson. He is currently listedMIA in Vietnam on 27 June,1965. My brother, sister, and I arein need of any information thatanyone who may be willing toshare with us about our dad.PLEASE HELP!

SHANNON ROGERS,[email protected] I’m lookingfor a picture of a C-47 to use onthe cover of a book my grandfa-ther has written. He flew C-47’sin WWII. I came to the ACAHome Page via a DC-3 website.

Shannon, there are a lot of C-47 pic-tures from WWII at the DOD AudioVisual unit in New Mexico. TheWWII Air Commandos will have pic-tures of that period but most of ourguys are from the Vietnam era AirCommandos who flew the C-47 in alltypes of configurations. Let us knowwhat the title of the book is and wewill be able to help you more.Gene

THOMAS F. FLYNN III,Wallingford, CT, [email protected],I’m interested in researching myfather’s effort during WWII. Heflew an L-5 in the 1st Air Com-mando Group in the CBI. Hepassed away several years ago andI’m interested in archiving thephotos he took of Burma and In-dia in 1944-45.

Send us your father’s full name, rankand when he flew the L-5. I will sendthis to the WWII Air Commandos fortheir newsletters.Gene

ROBERT WILLIAMS, MSgtUSAF Ret, ACA #[email protected]. I ampresently building a diaorama onthe Tamiya 1/48 scale USAF ver-

ROSSELfrom pg 22

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sion A-1J Skyraider and was won-dering if some of your memberscould help me. The model is abeaut and has all the munitionsthat we loaded during the Namwar. Would like info about theAGE equipment that was usedsuch as the MD-3. Do any of yourmembers know where I couldfind this equipment in this scale(1/48)? Also did the A-1 use thenitrogen /oxygen utility cart. Anyhelp would be appreciated. Iwould like this diorama to be asrealistic as possible right down tothe revetment.Thanks!

CARLOS MORENO,[email protected]. I was in theAir Commandos in Hurlburt as aC-123 Loadmaster. I served from1962 to 1966.

Ed. Note: Carlos, ACA Member-ship application sent.

RICHARD L. SCHNEIDER,Maj USAF Ret, Harbor, OR,[email protected]. I was Chiefof Stan Eval for the 311th atDanang during 9/1963-9/1967.Am I eligible for ACA member-ship?

Four years as Stan Eval at Danang!You are definitely eligible for mem-bership-application is attached.Gene

ROG HAMANN, Greene,Maine, [email protected] Fan-tastic site!!!! Can’t believe all thelinks you’ve got in here. I servedwith the 23 TASS as a Rustic FACout of Ubon from 71-72 as an air-borne interpreter (enlisted GIB).

Thanks for the comments.Gene

ROSSELfrom pg 23

��

NATIONAL ORDER OFBATTLEFIELD COMMIS-SIONS is trying to locate allmen, WWII, Korea and Viet-Nam, who on the field of battleagainst an armed enemy re-ceived a commission from en-listed or Warrant status to com-mission status. It may be you orsomeone you know. Contact J.ANGLER, Ocean Dr., St. Augus-tine, FL 32080; 904/471-7695, e-mail [email protected] or, formore info, visitwww.battlefieldcommissions.org

Konstantinovich, Poland, http://siekierski50zbigniew.w.interia.pl , [email protected] I amlooking for all information aboutthe family Konstantinovich-own-ers of DEKA, and about theDEKA factory and the DEKA en-gines. A certain familyKonstantinovich possessed in StPetersburg a business “Duflon,Konstantinovich & Co.” abbrevi-ated as DEKA i.e. a joint stockcompany; co-owner AleksanderKonstantinovich from theMscislau line probably-and webuilt up the military factory ofaero engines in a townAleksandrovsk (later namedZaporozhye) in 1915 and 1916;the Mercedes type 100 HP as-sembled here in September 1916and designated Decal M-100;Motor Sich JSC at present. I wantto find more information aboutthe Russo-Baltic Wagon Com-pany and a director MichaelSzydlowski with the rank of Ma-jor General who was an ex-navyman with connections to the Rus-sian military. Thank you verymuch for your help.

Can any of you help-I know youdidn’t fly these but I thought it wouldbe interesting. If Bill Palank was anACA member we would have an an-swer for the Polish gentleman.Gene

J.C. WHEELER, [email protected] Ireceived an email from thedaughter of one of our EC-47Flight Mechanics from the 360th.I am looking for anyone whoknew Clifton C. Wages. Hisdaughter thought he was a TSgtand he was Flight Mechanic withthe 360th TEWS in 1969-1970.If you knew and remember himplease let me know and I will ei-ther put you in contact with himor pass on the information. Her

dad passed away 2 years ago.

MICHAEL D. LINDHORST,[email protected] I’m a lostmember. How do I renew mymembership?

Ed. Note: Call Pete Bowman atACA HQ (850) 581-0099

THE PLANES OF FAMEThe Planes of Fame in

Chino, CA will have another AirCommando Vietnam day on Sat-urday, 3 April 2004 and I need 4speakers who want to tell storiesabout their aircraft and about theirexperience in the Vietnam War.We want aircrew who will talkabout their experience in AirCommando aircraft such as the A-1, T-28, A-37, C-123, AC-47/119/130/123, Helicopters, A-26 andothers. If anyone is interestedplease let me know by email withyour name, a bio and what youwant to speak on [email protected].

If anyone has any old AirCommando aircraft that theywould like to show off they are in-vited to fly it in for display at thehangar where the discussions willbe held.

Last year it went over welldespite the weather and we hadPaul Marschalk’s friends fly in anA-1J and a T-28.

If you have written a bookyou can bring it out there andthere will be a table to sell it. Youcould also make a deal with themuseum’s bookstore for them tocarry it. Bob Gleason’s Air Com-mando Chronicles has been soldin the museum bookstore for thelast year. They have an excellentbookstore.

For attending the Mu-seum raffles off a ride in a WWIIaircraft for these lecture series.Each month they have differentaircraft lectures - see

www.planesoffame.org.A visit is worthwhile and

you can see the museum AirCommando display. The airportis full of old WWII aircraft memo-ries and they have the only flyingZero, a Northrop flying wing anda lot other one of a kind flying ma-chines.

On Saturday, 3 July 2004they are having a Forward AirController day at the Planes ofFame and I need volunteerspeakers to include Ravens, O-1,O-2, OV-10, a fast FAC pilots etcto tell stories about their aircraftand about the war. We need 4speakers and again it starts at 10and they have a raffle for a ride inone of their WWII aircraft.

Please email me [email protected] your name, a short bio andwhat you would like to speak on.If you have a book you can bringit out and a table will be set asideto sell your story.

The Planes of Fame Mu-seum is the oldest aviation mu-seum west of the Mississippi.

Send your comments and questionsto: Eugene D. RosselWork 909-930-5700Home 909-591-7342Fax 909-930-5710Email: [email protected]: http://home.earthlink.net/~aircommando1/


Submitted by: Larry Harwood

This story is told by Lori Kimble,a 31 year old teacher and proudmilitary wife. A California na-tive, Mrs. Kimble currently livesin Alabama.

I was sitting alone in oneof those loud, casual steakhousesthat you find all over the coun-try. You know the type--a bucketof peanuts on every table, shellslittering the floor, and a bunch ofperky college kids racing aroundwith longneck beers and sizzlingplatters. Taking a sip of my icedtea, I studied the crowd over therim of my glass. My gaze lin-gered on a group enjoying theirmeal. They wore no uniform toidentify their branch of service,but they were definitely "mili-tary:" clean shaven, cropped hair-cut, and that "squared away" lookthat comes with pride.

Smiling sadly, I glancedacross my table to the empty seatwhere my husband usually sat.It had only been a few monthssince we sat in this very booth,talking about his upcoming de-ployment to the Middle East.That was when he made mepromise to get a sitter for thekids, come back to this restaurantonce a month and treat myself toa nice steak. In turn he wouldtreasure the thought of me be-ing here, thinking about him un-til he returned home to me.

I fingered the little flagpin I constantly wear and won-dered where he was at this verymoment. Was he safe andwarm? Was his cold any better?

Were my letters gettingthrough to him? As I ponderedthese thoughts, high pitched fe-male voices from the next booth

broke into my thoughts."I don't know what Bush

is thinking about. Invading Iraq.You'd think that man would learnfrom his old man's mistakes.Good lord. What an idiot! I can'tbelieve he is even in office. Youdo know, he stole the election."

I cut into my steak andtried to ignore them, as they be-gan an endless tirade runningdown our president. I thoughtabout the last night I spent withmy husband, as he prepared todeploy. He had just returnedfrom getting his smallpox andanthrax shots. The image of himstanding in our kitchen packinghis gas mask still gives me chills.Once again the women's voicesinvaded my thoughts. "It is allabout oil, you know. Our soldierswill go in and rape and steal allthe oil they can in the name of'freedom.' Hmph! I wonder howmany innocent people they'll killwithout giving it a thought? It'spure greed, you know."

My chest tightened as Istared at my wedding ring. Icould still see how handsome myhusband looked in his "messdress" the day he slipped it on myfinger. I wondered what he waswearing now. Probably his desertuniform, affectionately dubbed"coffee stains" with a heavy bul-letproof vest over it.

"You know, we should justleave Iraq alone. I don't thinkthey are hiding any weapons. Infact, I bet it's all a big act just toincrease the President's popular-ity. That's all it is, padding themilitary budget at the expense ofour social security and educa-tion. And, you know what else?We're just asking for another 9ll.I can't say when it happens againthat we didn't deserve it."

Their words brought tomind the war protesters I hadwatched gathering outside ourbase. Did no one appreciate thesacrifice of brave men andwomen, who leave their homesand family to ensure our free-dom? Do they even know what"freedom" is?

I glanced at the tablewhere the young men were sit-ting, and saw their courageousfaces change. They had stoppedeating and looked at each otherdejectedly, listening to thewomen talking.

"Well, I, for one, think it'sjust deplorable to invade Iraq,and I am certainly sick of our taxdollars going to train professionalbaby killers we call a military."

Professional baby killers?I thought about what a wonder-ful father my husband is, and ofhow long it would be before hewould see our children again.

That's it! Indignationrose up inside me. Normally re-served, pride in my husband gaveme a brassy boldness I never re-alized I had. Tonight one voicewill answer on behalf of our mili-tary, and let her pride in ourtroops be known.

Sliding out of my booth, Iwalked around to the adjoiningbooth and placed my hands flaton their table. Lowering myselfto eye level with them, I smil-ingly said, "I couldn't help over-hearing your conversation. Yousee, I'm sitting here trying to en-joy my dinner alone. And, do youknow why? Because my hus-band, whom I love with all myheart, is halfway around theworld defending your right to sayrotten things about him."

"Yes, you have the right toyour opinion, and what you thinkis none of my business. How-ever, what you say in public issomething else, and I will not sit

by and listen to you ridicule MYcountry, MY president, MY hus-band, and all the other fineAmerican men and women whoput their lives on the line, just soyou can have the "freedom" tocomplain. Freedom is an expen-sive commodity, ladies. Don't letyour actions cheapen it."

I must have been louderthat I meant to be, because themanager came over to inquire ifeverything was all right. "Yes,thank you," I replied. Then turn-ing back to the women, I said,"Enjoy the rest of your meal."

As I returned to my boothapplause broke out. I was embar-rassed for making a scene, andwent back to my half-eatensteak. The women picked uptheir check and scurried away.

After finishing my meal,and while waiting for my check,the manager returned with ahuge apple cobbler ala mode."Compliments of those soldiers,"he said. He also smiled and saidthe ladies tried to pay for my din-ner, but that another couple hadbeaten them to it. When I askedwho, the manager said they hadalready left, but that the gentle-man was a veteran, and wantedto take care of the wife of "one ofour boys."

With a lump in my throat,I gratefully turned to the soldiersand thanked them for the cob-bler. Grinning from ear to ear,they came over and surroundedthe booth. "We just wanted tothank you, ma'am. You know wecan't get into confrontations withcivilians, so we appreciate whatyou did."

As I drove home, for thefirst time since my husband's de-ployment, I didn't feel quite soalone. My heart was filled withthe warmth of the other diners

ENJOY YOUR PIE

See PIE pg. 26


Joy Powell, Star Tribune

Hmong immigrant YiaXiong wore a Purple Heart andother war medals on his mili-tary uniform as he kept guardagainst possible assassins Sat-urday in the lobby of the PromCenter in Oakdale. Inside theauditorium, one of the greatestheroes of his culture, Gen. VangPao, spoke to more than 2,000Hmong and Laotian followers.

Xiong, 52, of St. Paul,was among a security force of20 men who were guarding Pao,the 74-year-old general who isworking to bring democracy,peace and prosperity to Laos,now under Communist rule.

In the auditorium, theimmigrants, most of themmiddle-aged, listened raptly toPao, who is seeking the help ofother countries in what he callsa humanitarian rather than apolitical mission.

As the general, who nowlives in California, stumpsacross the country, he hascaught the ear of many, fromSen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.,to Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., to U.S. State Depart-ment officials.

Pao said he started fight-ing for the United States at age13 in Laos to protect freedomand democracy for the Hmong.So did Xiong, who fought sideby side with U.S. soldiers dur-ing the Vietnam War, attainingthe rank of lieutenant.

While those jungle fightsare over for Xiong, as with manyHmong immigrants of his gen-eration, the struggle continueson another level: to fulfill theirdream of someday returning totheir homeland of Laos, a landof 5 million people. For that tohappen, the Communist regime

would have to be broken, Xiongsaid.

These days, thousands offamily members of ethnic minor-ity groups, predominantlyHmong, are caught up in rapidlydeteriorating conditions injungle areas of Lao. They wereallies, recruited by the CIA un-der the guidance of Pao, duringthe Vietnam War and subse-quent fighting in Laos and Cam-bodia.

Last fall, Amnesty Inter-national decried the recentdeaths of scores of civilians, in-cluding children, resulting fromattacks by the Lao military andstarvation caused by soldierswho prevented families from for-aging for food. The humanrights organization also con-demned the use of land minesin farm fields.

"We have to work withthe international community tobring peace and prosperity toour beloved relatives whom weleft in our motherland," Pao saidSaturday.

Coleman has joined theeffort to bring to the UnitedStates about 14,500 Hmongrefugees who live in a compoundnext to a Buddhist temple nearBangkok. The goal is to bringthem to this country in 2004 and2005.

Not all may qualify toimmigrate, but of those who do,about 60 percent are expected tocome to Minnesota, said XangVang, director of the HmongAmerican Mutual AssistanceAssociation in the Twin Cities.

The Twin Cities has thehighest concentration of Hmongimmigrants in the UnitedStates. Estimates on how manyHmong now live in Minnesotarange from 50,000 to about75,000.

The war goes on. Mean-while, in Laos, many of theHmong who served as U.S. al-lies have continued to fight overthe past 28 years. When theUnited States pulled out of theregion in 1975, there were noplans for the allies, many ofwhom have lost legs, eyes andsuffered other war wounds sincethen.

"The people who workedside by side with the Americansare being chased and huntedand killed every day," said Vang,who helped organize Saturday'smeeting. It included a film thatdocumented recent atrocities inLaos.

"Those pictures in there-- that's what we're fighting for,"said Xiong, a married father of11 who works as a machine op-erator.

He earned the PurpleHeart for being shot three timesduring the Vietnam War, includ-ing twice in the head. In addi-tion to his Purple Heart, Xiongwore other medals, includingone from the Laotian KingSisavangvathana, who died inprison after capture by Commu-nists.

Gen. ThonglitChokebiengboune told thecrowd that 14 years ago therewere 8,000 such freedom fight-ers. Today, there are only about800 left in the mountains, andthey are asking to be helped outof Laos before they, too, are slainby the Communists, who followthem mountain to mountain.

A call for peace. Pao saidhe is weary but will lead hispeople in this new effort. In thepast 60 years, he has beenwounded numerous times, sur-vived seven plane crashes andconsoled many war widows andorphans.

American ways are diffi-cult for many Hmong, he said.He called on clans to put asidetheir differences and build anew future for the immigrantshere as well as for those whoremain in Laos.

"We have gone through avery long period of pain andsuffering -- more than enoughto last a hundred lifetimes," hesaid. "The era of killing andbloodshed must end and allowthe new era of peace, prosper-ity and happiness to come to themillions of people living inLaos."

who stopped by my table, to re-late how they, too, were proud ofmy husband, and would keephim in their prayers. I knew theirflags would fly a little higher thenext day.

Perhaps they would lookfor more tangible ways to showtheir pride in our country, and themilitary who protect her. Andmaybe, just maybe, the twowomen who were railing againstour country, would pause for aminute to appreciate all the free-dom America offers, and theprice it pays to maintain it's free-dom.

As for me, I have learnedthat one voice CAN make a dif-ference. Maybe the next timeprotesters gather outside thegates of the base where I live, Iwill proudly stand on the oppo-site side with a sign of my own.It will simply say, "Thank You!"

Ed. Note: To those who foughtfor our nation, Freedom has a fla-vor the protected will neverknow. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PIEfrom pg 25

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HMONG GENERAL DRAWS CROWD OF MORETHAN 2,000 IN LAKE ELMO


The Associated PressJanuary 25th, 2004

ST. PAUL — Thousandsof Hmong refugees will soonhave the opportunity to leavethe Wat Tham Krabok com-pound in central Thailand andimmigrate to the United States,but Hmong leaders in Minne-sota said not all of them willtake it.

"There's a lot of uncer-tainty there," said DFL statesenator Mee Moua who repre-sents the east side of St. Paul,which contains one of thenation's largest Hmong popula-tions. "I thought all along thatpeople would just say, 'Yes, wewant to come to America."'

"It just breaks my heartthat people are having doubtsabout coming here," Moua said,who has been getting telephonecalls from the camp. Moua camefrom Thailand herself in 1978and won election to the Legis-lature in 2002.

The Wat Tham Krabokcompound is at a Buddhisttemple in central Thailand. Itis scheduled to be closed, and itsHmong inhabitants could be re-patriated to Laos this year.

Hmong refugees still inThailand have just been offeredthe opportunity to resettle inthe United States, rather thanbeing forced back to their ances-tral homes in Laos or trying tolive illicitly elsewhere in Thai-land.

State Rep. Cy Thao,DFL-St. Paul, who followedMoua into the Legislature in2002, said interest in bringingthe refugees to the UnitedStates is nonetheless very high.

Refugee advocates con-tend the communist govern-

SOME HMONG WARY ABOUTMOVE TO STATES

AWOLFifty-one years ago

Herman Jones, a WestVirginia mountain man, wasdrafted into the United StatesArmy.

On the first day of bootcamp the Army issued him acomb. That afternoon an Armybarber cut off all his hair.

On the second day of bootcamp the Army issued him atoothbrush. That afternoon anArmy dentist pulled out sevenof his teeth.

On the third day theArmy issued him a jockstrap......the Army is still look-ing for him.

Thanks and a Tip-o-the-Hat to SidGriest, L-3849, Pheonix, AZ.

��

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ment in Laos already perse-cutes its minority Hmong popu-lation for siding with the UnitedStates against the communistinsurgency in Laos during theVietnam War.

Hundreds of thousandsof Hmong fled after the Laomonarchy fell in 1975. Now,nearly 30 years later, between14,000 and 20,000 refugees re-main in neighboring Thailand,poised to join the Hmong whohave already resettled to Cali-fornia, Minnesota, Wisconsinand North Carolina.

"They have heard aboutthe challenges here in the U.S.,"Moua said. "They have heardabout the gang issues and aboutthe freedom that children have.They fear it will make childrendisrespect their parents. Andthere's the other side, too, thatAmericans don't really wantthem here."

She said the Hmong inthe Wat Tham Krabok com-pound are keenly aware of anti-immigration sentiment andcuts to human services pro-grams in the wake of the recentrecession - twin challenges thatwill make it tougher for theirfamilies to make a new home,she said. "I think the biggestworry is of the unknown," Mouasaid. "Some say that at leastthere or in Laos, they can get aplot of land and farm and makeit day to day.

Thao, also a Hmong im-migrant, said there are otherforces at work, as well. "There'sa political piece here," Thaosaid. "There is still some hopethat someday the regime willchange in Laos and all thesepeople will be able to simply gohome." Part of the dilemma isalso generational, Thao said.

Younger refugees don't have theties their parents had to Laosand would rather start freshsomewhere else.

Jim Anderson, a humanservices planner with RamseyCounty and a former refugeecamp worker, said other optionsfor the Hmong refugees seem tobe running out. The Wat ThamKrabok compound is the lastsignificant refuge for theHmong who fled Laos, Andersonsaid, and the Hmong are gener-ally not welcome to simply dis-perse throughout Thailand.

The State Departmentalso has said this will be the lasteffort by the United States toaccommodate their former al-lies.

"Clearly there are folks,unquantifiable, at this point,who don't want to resettle,"Anderson said. "But how this allwill play out continues to bevery, very unknown."

Courtesy of St. Paul Pioneer Press,WWW.TWINCITIES.COM

Maj Gen Don Shepperd,USAF (ret) recently an-nounced the publica-tion of “Misty”, a collec-tion of personal ac-counts of the Misty FACmissions flown in Viet-nam using the F-100.

E-mail him at:[email protected] or

call (520) 299-5710.

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By Joseph L. Galloway

Samuel Vaughan Wilsonstares intently at the TV newsfrom Iraq. American infantry-men are kicking in a SunniMuslim family's front door, yell-ing and screaming and man-handling the father. Wilson gri-maces.

''This isn't counter-insur-gency,'' he says. ''This is not theright way to do this.''

Sam Wilson knowscounter-insurgency. He in-vented the term and wrote theArmy's first manual on how todo it. A protege of Maj. Gen.Edward Lansdale, the legend-ary anti-guerrilla warrior, Wil-son was the leading proponentof counter-insurgency in whathe called ''a political strugglewith violent military overtones''in Vietnam, circa 1964-1967.

''General Sam,'' as he isknown by his neighbors in thistiny community 55 miles south-west of Richmond and by hisstudents at nearby Hampden-Sydney College, is 80 and hasretired from three professions.

He sits on the porch of histhree-story home looking downon Frog Hollow Lake and tellsof a life of adventure, danger,opportunities and service to hiscountry. Few of his countrymenknow his name, much less hisstory, but with Americans bat-tling insurgents in Iraq and Af-ghanistan and hunting terror-ists on every continent but Ant-arctica, it's time that Americaknew Wilson.

As a 16-year-old farm boyin June 1940, he was listeningto the radio late one Sunday af-ternoon. He heard a rebroadcastof English Prime Minister Win-ston Churchill's famous post-

Dunkirk speech: ''We shall fighton the beaches, we shall fighton the landing grounds, weshall fight in the fields and inthe streets, we shall fight in thehills; we shall never surrender!''

Late the next day, Wilsonbegan jogging the seven milesto town through a heavy rain.He ran through Pete Clark'swoods and on to Farmville andthe National Guard Armory onthe courthouse square. It wasdrill night, and Wilson enlistedon the spot.

''I added two years to myage to qualify and I was in theArmy, as a private,'' Wilsonsays.Thirty-seven years later, in Au-gust 1977, on the day he retiredfrom the Army as a three-stargeneral, Wilson had his brotherdrop him off at the same court-house square. He taped his re-tirement medal to a plain gran-ite and bronze monument thatbears the names of 50 local sons,many of them his buddies inthat National Guard outfit, whonever came home from WorldWar II.

Then Wilson began walk-ing the seven miles home to theold farm house in Prince Ed-ward County where his broth-ers Billy, John and Jim and Samtogether own almost 2,000 acresand where they would grow oldtogether. A much-loved oldersister died two years ago.

''It took me one hour, 32minutes back in 1940,'' the gen-eral says. ''It took almost threehours in 1977.''

Local citizens who hadheard of Wilson's last marchlined the roads and the cross-roads to cheer him on and shakehis hand and welcome home afavorite son.

In his 37 years in theArmy, Wilson was briefly in theOffice of Strategic Services, theprecursor to the Central Intel-ligence Agency; then a 19-year-old first lieutenant assigned aschief reconnaissance officerwith Merrill's Marauders inBurma; a CIA spymaster in Ber-lin; one of the founders of U.S.Special Operations forces andone of the authors of the con-cepts for their employment; apolitical-military specialist withthe rank of minister at the U.S.Embassy in Saigon; chief de-fense attaché at the U.S. Em-bassy in Moscow; the director ofthe Defense IntelligenceAgency; and the deputy direc-tor of the CIA. Later, he helpedcreate the Army's top-secretDelta Force.

Sitting on a remotemountain ridge in Burma in1944, Wilson listened as a ra-dio operator tuned in RadioMoscow's war reports while afellow Marauder who spokeRussian translated. He was fas-cinated by the bravery and sac-rifices of the Russian people andhe resolved one day to learn thelanguage and study the people.

The Army tried to sendhim to West Point in 1945 butWilson couldn't pass the physi-cal because of lingering healthproblems from his service in thetropics. Instead, he went to Co-lumbia University and beganfive years of intensive study ofRussian there and in occupiedGermany. That was the first ofeight languages he would mas-ter, among them French, Ger-man, Spanish, the Kachin dia-lect of Burma, and MandarinChinese.

By 1955, Wilson was onthe front line of the Cold Warstruggle between the UnitedStates and the Soviet Union.His cover job was at the Officeof Military History. His real job

was as a CIA spymaster. Wilsonran a ring of 18 ''ladies of theevening,'' most of them youngGerman women. Their targetswere high-ranking Soviet mili-tary officers based in East Ger-many.

His greatest coups arestill classified, but what Wilsoncalls some ''gloriously success-ful'' operations caused the So-viets to send over a false defec-tor whose assignment was tokill or maim the young Ameri-can Army major.

''He came at me with afist full of razor blades stickingup between his fingers,'' Wilsonrecalls. ''I kicked him in thegroin.''

Almost hidden in a darkhallway hang photographs ofthe famous and powerful, allwarmly inscribed and signed toWilson by Ed Lansdale, CyrusVance, Al Gore, George H.W.Bush, Richard Nixon, LyndonB. Johnson, William C.Westmoreland, Gerald Fordand the late CIA Director Will-iam Colby. There's also one fromfilmmaker Oliver Stone.

In 1992, Wilson wasnamed president of Hampden-Sydney College, and he did thatjob for eight years. He nowteaches three classes a week,including an advanced seminaron leadership and ethics and''Spying 101.'' He tries to limitenrollment but hundreds applyfor the coveted spots in Wilson'sclasses each semester.

''I can't retire,'' Wilsonsays. ''A lot of young men seemto be counting on me. SomehowI find things to say and do withthem that they perceive asmeaningful. And I get lettersfrom their parents asking:'What on earth have you doneto my son? He's a completelychanged individual.'

GENERAL SAM STILL HASLESSONS TO TEACH ON SPYING

See SAM pg. 29


A MECHANIC was busyremoving a cylinder head fromthe motor of a Harley-Davidsonmotorcycle when a well-knownheart surgeon entered his shop.The surgeon was waiting for theservice manager to take a look athis bike when the mechanicshouted across the garage, “Hey,doc, can I ask you a question?”

The surgeon, a bit sur-prised, walked over. The me-chanic straightened up, wiped hishands on a rag and asked, “Doc,look at this engine. I open itsheart, take valves out, fix ‘em,put ‘em back in, and when I fin-ish, it works just like new. So whydo I get such a small salary andyou get the really big bucks,when you and I are doing basi-cally the same work?”

The surgeon smiled,leaned over and whispered to themechanic, “Try doing it with theengine running.”

YGBSM !!Have you ever wondered

where the phrase, "You gotta besh- - - -‘n me" came from? Well,it just so happens to have origi-nated through the Father of ourCountry.

Way back when the Colo-nies were fighting furiously fortheir freedom against KingGeorge of England, GeneralGeorge Washington was desper-ately trying to move his armyacross the Delaware River to es-cape an overwhelming hoard ofBritish troops.

There were 33 men inWashington's small boat and thenight was pitch black, and itstorming like all "git out". Waveswere higher than your headand tossing the small boat about

His leadership class atHampden-Sydney, scheduledfrom 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. everyThursday, is often extended bythe students until midnight.Before the Thanksgiving break,with the class scheduled to closeat semester's end, the 10 stu-dents stood and asked Wilson ifhe would please continue theclass throughout the spring se-mester, even if it meant theyreceived no credit for the ex-tended session.

''They really get turnedon,'' the general says, adding,''They put in more time, energyand attention than I requireand I really have to work hardto stay ahead of them. This de-fines fulfillment to me. I lookforward to going to work everyday. Everything I have everdone comes into play. To them Iam a grandfather figure, andgrandfathers aren't nearly soforbidding as fathers.''

Sam Wilson, the Sage ofFrog Hollow Lake, will continuemarching, as befits an Ameri-can hero whose deeds areknown only by a few old sol-diers, a few old spies and, now,by a new generation of youngAmerican students.

Author Joseph L. Galloway is the se-nior military correspondent for KnightRidder. Courtesy of Knight RidderNews Service.

furiously. Afraid of grounding theboat against rocks and losing hismen General Washington sta-tioned Corporal Peters as pointman in the front end of the boatwith a lantern. He ordered Cor-poral Peters to keep swinging thelantern back and forth so theycould see where they were head-ing and avoid being smashedagainst the rocks.

Corporal Peters, struggledin the driving rain and freezingcold, desperately swinging thelantern back and forth to light theway. Suddenly, a big gust of windand a huge wave struck the boatwith such furry that Corporal Pe-ters was thrown overboard intothe freezing water of the Dela-ware River.

General Washington andhis troops searched feverouslyfor hours desperately trying tofind Corporal Peters; but to noavail. All of the troops felt ter-rible, for the Corporal had beenone of their best men.

Pressing on valiantly,General Washington and histroops eventually landed on theother side of the river, wet,cold and totally exhausted.

Wa s h i n g t o n r a l l i e dhis troops by telling them thatthey must go on to avoid captureand search for shelter. An hour orso later, one of his men yelled,"General Washington, I see lightsahead."

Grudgingly, GeneralWashington's men trudged for-ward in the rain and sleet towardthe lights and eventually cameupon a huge tavern. What theydidn't know, was that this tavernwas also a house of ill repute hid-den deep in the forest to serveall who found it.

General Washingtonpounded on the door, while hismen crowded around himchilled, wet, and cold. Suddenly

the door swung open, and muchto Washington's surprise therebefore him stood a very beauti-ful slender young damsel. A hugesmile came across her face as shesaw so many men standing there.

Washington was the firstto speak, "Madam, I am GeneralGeorge Washington and these aremy men. We are tired, wet, ex-hausted, and desperately in needof ale, warmth, and comfort.”

Again, the Madam with abroad grin on her face looked outover crowd of young men stand-ing before her in the cold darknight and said, "Well, General,You have come to the rightplace...! We can surely meet allyour needs and give you ale,warmth, and comfort. Just howmany are there of you...?"

General Washington re-plied, "Well, Madam, there are 32of us without Peters."

And the Madam ex-claimed loudly, "You gotta beshittin’ me...!"

And, now you know the restof the story...! Editor

Dear Abby,

My husband is a liar and acheat. He has cheated on mefrom the beginning, and when Iconfront him, he denies every-thing. What’s even worse, every-one knows he cheats on me. It isso humiliating. Also, since he losthis job two years ago he hasn’teven looked for a new one. Allhe does is sit around the livingroom in his underwear and watchTV, while I work to pay the bills.Since our daughter went away tocollege he doesn’t even pretendto like me. He keeps calling mea lesbian.

What should I do?

Signed, Clueless

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SOUTH KOREASENDS TROOPS

TO IRAQSeoul sent 700 of their

soldiers to Iraq, they would sendmore except for the screamingleftists in that country. U S VietNam veterans who came in con-tact with Koreans know theyare very good soldiers.

SAMfrom pg 28

See SIDE pg. 30

THE LIGHTERSIDE


DEAR CLUELESS:

Grow up and dump him.For Pete’s sake, you’re a UnitedStates Senator from New Yorknow -- you don’t need him any-more.

Submitted by Mary Parker

LOST GRANDPA

I was at the Mall with my5 year old grandson last week andsomehow we got separated.

He approached a uni-formed policeman and said, "I'velost my grandpa!"

The cop asked, "What'she like?"

My grandson replied,"Vodka and women with bigboobs."

They baited a trap andcaught me straight away.

Author Unknown

U.S. NAVY RULES FORGUNFIGHTING

1. Adopt an aggressive offshoreposture.2. Send in the Marines.3. Drink Coffee.

Submitted by Don Moody

COMBAT PILOTNOTABLE QUOTES

The first time I ever saw a jet, Ishot it down.

-- Brigadier General ChuckYeager, USAF, describing his firstconfrontation with an ME262,German jet fighter, in WWII.

SIDEfrom pg 29

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The Montagnardbracelet, a presti-gious symbol offriendship and re-spect, was given toU.S. Army SpecialForces soldiers("Green Berets") andothers during theVietnam War.

John Wayne received hisbracelet in Vietnam from a Montagnard Strike Force led by a U.S. SpecialForces A-Team. “Duke” never took it off and now wears it eternally.

Only two of the 3,000 Montagnard refugees in the U.S. possessed the an-cient free-hand engraving skills that adorn our bracelets. In 1994 the mostelderly of the two had a stroke so there's only one left. We have not beenable to find any in Vietnam who survived the post war years.

The $40 Bronze bracelet pictured above promotes ourLonghouse Project which, except for the 1.5" stamp, bears thetraditional hand markings.

To order a bracelet, please visit our web site:www.montagnards.org

orcall Sgt Major (ret) Jack Clemens, Treasurer & Bracelet

Program Manager at (910) 428-9888 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Mail to: STMP, Inc., P.O. Box 844, Star, NC 27356.

Save The Montagnard People, Inc.

The Montagnard Braceletaka

A project being under-taken by the Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood (TLCB)should be of interest to mem-bers of the Air Commando As-sociation. The TLCB is engagedin a project to build a memorialmonument in the city ofNakhon Phanom (NKP), Thai-land. The monument will com-memorate all those who servedin the cause of freedom duringAmerican involvement in theVietnam War.

Some ACA members maynot be familiar with the TLCB.Many members of TLCB arealso proud members of the AirCommando Association, butTLCB membership is broader inscope, and not as restrictive. It

includes Thailand veteransfrom all services, and from allthe bases and installations weoccupied in Thailand. It in-cludes people involved in andwith the allied forces in Laosand Cambodia. Moreover,TLCB welcomes wives and fam-

TLCB TO BUILD MONUMENT AT NKP

See TLCB pg. 31

REUNIONNEWS

Calling all ForwardAir Controllers!!

FAC 2004 REUNIONSan Antonio, TX

May 5-9, 2004At the Hyatt Regency*

123 LosoyaSan Antonio, TX 78205

* Please make all reservationsthrough EEM Worldwide, Inc.

Ph: 1-888-868-7712 or1-214-336-9777

ily members of veterans of theso-called Secret Wars. TLCBalso is proud to include mem-bers of the Australian and NewZealand forces who served inThailand under SEATO andother treaties, former membersof Thai and Lao military forces,civilian contract pilots andother civilians who served in theregion, and a few interestednon-veterans.

TLCB is incorporated inthe State of Virginia as a non-profit charitable organization.The stated objectives of theTLCB are to provide an open as-sociation for the benefit of TLCveterans, to provide humanitar-ian assistance, particularly inTLC, to honor those veteranswho did not return from TLC,to preserve TLC history andpromote public understandingof TLC service. Please visit theTLCB website -- www.tlc-brotherhood.org for more infor-mation.


TLCBfrom pg 30

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As many of you areaware, the TLCB conducts anactive exchange of recollectionsabout service in TLC viainternet email, as a way of ex-panding our collective knowl-edge of the highly compartmen-talized activities we once sup-ported. Additionally, TLCB hasactively pursued charitable ven-tures in receptive areas ofSoutheast Asia. TLCB hasworked in cooperation with ACAand the McCroskie ThresholdFoundation to meet mutualgoals for humanitarian assis-tance in northeast Thailand,and has provided both directand indirect small-scale assis-tance in Laos as well.

Why Nakhon Phanom?

A question that arisesfrequently is why such a memo-rial to all those who served inSoutheast Asia should be lo-cated in Nakhon Phanom.There are several answers, butthey boil down to the symbolic,and the practical. Symbolically,NKP is a logical site for themonument because it hostedthe US-occupied base locatedclosest to the war zone, whichbegan right across the Mekong.Missions headed in and out ofNorth Vietnam frequently tran-sited NKP airspace on their wayto and from their objective. Thepractical answer is, we were in-vited.

The monument projectcame under active discussionabout two years ago. A sugges-tion by a TLCB member visit-ing Thailand came to the atten-tion of the then Governor ofNakhon Phanom Province. Indue time he formally ap-proached TLCB with the offerof some 400 square meters of

land in a new city park in NKPas the site for a monument. Heasked TLCB to take responsi-bility for design and construc-tion costs for a monument onthat site which would be “non-political” in character, but rec-ognize the Americans (and for-eign forces) who served in Thai-land, as well as the Thai contri-bution to the effort.

A committee formed byTLCB has developed a monu-ment design, received approvalof the Thai authorities in NKP,and coordinated a plan for con-struction of the monument, inconjunction with on-going de-velopment of a new park locatedin the general vicinity of the oldShindig nightclub, which oncewas on the outskirts of town.NKP city has grown andchanged significantly over thepast 30 years. Many of the oldlandmarks are long gone. Thenew park location, however, of-fers good prospects for develop-ment, and is in a section of thecity that now needs a recre-ational area. The plannedmonument will occupy a placeof honor in the park, and willbe a major attraction for futurevisitors from outside the city.

The park and monumentare viewed by city officials as apotential magnet to lure formerAmerican servicemen back tothe Northeast on a sentimentaljourney. Nakhon Phanom Prov-ince is still considered “remote”to most Thais, and as a result,NKP ranks last among all Prov-inces of Thailand on “quality oflife,” as reported by a UnitedNations Development Program(UNDP) ranking. (See http://www.boi.go.th/english/focus/focus_measuring_quality_life.html)American and other foreigntourism in the province willbring in foreign capital, andstimulate local businesses.Province officials are already

planning a major initiative toinvite foreign guests to visit “theRiver City” (NKP) during theyear 2547 (Buddhist Era), or aswe know it, 2004.

Project Background

Development of the newpark and the monument are atan early stage. Brig. Gen. (Ret)Heinie Aderholt officiated dur-ing NKP Days in 2002 in dedi-cating the future location of themonument, but after that event,the project was slowed by ques-tions about design issues, thepark development schedule,costing, and a general difficultyin communication between theUS and Thailand. TLCB Monu-ment Committee ChairmanGerry Frazier was able to visitNKP in October, 2003, and withthe help of NKP veteran, TLCBmember, and NKP residentJohn Middlewood, revived theproject. TLCB is also fortunateto have an advocate for themonument in a prominent po-sition in the Thai community.Mr. Phrompan Kulapah, a localNKP radio broadcast personal-ity, and former member of Thaisecurity forces at the NKPairbase, is actively promotingthe project in the local commu-nity.

The undeveloped land forthe new park was donated toNKP City by a prominent citi-zen, and is in an early stage ofconstruction. The park flanksa small lake that drains to theMekong. The lake forms a partof continuing efforts by the cityto manage the high waters thataccompany the rainy season.Accordingly, the park site is re-ceiving fill material intended toraise the monument site andthe average height of the wholepark 1-2 meters. The monu-ment site will be visible from astreet that passes about 100

meters away. Some large andattractive shade trees will beretained on the site, but con-struction of walkways, picnicshelters (locally known as asala) and probably a paved areato accommodate group aerobicsare planned. General plans ofthe park and monument can befound on the TLCB website.

The monument design isa simple, elevated hexagon atthe center of four intersectingwalkways oriented on the car-dinal directions. The principalconstruction material will beThai granite. The hexagon istopped by a brass finial in aunique design intended to sym-bolize an eternal flame. Thefaces of the hexagon will be usedto mount plaques commemorat-ing the purpose of the monu-ment, as well as organizations,units, companies or individualswho make significant financialcontributions to the project.

The TLCB is collectingfunds for construction of themonument, salas, and poten-tially other attractive additionsto the park, with a goal of rais-ing $150,000. Any funds overand above requirements for con-struction or continuing mainte-nance of the monument andpark will be directed to supportcontinuing TLCB humanitarianassistance projects in northeastThailand. We hope you willtake this opportunity to join usin this effort.

Individual contributionsmay be sent to: SEA Monu-ment, c/o TLCB, P. O. Box 425,Springfield, Virginia 22150.Make checks payable to TLC-Brotherhood, and please write“Monument” on the Memo line.All monument contributions re-ceived will be acknowledged.

Thanks for your supportof this long overdue memorial.


Greetings to all by Raven Presi-dent – Larry “Sandy” Sanborn

An invitation to para-chute jump with the Thai PARUin the April, 2004 FriendshipAirborne was passed throughRaven Jim Roper from "Doc"Osanka. The first of theseevents was held in 1993 andpreviously resulted in theawarding of parachute badgesfrom the Thai Police PARUwings, the Thai Air Force basicairborne wings and Thai SAS.If you still have the zest for ad-venture and want to partici-pate, contact Doc Osanka [email protected], tele-phone: (262) 639-0780, or visitthe web site atw w w . g e o c i t i e s . c o m /friendship_airborne.

The last Raven Reunionin San Antonio held a specialitem for the Ravens members.Lone Wolf Pictures premieredthe newest Raven Video for theattendees. The final version ofthe video entitled "The Ravens:Covert War in Laos" will offi-cially air on the Discovery/Times channel, or Discovery/Civilization channel possibly inyour area, on March 9th and10th. It will run six times be-ginning at 8:00 PM (ET). Thisone hour feature will allow youto accompany four Ravens asthey return to visit Laos afterbeing gone for over thirty years.Ravens Mike Cavanaugh, Ron(Papa Fox) Rinehart, Fred Plattand Sandy Sanborn returnedwith the video crew last Apriland got to witness some of whatLaos is like today. We hope youwill enjoy it as much as weRavens did.

I have just finished amove to Fort Walton Beach andam now back in business. If youhave questions or information

of interest to the Ravens contactRaven President, SandySanborn [email protected] or visit ourweb site at www.ravens.com.The Guestbook there will allowquestions or comments to reachthe Ravens.

Nevermore,

Sandy Sanborn

ACA President’s Note: We in-vite all Air Commando Unitswhich were, have been, and area part of the Air Commandosand/or the Air Force Special Op-erations such as the A-1E’s, AT-28’s, A-26’s, C-123’s, C-47’s,FAC’s,0-1’s, 0-2’s, OV-10’s, C-119’s,C-130’s, Gunships, Com-bat Controllers, WrenchBender’s, Medic’s, TLC Broth-erhood, and all, to provide ar-ticles to the ACA Newsletters.Your organizations are all a partof us and we are proud to sup-port you where and where pos-sible. Fact of the matter is thatwe will set aside a specificspace/corner in each Newsletterfor your remarks/use such as wehave for the Ravens in this col-umn. The Air Commando Asso-ciation is all inclusive and wewelcome each and everyone ofyou…!

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THE RAVENS

The Curtis-Wright Cor-poration started designing asingle-wing, fighter aircraftwith radial engine, retractablelanding gear and all-metal con-struction in 1934. The resultingaircraft they dubbed the Hawk75 and the American militarycalled it the P-36 Mohawk. By1937, over 1,300 had been de-livered when the Curtis-WrightCorporation decided to make amajor modification by installingan Allison liquid-cooled engine.This alteration was successfuland started a long series of mod-els, the first named the P-40Warhawk by the Americans.The rest of the aircraft was es-sentially unchanged from the P-36.

By 1940, the RAF wasaccepting delivery of the newaircraft that they called theTomahawk I. In comparisonwith the Messerschmitt Me-109or the Supermarine Spitfire Vit was decidedly inferior exceptin maneuverability at low alti-tudes and having a tough con-struction. The Tomahawk wasused in Britain as a trainer andan army cooperation aircraft. Itwas sent to the Orient, Indiaand North Africa to augmentthe Hawker Hurricanes. Thiswas the common solution to in-ferior aircraft, even if the Japa-nese, Germans and Italianswere flying better fighters.

The RAF, Royal Austra-lian Air Force and the South Af-rican Air Force flew them asground-attack aircraft in sup-

CURTIS-WRIGHT P-40"WARHAWK/TOMAHAWK/KITTYHAWK"

port of the 8th Army in NorthAfrica. Unfortunately, for manypilots they were also forced touse this inferior aircraft as anescort fighter for light and me-dium bombers against Me-109sand Maachi 202s. It showed upbadly against both aircraft, witha high loss rate.

The P-40D, named theKittyhawk I by the English andthe Warhawk by the Americans,had an improved Allison enginethat allowed for a shorter noseand had the fuselage mounted0.50 caliber machine gunsmoved to the wings to allow fora hefty six 50 caliber machineguns that would become thestandard suite of armament forall American fighters.

A Packard Merlin-engined version was producedfor export to Russia, but nomodels were received by theEnglish, Australian or SouthAfrican squadrons flying theKittyhawk. Many versions ofthe aircraft were developed allin an attempt to improve theperformance of the inadequateAllison engines (the one pic-tured above is a P-40M). Noneof the modifications made up forthis engine's lack of power.

Overall, the various mod-els of the P-40 made it the sec-ond most numerous fighter air-craft produced by the Allies dur-ing WWII. They had a produc-tion run of some 13,738.

Submitted by Joe Holden

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COUNTRY STORE ITEMS AVAILABLE

ZAP Patch ----------------------------------------------------------------$3.00Original Air Commando Group Patch----------------------------$3.00Project 404 Coin-------------------------------------------------------$10.00ACA Bumper Sticker--------------------------------------------------$2.00ACA Bronze Coins------------------------------------------------------$5.0050th Commemorative Coin (Bronze)-----------------------------$5.00ACA Ball Cap------------------------------------------------------------$9.00 (royal & lt blue, black, white, gray, & denim)ACA Ball Cap------------------------------------------------------------$9.00 (camo, black, & navy with lettering)ACA Lapel Pin-----------------------------------------------------------$4.00ACA Cloth Patch--------------------------------------------------------$3.00ACA “Air Commando” Cloth Tab-----------------------------------$3.00ACA Decal (4” X 5”)--------------------------------------------------2/$1.00ACA T-shirt (white only) L, XL-----------------------------------$10.00ACA T-shirt (white only) XXL-------------------------------------$12.00ACA Golf Shirt---------------------------------------------------------$15.00 (black or navy, with or without pocket, sizes M-XXL)ACA Golf Shirt --------------------------------------------------------$15.00 (white, red, royal blue, waffle weave with pocket)Air Commando Bush Hat (M-XL)--------------------------------$20.00Straw Hat---------------------------------------------------------------$10.0050th Anniversary Poster (full color - 20” X 24”)------------5/$1.00Jane Fonda Poster (black & white - 11” X 14”)----------------$3.00ACA Desk Clock (battery not included) -------------------------$7.50ACA License Plate----------------------------------------------------$10.00Jackets with ACA Logo----------------------------------------------$30.00 (stone, cadet blue, or tan colors only)L, XLPOW/MIA Decals-------------------------------------------------------$2.00POW/MIA Patches------------------------------------------------------$3.50ACA 50th and 55th Reunion Videos-------------------------------$5.00 (Price includes shipping and handling)Hat Bands ---( black, wine, & royal blue) ----------------------$5.00-

ORDER FORMQty Color Item Size Unit Price Total________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sub Total ______20% Shipping & Handling ______Add $2.50 for a mail tube ______Grand Total ______Please send your check or money order along with complete shipping

instructions to ACA, PO Box 7, Mary Esther, FL 32569-0007. Please under-stand that we do not accept credit cards or cash through the mail.

Submitted by Tom Green

Some of the following website addresses (URLs) may providehelpful information on obtainingmilitary records, a DD-214, WDAGO 53-55, NAVPERS or otherservice branch Statements of Re-lease From Military Service.

MILITARY RECORDS:http://members.aol.com/forvets/htomr.htm

ONLINE VETERAN AND MILI-TARY PERSONNEL LOCA-TOR/REGISTRY:h t t p : / / w w w. a m e r v e t s . c o m /registry.htm(Information on Accessing the da-tabase:h t t p : / / w w w. a m e r v e t s . c o m /database.htm)

FREE VETERANS DIREC-TORYhttp://members.aol.com/veterans/freedir.htm

SEARCHING FOR SOMEONEWHO SERVED IN THE MILI-

TARY:http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib46.htm

DD-214 DISCHARGE (SPN/SPD) Codes:http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib25.htmhttp://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib45.htm

REBUILDING LOST DD-214'S:http://members.aol.com/forvets/dd-214.htm

ABOUT MILITARY RECORDS:An original copy of your DD-214should be located in your DD-201(Master Personnel) file that isstored (if it was not destroyed) atthe National Records and Person-nel Center in St. Louis MO.

Good information for our ACAmembers to have at their finger-tips. Additional links to the VAand other retiree benefit organiza-tions can be found onwww.aircommando.net.

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RETIREE AND VETERAN AFFAIRS NEWS

AIR COMMANDO ASSOCIATIONSCHOLARHIP APPLICATION

STUDENT NAME:_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP

RELATIONSHIP: _________________________ AGE: ________

COLLEGE: ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP

MEMBER’S NAME:________________________ ACA# _______Rules: The number and amount of the scholarship(s) will be determinedannually by the Board of Directors. The scholarships will be awarded annu-ally in May. The Board of Directors will randomly select the winner(s) from theeligible candidates submitted by the membership. Eligibility criteria: (1) Appli-cant must be the child (natural, adopted, or step), grandchild, or great-grand-child of a member in good standing of this association. (2) Applicant must beaccepted to or enrolled in an accredited college or university and be less than24 years of age at the end of May. (3) Applicant may not be a member of thisassociation, on active duty, attending a Service Academy, or on full scholar-ship to a college or university.


PRESIDENTfrom back page

See PRESIDENT pg. 35

Lutz and Pete Bowman andcrew got their hands on theNewsletters, we were back ontothe high road. The papers wereaddressed, bundled, and mailedat the speed of heat. ThanksHap, Pete and crew for rescu-ing us…!

CHRISTMAS PARTY

In and among the News-letter fracas, we had an unbe-lievably successful ChristmasParty. Hap arranged for heavyhors d’oeuvres for our Christ-mas Party with Mr. “T”; whooperates the “Two Trees Restau-rant” on the Fort Walton BeachCity Golf Course.

Well, let me assure youthat Mr. “T” is no slouch; heturned this little event into afull blown sit-down scrump-tiously delicious dinner.

I walked in expectingheavy hors d’oeuvres, and see abeautiful setting of tables allprepared with silverware, anddelicious food everywhere. Ilooked over at Hap and saw alittle sheepishly looking guiltygrin come over his big ugly mug;and, I knew then that Hap wasas surprised as I was.

All this scrumptiouslygood food and for only $10,many thanks Mr. “T” and GodBless you. You are always morethan generous to your fellow AirCommandos! We owe you good

buddy, …and we owe you bigtime…!

We had approximately100 people attend the Christ-mas Party. It was great seeingBob Schneidenbach, ClayMcCartney, Dee and BillyRoberson and so many other“old timers” joining us. Dee andBilly drove up from the Tampaarea to be with us at this Christ-mas social.

Special guys like SilverStar recipients Marty Traczykand Marty Jester were thererubbing elbows with other oldwarriors and new acquaintan-ces.

Met a very special guywhile at the party, Al Mongeau,who believes that he broughtout the last the US military toescape from Laos, as the coun-try succumbed to Communistrule. Al became separated fromhis wife JoAnne, and their twochildren and had a harrowingexperience being searched andjousted about as they bluffedtheir way through the Red Stu-dent Demonstrators and PathetLao lines while E&E’ed out ofVientiane. Al and JoAnne haveone heck of a wild story to tell;it is a must read. Look for theirarticle elsewhere in this News-letter. People can really get hurtdoing stuff like these two did…!

SPRING PARTY

Hap wants to pull to-gether another Air Commando“get together” about midpointbetween January and the 4th ofJuly; watch for Hap’s notice. Allof you be there, you hear…! BobSchneidenbach and ClayMcCartney, do bring your lovelywives, Edna and Liz, to this so-cial; we had much rather seeand talk with them than you ol’Toads…!

McCOSKRIE THRUSHOLD/FOUNDATION

LETTERSfrom pg 8

caped near the war’s end whenhe heard they would be shippedto Siberia.

After walking over 1000miles back to Austria, Walterjoined his parents, his widowedsister and her 3 children (oneof them, Rommy, is with us to-day). As refugees in Vienna theyshared two rooms as well aspowerful hunger and cold. Theywere stateless.

Walter received an op-portunity to come to Americaand arrived in NYC with a vo-cabulary of three words - “eggsover easy”!

After struggling alone fora few years he joined the AirForce. There he found a home,opportunity to learn Englishand to educate himself. In ev-ery sense he became the recipi-ent of the American dream -Home, family, and a wide openfuture. He served in Vietnamand after retiring he finishedhis education and worked inengineering. He produced threefabulous children whom I adore- and six wonderful grandchil-dren whom I also adore. He be-came a Mason, and he was amember of Concord Lodge #50of Crestview.

Walter was never satis-fied with his accomplishments.He always told me that he wasan alien. There were languageand cultural barriers that pre-vented him from being himself.I disagreed. His gifts weremany. Humor - zest for life,stunning musical talent and apowerful determination to pro-tect and preserve his childrenand family.

Whenever we get to-gether it has become a habit totell “Walter Stories”. Not tolaugh at him but to enjoy hisunique lifestyle and personality.

I want to share a veryspecial “Walter Story” with you.During his last days in the nurs-ing home he became weaker bythe day. Yet he refused to useeither his walker or his wheel-chair. He would drag his bodyfrom the bed - stagger from onepiece of furniture to another toreach the men’s room - and latercollapse into his bed. His room-mate, a former friend of minewhen we were volunteers at thehospital, now in the late stagesof Alzheimer’s disease, woulddrop into his own bed with armsand legs akimbo and be unableto cover himself with his blan-ket. One night while I wasthere, Walter, using all thestrength he could muster,dragged himself to Pat’s bed-side, lifted his legs into the bed,straightened his body and cov-ered him with the blanket. Thenwith that big beefy hand of hishe gently patted Pat’s cheek andsaid, “Now you go to sleepBuddy”.

Walter hated the idea ofwar (although he was alwaysprepared and up in Crestviewno one needed to worry aboutany foreign invasions). But re-gardless of his disdain for sense-less bloodshed he was a TRUEMILITARY MAN. Every nightat bedtime he religiouslychecked the perimeter. And nowthat he has gone from our homeI find myself driven to repeatthis ritual and check the perim-eter before retiring.

The last ten years werespent fighting cancer. He nevergave up an inch without rebel-ling. Only a few days before hisdeath he ordered me to bringhim his car keys, a wallet fullof real money, and his pocketknife because he needed to godowntown shopping. This wasa real mouthful for a man whosevoice box no longer functioned.

Walter never lost his

courage – his will to live – hisdetermination to maintain hisdignity, or his ability to moti-vate all the nurses and staff tokiss his bald head, and squeezehis hands every day.

Walter is out there on theperimeter, Watch your step…!

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PRESIDENTfrom pg 34

That one eyed, ornery ol’long haired guy by the name ofHelio John has been at it again.Transported a couple of largesize trailer loads of muchneeded winter clothing to At-lanta to be further transshippedto the Republic of Georgia (seereport on MTF page). We owemany thanks to the Georgia AirNational Guard for their sup-port in this annual humanitar-ian effort.

Helio John just can’tleave well enough alone, he co-ordinated with Audra Murrayand conned her in to paying fora shipment of 18 huge shippingcrates filled with school desksto various places in SouthAmerica. Checkout the MTF ar-ticles for more details.

Folks, we are in bad needof a “Loadmaster”. Helio Johncontinues to overgross his trail-ers too often and so bad thateach has taken a permanentbow between the front and theback. For his efforts, he has acouple of blown tires, and sev-eral badly scuffed tires fromoverloading trailers.

Boy this John is sure aslow learner, typical of most ol’Air Commandos we all haveknown…! And, John is just un-believably hardheaded. I keeptelling him that when the frontand the back of the trailer areboth dragging the ground, thetrailer is excessively over-loaded…!

USSOCOM VISITORS

We had visitors fromUSSOCOM’s Tampa Headquar-ters taking real interest in ourMTF activities. They were im-pressed with the large quanti-ties of goods being shipped andequally if not more important,

the vast number of needy folksto whom we provide humanitar-ian support. We expect more tocome from this visit.

MILITARY CIVIC ACTIONS

Much too often militaryCivic Actions in undevelopedcountries arrives too late andwith too little. Often appears tobeing an afterthought; …thisshould not be…!

If we are to stop “Terror-ism” in its tracks, Military CivicActions are a must in undevel-oped countries. This is whereour Air Commando MTF sup-port comes into play. We cancoordinate and provide the ma-terials needed to make CivicActions successful.

GUATEMALA

Through back channels,we’ve been informed that Gua-temala is coming to us with arequest for support as we sosuccessfully did many yearsago.

IMPRESSIONS OF MTF

The thing that impressesmost people about MTF is thefact that all funds we gather arespent almost entirely on storageand transportation. We re-ceived a letter from GeneralPoythress, Adjutant General ofthe Georgia Air National Guardsinging our praises...and it waswell deserved in my opinion.

We have no paid staffand our overhead expenses fortelephone calls, administrativestaffing, and such comes out ofthe hides of our volunteers andthe Air Commando Association.

THE HEART OF MTF

John Grove, BG HeinieAderholt, Dick Geron, and Felix“Sam” Sambogna have been justabsolutely awesome in makingMTF a functioning operation…!Encourage these guys and

praise them often.

CORE OF MTF

Of course the real back-bone of this entire operation isthe strong cadre of Air Com-mando volunteers who do thelabor intensive work.

People such as BobWhite, Asa Stackhouse, ClydeHoward, Roger Klair, SamSambogna, Tom Green and fam-ily, Col Kenny Poole and fam-ily, “Taco” Sanchez, and so manyof our active duty military per-sonnel support our MTF work.And, there are so many othernames which my falteringmemory fails to recall at thismoment.

It is not unusual to seesome of these tired old geezersgetting out and helping one oftheir cramped-up, bent over,badly hurting buddies get out ofthe vehicle and up and into thehouse at the end of a hard dayof back breaking work. GodBless each and everyone of ourvolunteers…!

HURLBURT’S AIRMEN’SATTIC

Bob White initiated avery successful MTF programwith theH u r l b u r tAirmen’s At-tic. They pro-vide lists oftheir needsand then Bobfills their re-quests. Thisnew initia-tive is work-ing wondersfor the air-men.

UNITEDWAY

Y o uwill find it in-teresting to

know that Dick Geron is coor-dinating to get MTF recognizedby the National United Way Of-fice to support our humanitar-ian efforts.

GERMAN FIGHTER PILOT

I’ll bet you didn’t knowthat we had an ambitious youngGerman Fighter Pilot withinour ranks for years. He wasgood; brought down a P-51fighter during WWII beforejoining us good guys. I’ll leaveit at that and let you searchthrough the articles in thisNewsletter to determine thename of this guy who servedwith you. Many of you knewhim.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

Please support ourtroops on each and every oppor-tunity you can…! They are the“good guys” who put their livesat risk defending your and myfreedom and this great nationwe all love…! Our future de-pends on the successes of thesehighly trained and wonderfulguys…! And as always, GodBless America…!

ROBERT DOWNS

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

See PRESIDENT pg. 34

PRESIDENT’SCOMMENTSThere is so much that

has been happening since thelast Newsletter and all goodstuff, I must tell you. So, heregoes.

DECEMBER’S NEWSLETTER

First off, Jim Boney andRip Kirby worked their silly“buns” off getting the last News-letter out. The paper was latedue mostly to having taken amuch needed breather after theReunion. And, getting nameswith faces in pictures was nosmall task.

I literally put the “shaft”to Rip when I gave him a diskwith the some 1200 plus digitalpictures which Jimmie Ifland,Fred Nowak, ChuckWheelahan, and I had made.

Later, we discovered thatJimmie had made an additionalroll of film for the A-26 ReunionGroup, …had to scroungearound, find that roll and then

get it digitized. And even later,we had to chase down the largegroup photo of the A-26 guys.Anyway, the plot thickened. Ac-tually, we sat around much toolong just plain “fat dumb andhappy” with ourselves; brag-ging-on how successful the 2003Reunion had been.

We eventually discoveredthat Lee Griffin was the culpritwith the film of the A-26 activi-

ties and fortunately he had thelarge original A-26 Group pic-ture buried back deep within hisfiles. But, the film was not digi-tized.

Got the film digitized foran unbelievable cost of $28;about seven to eight times thecost it would have been had wedigitized it when being devel-oped.

Rip had to take two pic-

tures and put guys into one shotto get the results Jim Boneywanted. Jim Boney didn’t real-ize what Rip had put the twoguys together until I later toldhim. I don’t think that he evenknows today which picture Ripfixed. It was that good…!

Rip missed holidays, par-ties, Christmas guests andfriends while working hard toget your Newsletter to you.There were some real unhappycampers around Fort Waltonabout that time. You have neverlooked into the pits of hell untilyou’ve seen the fire breathingglare that Jim Boney giveswhen he is really angry. Whew,I don’t want to go there again…!

Dick Geron and Felix“Sam” Sambogna rushed intothe fray, “kicked butt” andsorted all of us young folks out;rescued the entire operation.Reminded me so much of typi-cally run Air Commando opera-tions in the past…!

Whatever you guys do,give Jim Boney and Rip Kirbya hardy slap on the back and awell earned “THANKS” fortheir Herculean efforts in get-ting the December Newsletterpublished and to you.

And, you’ll be glad tohear that editor Jim Yealy isback at the desk assisting JimBoney. Welcome back Mr.Yealy…! Only 20 more yearsuntil you can retire, good buddy.

Now, once the pro’s, HapHap Lutz and Roger Klair put the finishing touches on mail bags full of quar-terly newsletters. Hap has quite a well-oiled crew who devote a morning oftheir time to stick on 3,000 lables and pre-sort the newsletters to comply withthe Postal Service mailing regulations.

MARCH 2004

Documents

MARCH 2004 AIR COMMANDO LEGEND ADERHOLT HONORED … · air commando newsletter page 2 march 2004 air commando association, inc. board of directors officers president: robert a. downs