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Hi Guys, I'm sure all of us had photos but they just disappear over time. Mine sat in the same photo cubes move after move after move. I had a bunch of the survival gear. My nephew took it for Jr. High show and tell and the only thing I got back was my crew photo. What is sad is the little assholes surely tossed the stuff before they got home. As for knowing people on the rock I spent all my none TDY time at the motorcycle clubhouse. My last 6 months I had, had a knee operation and couldn't fly. I was the permanent night duty NCO for the 21st. From dusk till dawn I manned the sqd. with no time off. 6 months of it. Slept on chair cushions behind the counter. 3 months of that I had a full length leg cast on. My Deros was to be in Jan sometime. With a month to go I was to be retrained as a clerk as I hadn't been cleared to fly again, yet. The sqd. needed loadmasters and I was tying up a slot. Ssgt. Curtis Lovelady found a loop hole and had me processed off the base a month early. So from early Dec. to the middle of Jan. I was in no mans land. On paper not in the 21st but in reality not back in the states. Hung out, went to Japan for new years but made sure I was on the plane home when the time came. Bill

Here's the theater. Chow hall is to the right, out of site http://herkybirds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1243&stc=1&d=1278279894 This is the BBQ area behind the Quanset hut I lived in every time I came in country. Only remember Herky Hill my 1st or 2nd trip. ' alt='' class='ipsImage' >' alt='' class='ipsImage' > Quanset huts. We would go fly and Papa San would rent out our beds to grunts who had in country R&R's. Air conditioned hut and the bed would be warm when you got back. Plus ans OLD Mama San who would stay in the shower while you were cleaning up. ' alt='' class='ipsImage' >' alt='' class='ipsImage' > ' alt='' class='ipsImage' >' alt='' class='ipsImage' > I have the hardest time getting pictures in the right order on this site. Thia will have to do, Bill

Really nice story with lessons included. Thanks for sharing. Is it OK to share with friends? Bill

I was in E Flight in 1969 until I blew out my knee and was discharged. It's main role was that of ground support for Air America in Udorn, Thailand. AA crews flew the planes into Laos. As a loadmaster my job was to load the planes so they would fly. Everything was loaded, most of the time, on 8' X 4' sheets of plywood. Then when the reached their destination the plane would just taxi along and the cargo would be pushed out the back unto the ground. The AA l/m's I met were former Green Berets and Rangers. In an emergency they wanted some one who could jump out to help if necessary and could also fight. Engineers met the returning flights to see how the plane's were running. Pilots talked to the pilots and no offense the Nav.s sat. They beat you to death with every thing being top secret, over and over again. They stuck me on the phone in the E Fight office within a day or two of being cleared. Phone rang and someone wanted to know where Col. so and so was, Out Flying , I said. He was. When he got back I told him of the call and he wanted to know what my reply was, I told him. I got quite a lecture that day. We didn't tell anyone anything. In Udorn we were locked inside a compound the whole rotation. No going unto the base proper. Royal Thai troops loaded the cargo onto the pallets in a bldg. in the compound. I was told never to go into that area. Then later my room mate George Patton was given a big pat on the back for being the 1st L/M to go in and see what the troops were doing. I remember 1 load of napalm bombs we loaded in the plane. Crates were really flimsy wood and stacked on top of each other moved around quite a bit. These had to be off loaded with a fork lift. Almost done and this guy throws a couple of big boxes into the plane. I asked what they were and was told the ignitors for the napalm. Other missions I did. When the SR 71 came back from it's flight we would take the film cans to Japan where the film was developed. Every time we left Naha as an AF flight were would circle out and come back to land in Kadena as an AA flight. We would stop at the end of the taxiway. Change into jeans and T-shirts. The plane mechanic would hop out and take off the AF insignia which were held on by zeus fittings. I also went to Japan and picked up 5 conex boxes that filled the cargo bay. Had a talkative Lt. with us who told us we were hauling the new script into Vietnam. When it was mentioned upon landing what we thought the cargo was we all received an interview one on one by a room full of brass. Again more or less threatened if we mentioned a word to anyone. Even as a crew we didn't talk to each other about it. Picked up a load in Taiwan one time. It was a mess. Thousands of pounds of rice, refrigerators, a small trailer that could be towed behind a jeep full of stuff, Korean passengers. No one spoke English and the plane was extremely nose heavy. Pilot was upset and had a right to be. During the flight I was hauling 100 lb sacks of rice all the way back to the end of the ramp to try and balance it a little. My worst loading job ever. Landed in Danang all was talking to some spook who told me the goods were for Korean Troops. He said an hour after the goods hit their PX the would be for sale on the black market down town. Korean soldiers supplemented their pay that way. While in E Flight you never talked to each other about your mission. Now that books have been written more is known. When I left E Flight they put the fear of god into you about talking about the mission.

Loading a bunch, herd?, of Army guys one day and the old Sarg. says " Move forward until the man in front of you smiles". I used that line for years. I used the slip stick all the time. I always laughed at my form F's as they were unreadable do to me sweating all over it.

I remember that crash. Doug Kuba was the other loadmaster. I had been the best man at his wedding a month before. Marilyn was his wife's name. As I remember some one saw the crash and called the local radio station first. I don't remember any funeral service at all. I might have been gone, CRS. Bill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_%28military_officer%29 That's it exactly. Capt. Pete flew in Korea and was the best pilot I flew with. He was a great instructor. In it's wisdom the AF said no degree no officer status.

Hi Guys, I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. I have all my military photos posted here. http://picasaweb.google.com/billxmailman/AllMilitary# 1966-1970. I was based at Dyess, 347th and Naha Okinawa, 21st. 3 years 10 months 10 days in the AF. Last 6 months were spent in a leg cast and rehab. I was looking to do them here but it would just take a long time. If I get stuck in a real stretch of bad weather I'll start. There are airdrop, Blindbat, Vietnam, Ubon, Naha, paratroopers, Europe photos. Also Naha motorcycle club photos. Let me know when you have viewed them. Thanks, Bill