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Anyone recognize these young troops?


gizzard
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While rummaging around for somethin' else, I came across this picture, from June 1970, of my loadie class, at Sheppard. Does anyone recognize any of these guys, or know where they are now?

Front row: Georgeson (ID, Hearne (TXs), Merrow (CA), Brummett (TN), Yeakley (AK), Hamblin (KY)

Second row: TSGT Mike Hollman,instructor (was in 316th around 72), Correa(CA), Gannon(TX), Parish(WV, now D),

Stoddard(VT, went to Pease Rescue), Banks(GA) Vaughn (IN) Classick(CA), Rudek(CA)

I hope I can attach the picture. Sure would like to know where these guys ended up. It seemed to me that we were quite a bunch and got along well. But 41 years AGO?????

Giz

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Giz, Those are some "sharp troops" you all appear to have been to the base tailor!! Did you have zippers on your boots also???

How long was Loadmaster School??

Did any of you guys know where you were going next??

Just think of all that has happened since then!!!

Thanks for sharing,

Ken

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Well, yes, we all, best I can remember, had most of our fatigues done over, pegged pants and short sleeved. One of the first things we did once we started class. We most definitely had zippers in our boots,too, at least most of us. Load school then was, I think,maybe ten weeks. Somebody from that time period can correct me. That is once you started school. There was a thing called PATS, Personnel Awaiting Training Status, that everyone had to do for a short period of time, basically slave labor. I think back then it was only supposed to be maybe a week, ten days max, then ya did KP at one of the slop halls, and then to school. But for some reason, we kept gettin shuffled back for the the loady course. I think I did nearly three weeks maybe longer. One morning an ariman two striper had all loadmaster candidates fall out of morning formation and join him off to the side. We thought okay this is it, he says " You guys are gonna be responsible for loadin and off loadin airplanes, so you need to start gettin' used to it." We spent two damn days hauling refrigerators into a new BOQ they had built. We had this totally ridiculous thing everyday after class, called Noon tune. We all,everyone that was in classes up by the flight line, had to march in these big ass formations back to the squadron areas. There was a little platform that somebody would stand on,everyday,and salute. Sometimes it would be an officer, more times than not, it would be an NCO. The whole loadmaster contingent, and there were maybe four or so classes goin' on the same time, would get together int he middle of the formation, and start doin' the' Oh, Oh, EE, Oh, off to work we go" from Snow White. I had some of the best instructors I ever had then. of course, once we graduated we still had, back then, once we got to our duty assignment, more training on the specific plane we would be flyin'. We all knew where we would go, just about the time we graduated,....I went to Langley ( I'm 4 from the left in row 2), I think Georgeson went to a test and development squadron, Brummet was goin' to Sewart, i think but i think they closed shortly afterward. I think the California guys all went to Travis, but i can't be sure. Banks went to 141's some where, Stoddard went to Pease in ARRS, Hamblin, I think went to Pope, because i ran into him a year or so after we left Sheppard. The rest i cannot recall for sure, One I think went to Dyess, perhaps, and my fuzzy mind says one went to Forbes, but i ain't swearin' to it. After that, who knows where they all went. But like i said, we were a pretty diverse group, and got along very well. I was sort of the math guru for the bunch, and I helped them out. Would I do it again? You damn right. I hope they all have made it to old age, had a good life, and I would love to meet them again. Sorry for all the wordiness, but you asked!!!! Most everybody out there on this board has a similar story. Let's hear'em

Giz

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Most everybody out there on this board has a similar story. Let's hear'em

Giz

OK, Giz, you asked for it. Here's my class photo from Jet Aircraft Mechanic over 2 engines. Amarillo AFB, TX -- summer of 1963. Unlike you, I have no idea what the rest of the guys' names are. As I remember, though, all of us ended up at Langley to work on the newly-arrived from Sewart C-130B's.

My first practical test in tech school was to select the proper screw driver to fit into the slot on a Dzus fastener. I passed!

We marched just about every where we went -- to and from school, to and from the chow hall, etc. For the life of me, I can't remember what our barracks were like there, although I do remember arriving at Langley and living in open bay barracks there. Even the toilets in the latrine were open bay!

Don R.

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Now, this fun!! This is my Tech School class at Sheppard in 1967. A bunch of good guys and we were all friends. A couple of us ended up at Naha, two of the guys went to Clark, and I think maybe one or two went to Tachikawa. I did meet up with the guys from Clark at CRB SVN. once or twice!! Of course the meeting place was at the Herky Hootch up on Herky Hill!!

It would be great to know what they are doing today!

I have all of their names(autographs) on the back of the pic in case one of you guys see somebody that looks familiar!!

Ken

image0.jpg

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Some old A model? I can't remember ever actually usin' it in class. We had the simulated cargo compartments inside, if I remember right. In my first post here I said I thought Brummett went to Sewart, could I have been wrong about that? Was it closed by June of 70? He had a terrible time with the math part of the class. He would, during the block exams, smack his fingers on the edge of the desk,ever so often. Finally one of the instructors asked him what the hell he was doin'. he says " I can't figure out the problem, so I use the SMART system, each finger is either A,B,C, or D. When i hit the table, which ever one smarts the most is the answer." yeah, he graduated, too.

Only a loady.......

Giz

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Help out a computer dummy. How do I post a picture?
Hyattsville, MD???? You are on the other end of the state from me. ain't nobody any lamer on a computer than me ,but Bob and Casey made this a very friendly site. Just clikc at the lower right corner of the message panel on Go advanced, and just follow the path. easy to do. If i can, anybody can

giz

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Hyattsville, MD???? You are on the other end of the state from me. ain't nobody any lamer on a computer than me ,but Bob and Casey made this a very friendly site. Just clikc at the lower right corner of the message panel on Go advanced, and just follow the path. easy to do. If i can, anybody can

giz

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Sonny

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How about this crew? Eating stolen steaks cooked to perfection over a metal trash can at CRB. Guilty LM in the green T-shirt is Roy E. Morris (I'd love to hear from him) and semi bald guy on the right in Ben Kerlin, Stan-Eval LM currently living in San Antonio half the year and Taichung the other half.

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  • 1 year later...

gizzard,

My last name is Rudek, and my father lives in CA. Could you please re-post (or better yet, e-mail me) the photo since it's not here anymore? I'd like to see if it is him and I imagine he'd get a kick out of it. My e-mail is cjrudek at yahoo dot com .

Thanks.

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This is a fun thread! I'll try to get a pic uploaded. If it works, it is my Tech class #09093-B Amarillo, TX, taken upon graduating in Dec. 1963. I am the tall drink of water directly in back of the instructor. If you move around to my left the third airman is my very best friend Norm Plantz. Just in back of the left shoulder of the guy holding the sign is Airman Jody Wilcoxson. He went on to load master school after we were assigned to Pope. I dearly, dearly, want to get ahold of him. I do have the signature of each of the guys in the picture if anyone would need one.

tinwhistle

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Ken, to be quite honest, I don't think that at that moment there was any one of us that knew what a C-130 was!!!!! There was, if I remember correctly, 4 of us that went to Pope, a couple went to Seward, and several stayed in bombers at some SAC base. The instructor tried to give us a little heads up on where we each were headed for and what our duty's would be but this was only about a month after Kennedy was killed and no one knew anything for sure and hardly anyone had heard of a tiny SE Asian country called French Indochina. I figure I was one of the fortunate ones!!!!

chris

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I'm happy that I revived this thread! (If you look, you'll note that it was inactive for nearly 1.5 years prior to my post 5 days ago.) It's getting a lot of activity.

I'll check with my cousins to see if any of them might have been in the pic that began this thread. RUDEK isn't that common of a common name in the U.S.

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