Mt.crewchief

Last week one of the guys that I met on this forum came to Montana for his second visit! Chris and his wife Mary have become good friends with my wife and I and we look forward to seeing them every year!! (I may have to go to Wisconsin to see them next year)! I'm going to try Chris!!! These two pictures are taken near the summit of Beartooth Pass. I think the elevation there is around 10,281 ft. This is on the way from my home in Columbus to the North East entrance to Yellowstone Park. Silver Gate MT. We had a good time and Chris told me some more "war stories" of course I had none to offer!!!! I think it would be great to be able to meet all of you guys & gal on the forum. I'll bet we would all get along like Chris and I do!!! Ken

Barry, It's a pretty sure bet that I knew you, or knew who you were while we were both in the 35th. I was assigned to 56-475 while there, but had to do all of the "jeep" things like tow/refuel/de-fuel crew, wash-rack, flight line taxi (specialist dispatch) etc. etc.! Of course you remember Msgt. Andy Haskell my flight chief. 56-475's crew chief was Sgt. Willard. The assistant CC was Sgt. Dan Lafferty and I and a guy named Smitty were 3rd and 4th wipers! Of course, I remember Jesse James, I liked him and he was fun to be around. At the time I was at Naha I was 22 and 23 yrs old and I thought Jesse was at least in his 60's. There was a Cmsgt. there that was around all of the time but I can't remember his name. He drove a little red Honda convertible. That of course was before any Honda cars in the US! Do you remember him? I also spent 90 days at Ubon as a Blind Bat loadmaster/flare-kicker in 1968. Chris Carter and I saw a note on the bulletin board about volunteers needed for the Blind Bat mission, so, we did, and the rest is history!! I have some other questions I need to ask you that are quite lengthy so I will PM or e-mail you with them. By the way, welcome to the forum, Ken Carlson

Skip, nice to see you around again!! I, for one, missed your very interesting and entertaining posts and replies!! Ken

Hey, just looked at your new pics in your gallery!! Nice additions to an already nice gallery!!! I can't help but like the Gray Haired Vet patch the best!!!! Ken

Just a little to add to this thread---A friend of mine, a retired Army Bird Colonel, told me that he recently purchased a riding lawn mower at Home Depot and presented his retired military card for his 10 % discount. He told me that he has been doing that for years--successfully, but not on that large of amount. They gave him what they said was their maximum discount which was $150.00 off. He was okay with that, but he also said Lowes will give a veteran the full 10% on any purchase no matter what the amount!! The above purchases have been in Billings MT so maybe not all of the stores are up to date on all policies. I, myself, have never tried getting a discount from either place, but that's mostly because I forget it until later! Imagine that!!!! Ken

You did good Pat!! It's good you could help a fellow Airman

Man, I wished I wouldn't have signed on today!! I feel like I knew Dan personally and whenever he was off the forum for awhile I was afraid something had happened to him. I feel like I have lost a buddy, My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, Ken

When our planes were doing the Bangkok Shuttle from CCK in 69 & 70, us crew chiefs stayed at the Trocadero Hotel downtown. Don't remember what it looked like or exactly where it was at, but I do remember having a very good time!!!! Ken

Now that's funny!!! After my civilian glasses broke at Naha, I never wore my "issue" glasses downtown anywhere!! Ken

No actually they have a pretty nice selection of glasses, I get a new pair from them every year, nice wire frame ones. Of course they have the butt ugly selections if that's what you want LOL You mean the ones like this fine looking young Airman is wearing??? Screwed up the pic---lower left corner Scan.BMP

That's what I was going to say next!!! Also, I was barefooted with my feet wrapped in potato sacks!!

Watch out America!!

Yeh, I think that is mostly how the categories are chosen. A few years ago, a cat. 7 or 8 wouldn't even get handled. The first time I tried I was a cat. 8 due to income but later all of that was revised because a couple years ago I applied again and was approved for a cat. 6. This time they didn't ask for joint income and just specified "applicant's only" income. The cat. 6 puts me in the $50.00 co-pay bracket and it has really come in handy. Also, even though (according to the book), a Cat. 6 isn't supposed to qualify for hearing aids, I got them because my care-giver at the clinic recommended them and made the appt. Also I told her about the floaters I have in my eyes and was worried about them, she made an eye appt for me to check them out. Now, according to what the doctors say, that once I am on the eye care part of the program, I am eligible to get glasses at my co-pay if I ever need them!! (probably be like the ones issued in basic)!!! Hope not!! Of course, none of the care I have received would have been available if I wouldn't have signed up for VA Healthcare. I didn't apply for any disability until I had been in the system for awhile to get a feel for what I was doing! I am relatively sure that what I did isn't necessary, but that's what I felt right doing. Again, I find myself carrying on like I am bullshitting with a bunch of friends. I guess I am!! Ken

While at the VA Clinic the other day, I was reading the Airman magazine and I saw an article stating that the Drone pilots (?) are suffering from a high percentage of PTSD. Did any of you guys see that?? I have to agree with US Herk about the mental aspect of their job! I also am glad that they aren't going to receive combat medals! Just my $.02 worth, Ken

I have been wondering if any of you guys know why we never see anything from him anymore. I sure hope he is okay! Also, I hope that he hasn't quit posting because of something one of us may have said. I found all of his posts very interesting. Ken

I guess it is time for me to see if I can add a little to this discussion. I have a couple claims that I submitted Dec. 19th (2012) and I get letters every so often that they are still working on my claims and apologize for the delay. My VA Claims Adviser can look on his computer to see what progress has been made. The last check (2 weeks ago) , shows that they have received my records. I was also telling him about the long delays some of you have been through (namely Giz's) and he said that Montana was in the top three for fast determinations. So of course the VA started farming their claims out to other states and now Montana's claim speed is somewhere in the middle of the pack. My two claims are for Tinnitus and a documented hearing loss while at Naha. My adviser seems to think I wont be waiting much longer. So far on a different subject-- (VA care), I feel that I have been treated very well. One of the things that I appreciate the most is the hearing aids I got last October and of course free batteries for life. All for the cost of my co-pay ($50 )!! Also, I had a $50.00 hernia operation (just in time for Chris's visit)! I wanted to ask you guys if any of you are receiving any type of hearing disability? Also, what percentage? I know my tinnitus is very bad and I have just had to get used to it over the years. I attribute it to the constantly running GTC's at Cam Ranh Bay. (not enough MD3's). Just wanting to take part in this discussion, Ken

The hunnert mile an hour goat Two Weyburn rednecks are out hunting, and as they are walking along they come upon a huge hole in the ground. They approached it and are amazed by the size of it. The first hunter says, "Wow, that's some hole; I can't even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is." The second hunter says," I don't know, let's throw something down and listen and see how long it takes to hit bottom." The first hunter says, "There's this old automobile transmission here, give me a hand and we'll throw it in and see". So they pick it up and carry it over, and count one, and two and three, and throw it in the hole. They are standing there listening and looking over the edge and they hear a rustling in the brush behind them. As they turn around they see a goat come crashing through the brush, run up to the hole and with no hesitation, jump in head first. While they are standing there looking at each other, looking in the hole and trying to figure out what that was all about, an old farmer walks up. "Say there," says the farmer, "you fellers didn't happen to see my goat around here anywhere, did you?" The first hunter says, " Funny you should ask, but we were just standing here a minute ago and a goat came running out of the bushes doin' about a hunnert miles an hour and jumped headfirst into this hole here!" The old farmer said, "That's impossible. I had him chained to a transmission!" Have a great day. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- End forwarded message -----

Nice going Giz! Somehow I knew you would prevail!!!! Ken

Okay, okay, here it is!!! Thanks for the stickers!!!!

Don, I asked my VA adviser that same question a couple weeks ago, and he told me that the VSM was at one time good enough for proof of boots on the ground, but now it seems to be interpreted differently. In other words, it is not a"for sure" thing!! Now, after saying that, my ex-Navy brother in law was told that he was qualified for any Agent Orange claim and his VSM meant that he was also considered as "boots on the ground". This was told to him by his doctor at the VA clinic. Oh, my brother in law was on an aircraft carrier off the coast. Ken

pwylie, Thanks for posting that picture. I almost think I recognize that pig! Ken

I remember it, but don't remember why exactly! There was a story going around that an AP guarding the airplane walked int the props (while running) there during my time (67-69). Don't know if it was true or not! Of course the AP didn't make it!!!!! Ken We called it the "hot pad"

Don, nice arrangement, nice pickup!! Where do you find the Vietnam Veteran stickers like that?? Ken

Giz, I use a unit named Image Box Plus I bought at Costco. It copies 4 slides in a holder type thing, it also does film strips, and has the capability of doing photos also! It was used on at least half of my pictures in my gallery. It is easy to use, and cost around $120.00 (a couple years ago). My earlier pictures were done with a slide copier mounted to my camera. A real pain in the ass! Someday, I plan on redoing all of those slides with my Image Box. Of course Chris being anal about photography like he is, would have Adobe Elements 11 !!! (he is a professional by the way)! I download my slide and picture copying & editing to Google Picassa on my computer. It is a free download!! See how easy I make it sound!! If you want to get more technical, ask Chris! By the way giz, do you have any pics of the gals you hung around with? You know the ones that looked like a "potato sack full of doorknobs"??? I can't help it, that is funny!!! Ken

Sam, I'm not sure what you mean that Blind Bat troops did not go TDY to SVN. I know for sure that most of the maint. guys like Becky's husband did go TDY to both places. A lot of us including the crew chiefs on Blind Bat birds did 60 or 120 day rotations to CRB and also TSN. I for one, did go TDY as a crew member on a Blind Bat crew to Ubon, and did many TDY's to CRB as a crew chief and also one 60 day TDY there. In other words, not all of the designated Blind Bat (black bellied) birds were ONLY used in Thailand!! I am speaking about just the Blind Bat guys & airplanes stationed at Naha while I was there from 67-69!! I know nothing about Blind Bat after the mission was moved to CCK . Sam, what I have found since joining this forum is that nothing the USAF did during that time is a certain fact!! Ken