gizzard

Always seemed rather ironic that we strapstretchers had three college graduates and a career NCO who's only task was to take us and our cargo where it had to go!!!!! AND we were always the last on the bird and the first OFF!!!! Oh, I forgot about the air conditioning thing!!!! MY FE in Nam, Mike Maloney, sometimes forgot where that knob was.....Or turned it the other way....Anyway i am tryin' to show just what a great time you can have workin' with true professionals and good people. I miss it, forty years later, but I am glad to see that the spirit still lives. Oh, yeah, Bob, spell check shows that there are TWO "E"s in injunear"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LMAO!!!!!!!!!!

It took you two years to learn to say "Check/Set"????? it only took me six months to learn to say "aboard, closed and checked"!!!!!!!!!!! I expect a thrashin' from my buddy Bob Woods for that!!!!!! Seriously, though, that is a great accomplishment, far as I am concerned. Well done and good luck. I flew with a whole bunch of great FE's, and I still appreciate their knowledge and skills. load clear P.

HM, I read all the stuff about O2 use and cabin pressure and all that, I think maybe i was in an entirely different Air Force. We didn't do any of that, maybe we should have???? LOL load clear P.

Somewhere around March or so 1973, flyin' out of langley, also, we took a ship, can't remember the tail number, to 35,000. Capt, mcEchron I believe was the AC. at least it is him in the left seat in the picture I have showin' the altimeter. We were goin' to Mountain Home, ID. step climbed on the way out. Salt lake Center, i think it was, asked aircraft type confirmation. Some airline guy asked why we were up that high, I told the Ac to tell him we had 10,000 pounds fo Tang for Sky Lab. Then, to show us the error of our ways, the main landing gear froze, and wouldn't extend. Had to bounce around don't remember how long now, for it to thaw out

I went to Fairchild, december 1970. What an experience. I was convinced then, and still am today, that they were not so much teachin' what to do if ya got caught, as they were building incentive not to.Woods part was cold wet, and snowy, of course. My group was made up of six other guys, every one a great person. No slackers in our camp at all. In another camp, some city boy nav caught a snow shoe in a snare, picked it up by the ears, it was still alive, and it tore the hell out of his forearm with it's hind feet. Our OIC was a major, probably 50 years old, and a terrific troop. On our march out, he decided we would be the last to the pickup point. WE waited til everybody else was there and then we came marchin' out whistlin' the theme from the "Bridge over the River Kwai." Still got my chute panels with all their names. It still smells like wood smoke. Can't believe that has been 40 years almost............ load clear P.

Great lookin' hose , Dan. Ya gonna paint it in SEA Camo??????? Looks like a fabulous place, how about some hsitory on it when ya get the chance. Good luck with the move, and be safe doin' it Load clear P.

What is it about the C-130 eople who always come through when it counts????????? As a retired firefighter, I know what small hesitations and lack of action can result in, in situations like this. Outstanding, brother, outstanding. Somehow, i can hear you sayin' "well somebody had to do somethin." Well, most people don't. No matter what era service, vets are a true 'national treasure,'. as you are, willie, for puttin' yourself into "I'll help ya." mode. You did us all proud. load clear P.

Got my stickers, they are great. Now if we could get that on some TEE's, that would be outstanding load clear P.

Must be somethin' about Song Be that brought buddy starts on. Two years after alan's event, damn near to the day, my crew had to do the same thing. Lost, I think, it was #2, was supposed to load a forklift, but I refused it cause it had three flat tires, a broken suspension, and leakin' every fluid it had. Why they wanted it out, i don't know, but it was not safe to load. anyway, runway too short for windmill taxi start, nobody around to fix it, and we were actually considerin' a three engine departure (oh what that would have brought down).anyway a marine c-130 came in so we did the buddie start with out any real problem..My AC told them 'Hey marines, thanks for the BJ." A definite lack of gratitude! LMAO!!!!!!! load clear

Boy Pat, ya rang some bells long silent for me . Yep Incirlik was great, i think that is where I got to likin' salad bars, Wake was great, in '72. Don't remember the momma san at Taklhi though............A mind is a terrible thing.............. load clear

Casey,any chance you would do one from the 36TAS, tail letters LM, numbers like, best i can remember 7888, 7788, etc, in their 1970 or so colors??? The rest look great, sure would like one that shows one of the birds i flew P.

Yep, Talon's may 'rule", but the old "E" model kept us free!!!!!!! LOL Showin' my age perhaps???????

I was at Rocky Gap Veteran's Cemetary with VVA chapter 172 honor guard, we did a field burial program on Saturday. Glad i can still do those thinsg, and it will take a lot to make me quit. Maryland's Governor O'Malley was at Rocky Gap, first governor that has been there since ihave been goin. Oh, yeah, election year, forgot. As for Obama.well guys, let's just hope that people finally realize what he has in mind, and maybe he will be a "one and done." I personallyfelt it an insult to every vet buried in arlington when the likes of draft dodger slick willy, 'stay at home W." or Obama pretended to honor them in years past. At leasr Biden has a son in the military..........But remember this guys, the vast majority of people on this board are/were military. Every damn one of you did a good job, and should be proud of it. I think most have some form of combat experience. One tough bunch of people to snowball. it is my belief that this country will get to the point where it will clear the board once and for all, and put it back the way it was, and once again be the country we were proud to serve. All gave some, some gave all!!!!!!!! load clear P.

I like it, I'd buy a couple

Sleeping as an active crew member is forbidden!!!!!!!!!!HOWEVER, due to the conditions of their job, many load masters found intake plugs acceptable to cushion themselves for rejunvenational meditation. I,for one, really liked the cargo chutes on CDS drops. VERY comfortable!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!! I never saw it, but the rumor was a crew chief had a write-up that said the crew bunk was lumpy. His corrective action was " function-checked crew bunk for eight hours, appears to be within normal limits." load clear

Hey, PWylie, you have a post with Kenny Boyd, Charleston, SC in it. Is that the infamous Shorty Boyd??? If so how can i contact him. Me, Sly, Budge,and the grease have tried allover to find him..

Keep me aware of this..I know a number of old 36, 37, and 38 folks who maybe interested as well. I was a loady with the 36th, from July 70 to Feb 74. Reckon nobody else wanted me. Mr. Staples i certainly remember your name, just can't put a face on it. Load clear

Okay, been off here for a while, but this is one story that is as true as my heart beat. When the 36th was TDY to CCK in '72, for some unknown reason, I was assigned to fly a local with one of the othersquadrons there, don't remember which, or why. Anyway, if my memory is right, the plane had DB on the tail, and 7771.........I am goin about my preflight, and i check the lights in the cargo compartment, thye are normal. We start up taxi out and somewhere asround run-up, the hog trough lights turn freakin' GREEN, I mean christmas tree green, and then go normal. I amdea mentionof this to the flight deck, they just laughed. rest of the crash and go flight was normal. back home, maybe six months later, i hear this bird is supposed to be haunted.and had went to Little Rock. HMMMMMMMMM!!! Jump ahead about 23 years, a family stops at my house, asked if we were who they were lookin' for, I said yeah i guess, they show us this little baby, and say"If it hadn't been for your daughter this little girl would have died at birth." My daughter was workin' as a labor and delivery nurse at the time at Ruby hospital, in Morgantown, WV, and had done somethin' that couldn't wait and apparently it saved the baby. Anyway, I talk tot he father, who has just separated out of the reuglar AF, to go to reserves i think it was, and he told me worked on environmental control systems on C-130's, at Little Rock. I asked him if he had worked on any haunted ones, he gets this really funny look on his face, and told me yes, he had experiences with two different aircraft there,and one was an old E model. Coincidence? was it the same bird? Who knows..........

Here are some I already knew.... Terry Budge..near Philly, PA Gail "Gus" Guyton, Huntingdon, PA Randy "grease"Grensavitch, Fayetteville, NC Paul E. Parish, Oldtown, MD Dean "Sly" Snyder, Youngstown, NY aboard, closed and checked

Just happened to see this today. Back in '72, when I was flyin' out of NKP, some guy there built an AC-119 I think it was. best memory i have of it is that he flew it shortly after I left. anybody remember that, andhave any idea of what happened to it? Load clear

told a buddy of mine I'd start this up..........I know there are a few of ya out there already, but hopin to find more. Terry is interested, as I am, in findin' any former members of the 36th, 37th, and 38th TAS from Langley during the time period say June 1970 to about the end of 1973. There are some, like "Shorty" Boyd, Ted Jalowick, Ray Imri, Lou Simpson, Bill Greene, who seem to have just disappeared. Terry was with the 36th to begin with and then went to the 38th when it started up. We also had some loadys come in from 123 Ranch Hands, anybody know of them??? Many more names but it would make the post enormous. I know Bob Daly is in this fine group of people, so where are the rest? thanks Aboard, closed and checked

Remember them well............one of my favorite things to advise the flight deck crew that one had come on after a firmer than normal landing. Don't know what they wers upposed to activate at, but soem would. I am quite certain that the landings, though not exactly greasers, were not in the 2 g range or whatever. Or could they have been? I sorta remeber somethin' about hard landings had to be reported and inspections done, but can't remeber if activating exit lights brought that on. anyway, thanks for bringin' back another long faded memory from long, long ago. Load clear

I am glad to know more brothers have come home. The first Gulf war MIA is now home. Many more remain to be found and brought back. I fly the MIA-POW flag every day in honor of and hope for these remaining comrades. I tell people all the time that a very large number of the MIA-POW from Vietnam were flyers, just like we were/are. it often surprises them. I make sure somebody remembers every day. I had thehonmor of bein' prsent when SSgt Grady Cooke was laid to rest in Arlington after being lost at An loc in 1972. But the sad and as far as i am concerned, disgusting thing is that the damn medi aplays up a perverted,psycho, drug infested, pediphile over and over and over again, and does not make any mention of our people,who died doing our country's duty. Guys, why do we let this go on? Remember, just a tick of time or written word made the difference between it bein' us who was lost. Welcome Home..and REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!

As someone who jumped from a perfectly good airplane, i guess i can see this happenin. But I do recall this happenin to me.....Had a really arrogant army jumpmaster at Pope one time just be a complete ass when he checkedmy plane for proper rigging. Now i didn't mind that abit, even though I was very meticulous about riggin' for troop drops. This P***k did just about everything but measure the tape I put on thedoor frames. anyway aftyer he his done, he pulls himslef up to his full five seven, and declares " I get PAID $55 a month to jump from this aircraft." I said " Big damn deal, i get paid $70 a month to stay in it." End of a budding friendship. Most the troops I dropped,though, were great, hardly any issues. load clear

Thanks for the kind words, brothers. anybody who had the opportunity to be a C130 loadmaster, and work 26 years as a firefighter is one lucky SOB. Two of the greatest jobs anyone can ever have, sometimes doin' things people would not believe, helpin' keep a great country free and a city safe, all the while associating with some of the finest people anyone could have the privilege to know. Tomorrow mornin, at 0800, when I leave the station here for the last time, there will be no more in-country Nam vets here. So an era will end. I am grateful that i can walk out, knowin' that i never got one of my troops hurt, and I always brought them home!!!!!!!! Load clear