To Our Veterans

[DaveBrt]

Stop that. ​

1) Service is lethal, even in peace time - we dealt with killing machines 24/7/365 that weren't particular about who they killed or maimed. Even putting air in truck tires could become an emotionally significant moment.
2) No one promised us that the blank check (for our lives that) we signed when we enlisted wasn't going to be cashed before we DD214'd.
3) Morons perpetrating accidents can kill you just as dead as a 7,62x39.
"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on."

― Captain Yossarian [Joseph Heller, Catch-22].​

4) The Cold War wasn't exactly *Cold*

Secret Casualties of the Cold War

Gary Powers wasn’t the only one. More than 200 airmen were shot down while spying on the Soviet Union.

www.smithsonianmag.com

H-029-3 Cold War Aviation Incidents

H-Gram 029, Attachment 3 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC April 2019

www.history.navy.mil

Air-to-air combat losses between the Soviet Union and the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

5) You took one step forward with that Oath. Never forget that.

Your service counts just like the Operators' who got shot at all the time, but you lucked out avoiding those nightmares.

Agree completely. In my story, I list 160 men who died in operations within 50 miles of me; only 5 were by enemy action.

 

[Story]

Agreed 'Service is definitely lethal, even in peacetime'.

There ya go. Now we can salute each other for holding off those dastardly Krasnovians

 

[stu613]

LOL- I first read that as Kardasian's!

 

[reading48]

My father 28 Yr. Veteran Served in the 315th troop carrier 8th A.F. WWII ... Korea ... 2 Tours Viet N.

 

[USS ALASKA]

1981 - 2017, 36 years. First 9 as an Avionics Technician on F-4s and F-16s...

This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain in the United States.

File:F-4D 121st TFS DC Air National Guard 1987.JPEG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

...(I worked on that aircraft) then the last 27 years as Combat Aircrew on EC-130 Commando Solo...

Photos in Public Domain

Lockheed EC-130 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

...yes that is Three Mile Island, which was just a little south of our base.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

There ya go. Now we can salute each other for holding off those dastardly Krasnovians

LOL- I first read that as Kardasian's!

Outstanding sir - outstanding!

USS ALASKA

 

[Story]

LOL- I first read that as Kardasian's!

Gotta check the updates to Annex B on any given day.

 

[Story]

I only recall one time when I was older and really pressed him, he told me of an incident that I'm sure had to haunt him the rest of his life.

You're going to drop that reference and not expand on it?

 

[Coonewah Creek]

You're going to drop that reference and not expand on it?

I'm afraid not. He only told me after I had pestered him about it for a long time and so he finally told me the details about an incident that he had only hinted at in the past. He shared it with me in confidence, so no, I can't expand on it here, sorry...

 

[1950lemans]

Concerning veterans. I just fund out, a little more than a month ago, that anybody could request the records of any US serviceman active before 1960.
I'm glad I found this out because I only thought I could obtain my father's records. Now I could obtain more family members records which I did obtain.
My father and six uncles served in WWII. Combat veterans, mostly Navy, Pacific Theater.
I got all their records. Two uncles joined the service before the USA was involved in war. Unfortunately their records are older and were kept at St. Louis. Vietnam War protestors burned this facility and as a result their records are spotty at best.

 

[Story]

For you folks in the cheap seats, an explanation

The Krasnovians (National Training Center)
These are your hard-core fighters from a Soviet bloc country called Krasnovia. Unpredictable and a very non-traditional enemy force, the Krasnovians are known to switch up their tactics and quickly adapt, like stopping the use of radios and moving to cell phones to throw off U.S. soldiers they are fighting.

from https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/us-forces-opfor-fictional-enemies/

 

[reading48]

yes that is Three Mile Island, which was just a little south of our base.

would that be Middle Town.

 

[USS ALASKA]

would that be Middle Town.

Indeed sir, fashionably cosmopolitan center-of-the-universe KMDT, Harrisburg International Airport! I think the International meant Canada - or maybe New Jersey...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[reading48]

My Father also a mechanic on airplanes stationed there until 1977 ... He was a line chief in WWII.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Also known as Olmsted Army Airfield / Middletown Air Depot / Middletown Air Material Area

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[DaveBrt]

Well, I got the Navy story completed, photos attached, etc. Its about 33 pages long. I'll present a printed copy to each daughter at Christmas. Glad I finally wrote it -- even my wife, who shared the entire journey, found things she had never heard.

For several reasons, we had Christmas gift giving early this year. Both girls (mid-40's) received their copies at the same time and were clearly thrilled with my story. Glad I saw the project through for them.