As a Flight Mechanic on a C-130, Dad flew with the same crew and all became friends. Major Bill Price was the Flt. Commander, Capt. Holland, navigator; Capt. Bob Appleby, navigator and Dad. There may have been others but these are the ones I remember best. I'm not even sure about the name - Holland but something like that. Bob Appleby, when not working/flying could be found at the Officer's Club on base. He was always getting into trouble. Do you remember how the housing was on one side of the runway and the base on the other? A slightly inebriated Bob called Joe one night to come and get him. It seems he was stopped by the Air Police for "running into the landing lights" at the end of the runway. Another time, he rang our bell at 2am and wanted to stash an Octoberfest Sign that was outside the club. I think we had it in back of our bed for a couple of weeks. You would wake up and see these buxom ladies holding 3 glasses of beer and cheering! Not a pretty sight first thing in the morning.
Willie Shaver was in a different squadron than we were. His first name was Columbus and all the guys called him Chris. One day, they took another guy's Volkswagen Beetle and carried it across the railroad tracks, Willie laughed & laughed telling us about it. The guy couldn't understand how his car got from here to there.
Jim Alexander had a wooden leg. He was in a motorcycle accident early in the service but convinced the A.F. that he could do his job. He was a plane mechanic and would climb all over to get the job done.
Our social life consisted of bowling in the Mixed Doubles, going to the club for dinner and dancing, taking short road trips around the area and house parties.
We girls had home parties too: crystal, china & Hummel figurines. A lot of us brought Hummels home. Funny, the German people did not consider them an expensive item and you might find them in a store such as K-Mart but of course, we loved them. Clocks of every type were popular as well as paintings and beer steins. Dad flew all over to Thailand, Greece, Okinawa and always brought back souvenirs. A couple of us were involved with scouting and we held Day Camp in the summer within the base. The base provided us with tents, fresh water and all kinds of supplies.
Annually, the squadron held a picnic. As there wasn't any grills, the guys dug pits and brought in spring cots to use and it worked great. Nothing like being creative!
In the spring time like all famiies everywhere, we were over the ball field cheering the kids on.
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6 comments:
Love this post! I can just "see" all these people and events. I have to say, Betty, I never thought of you as a fence for stolen goods. LOL
Hah!
I remember Mr. Alexander taking off his leg and freaking us out! When Dad came back from TDY, not only did he bring souvenirs, he also brought his "left overs" from the box lunches the AF provided. That meant Hershey bars- which we didn't get to have very often, so it was a big treat!
Yes, that's right! He also brought huge cantaloupes and other fruit that were from Italy. I remember him parking the car in the back and handing them up to us on the balcony.
I do remember Dad bringing home watermelons and handing them up to someone on the balcony- one slipped and went SPLAT all over him and the ground. He was NOT happy!
Who, - someone?
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