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Baron Scroll Fall 2005 page 6

When I was asked to write a piece for the newsletter I was a little hesitant, then I thought what the heck go for it. My father received his orders to Bitburg in Sept. 1965, and since my dad was enlisted we were required to travel by troop ship. What a disaster for my poor mom, driving from Fort Leonardwood, Missouri to New York with seven children in a three-seater station wagon. While billeted in New York we met up with Jim Keto (Hans Engel) and his brother Joe, who were going to Germany on the same ship (USS Buckner). The trip to Germany took ten days and the weather was miserable, but us kids had the time of our lives. My friendship with Jim would be life long, he is like a brother to me.

After arriving in Bitburg we found out it would take about a year and a half to obtain base housing. My dad ended up at a Missile Battalion twenty miles from the base, and our sponsor set us up in a farm house about a mile from his workstation. There were 7 children (the 8th child was born in the Bitburg hospital two years later.) We lived in a three-bedroom farmhouse with oil heating and my dad drove a Volkswagen. To this day I could still strangle our sponsor, it was a miserable one and a half years. If it had not been for Greg Zamora allowing me to spend weekends in his maid’s room my life would have been miserable. Once in base housing every thing changed for the better. Bitburg ended up being one of the greatest periods of my life, I would not change a thing other than being way too cocky as a teenager.

In 1969 my dad received orders to Vietnam and our family moved to an Air Force base in Washington State that had closed. Larson Air Force Base opened their housing area for dependent families that had fathers overseas. After living in Moses Lake, Washington for approximately 6 months I could no longer take it and joined the Air Force. Prior to going to basic training I took two trips, one was to Ohio to see Jim Keto ’68 and Larry Galbreath ‘69. The second trip was to Holloman AFB, New Mexico with Bill Dhooghe ‘68, who called me from Seattle. He was driving that way to marry Robin Schantel ‘69. and asked if I would like to ride as far as Holloman where we met up with Mike Flanagan ‘68, Danny Kieth, Bonnie Cassidy, Pat McWhirter and a few more of the Spang crowd.

My first assignment in the Air Force was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. What a tough assignment! I was working in a military clothing store and to my surprise in walked Sgt. Stern, our old teen director in Bitburg. I was also fortunate enough to meet up with Joe Hackler ‘67 and his family, who were kind enough to invite a lonely GI to dinner. Mike Flanagan also paid me a visit on his way back to Maine from school in Colorado.

After two years in South Carolina I was transferred to George AFB, California. I continued to run into friends from Bitburg. My first day on base I went to the base snack bar and Landon Wills’ ’68 younger sister Cindy was working behind the counter. To my surprise I found out that Carey Harvey ’68 was living in town and we became buddies again. Cary ended up being the best man at my wedding. I was also fortunate enough to run into Angie Bolken ‘68, Rhonda Horton ‘68, Bonnie Cassidy, Alicia DeSanze, Marty Alm and Bill Wiehl ‘67 while traveling around California.

My stay at George AFB was cut short when I received orders to Bangkok, Thailand. I ended up being NCOIC of the Main Base Exchange; it was the best assignment of my career. Bangkok was beautiful and my duty was not only interesting but also easy, and I enjoyed a lot of free time. One day I was walking though the exchange and noticed a familiar face - Jim Smolka ‘68. Jim was a pilot stationed up country. I also ran into Pam Burrton’s mom, who used to work at Bitburg High School as a secretary.

I hated to leave Bangkok, but received orders for Castle AFB in Merced, California. While visiting Supply one day I noticed a Chief Master Sergeant with the last name of Rasar giving instructions to a young airman. Sure enough it was Sonny Rasar’s dad. He told me Sonny ‘68 was an Air Force pilot and was coming home on leave. I had dinner with Sonny and his family and talked about old times. Sonny’s dad had a film of the 1968 Bitburg-Manheim game; most will remember the huge fight. My daughter Tiffanie (love of my life) was born at Castle AFB on 14 Sept. 1976, and her birth has changed my life for the better.

My next assignment was Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. This was probably one of the worst assignments of my career. The only two positive things were my son (my pride and joy) being born on 27 December 1978, and finding that Greg Zamora ’67 and his wonderful wife were also stationed there.

After two years in Michigan I was asked if I would like to be transferred to Torrejon Air Base in Spain . The area was not quite what I expected, since I thought it was going to be green but it ended up looking more like a desert. One day I was a little early for disaster preparedness training and needed a few minutes to kill. I looked across the street and there was a high school soccer game. I thought the coach for Torrejon High School looked familiar; sure enough it was Mr. Robinson who had been our assistant coach at Bitburg.

After two years in Spain I received an inner command transfer to Zweibrucken Air Force Base in Germany. Upon entering Germany the excitement started, and I recognized so many towns on the freeway signs. I played on the base football team and one of the teams we played was Ramstein. Going into an offensive formation one of the members of the Ramstein team called out my name. At first I did not recognize anyone until I noticed a big smile on the face of Jerry Burns ‘68. I was saddened to see that Jerry had passed away a few years ago; he will be missed. I will never forget the game we played at Bitburg, what a weird feeling playing against the Barons. It was at this point that I started getting dizzy a lot and losing my balance. While in Germany I was diagnosed with an inner ear disease that would cause my military career to end. I had my ear operated on at Landstuhl Army Hospital in Germany but it only made the condition worse.

My tour ended in Germany and I was transferred to Maxwell AFB, Alabama. My inner ear problem only worsened so was sent to Lackland AFB, Texas for major surgery. Again the surgery only made the condition worse, and the military medically retired me in 1985.

My family moved back to Victorville, California in 1985, and this would be the last of my moves. After being a GI brat and then career military I had no idea what civilian life would be like, and to be honest I prefer the military. Since I have moved to California I have come in contact with so many friends from Bitburg. Just a few of the people that have paid me a visit: Mike Flanagan, Mark Wilt, Greg Zamora, Jim Keto, Gerry Lagish, Tony Alves, Sixto Ortiz, and Wendell Pryor. I have been privileged to attend two of the Bitburg Reunions and have come back in contact with wonderful people like Sandy Dolen (still listen to Nora Jones), Linda Dolen, Rhonda Horton, Suzy Rea, Bill Wiehl, Kathy and Chuck Ford and so many more.

Before I close, I would like to mention something about my children. Tiffanie is a teacher in Long Beach, California and has a heart of gold. She is always doing things for others and wants little in return. Patrick is scheduled to attend the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Academy on April 4^th 2005, and I could not be more proud of him. He has a big heart and shows it by the work he does in the community. No father could have more pride in his children than I have in mine.

I’m sure. Mrs. Davis, my old English teacher, would have flunked me if she had graded this paper!