Roy Veverka: Boom Operator and Cartographer
marc.zarefsky2021-11-04T10:16:24-05:00Boot Camp at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas was Roy’s initial introduction to the military.
Priscilla ‘Kris’ Artz: Once You Serve, You Keep on Serving
marc.zarefsky2021-10-01T21:20:13-05:00Growing up in Iowa, Kris Artz read books about flying. After high school, she knew she wanted to move on from working at a local grocery.
Carol Stegall: Helping People and Animals with the Same Passion
marc.zarefsky2021-09-29T20:17:50-05:00Carol Stegall wanted to be a vet but knew she couldn’t afford the extra years of school, so her second choice became her lifelong work.
Lane Knox: Jet Engine Mechanic
marc.zarefsky2021-09-29T20:12:14-05:00The interview with Lane Knox began with her saying quietly, “I don’t understand why you’re interviewing me. I’m not that interesting.”
Ronald Navickas: Nuclear Weapons Maintenance
marc.zarefsky2021-09-11T15:59:55-05:00Ron joined the Air Force Reserve at 17, when he was assigned to the Military Police with the 439th Fighter-Bomber Wing.
Jay Warbiany: I Saw A Lot Of Air Force Bases in Four Years
marc.zarefsky2021-09-10T12:11:33-05:00Jay gave up a four-year scholarship to IIT and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the height of the Vietnam War.
Dennis (Denny) Keast: ‘I never thought I’d do what I did’
marc.zarefsky2021-08-15T20:38:56-05:00Dennis was born in southern Minnesota and when he was four his family moved to Flint, MI. As a kid, Denny knew he wanted to fly.
Edmund Rafalski Jr.: Maintaining The OV-10 in Support of the 1st Cavalry
marc.zarefsky2021-08-10T07:49:45-05:00Ed Rafalski served in the Air Force from August 1968 to August 1972. He grew up in Calumet City, Illinois with one brother and two sisters.
Tad Dymanus: Long Journey from Germany to Vietnam to Gulf War
Doug Meffley2019-10-10T13:37:47-05:00Tad Dymanus' father was a Polish WWII soldier and German POW, and his mom survived Dachau. After the family emigrated to America, Tad felt he would do "any little thing" to help his new country. The thing is did was serve in two different wars.
Miguel Gomez: The Amazing Shrinking World As Viewed By a 24-Year Veteran
MicheleZander2018-08-02T17:46:43-05:00The Amazing Shrinking World As Viewed By a 24-Year Veteran
Mario J. Cortina: Maintaining Fighter Jets Sometimes Requires “Scrounging”
MicheleZander2018-08-04T15:05:13-05:00Maintaining Fighter Jets Sometimes Requires “Scrounging”
Lloyd Richardson: “All Shook” And Her B-29 Crew Flew 35 Combat Missions and Survived Them All
MicheleZander2018-06-01T21:12:12-05:00Lloyd and his crew completed their 35 combat missions in May, 1952. All Shook returned to the States shortly thereafter without a scratch. For his service, he was awarded the Air Medal for “meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.”
Delford C. (Del) Becke: Flying and Living Around the World
MicheleZander2018-06-01T21:12:53-05:00During Basic Training, they gave Del a bunch of tests and said “you are good in mathematics, we have a deal for you – we want you to be an aircraft AOB (Aircraft Observer Bombardier). There is a lot involved, and it takes about a year and half or so.” Training started at Ellington AFB near Pasadena TX, then on to Mayfair, CA to complete the training.
Walter A. (Wally) Ciszak: Remote Weather Duty 240 miles from the U.S.S.R (Russia)
MicheleZander2018-06-01T21:13:44-05:00Wally’s lieutenant asked him if he’d be interested in “Isolation Duty.” This meant being sent to report on weather conditions in remote corners of the globe.
Robert A. Jaegers: Drones were “Top Secret” in 1953
MicheleZander2018-06-01T21:13:53-05:00For an only child, raised by his mother and grandmother, it certainly was a brave move to strike out on his own and one he never regretted.
Dr. William E. Fishman: A flight surgeon, never on an airplane before
MicheleZander2018-05-08T08:28:58-05:00As it was growing dark, Whitman was forced to navigate by the full moon as he once again attempted to raise help on the radio. The plane was now running low on fuel, and Whitman’s “Mayday!” transmissions were answered.
Kenneth D. Koehler: The service was fun but also very real
MicheleZander2018-05-08T08:34:53-05:00Basic Training was the best thing that ever happened to him in the service. “It wasn’t that I was a wild kid, I just had a lot of wild and goofy things I was doing. The service helped nail me down and straighten me up.”
Ralph W. Mueller: From printing to surgery in one quick enlistment
MicheleZander2018-05-08T08:29:51-05:00Practical nursing duties, like making a hospital bed and caring for patients was also part of his training, as well as general maintenance of a surgical unit. Despite having no medical background, Ralph was enthusiastic about his new assignment and says “when you love something, you can learn anything.”
Frank S. Colin: Learning from an indiscretion
marc.zarefsky2017-09-06T22:15:48-05:00Korean War veteran Frank Colin turned a youthful indiscretion into an opportunity that led him down a pathway he now remembers with pride.