YOUR military experiences

Mar 1993, at my PDS at Carswell AFB outside Ft Worth, TX. Even though we'd already been BRAC'ed and stopped active-duty ops on 1 Oct 1992, we retained the 301st TFW and protected numerous ground resources and personnel.

I mainly drove the P-19 crash truck:



... and we on Crash-19 (our callsign) also cross-manned the second-run structural pumper, a P-12:



My last year, I was a crew-chief on one of our old P-2s:



I also spent my first few months as a 57130 manning a turret on this behemoth:



[All images from Google, as most of my pics ironically burnt up in a fire many years ago]

 

We had a crash a few years ago involving an Air crash fire fighting unit...they had only just agreed that they could be called out for normal fires during certain periods...The bloke driving hadn't been trained in "on road" etiquette and rushed out crashing into a car with three architects...all died instantly.

 

I almost piled into something like that. We'd been doing coverage for an airshow at Alliance airfield north of Ft Worth, and driving back to base on the insterstate, a quick jam saw me spend all my compressed air braking. I'm grateful for a quick-witted crew chief. We threw it into neutral, I tromped the gas to build air-pressure, and we got 'er stopped.

 

U.S. Navy basic training Great Lakes, August 1965 (it was that or Fort Jackson, S.C. with the Army and then to war in Vietnam)
Arlington, Virginia Quarters K Naval Station 1966 (across the river from Washington D.C.)
U.S. Naval Degaussing Station, Lamberts Point Norfolk, Virginia 1967. I cooked up some good chow.
U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba- Bay Hill Galley, 1968-August 1969. USS Glover, USS Norris to Haiti and Jamaica on weekend liberty.
Discharged Philadelphia Navy Yard August 26, 1969.

I had good times, met good friends, did what I was told, stayed out of trouble and was honorably discharged. I have never regretted my service. Just wish I had seen more of the world, but I had a sweet little girl waiting for me back home and I needed her more than the Navy.

 

More Bosnia photos....



View from the backseat of a Blackhawk chopper....



Another practice session of an emergency situation....



Minefield clearing...



General Wesley Clark visiting our camp and getting to know our medical unit and its equipment.....



General Clark getting to know our weapons as well....

 

My medical captain shoulder boards etc. The year was 1997.

 

We also had a million funny shirts about serving in the SFOR

 

OMG!

 

..8 years in the USMC
...4 in Marine Barracks Hawaii [ aka MB Peal Harbor ]
...4 years in the FMF as a mortarman out of Camp Lejeune...of those 4 years, about 19 months on ships in the Med, South America, Panama, Caribbean,...
...a couple of weeks at 29 Palms for training, a couple of weeks in Virginia....about 3 weeks in Honduras--flew in there to La Ceiba...drove many miles up, then back as road convoy security
..so, moving around a lot in those 4 years

 

After one year I was promoted to major....



When in Washington in duty the Vietnam Veterans thought I was a one star general and kept on saluting me. I did not want to spoil their day and saluted back all the time.

 

The UNPREDEP UN medal on the left and the IFOR/SFOR medal on the right.

 

Ooops found one medical unit sign and here it is....

 

We used to exchange unit logos and stitch them to our bags. Here´s my bag.


We used to exchange unit logos and stitch them to our bags. Here´s my bag.

 

..is th

...is that a basic training photo? you look happy