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Ft. Bragg (Army
1958-1961)
During the Eisenhower administration, there
was a Cold War crisis in Lebanon. Congress reinstated the draft, and I was on
the rolls in a low birth year population. I had a 4-year college deferment that
expired. The Evanston draft board was kind enough to tell me that I was going
in September (I received my draft notice while in basic training at Ft. Dix. My
company commander read it out with great glee at an assembly).
My drafted friends from high school were
assigned to Ft. Leavenworth as clerk typists. I did not want any part of that
and did not have a job or graduate school to get a deferment. The Navy and Air
Force had longer enlistments, and Officer Candidate School required a degree.
So, I enlisted in the Army to become an aircraft mechanic.
My time in the Army was fun. My Boy Scout
experiences made basic training easy, and I was a bit more mature than most
recruits. I went to Fixed Wing Mechanic School at Ft. Rucker, AL. I was asked
to continue there as an instructor, but I wanted to get to a flying outfit. My
first assignment was with airborne artillery L-19 spotter planes at Ft. Bragg,
NC. It was not a good placement as I had no desire to jump out of airplanes.
The soldiers in my unit razzed me as a non-airborne "leg."
At Ft. Dix, all my sergeants were black
veterans of the Korean War. They were uniformly impressive men, role models
dedicated to training us to stay alive in combat. Although most officers were
white, I never observed racial discrimination in the Army despite being
stationed in the deep south at Ft. Rucker and Ft. Bragg.
I taught for a while at the on-base Fixed Wing Mechanic school. Later became
crew chief of an L-20 DeHavilland Beaver bush plane (pictured). We were
a 2-plane unit with 3 mechanics, 2 flying officers, and a sergeant
supporting the Special Warfare Center (Green Berets and Psychological Warfare
units). We flew every type of mission the planes were capable of, covering the
East Coast and some of the South.
Our planes had the highest utilization in the
3rd Army, and I got a commendation for it. We flew both planes from daybreak to
midnight most days and never let them go out of service. Our two planes were
usually the first to take off from the airfield in the morning and last to return late at night. Many flying officers in the
Center at desk jobs needed 4 hr/month training
for flight pay, so it was easy to get pilots and missions. I got lots of flying
time as crew (the most enjoyable: pushing Special Forces guys out the door over
woods at night – those were “real men’). I had a bunk and lockers in the
barracks up in the unit but spent most nights in the hangar keeping the planes
going.
On a flight from Stewart AFB (Newburgh, NY)
back to Bragg with a ceremonial flag, we dropped down to view the sights of
Washington, D.C. At that time, before 9/11, it was common, and ours was a
military flight with clearance. The L-20 engine stopped while passing
right over the White House and Mall. We were at 4,000 ft in a bush plane
that could land anywhere, so it was interesting, not a panic. By the time Capt.
Brett and Lt. Colburn reacted; we were well past D.C. over the river. We landed
easily at Ft. Belvoir. I spent two days there in my dress uniform,
changing the plane's carburetor. Some mechanics in the past had used heavy
grease instead of a gasket and created our almost accident when air leaked into
the float chamber. Probably when power was applied to stop our descent.
[I had a similar incident much later in my
shared Cessna 170. On a trip back to Atlanta, I put on power to take off from
Charlotte, NC, and the engine died right on the runway. Two 727s were behind
me, waiting to take off, so my passenger and I had to hustle out to drag the
plane onto the grass. Very embarrassing. The engine started up, and the tower
let us try again. The cause was the gasket between the two halves of the
carburetor had perished and let in too much air. I had applied power too fast,
and the engine stalled.]
I left the Dauphine with my sister for basic
training. She had a rough Chicago winter in a car with no heater or defrosters.
The car became too expensive to keep, so I traded it for a Harley 165
motorcycle. I did not need a car at Ft. Bragg, where I used the Air
Section's truck and jeep.
I drove trucks in basic training and then had
an "exempt" job skill, so I only did KP duty once in my 2-1/2
years in the Army. I never had parade duty and only stood guard at the airfield
a couple of times. My time in the Army was enjoyable and worthwhile. We were
doing work that needed to be done, and everyone worked as a team to do it.
Some of the troops we served had been
"advisors" in Vietnam, but none of the rest of the Army was getting
shot at. I was fortunate to get out just as the war was starting. I was on-call
to be in the reserves for many years afterward but never got called. I finally
unpacked my duffel bag in Cabin John 5 kids later.
I sold the motorcycle to my friend
Harry. Harry and I taught at the on-base mechanic school, and he and his wife
took me in as lifelong friends to keep me sane. They later gave me one of their
many cats, Tiger, during one of my visits from Georgia. They moved to the big
island at retirement. We still exchange Christmas cards with Gwynne.
The depression I had since 7th
grade was still with me, but I was too busy and living beyond just myself to
feel it. I enjoyed serving in the Army and felt the worth of my work, which I
never felt in High School or at MIT.
Cambridge (MIT
1961-1962)
I hopped a ride on a general's plane to
Bridgeport and then by train to Boston to finish at MIT. I took a summer course
to justify getting out of my enlistment early and then the full semester course
load required for my degree. The Aeronautical Engineering Department had
become Aeronautics and Astronautics, so that is my degree. I took some
space-related courses but concentrated on aircraft structures, which I was
particularly good at (I don’t know why; it is mostly math).
I lived in an apartment on the top floor of
an ancient house in Cambridge with my friend, Jack Woodilla, one of the guys
from that first week at MIT. He is a PhD Metallurgist and spent 9+ years at
MIT. Jack was a role model for all of us. Very studious, what we called a
"Tech Tool," but willing to go along with pranks and Saturday lunch
at Durgan Park. He was much more socially adept than most of us and was active
in the Episcopal church in Copley Square. His parents were very supportive of
Jack and visited often. My parents never visited.
MIT had Army and Air Force mandatory ROTC.
Most of us did Air Force ROTC and dropped out as soon as possible. Jack did
Army and became an officer. He did his duty in Germany while I was at Ft.
Bragg.
Some business school types had taken over the
flying club with leased modern planes for rich people. The whole atmosphere of a student organization was gone. So, I did not fly that
summer or semester.
I graduated with a BS In Aeronautics and
Astronautics and slightly over a C average. Deeply depressed and hating every
aspect of my MIT experience. I was estranged from my family (who believed that
not graduating in 4 years was to “flunk” and the Army
was a disgrace). I had to get a job quickly as I was running out of my
savings.
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