John's History
After completing pilot training at Craig AFB in T-37s and T-33s in 1965 I flew C-141s out of Travis AFB until mid 1968. Then I checked out in the Cessna O2-A at Hurlburt Field near Eglin on the way to a one-year Forward Air Controller, FAC, tour at Nakhon Phanom, NKP, Thailand.
I was Nail 41 in the 23rd TASS which operated primarily in Laos over the Ho Chi Minh trail south of Mu Gia pass. I also flew in support of special operations missions in other parts of Laos. My roommate at NKP, Bob Rex, USAFA '63, was shot down and killed on one of those missions.
I separated from the Air Force when I returned to the states and spent the rest of my working career going through the corporate ups and downs as an airline pilot: Braniff 13 years including a three-year furlough--then bankruptcy, and Piedmont Airlines which merged with US Airways. I retired at age 60 twelve days before the US Airways bankruptcy in 2002.
My daughter is a pilot for American Airlines. Ruth and I just celebrated our 50th anniversary, June 6, 2014.
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