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In 1982 I was VP of Strauble Chapter of AFA (Michigan) and enjoyed many cool and enlightening trips. One, with 5 original Tuskegee Airmen to Wash D.C. is where I developed a "Hail Mary Pass" that resulted in the Government giving the Tuskegee Airmen a piece of the mothballed base for a Museum. Gen Lucius Theus (1st black AF general) at a luncheon with retired WWII retired Tuskegee pilots, bestowed the title to me as the First CAUCASIAN Honorary Tuskegee Airman. I am most humbled, honored & proud of that distinction and will never forget that day in August 1982.
Military Experiences
Jan 1969 - Jul 1969
Radar O'Riley
I'm uncomfortable going into detail, It was wrong of me to do it. The CSM asked me why others from different bases in the command were driving to visit me at the HQ. I may have been doing something illegal, but I wasn't a liar, and I told him what was happening. He told me if I did it again he'd bust me to E-1 and put me in the brig. A few weeks later the boss (Col. Sandsmark) took me to lunch, told me that he knew what I'd been doing, without saying it aloud. Then he told me that it was "brilliant"; that it raised the morale of his command higher than it ever was, and that he wished he'd have thought of it. Then he tried to get me (a draftee) to re-up for 3 more years, offering me very hard to ignore spiffs if I did so. I declined, perhaps it was my mistake.
Dec 1968 - Jan 1969
Returning from Vietnam
My dad (WWII Navy pilot) asked when I was to show-up at Benning. ME: I was supposed to be there several days ago. DAD: Bob, you're AWOL. ME: I'll leave in the morning. I just couldn't push troops. A former Nam buddy had sent me a letter several months earlier, telling me that he was stationed at the 3rd Army HQ in Atlanta. I called him on my way to Benning and asked if he could find anything there, I just couldn't look young trainees in the eyes knowing where they were going. I ended-up being interviewed by the CSM of the 3rd Army MP Group C.I.. As he was looking through my records and said "DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOU'RE AWOL?" ME: "I think that's a matter of perspective." HE: apoplectic - "HOW IS YOU BEING AWOL A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE?" ME: "If you reduce my days of future paid leave from 30 to 24, we'll be even." I was hired.
Deployments
(1 year, 1 month)Dec 1967 - Dec 1968
Vietnam War
Combat Engineer, II Corps (Central Highlands - Pleiku, Kontum, Dakto) - This was the most horrific year of my life. Yet, over half a century later, the proudest.
Military Credentials
Certifications
Nov 1983
Licensed Insurance Salesman
Aug 1982
Stock Broker/Principal
Nov 1975
Licensed Builder - Michigan
Apr 1974
Licensed Real Estate Broker - Michigan
Foreign Language Skills
PIG LATIN ;-)
Security Clearance
Top Secret
Personal Information
Interests
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