I'll make this a short one. This is my 3rd attempt to get my message out. Seems as though it has taken on a mind of it's own, and cut my messages off. All of a sudden Everything is wiped clean and I'm back to my home page. Before it has a chance to do it again,,,,,MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A COOL YULE.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
I'll try again to tell you all of the many earth shattering things I have to pass on.
Mare,,,, You haven't installed a glitch in your program that penalizes us who take too much time saying what is on our minds. there's not a whole lot there. we have to get it out. space is limited.
Chuck it's great to have you back. Was fearing the worst for it has been a long time.
Don't know of anyone experiencing any problems with the forum. In fact it's been running top-notch every since our move to my own server here in Alger. Knock on wood!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mare
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
Chuck! Good to hear from you! Hopefully your computers stays problem free. Since you're back, I have a question for you. Where did you serve and in what unit? I'm not sure I have ever heard.
Thanks for welcoming me back. Almost 86 now and things sort of get away from me. Still don't take any preventative drugs, so I may just see 100 some day.
Capt(major) you ask what I was in during the war(WWWII) Well I've had a hard time explaining my path many times, and I'm not too sure anyone really understood.
I enlisted in Air Corp.when in High School and went in July 7 44. Did my basics at Sheppard Field,Tx. They used a very calculated procedure to place us where needed. Each barracks held 100 men. The 50 upstairs went to radio operators school. The 50 downstairs(including me) went to radio mechanics school Truax Field in Madison,Wisc. On to Chenute Field Ill. for introduction into Radar. Down to Boca Raton field Fl. for airborn radar. Just as our training was completed, the war in Europe ended and there was the dilema. What to do with these guys. So they shipped us off to Signal Corp. in New Jersey for ship board radar. On completion of training, we were loaned out to the Transportation Corp and shipped down to New Orleans and shipped out as radar crew on ships taking supplies over to Europe and bringing back soldiers for seperationfrom service. i sailed on the Rollins Victory to Marseille France, The Alexander to Le Havre,France, The Holbrook to Bremerhave,Ger. and South Hampton England. my las crossing was to bring back War Brides. The strangest of all was on our seperation. We were asked what arm we would like to be discharged from. The Air Corp,,, Signal corp,,,, or Transportation Corp. Any doubt about our choice. We were also asked if we would consider going to the Merchant Marines as radar crews. Can't say as I saw anyone stay behind.
Now,,, I ask you,,, does that sound true?. I sometimes wondered if the Brass wanted me, would they know,or cared, where I was.
That was my two years in the military. The only enemy i ever saw was when I,and the two other guys in my crew, were standing in line at a movie house and when the FOG lifted, we were in the middle of a group of German prisoners. They were happy where they were.
Well Sir, you asked the question, If I put you to sleep, I'm sorry'chucktoo
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
Hey! I was at Chenute TOO, albeit in the 90s. You'll be happy to know I did radar on probably the same giants you used 50 years earlier !!!!
Hey Caryl,,,,, Not so fast! What did you do at Chanute. I didn't know the field was still open. When I was there, they had the mess halls in old hanger buildings. I learned one thing on mess duty. I would stand in front of a case of eggs. on either side of me were large pans. I took an egg in each hand, cracked them on on the pan edges, bumped the eggs and tossed the shells. After a while, we became very proficient at the routine. At that time,,,, the #1 song of that time was "You gotta accentuate the positive, and eliminate the negative", by Bing Crosby. Oh yeah! Being in the Air Corps,,, They had Pilots, Co-Pilots, and Navigators. Navigators cleared food off the trays, Co-Pilots put the trays into the dish washer, and the Pilots took them out. We did also learn a few things about electronics while there. Me with Vaccum tubes,? you with transisters. What a leap!
Looks like both places were used for a long time. Shepard has been in constant use since 1941. Here is a picture from 1951:
Chanute Air Force Base was closed down in 1993 but at the time was one of the oldest Air Force facilites as it opened in 1917.
This is Hanger 1
As for me, I did spend 4 years on an old airfield. When I was in the reserves, from 1995-1999, I was stationed at the base formerly know as Carswell AFB - now Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base or NAS Fort Worth JRB.
When I got to my first unit, MWSS-471, it was moving from NAS Dallas to Carswell. During the transition, all of our NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) gear was stored in one of the old nuke bunkers across the runway from the mainside of base. As a good NBC guy, the first thing we did was go and grab a radiacmeter (an AN/VDR-2 - a fancy modern version of a Geiger counter) and check the place for radiation. Fortunately, it was clean! It was interesting to see, however, the old security check point you once had to go through (of course deserted by then) to get to that area of the base.
Here's a picture of the first B-36 with a B-29 beside it arriving at Carswell in 1948.
Here is a shot of some of the Peacekeepers that were forced into each other during a 1952 tornado.
