On the way to SFO (San Francisco) and departure at the then Fairfield-Suisun A.B., now Travis AFB, I stopped at the Mark Hopkins in SFO and went to the top of the Mark for a drink out of the bottle from the 73rd Bomb Wing that was waiting for me there. It was a free drink and if you were the one to take the last drink, you had to replace it with a new bottle. That was the tradition and it may still be in effect.

Upon arrival at Oki, I was soon settled in and became involved in flying meaningful classified recon missions. We were accomplishing border surveillance flights, both electronic and visual photography of sensitive areas, with some overflights of targets of concern to the defense of the United States.

One of our first assignments involved a long range mission from Clark AB, in the Philippines. After a couple of days at Clark, to get organized, with an assortment of auxiliary bladder gas tanks in the bomb bays, we launched for an extended mission. Our route covered the entire coast of China to Manchuria, south along the west coast of North Korea to South Korea and east to the Sea of Japan, then north to the Kamchatka Peninsula and continuing north to the Kuril Islands then back south to Misawa AB, Hokkaido, Japan. The recent shoot-down of the US Navy survellience aircraft was by no means a sign that combined US intelligence efforts were plowing new ground. We have been conducting reconnaissance efforts in those territories for more than 51 years.

The party was at the Officer’s Club, sponsored by the 31st SRS. Dress code was anything goes. It was a blast. I had gone to the RYCOM Mortuary and obtained some empty bottles of arterial cleansing fluid and some embalming fluid bottles and washed and steamed them clean. I poured Scotch and Bourbon in two of them and Vodka and Gin in the other two. I sat them on our party table where our group was gathered as we consumed a drink or two or three. I had the label's covered with something that I don't remember at the present. After they were about 1/4 or 1/2 consumed I uncovered the real labels and MAN was I in trouble. The guys really gave me a hard time and threatened to throw me off the porch and cliff behind the O.C. Tom Coleman was the leader of that group.

We all kicked that party around for a long time. Many years later, while I was in Mexico, instructing Mexican pilots in the operation of Lear Jets, I had frequent occasion to go to Tucson for special aircraft maintenance.

Our crew was in the states and on leave when the Korean War broke out. We had departed Oki for Guam as our first stop. We encountered unforcasted winds that complicated and delayed our arrival. [The details of this experience are described in the story on this web site by Adrian Swain, our copilot.]

Between Kwaj and Hickam our number #3 engine swallowed a valve, requiring a shut-down of that engine. We limped in on three and, with the leadership of our outstanding Flight Engineer, Carl Bomgardner, we did the repairs ourselves and found time to spend an extra day taking in the sights and again enjoyed the food and hospitality of Mama Mias Italian Restaurant

Our flight to Fairfield Suisun was accomplished in 10 hours and 40 minutes. Being eager to get on with things, we refueled and departed for Tinker, via a direct route, as soon as we could take care of the necessary details. The departure and climb-out was uneventful. We set the autopilot for a comfortable cruise to Tinker and then crew fatigue really caught up with us. The next thing we knew we were looking out over Great Salt Lake and found ourselves about 300 miles north of course. This was in the days before radar tracking, Thank God! We got squared away with Military Flight Service, corrected our heading, and cruised on to Tinker, everyone relatively wide awake. We logged 58 total hours flying time on the trip from Oki to Tinker.

On arrival, we wrote up the “squawks” on the airplane Form One. The crew was cleared to disperse and carry out their individual home visit plans. Before we parted, we had agreed upon an alerting system for emergency contact with all crew members. Little did we know that it would be activated in just 2 days time. Finishing with the aircraft delivery formalities, I went to the OKC commercial airport and flew to Omaha, then took the Union Pacific to Grand Island, NE, where my wife and 3 year old son, Steve, were with her mother. After two days in Grand Island, the news broke about the Korean Police Action.

I called my previous Carswell Sq. Commander, Col. Bill Savoie, who was now in the Director of Operations Office at SAC Hdqs. and asked him for instructions. We were originally scheduled to return by MATS from Travis. Col. Savoie advised me to proceed to McClellen AFB, Sacramento and pick up RB-29 #1815 and return to Kadena ASAP. He said our orders would be waiting at McClellend. He asked if I could collect my crew and I told him of our telephone chain locating plan. He told me to “pull the chain” and get on with it!

After having had two days in Grand Island, I departed by Union Pacific train to Omaha and by United Airlines to San Francisco, and then a rent-a-car to Sacramento/McClellen. The RB-29 that we were to pick up was ready for a functional flight check on my arrival and my flight engineer, Carl Bomgardner, and tail gunner, Ervin Brooks, were there. The three of us joined the depot civilian crew to accomplish a quick test flight. I served as the co-pilot and Carl as F.E. along with the civilian crew. The test hop was completed with a few squawks that were quickly corrected. The Navigator, Cass Casserly, and radio operator, Paschall, had arrived. By this time it was about 2 a.m. We hit the sack and were back at the aircraft at 0900hrs. All squawks were closed and we were advised to fly over to Hamilton Field for over-water gear and then proceed to Travis for overseas briefing.

The remaining crew showed up at Travis. While at Hamilton we went to lunch at the Officers Club while the life rafts were being installed. On entry to the club, there was a lady who was the Guest Activities Director who assisted visiting officer's to visit some of the local attractions in San Francisco — The Redwoods National Park etc. I noticed her name on her desk. It said Mrs. Genie Bobzine. I asked her if she had been located at Moody Field, Ga., Mother Moodys Rest Camp? She replied, yes, my husband was Wing Commander there. I explained to her that Col. Bobzine had pinned my wings on just 4 years earlier.

We had lunch together and talked about old times at Moody. I told her about Col. Bobzine’s kindness to me when my Grandmother was not expected to live just 10 days before graduation. How he had set up a B-25 and a training flight to Kansas City with me at the controls, dropped me off, then picked me up on Monday morning to return to Moody. We both shed some tears and offered a prayer for Col. Bobzine who was deceased.

Now on to Travis. We just knew that we would get some crew rest. A refueling truck pulled up as we parked and a clearance was handed us by The Task Force officer. He told us our destination was Hickam. He didn't even say adios or wave to us. He did expedite our aircraft out to the T.O. end of the runway. Our reaction to the Korean War being in progress was not even discussed.

We wanted to return ASAP, and we did. Our routing was from Hickam to Kwaj and then to Kadena, Okinawa. About 200 miles out, radio contact was established with Okinawa Control and we were asked our fuel status. I made the mistake of telling them the truth. Our destination was changed to Yokota. The landing a Yokota was uneventful except for a complete crew of Sad Sacks lacking crew rest. So it goes! We had about 36 hours on the ground before our first scheduled combat mission.