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Cold War

MSCS Michael Rhodes, U.S. Navy (1970-1995)

MSCS Michael Rhodes, U.S. Navy (1970-1995)

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Of all the military operations you participated in, including combat, humanitarian or peacekeeping operations, which of these made a lasting impact on you and why?:

During our 41 years of marriage, I have used a term that my wife instantly understands, and it’s just two words. Without a lengthy discussion, she understands a situation’s gravity. She and I are instantly in sync.

We don’t go to General Quarters for a real battle but have metaphorically gone to GQ on occasions. The most recent occurred when the police came through our neighborhood using a loudspeaker saying, “Evacuate the area” because of a wildfire.

It was time for General Quarters. We didn’t have time to waste.

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Grunts, Gramps & Tanks by Rick Bogdan

Grunts, Gramps & Tanks by Rick Bogdan

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The United States' involvement in South Vietnam lasted roughly 20 years. For much of that time, American forces were actively engaged against the North Vietnamese. As the war lingered on and public sentiment turned against the war, the U.S. eventually withdrew in 1973. Within two years, the South Vietnamese government would fall and Vietnam was unified under the Communist regime. That is a very simplistic description of 20 years of conflict. The men and women who served in Vietnam each have a unique perspective on their time there, and many of them have written about it, immortalizing their experiences as part of the U.S. military story forever.  Those who served in the post-Vietnam era were still very much at war, Cold Warriors who maintained readiness, waiting for World War III with the Soviet Union around the world. Yet, their stories are few and far between. What life was like for the GI in a post-Vietnam world is largely undocumented. Rick Bogdan joined the Army as a...

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Service Reflections of A2C Charles Jones, U.S. Air Force (1955-1959)

Service Reflections of A2C Charles Jones, U.S. Air Force (1955-1959)

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In July 1955, the day after my 17th birthday, a long-time friend, Mac Viars, and I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, and before the day was over, we were on a train headed for Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas.

Our original plan was to enlist in the Navy, but the Navy recruiter told us we couldn’t go until later. The Air Force recruiter said we could leave “today,” so that was decided. We needed a parent’s signature on an Air Force form when we enlisted. At that time, my mother was living in Baxter Springs, Kansas. So, Mac’s mother signed my mother’s name on my form.

After completing a physical exam, swearing in, and some paperwork, we boarded a train at Union Station in St. Louis wearing jeans, white T-shirts, “throw-away” shoes, and a few packs of cigarettes. We counted on getting all new clothes when we got there, and that did come true.

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PV1 Fred Miller, U.S. Army (1976-1999)

PV1 Fred Miller, U.S. Army (1976-1999)

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Riskiest Moment: Was there any specific incident during your Military service when you felt your life was at risk? What were the circumstances and what was the outcome?:

February 3, 1979 – WINTERFORGE 79. I was assigned to the Joint Visitor’s Bureau to drive visiting dignitaries and their liaison officers around to view the REFORGER exercise area in M151A1 Jeeps. On the night of February 3, the Liaison Officer I was assigned to ordered me to return to our base at Katterbach Airfield, near Ansbach. It was late and raining hard, so visibility was very poor. Last I r

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TSgt Bob Kolhouse, U.S. Air Force (1970-1978)

TSgt Bob Kolhouse, U.S. Air Force (1970-1978)

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Can you recount a particular incident from your service, which may or may not have been funny at the time but still makes you laugh?:

The boss of the U-Tapao Control Tower during my first U-Tapao assignment (71-72) was MSgt John Finnegan. I liked him. I was the lowest ranking controller in the Tower (E-3 vs all others E4) and got more than my share of crap jobs, but understood and still liked him. My best ever practical joke was played on MSgt Finnegan at about 08:05 one morning in early 1972. I had just got off duty and was walking down the Control Tower stairs headed to the barracks. A few floors below me I could hear a lot of yelling: “Get back…Dammit…Stop it…Let go…Dammit…get back…M-fr…shit…Get off…”

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Capt Donald Miller, U.S. Marine Corps (1970-1984)

Capt Donald Miller, U.S. Marine Corps (1970-1984)

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Can you recount a particular incident from your service, which may or may not have been funny at the time but still makes you laugh?:

If there was one thing that could strike fear into any Marine recruit back when we actually received service numbers, it was the fear of being sent back for some mischief, thus prolonging our time in purgatory. I faced that very real possibility between Phase 2 and Phase 3 at MCRD, San Diego, and it was Mess and Maintenance week.

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A1C Carlos “Chuck” Ray Norris, U.S. Air Force (1958-1962)

A1C Carlos “Chuck” Ray Norris, U.S. Air Force (1958-1962)

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You may know Chuck Norris is a champion martial artist, and movie and television star of titles such as Walker, Texas Ranger, The Delta Force, and The Hitman. A martial arts legend who has contributed greatly to the development and popularization of martial arts in the United States and around the world, he has a long and impressive martial arts career, both as a competitor and as a teacher. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. However, before he became a Hollywood icon, Norris served in the United States military, where he honed his skills and developed the discipline that would later help him achieve great success. In this article, we'll take a closer look at Chuck Norris' military service, including his accomplishments and how they shaped his life and career. Chuck Norris’s Early Life Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris was born on March 10, 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma. Norris' paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were of Irish descent, while his paternal...

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Service Reflections of GMM1 Tom Bateman, U.S. Navy (1976-1989)

Service Reflections of GMM1 Tom Bateman, U.S. Navy (1976-1989)

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I had always wanted to join the military. I was raised on WWII movies, built military models, listened to stories from my uncles and just loved the thought of it. As a child I had thought I would join the Army and I would be a Tanker. I had a pair of army fatigue coveralls that I wore all the time. My Mother said I would only take them off to be washed. Over my teenage years, my uncle Don (EM1 WWII SeaBee) told me about his service in the Navy. That, his love of our country and it’s veterans along with his Civic Pride is what confirmed my choice in military service and steered me from the Army to the Navy.

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Capt Francis Gary Powers, U.S. Air Force (1950 – 1963)

Capt Francis Gary Powers, U.S. Air Force (1950 – 1963)

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Soviet Air Force pilot Capt. Igor Mentyukov was sitting at a bus station in Perm when he was recalled to base and ordered to get into his Sukhoi Su-9 wearing whatever he had on. He was not wearing a flight suit or any other gear, and his fighter was currently unarmed. His orders from Moscow were to take off immediately and pursue an enemy aircraft flown by American CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers at high altitude - and ram it.  He headed toward his plane and took off, headed for certain death. Luckily for Mentyukov, he never made it that far. His onboard radar failed, and he couldn't see his target. He switched off his afterburner and flew home, low on fuel. Soviet's Rocket Attacks At The Spy Plane Flown by Francis Gary Powers The enemy plane flying above the Soviet Union that day was a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, flown by American CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers. Mentyukov may have missed Powers, but the Soviets fired eight S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missiles at the spy plane. ...

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The X-15 Rocket Plane by Michelle Evans

The X-15 Rocket Plane by Michelle Evans

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When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into low-earth orbit in 1957, it set the Space Race in full motion. The United States was determined to break the barriers of man's entry into space and dominate this undiscovered country.  While NASA projects Mercury, Gemini, and especially Apollo are often remembered and celebrated, a little-remembered partnership between the US Air Force and NASA brought an incredible new aircraft, arguably the first-ever manned spacecraft, to life: the X-15. Author Michelle Evans' 2013 book "The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings into Space" brings new life to the story of the X-15, those who flew the powerful plane, and the men and women who made the X-15 possible, in the air, on the ground, and behind the scenes.  The X-15 was a hypersonic, rocket-powered airplane capable of flying as high as 100 kilometers above the earth's surface, meeting the internationally-accepted boundary of space. It was capable of...

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Where Are the Alien Bodies?

Where Are the Alien Bodies?

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By now, we all know the gist of the story. An unidentified flying object crashed in the desert near Corona, New Mexico, in 1947. Military and government agents from nearby Roswell Army Air Field rushed to the site and found alien bodies hidden among the wreckage and debris. Then, they immediately covered it up and left the American public in the dark.  The Army didn't help matters any, releasing a report claiming to have captured some kind of "flying disc." It immediately retracted that claim, saying it was instead a kind of weather balloon, fuel for the conspiracy theory fire that would burn for the next 50 years.  The Government Hide the Alien Bodies Conspiracy theorists went wild in the years following the Roswell Incident. Self-proclaimed UFO-ologists claimed to have pieces of the alien wreck and claimed that at least three sets of extraterrestrial remains were found on the site. But where did the government hide the bodies? Theories pointed to one of two places. One is the...

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Service Reflections of TSgt Marion Cochran, Jr., U.S. Air Force (1970-1981)

Service Reflections of TSgt Marion Cochran, Jr., U.S. Air Force (1970-1981)

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I was graduating from high school in 1968, and the conflict in Vietnam was going on. I had a fairly low number in the lottery and knew I would get drafted. I didn’t want to go to Vietnam, so I picked the Air Force instead of the Army and began talking to an Air Force recruiter. My Dad was an MP in the Army in WW2, and I thought I’d like to get into the Security Police field. Every time the recruiter would get a slot, I’d put him off because I was working my 1st job out of high school and was enjoying it. Then one day, while I was at work, my Brother, who is 10 years younger than me, called and said I had a letter. I asked what it said, and he started out, stumbling over a couple of words since he was learning to read, “Greetings, you are hereby ordered…” I said that’s enough. I told my boss I had to get off. Drove up to the Air Force recruiter’s office and said, ” Please, please, get me in.” I joined the AF 2 days before I was supposed to go into the Army.

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