Warbird Information Exchange

At the risk of sounding like an old guy who always talks about the "old days"...

As a new 2nd Lt., Occasionally I'd have to sit in at the daily "stand up" briefing with the wing commander. The intel officer would start it off telling us the locations of Russian subs and the approx. impact times of Soviet SLBMs to our base.
That got your attention.


I was the PAO in charge of media relations. I had a reporter from the Washington Post Sunday Magazine on base. He wanted to speak to a B-52 ac. So i got my neighbor in base housing. He was asked what he'd think if it were the real thing.
He thought a moment and his eyes began to get moist.
He said very thoughtfully..."I'd feel revenge, because I'd know in 10 minutes my wife and son would be dead."

For a reporter used to dealing with D.C. BS, and me...a young kid just out of college...it made the point.


On a more happy note...Later I went to the end of the runway with their photographer. He was an ex-National Geographic guy who had been everywhere, done everything (including getting a Huey shot out from under him in Vietnam). After getting the OK from the ops and security forces, we stood at the end of the runway as a B-52 took off.
(In a breach of safety rules that wouln't be allowed today, we were ON the runway).
As we waited, he hands me a motor drive Nikon with a huge lens (that probably cost more than I earned in a year) and said..."Here, you get the back up shot." So I started clicking as the plane filled the viewfinder.
Finally, the smoke and sound became unreal...the plane passed maybe 50 feet above us.

You don't forget something like that.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Re: The film A Gathering of Eagles, I found these comments and photos.
It's on a well done site about Rod Taylor, the film's co-star where he played the wing vice commander...

http://www.rodtaylorsite.com/gatheringofeagles.shtml

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

A Gathering of Eagles, Old school MITO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq6Hpxyrhyo