Sat before Memorial day 1966 my brother and nephew drove me from San Jose to Travis AFB . He tells me was so nephew Thomas Mark would not forget me. NW Air contract flew to McCord WA and then Fairbanks AK then on to Tokyo for refuels. Finally got to Clark AB PI what was Intl Dateline next day Tuesday. I asked the van driver taking me to Sqdn Ops who won the race. Graham Hill . A Brit to take triple open wheel not done before or since and missed it again y’day by the F1 champ 500 rookie.
8th Tac Bomb was the oldest continuous service sqdn formed in next bunch after original 7 after war declared in June 1917 at Kelly Field . It remained active since it held an officer and an NCO at Kelly Field when that was all left in the closed Air Service in ’19. So everything’s grown from there. This is 100 years this month and as Snack Bar café officer additional duty out of combat doing crew training I ran the 50th party picnic at Clark in ’67. Yeager was my officer /enlisted soft ball umpire as I’d ” heard he had a good eye” 1st addnl duty, June ’66 I became Postmaster running a newly certified APO post office delivering at Clark and in Combat tours fwd to Danang then Phan Rang. Saddest was stamping “Deceased” when clerk found them after one died . Also made me sqdn censor but we never bothered with CBS at the only little palm tree at Danang Crew hootches for interviews we called “The Captain said”!
As a result nearly all the greats in Air Corps and USAF belonged one time to the 8th ’20s though then ’60’s. Included Doolittle and
1st USAF Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg , was in an accident due ” too little lift in the air that day” we laughed about in Sqdn History record.
So 18 months later 200 missions gone by I flew back to Travis not too much worse for the wear but a busted up neck and back I’d still trade for a flag draped aluminum box any day. Got pretty good at writing up posthumous Silver Stars and Purple Hearts along the way for those that did. A few lines sum it up.
“A salute to the 8th
In the early mists of dawning
all alone to crash and burn.
Come those empty places yawning
where our friends did not return.”
Finally a 1971 Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge winner “Freedom is never Free” about two very personal. ’55 Classmates
Joe Robertson killed in 1965 mid air refueling 1st Arc Light B-52 strike mission. And Ev Alverez downed at Hai Phong first carrier attack in 1964. Joe’s early on the Wall but Ev got back next year 1972. I was to be his escort if back via Germany not Clark only 3 hr away. We met 50th reunion Salinas Hi front steps 2005 for a photo. I finally told him about Joe and me at Guam , 1965 wondering if was still alive. Stuff out of a long eventful but rather dull life all considered after kickin all these years. 8
” I know of two others who never returned,
paid a price for the home of the free.
One’s long dead
one’s in prison for 8 long years.
I’m the fortunate one. Envy me.”
Don I Phillips, Captain, USAF, Retired
Posted by 8thaero » Tue Jul 04, 2017 2:11 pm