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In order to understand the purposes of my serving in two military
service branches, it is important to outline them within the
historical context of the 1940's.
World War II can be said to have started in earnest in 1939 when
I was ten years old. It ended in Europe in May 1945 and with
the surrender of Japan August 14, 1945 two months before my sixteenth
birthday. I graduated high school June 23, 1947.
From the end of war in 1945 to my high school graduation in 1947,
more wartime activity continued in the military. Troops were
being returned home, and other troops were being deployed for
the occupation of Germany and Japan. The military branches were
actively recruiting to cover this need. So military service was
still in the minds of young men, as it was to me at age eighteen.
After high school I became employed by the General Electric
Company, an industrial complex in my hometown of Schenectady,
New York. Going to college would have been nice after high school,
however, without a scholarship, tuition would be impossible as
my immigrant parents did not have the financial means to send
me to college. There were some state education resources available
for careers like teaching, nursing, farm extension, and the like,
but none which inspired me although I hold no prejudice to them.
Fortunately I was able to enter higher education as will be indicated
further in this essay.
Call it patriotism, or something else, but on the day after high
school graduation, I joined the U.S. Navy Reserve.  This
enlistment permitted me to start my employment at General Electric
and also serve my country in its need to build troop replacement
for military preparedness should hostile times return. And they
did.
In the spring of 1948, the occupation of Germany got sticky between
the major occupation forces, England, Russia, and the United
States. Germany had been divided into three sectors for occupation
maintenance, yet Russia took the position that its sector was
sovereign to it as a war prize. To secure its territory, Russia
built what was then named, The Berlin Wall, closing out entrance
to Berlin city to the English and American occupation forces.
To serve the humanitarian needs (fuel being one) of German citizens
beyond the Berlin wall in the Russian sector, what could not
be delivered on the ground might be, and was, delivered by air
- The Berlin Airlift. The airlift started in June 1948.
In the framework of these tense international times, military
recruitment began to increase, plus the draft was still legal.
 Although my Navy
service was "interesting," after spending a few weeks
aboard a destroyer, U.S.S. Dyess, in the Atlantic in rough seas,
I concluded that the Navy was not a friendly possibility should
I be called up for permanent military duty.
On October 19, 1948 I was honorable discharged from the Navy
so that I could join the U.S. Air Force October 20, 1948.  The present-day U.S. Air Force
was authorized in September 1947 but until sometime in 1949 I
wore the Army Air Force uniform (Ike Jacket), Army rank insignia,
everything Army.
Midway through my enlistment, the Korean War started and my tour
was extended another year by President Truman. That was the bad
news. The good news was that I could take advantage of the G.I.
Bill of Rights…free college tuition.
With the added year, frankly, I was getting to like my enlistment.
The Air Force was constantly sending me to schools, plus I had
attained the rank of Staff Sergeant in an important position.
I spent my career in first learning, then teaching and supervising
aircraft maintenance. At the end of my enlistment I was a Shift
Supervision, sort of an assistant school principal. Because of
the Korean War we were operating three 6-hour school shifts in
jet aircraft maintenance. Somehow I managed to supervise the
valued first shift, 6 A.M. to Noon, essentially having the rest
of the day free. I became a very good tennis player. Plus it
meant I could socialize in town withour curfew.
We often joked in my family that my mother's prayers kept me
from serving in battle. The only time I ever got an oral repimand
from my commanding officer was the time I posted my name on a
volunteer list to ship out to Korea. I was tired of losing bunkmates
every so often. But, I was frozen to my job slot. So, other than
nine months at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi, the other
three years were all served in Texas; San Antonio, Wichita Falls,
and Amarillo. Love Texas.
In spite of all the positives, my Air Force career came to an
insane end. I decided that I would re-enlist. Upon re-enlistment
I would automatically gain the next stripe; Technical Sergeant
and a nice money increase. One problem, though. I could not remain
in my occupation because I didn't have sufficient education.
What had happened about this time is the Air Force had turned
over the key supervisory positions at my school to requiring
a minimum of a B.S. degree, which I didn't have. So it was "goodbye"
Air Force. Not a happy conclusion. But, no bitterness. |