HOWARD’S DAILY CHRONICLE
NUMBER 31 VOL 12
JULY 31ST 2008
WEATHER; COOL-HOT, HIGH HUMIDITY, 74/104 DEGREES
NOT TOO BAD THIS MORNING, MOM AND I WENT OUT AND SAT ON THE DECK FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES THEN THE SUN BROKE THROUGH THE CLOUDS AND THE TEMPERATURE STARTED TO RISE! BY NOON IT WAS 99 AND BY 2:00 IT WAS 104 BUT IT STARTED TO COOL DOWN AND BY 7:30 IT WAS DOWN TO 87!
MOM AND I WENT OUT TO THE LATINIS’S TO VISIT AND SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING WE COULD DO!
THEY WERE WAITING FOR DEBBIE’S BODY TO BE BROUGHT BACK FROM THE MEDICAL EXAMINEERS LABORATORY IN DALLAS! OUR FRIENDS, THE OSBORNS PICK UP AND DELIVER THE DEAD ALL OVER THE SOUTHWEST AND THEY WERE THE ONES MOVING DEBBIES BODY AROUND!
SHE LEFT DIRECTIONS THAT SHE WANTED TO BE CREMATED WHICH WILL BE DONE TOMORROW MORNING! DEBBIE WANTS HER ASHES SPREAD ON CHARLEENS MOTHERS GRAVE IN LANDER WYOMING SO HER DAUGHTER MARY ANN IS PLANNING TO GO AND DO THAT IN THE FALL, SHE’LL KEEP THE ASHES WITH HER TILL THEN! THERE’S NO SERVICE PLANNED, GARY AND CHARLEEN AND THEIR SON SCOTT DECIDED TO HAVE A WAKE ON DEBBIES BIRTHDAY IN NOVEMBER!
BY THE TIME ALL THE RELATIVES AND FRIENDS COULD GET HERE FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES THE CREMATION WOULD BE DONE!
THEY KIND OF FIGURED OUT WHAT HAPPENED, SHE WAS ON MEDICATION AND HAD NO CONCEPTION OF TIME, SHE TOOK TUESDAY MORNINGS THEN TUESDAY AFTERNOONS THEN WED MORNINGS THEN HEADED FOR GARY AND CHARLEENS TO MEET THEM WHEN THEY GOT HOME FROM THE BRICKYARD 400 IN INDIANAPOLIS LAST SUNDAY!
FROM ALL INDICATION SHE MUST HAVE BEEN DOING ATLEAST 75 MPH IN A 65 MILE ZONE AND STRAIGHTENED OUT AN “S” CURVE! GARY SAID THE RIMS HAD DUG INTO THE BLACK TOP IN 3-4 DIFFERENT PLACES AND THE PICKUP FLIPPED END OVER END 3-4 TIMES! SHE WAS DECLARD DEAD AT THE SCENE! THEY HAD TO CUT HER SEAT BELT TO GET HER OUT OF THE TRUCK! THEY HAVEN’T GOT THE AUTOPSY REPORT YET BUT GARY THINGS THE TRUCK WAS BOUNCING AROUND SO VIOLENTLY IT BROKE HER NECK! THE TOP OF THE CAB HADN’T CAVED IN!
THEY’RE TAKING IT PRETTY GOOD BUT THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN SAY, JUST BE THERE FOR THEM WHICH IS WHAT WE ARE DOING! WHEN DANNY DIED THEY WERE HERE FOR US!
WHILE SERVING MY LAST HITCH IN THE AIR FORCE OF COURSE I WAS STILL IN SAC, THE 301ST BOMB WING! ONCE YOU’RE A MEMBER OF SAC YOU DON’T GET OUT, I HAD BEEN DISCHARGED AND REINLISTED WITH 3 REQUEST; 1. I DIDN’T WANT SAC. 2. I DIDN’T WAN’T BARKSDALE AFB.. 3. I DIDN’T WANT AIR POLICE.
I DIDN’T GET AIR POLICE BUT I DID GET THE OTHER TWO!
GENERAL CURTIS LEMAY WAS THE COMMANDER OF SAC AND RULED IT WITH AN IRON FIST! SACs LOGO WAS A SHIELD WITH A CLENCHED CHAIN MAIL COVERED FIST WITH LIGHTENING BOLTS EMITING FROM IT AND THE SAYING; “ALWAYS READY!”
ONE STORY THAT WENT AROUND; THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CALLED GENERAL LEMAY AND ASK HOW LONG BEFORE HIS FORCE COULD BE READY IF NEEDED AND LEMAY ANSWERED; “WE’VE BEEN READY FOR AN HOUR!” AND HE WAS SERIOUS!
ONE THING YOU COULD COUNT ON IN SAC WAS BEING CALLED ON TO STAND 24 HOUR ALERTS! THEY CALLED ONE AND ONE THIRD (17) OF OUR AIR CRAFT ABORTED ON TAKE OFF! THE GENERAL CAME UNGLUED AND CALLED A “FLY AWAY” FOR THE WHOLE SQUADRON TO ENGLAND! THAT MEANT ALL SHOPS, SHEET METAL, MACHINE, ELECTRONIC, FABRIC, PAINT, ENGINE REBUILD, AIR TO AIR REFUELING, SPECIALISTS DISPATCHING, AIR CRAFT AND PERSONEL WOULD CLEAR THE BASE WITHIN 4 HOURS! IF IT DIDN’T HAPPEN THE SQUADRON COMMANDER, ADJUANT, 1ST SGT. AND 2 WARRANT OFFICERS WOULD BE RIFFED DOWN 3 GRADES!
I HAD BEEN OUT ON A DATE THE NIGHT BEFORE THEN STOOD THE 24 HOUR ALERT SO I WENT TO BED WHEN THEY CALLED THE 24 HOUR ALERT COMPLETE! I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE ABORTED AIRCRAFT UNTIL LATER AND THE NEW “FLY AWAY” ALERT BEING CALLED! MY ROOM MATES BOTH TRIED TO WAKE ME UP BUT COULDN’T SO, THEY CARRIED ME ON MY BUNK WITH ALL MY CLOTHES TO A C-97 AIR PLANE AND PUT ME ON THE ELEVATOR IN MY BUNK AND SHIPPED ME TO “UPPER HAYFORD RAF BASE OUT SIDE OF OXFORDSHIRE, NEAR THE TOWN OF BICESTL ENGLAND! I WOKE UP AS WE MADE THE FINAL TURN BEFORE SETTING DOWN ON THE RUNWAY!
I HAD A GOOD TIME IN ENGLAND AND GOT TO VISIT LONDON, THE SCARES OF WAR WERE STILL EVIDENT, PILES AND PILES OF BRICKS AND PIECES OF BUILDINGS COULD BE SEEN! THE NAZIS DID A COMPLETE JOB ON THE COUNTRY BUT THEY COULDN’T BEAT THE PEOPLE AND WHEN WINSTON CHURCHILL SAID; WE’LL FIGHT THEM AT THE BEACHES IN THE FIELD AND IN THE STREET BUT WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER! (THAT’S THE BEST I CAN REMEMBER WHAT HE SAID)! HE WAS DEAD SERIOUS!
THERE’S ANOTHER STORY THAT GOES AROUND ABOUT GENERAL LEMAY; HE ALWAYS HAD A STUB OF A CIGAR IN THE RIGHT CORNER OF HIS MOUTH. ON DAY HE WAS STANDING UNDER THE WING OF A KC-97 AIR REFUELER AND TOOK OUT HIS LIGHTER AND THE AIRMAN STANDING THERE SAID BEFORE HE LIT THE LIGHTER; “I WOULDN’T LIGHT THAT LIGHTER RIGHT HER GENERAL, WE JUST FINISHED FILLING THE TANKS IN THIS AIR CRAFT AND IT COULD EXPLODE! LEMAY ANSWERED; “IT WOULDN’T DARE” WITH A SMILE THEN HE PUT HIS LIGHTER AWAY AND DIDN’T LIGHT THE CIGAR STUB!
THAT’S “30” FOR THIS ISSUE.
HOWARD
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