20 February
2010
This page provides a brief unofficial background on Karamursel Air Station, some information on the website, a short history on how our group began, and instructions on how to become a member.
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This website was
established to preserve the camaraderie of the men and women who served in
the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marines at Karamürsel Air Station,
just outside the The organization this website supports (KAS 60-61) is made up of personnel assigned to Karamürsel Air Station (KAS) from it’s inception through 1961. In other words, the latest arrival date in KAS for persons eligible for membership would be December 30, 1961. We presently number just short of 300 active members. The website includes: a “Personnel” page where all members of the group are listed. In addition, we list all the “Karamürsel survivors” we locate, whether they join the group or not, and we list names of persons we’ve not yet located when names are found on orders or other papers. If you’re eligible and are interested in membership, see the instructions for joining below.
a “ a “Memorial” page dedicated to our comrades who have passed on a “KAS Store” where you can see some items related to Karamürsel that can be purchased. These may be purchased by members and non-members alike. a “Links” page which will direct you to other related websites a “Newsletter” page which includes copies of recent quarterly newsletters that are sent to member who don’t have access to email. KAS 60-61 began
life in 1998, quite by accident. While
scanning the Internet for information on Karamürsel, I ran across a website
that documented all Shortly after that, I received an email from Rudy Ruediger who was very interested in exchanging stories about KAS, and he brought along Bill McKay, with whom he had been in contact. Van Damron was the very next person to join the group. Rudy immediately began a phone search program looking for other “Karamürsel survivors”, most of whom were on Dog Flight at KAS as were we charter members, with the exception of Jerry who was on Charlie Flight. As new guys were located, they too began looking for friends. With no plan for such, we rapidly became a group of nearly 50 guys previously stationed at KAS. At that time, everyone sent email to me where I combined it and turned it around to the whole group. In 1999, with
our membership growing, we began talking about the possibility of having a
group reunion, and in fact the next year that came about. Reunion 2000 was held in Our membership continues to grow and although the majority of members are Air Force, the number of Navy and Marines continues to increase. With the number of members today, we now use a web-based email system to route information, stories, pictures and such among the membership. The provider is Google Groups and membership in KAS 60-61 is required in order to register with the service. If you join KAS 60-61, directions to register with the Google Groups service will be provided to you. We also maintain a membership roster that includes names, nick names used in Turkey, dates stationed in Turkey, job specialty code (AFSC, etc) while there, email address, mailing address, and phone number. Members receive an updated copy of this via email at least quarterly or more often depending on the number of additions to it. Members without email access receive an annual update of the roster. In order to qualify for membership, you must have begun an assignment to Karamürsel Air Station no later than December 1961. To initiate membership, send me an email at pjohnson010@carolina.rr.com and include to the extent possible all the following: Name/
nick name/ dates in Annual dues of $10.00 are required to initiate membership and are then due every January. Members joining in September or later will become members immediately, but dues will be credited to the next year. Instructions for making out the check will be forwarded to you via email. Upon receipt of your dues, you will be provided instructions on registering with our Google Groups service. After completing that free registration, you will begin to receive group email and be able to send to the entire group. |
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I hope you’ve found this little introduction to our group interesting, and that you will be interested in joining us. Each new member builds on the combined memories of our assignment to Karamürsel, and you quickly begin to feel that it was a unique time, in a unique location; and that there seems to be something very special about those who were among us at that time. We look forward to hearing from you. USAFSS 292X2 Dog Flight April 1960 – September 1961 |