I joined the Air Force in August of 1959 right after I turned 17 and graduated from high school in May. Came to Goodfellow after basic in November and graduated from NMIO school in May of '60. There were eleven in my class and we had a choice of one Germany, one Turkey and nine Pakistans. Fortunately (or unfortunately as the case may be) I got second pick.
     Left Charleston in June of '60 with Clark Flynn (Charlie Flight) and had about the same trip and experiences as most of the group. Landed in the Azores and then on to Tripoli. Stayed in the barracks by the flight line supposedly built by Rommel during WWII. Spent three days at Wheelus. Never did venture downtown because of all the horror stories but did spend an exorbitant amount of time at the Mirage and Sahara clubs. The thing I remember most about Tripoli was the flies...they just rode around with you.
     We had the same type of flights to Turkey as most did. The MATS plane with the backward seats, netting to stow your gear and the Mae Wests just in case. The door on the THY Turk airline ("Fly THY and DIE" must have been their motto) popped open and almost fell off when we landed in Ankara from Athens. Then the wild ride in Istanbul in the cab in the middle of the night. We checked in at the TUSLOG building but they sent us to a fleabag hotel I think named the Ali Baba. For years I carried an Un Lira piece (ten lira) with the date 27 May 1960 commemorating the day the military overthrew Premier Menderes but lost it somewhere several years ago. There was quite a military presence in Istanbul when Clark and I got there. Then we made our way to the Galata Bridge and the ferry to Yalova. Had my introduction to a "bombsite" on the ferry.
    When we got to Mainsite it was raining and muddy. We thought maybe it was just a short lay over to someplace better. It lasted 18 months. We spent several weeks in the quonset huts where the lights never went out. Capt. Winters was the CO and failed to show up for the first two scheduled orientations. Then, of course, when he showed up at the third guess who didn't. He later ended up back at Goodfellow but never mentioned our first one-on-one conversation where he did all the talking. Remember the showers in the last hut? MASH had nothing on us. They showed movies across the street at the gym. Bring your own chair if you could find one and watch on the little screen. Finally moved into a room in the barracks with four others.
     Worked for KTUS off and on and spent a lot of time in the Bull on the 24 hour breaks between mids and days and every three day break. Cleared $104 a month and seemed to have more money than I could throw away. Never has been the case since.
     Went back to the States in November of '61 with orders for Goodfellow. We took a three day delay en route in Germany but guess they figured we weren't civilized enough because they put us in a little chateau out in the country where the beer flowed until they poured us on the California-Hawaiian Airlines plane (in Germany no less) to Vienna, Ireland, Newfoundland and McGuire. Spent the rest of my time in the AF at Goodfellow. Taught in all classified phases of NMIO school and helped re-write the curriculum a time or two as things kept changing. Re-enlisted in '62 right after I got married and got out for good in '66.
     Over the years I have worked in the oil field, meatpacking industry, trucking, construction, automobile dealership, had my own accounting business and in 34 months will have my 20 years with the Texas Dept. of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and intend to call it quits. Over the years San Angelo has grown from a small cowtown to a fairly good sized city of 90K or so.
     Have been married to the same wonderful woman for nearly 37 years and have three grown children (and three great in-law children), one granddaughter and another grandchild due any day. My oldest son is a DVM and lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife. My little girl lives here in San Angelo and has been with Beall's department store many years. Her husband is a CPA and the Tom Green County auditor. My youngest lives in Montgomery, Alabama with his wife and daughter and is the associate pastor at First Baptist Church.
     Wouldn't take anything for all of life's experiences of which I count the time at Karamursel as a good one. Met some good people, had a lot of good times and hope we can all get together sometime in the future. I'm sure there are more stories to be told than we can tell here!