Many years ago when I was just a wet behind the ears airmen stationed at George Air Force Base in Southern California, little did I know in my everyday chores in the 35thCivil Engineering Squadron that my relationship to the flight line and its operations would have me supporting the mission being carried out by some very long in the tooth Republic Aircraft F-105Gs.

Like all things in the military, it was easy to take such aircraft for granted as they were a constant in the background of my military years.

The Thunderchief was properly named as anybody familiar with one going full afterburner the pounding on your chest let it be known that something very serious was rolling down the runway. Many times, when I was out at the GCA or RSU sites I would get the full effect of the roll out and always take a few moments to enjoy ultimate Roman candle especially, when night missions were being flown.

Being part of facility maintenance at Cuddeback Gunnery Range northeast of Edwards, I also had the joy of watching the “Thuds” skim the desert and cutting loose with those guns and hitting the afterburner for a quick exit as they trained for war.

Over time, as we lived out the late 1970s, many of us knew that those Thud crews that flew the Wild Weasel missions were all hard-core Vietnam veterans that had flown those old airframes many times in hostile skies over Vietnam. Each plane, to many of us, was like a national treasure. Even those tasked with keeping them airworthy who had a love hate relationship with them, they kept them flying as they filled a mission requirement that was slowly being passed over to another old guardian the F-4 Phantom.

The stories of bravery and dedication to missions when it came to those old G model Wild Weasels has many of us today thinking back to the unique swagger of the crew members we interacted with at George and how they were just hold over old school cowboys we loved to be around when they would tell their stories. Many of these guys were not looking to impress they were just happy to share some stories of times over the targets, and clinched butt cheeks when things got a little intense.

This month a date came and went where history marks the beginning of the Vietnam War. Many folks have different opinions as to the mission that was dealt the American military. For many of us, we just looked at the men and women that were influenced by that war and are kind of thankful for having known such heroes that were more spit than polish and knew how to really push the limits of a handlebar mustache.

Over in Palmdale, at the Joe Davies Airpark, sits a reminder of my days at George and also of the conflicts that took place over the skies of Vietnam. Tail # 416 is an airframe that I have seen pictures of loaded for bear heading to North Vietnam and I also remember that old bird rolling down the runways at George keeping the wild weasel missions alive as new aircraft would slowly disperse the Thuds to storage facilities and museums and the passing of that torch which would silence that mighty afterburner for the last time.

As the generation of the men that flew and crewed these old warbirds starts to find their way into the sunset, many of us who spent our time in their world is starting to experience a sadness in our hearts as we really cherished these guys and their old steeds and what they represented to us and how they helped us to be what we wanted to be.

Someday, if you’re ever driving past Joe Davies Airpark and you look over to old number 416 and you see an old guy walking around it with his hand touching that history making airframe, you need not call security as that guy is just one of many Air Force veterans that is preforming a ritual where we from the past do our very best to pass the history and our affection for our generation and our planes to generations in the future and hope they also understand the affection many of us have for these old warbirds and their crews from the past.

It’s sad to think I will never hear live again something that I once took for granted. But that is also the same feeling that muti-generations of airmen have experienced since the beginning of flight and it sure won’t end when current front-line fighters and bombers find their way to boneyards and museums.

Until next time, blue skies and Bob out …