Posts Tagged ‘Cold War’
Agent Orange, B-52G, Cold War, GAM-77, Palomares, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam War on April 22, 2013 at 2:38 am
Nick Firda was flying one of these C-123 twin-engine transports loaded with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. It was his job to spray the enemy infested jungle with the deadly defoliant so the leaves would fall. Photo provided
It was the height of the Cold War in the 1960s. Maj. Nick Firda was flying a secret Strategic Air Command mission in a B-52 bomber loaded with atomic bombs across the Atlantic Ocean to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina when an oil pressure problem caused him to shut his first engine down. It would be the start of a long flight. Read the rest of this entry »
Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, P-2V "Neptune", P-5M "Flying Boat", Patrol Squadron 30
In Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. Navy on March 13, 2013 at 1:38 am
Wayne Mengel is pictured about the time he graduated from boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Processing Center outside Chicago in 1960. Photo provided
Radioman 3/C Wayne Mengel of Rotonda, Fla. played a small part in the history-making “Cuban Missile Crisis,” the high point in the “Cold War,” between the United States and the Soviet Union, in October 1962.
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Caribbean Mercy Hospital Ship, Cold War, Exxon San Francisco
In Cold War, Merchant Marines, U.S. Navy on November 21, 2012 at 4:38 am
This is Norm Meissner’s yearbook picture in 1961 as a Midshipman when he attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. Photo provided by Norm Meissner
Norm Meissner attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y. in the 1960s.
The “Cuban Missile Crisis” was erupting about the time he left the academy. The U. S. was on the verge of going to war with Russia over missiles the Soviets snuck into the island nation that were aimed our way. Read the rest of this entry »
Adak, Aleutian Islands, Cold War, Eisenhower, Fighting 69th, Fort Pendleton, Ground Pounder, PX Detachment
In Cold War, U. S. Army on June 20, 2012 at 4:38 am
Cpl. John Flower of Englewood, Fla. became the manager of the bowling alley on Adak in the Aleutian Islands during the “Cold War” in 1946 when he served for a year in the Army in the north country. Photo provided
John Flower of Oak Forrest subdivision Englewood, Fla. said facetiously, “I was a corporal in the U.S. Army’s ‘Fighting 69th, PX Detachment’ on Adak, in the Aleutian Islands in 1946″. He ran a bowling alley for the troops on the godforsaken atoll. Read the rest of this entry »
"Ferrets flights", B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress, Cold War, Iron Curtain, MacDill, SAC, Yokota Air Base
In Cold War, U.S. Air Force, World War II on May 4, 2012 at 4:38 am
The “Suella J” was 1st Lt. Smith’s B-29 “Super Fortress” he flew over the Soviet Union while spying on the Russians shortly after World War II. Photo provided
“Ferrets flights” are what they were called. They were aptly named because the super-secret missions in modified B-29 bombers immediately after World War II were made to ferret out information about the Soviet Union’s most sensitive military sites. Read the rest of this entry »
'Mach Buster Club.', Chuck Yeager, Cold War, Fail-Safe, George Air Force Base, KC-135 tankers, NORAD, SAC
In Cold War, U.S. Air Force on May 16, 2011 at 4:38 am
Maj. Gen. Jim Andrews is pictured at the controls of a KC-135 tanker. He had just completed a flight from Bosnia to Italy as part of a Strategic Air Command exercise. Photo provided
Maj. Gen. James Andrews of Punta Gorda, Fla. graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1970. He spent most of his 30-plus years in the service flying Strategic Air Command tankers, commanding air wings and serving in various capacities from Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense to Air Mobility Commander and Inspector General. Read the rest of this entry »
Amphibious School, Cold War, Cuba, FALN Communist, Havana Harbor, Hydrofoils, Key West, USS Black, USS Farragut, USS Radford, USS Salmon, USS SKate, USS Wimble
In Bronze Star, Cold War, U.S. Navy, World War II on January 26, 2011 at 4:38 am
Retired Navy Captain Jim McKinney holds a picture of the hydrofoil guided missile boats he commanded in Key West in the 1980s. On he shelf beside him are pictures of his son, Brad in the foreground who is also a Navy captain; himself and his father, Eugene McKinney who was an Admiral who served in the submarines service in World War II. Photo provided
Jim McKinney is a Navy man. So was his father and so is his son.
Jim was a career naval officer who served during the Cold War as a commodore of a squadron of hydrofoil boats in Key West equipped with Harpoon, ship-to-ship guided missiles. His father, Adm. Eugene McKinney, was skipper of two World War II submarines: the USS Salmon and the USS Skate. He received three Navy Crosses and a Silver Star for Valor for the combat missions he made. Brad, Jim’s oldest son, is the commander of the Explosive Ordinance Department at the Navy’s facility at Panama Beach.
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12th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cold War, Distinguished Flying Cross, F-105, Korat Thailand, THUD, Vietnam
In Cold War, Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam War on November 1, 2010 at 4:38 am
Lt. Chuck Hofelich is about to climb into the cockpit of a T-38 jet trainer. He flew 79 combat missions over North Vietnam from 1964 to 1967. Photo provided
Lt. Chuck Hofelich was a “Thud” driver and proud of it. He flew an F-105 “Thunderchief” supersonic fighter-bomber, he and his jet jockey buddies called “Thuds” on 79 combat missions over North Vietnam.
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B-36, Broken Arrow, Cold War, Eniwetok, Fairchild Air Force Base, General Curtis Le May, Kirtland Air Force Base, SAC
In Cold War on August 6, 2010 at 6:00 am
A couple of B-36 bombers are pictured on a practice bombing mission during the 1950s somewhere in the world as part of the U.S. Strategic Air Command’s deterrence. Photo provided
Harvey Rapp’s job was to keep the biggest bomber this nation ever built in the air. The B-36 was an eight-engine Goliath that could fly non-stop from anywhere in the United States to Europe drop its bombs and return without refueling.
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1936 Harley Davidson, C-47, CIA, Cold War, Diem regime, Drew Field, Korea, Saigon, Tampa, The Hump, Vietnam, WWII
In Cold War, Korean War, Vietnam War, World War II on June 30, 2010 at 6:00 am
Lt. Col. John Dyer stands in front of a “Gooney Bird,” a C47 transport plane, at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. These legendary transports first flew in the 1930s and saw service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. They’re still being used in many countries around the world.
Lt. Col. John Dyer had no idea the planeload of .50-caliber machine-gun ammunition he flew to Tonsonnhute Airport in Saigon was part of a CIA plot to topple the Ngo Dinh Diem government in South Vietnam. Read the rest of this entry »
Cold War, Lapon, Presidential Unit Commendation, Rickover
In Cold War on April 30, 2010 at 6:00 am
This was Capt. Whitey Mack when he commanded the atomic attack submarine USS Lapon.
Chester M. “Whitey” Mack was skipper of the Lapon. It may have been the sharpest submarine in the U.S. Navy when he was at the helm. Read the rest of this entry »
