Written by Todd DePastino USAF Master Sergeant Al Claycomb has written five children's books dealing with life's big issues: loneliness, loss, faith, and friendship. Al served an astounding 44 years, from 1979 to 2023, working on, then later managing, the mighty Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, the largest aircraft in the world. But as a young
Written by Todd DePastino It’s not “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” by Joe Rosenthal or “V-J Day in Times Square” by Alfred Eisenstaedt. But the photograph of an air crew returning from a bombing mission in World War II has become an icon of sorts since author Don Miller put it on the
An aerial view of a hangar area at RAF Upper Heyford (USAF) Written by Bob Von Bargen I was at Upper Heyford RAF Base near Oxford in England. My KC-97 air refueling combat crew was pulling an alert tour to support operations in Europe during the Cold War. Our alert crew building
written by Robert Von Bargen In 1963, I was a Navigator on alert at RAF Upper Heyford near Oxford in England. My crew had flown from our home station at Pease AFB in New Hampshire three weeks before. We were waiting for our replacement aircraft to arrive. We would not be released to fly
written by Bob Von Bargen Robert McNamara meeting with Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House (LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto) My experience with the US Air Force Strategic Air Command, or SAC, began in January 1960 when I reported for duty in the 509th Air Refueling Squadron at Pease
written by SSGT Forrest Purdy, USAFRES SSGT Forrest Purdy, USAFRES, Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, 2007 GWOT veteran Forrest Purdy wrote us after reading Vietnam Marine Jack Woodard's post on his brief time in Graves Registration. The post, and the conversation with Graves Registration veterans on a recent VBC Happy Hour, reminded Forrest of
