An old friend
Take off was at night, it was cold on that
Tarmac, and you could see the condensation coming
out of our noses, as we breathed, and mouths as we talked. We were freezing our
keisters off, and it seemed like there were over 1,000 guys waiting to get on
that freaking plane. I couldn’t believe how many dudes were getting on it.
It was dark, and we couldn’t tell what kind of plane it was, whether it was a 707
or a C124. But, I remember wondering if that damned thing was ever going to
get off the ground. Would it crash? Some of us were really unnerved by it all. I
remember the line I was on getting shorter, and shorter, and me getting closer,
and closer to boarding the beast.
I don’t remember if we were allowed to
smoke while waiting to board. What with all those jet fuel fumes and all. Probably not! But, I do remember once we were in the air, and the no smoking sign went off, everybody lit up. It wasn’t a direct flight. We went to Hawaii first,
then Guam, and finally to the PI. All the way there guys were either smoking, sleeping, trying to sleep, or praying.
When we deplaned the first thing I
remember was the heat. It was in the high nineties or higher. You have to
remember it was winter in the states, it felt as cold as the north
pole on the tarmac at Travis, and we were dressed for it.
As soon we arrived I had to report to my captain’s
office, at the 1961st Comm group’s headquarters.
A group jeep took three us there, and when I entered his office, I was surprised.
It was the same captain I had back at Randolph
AB, and when I reported, he looked up
at me and smiled.
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