MKopack

What? Seriously? I'm meeting my Uncle (or is it cousin?!?) here on BaseOps??? Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Korea? Talk about hitting ALL of the high spots... I've heard of Andrew, but unfortunately little more than his name and the fact that he was a Marine. I'll have to get more details from you. I just dropped a message in to Uncle George as well, I believe he was USAAF at the same time. Over Memorial Day we were discussing 'military families' with my Grandfather's daughters. It occurred that people who don't have Veterans in their immediate family, don't tend to have any Vets as relatives. On the other hand, if you can name one, there are usually quite a few more. I'm sure that a sociologist would say that means something, but all I know is it makes me proud to be in a family that has worn a lot of uniforms over the years. Here's a photo of Michael C. Kopack, who was lost in 1944 while fighting in France. Mike Jr. mkopack@infionline.net

Great article, the Beaufighter was a brutish aircraft and its incredible in how many missions it served for an aircraft that was developed to drop torpedoes. It's good to see that there, I believe a couple of restorations ongoing - including at least one to flying condition.

No, nothing wrong with the arts at all. Hell, I played the saxophone back in the middle school band - played it so badly I realized that my talent must lie elsewhere. I was just a little surprised at the range of choices. If my stepson can take chorus that is led by a dude who pranced across the stage to his piano, somebody's daughter should be able to learn how to run a table saw by one of those nine-fingered IA teachers we all seemed to have... I do promise though, if my eleven-year old and his friends have to take 'dance', I'll tape it and post it.

Sorry for the rant... After the 8th grade chorus sang I leaned over to my wife and whispered, "Look, those are the kids that are going to get beaten up by the football team next year..." </rant>

I would have never thought that much Moly-B on my food would have been good for me - good thing the massive quantities of booze must have flushed it out... and that included my '90-91 deployment to Qatar. When they banned the alcohol, we just considered that a challenge! '84? I was 16 and just about decided to give Big Blue a try after high school. <== Former sockless crew chief.

And in a lot of cases, although there was a draft, it wasn't even a question of the country asking - so many young people saw what was happening in the world and volunteered on their own. There was a job to do and they set out to do it. My Dad's father had four brothers in the coal country in Northeastern PA, all five of them served: And that's not unusual - I can remember my Grandfather talking about it while sitting on the porch after I enlisted, pointing to house by house going up and down the street and naming all the guys who served in WWII, or with him later in the reserves. This is my Grandfather's unit, the Headquarters battery of the 11th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks in the Hawaiian Territory, Christmas 1933. ...and 'in the field', with my Grandfather to the left, either in Hawaii or the Canal Zone during the 1930's.

"Copy Tempelhof Control. Yes, I've been to Berlin before. But last time we didn't stop..."

Ok, after a little more searching, you're going to want to contact Celia Hayes (http://www.celiahayes.com/) She describes herself as "Writer and memoirist, dreamer and adventurer, storyteller and gardener, mother and military veteran, who lives in San Antonio, Texas." This is a little long, but I believe interesting enough to post. It's from: http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=43818

You're welcome - just another reason to be thankful on this upcoming Memorial Day. Here are a couple of other websites with information: Crash du B-17 Fortress F-45-DL - 42-3338 QE-P "A" "Lonesome Polecat II" and http://www.b17-france.org/ which is a French website dedicated to the memory of the 8th AF Aircraft downed in France 1942/1945 through the American Memorial Association of Saint-Nazaire.

Pushing on, according to a post on http://forum.armyairforces.com (Could Brick have been any more right on that?!?) 1st Lt. Sherman M. Dodge was lost on October 14th 1943 piloting B-17F-45-DL Serial Number: 42-3338 And on another post:

Hope you don't mind me looking, but doing a quick search, I've got Sherman M. Dodge listed at: Home of Heroes.com, USAAF Silver Star Listing: Dodge, Sherman M. HQ, 8th Air Force, G.O. No. 533 (1944) and at: USAF Incident and Accident Personnel List 1943 at accident report.com They claim to be able to possibly get you a copy of the accident report of the loss. Of course if they can, you could probably do it yourself through the National Archives, AF Museum, etc... and at: The Dodge Family Association, Dodges Who Fought For Their Country World War II - The Ultimate Sacrifice Sherman M. Dodge, Winchester, Massachusetts U.S. Army; 1st Lieutenant. A B-17 Pilot Assigned To The 331st Bomb Squadron, 94th Bomb Group, Stationed In Bury St. Edmunds, England. His Aircraft Was One Of The 60 U.S. Aircraft That Was Shot Down On 'Black Thursday' October 14, 1943. He Is Buried At The Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France, Plot: C Row: 13 Grave: 41 Awards: Silver Star, Purple Heart Awarded The Silver Star And Purple Heart Medals For His Bravery. Submitted by William A. Dodge, III, nephew, and ABMC Cemeteries

You can also do a search through the American Battle Monuments Commission at: http://www.abmc.gov/home.php If he was buried overseas he may have a listing, and it's done via a simple name search. I was able to find my Dad's uncle: As well as the Uncle of a good friend from work: With that info it might be possible to cross reference to information that may not have been lost in the fire, if his in fact was. Michael P. Kopack

I don't even think I could see a bad guy a mile and a half away...

I can't tell you that. It's classified. But I understand that if you have trouble hitting your objective, your secondary targets are an accordion factory and a mime school.

As everyone has said, all bases have their good and their bad, but being a young kid from central New York, I have to admit that all those years ago, I never really found many bad sides of MacDill back in the 56th's days. What a party. Sometimes it's hard to believe that we even survived it. And then they forced me to leave and go to Torrejon, just outside of Madrid. Who'd have thought that life could have even gotten better?!?

For everyone who needs a resume...

Ok, here's the actual photo:

(perhaps the photo was added later for 'effect'...)

Have a friend (and Squadron Safety Officer) who "redeployed" a cat from the Middle East back to Europe on his lap in an F-16C. He didn't seem to have a problem with it, not sure about the cat... I understand that there are pics somewhere... Mike

Just ahead of the release of "Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds" is this review from today's Wall Street Journal, by Dan Ford. The book, written by Robin, his daughter Christina, and former F-105 pilot - and noted military aviation author - Ed Rasimus, will be available nationwide tomorrow. Salute Robin, and thank you to Christina and Ed for helping us to remember this true American leader. This true American Hero. Mike

I thought that's why we are buying so many Predators and Reapers. Aren't they the 'magic bullet' to fix all of our problems?

...and we think we've got it bad.

Oh God, my eyes! Must... get... to... De Motivational Poster Contest thread...

Would think that a comment like that might be 'the opposite of helpful' (STS). Apparently he repeated it at least a couple of times in a closed door meeting while complaining about 'foreigners' pushing for reforms in his gov't. As Nsplayr said, probably the worst part is, at least in theory he's our guy, and we're pretty much stuck with him.

"...and the spokesman said Nigeria had no problem with security." Good thing - if there was a 'problem with security', who knows what could happen.