 |
|
|
|---|
Lieutenant
Gary Lea
1961
Click here to contact Major Lea
|
|
|
|---|
Lieutenant
Gary Lea
1961
Click here to contact Major Lea
I was a young 17 year old from a very small farming community in Louisiana when I first entered the Air Force. After living in tents for six weeks at Lackland’s basic training program, I was assigned to Sheppard for A & E school. From there it was to Lowry Field in Denver. For a youngster from the piney woods, the Rocky Mountains was a awe inspiring sight. At Lowry, I worked on B-29 aircraft for the gunnery school. From there I was sent to Eglin Field, Florida where I was the crew chief on a special B-29 that was being tested at the Air Proving Ground Command. It was there that I first applied for pilot training; however, before anything could be processed, I received orders for Rhein Main.
The "Luxury Cruise" on board a troop ship to Bremerhaven
in 1953 almost got to me. It was there that I knew why I had not joined the Navy. I spent my tour at RM dreading the boat ride home; therefore, when they told me I was flying,
I was sitting under the wing of the C-54 waiting for them. We landed in Bremerhaven, Germany. That night, Chester Guidry and a few others had their first taste of Green beer. After riding a "cattle car" we arrived at Rhein Main and were assigned to the 12th. Captain Johnson was the engineering officer and MSgt Blount was the Line Chief. When I made my third stripe, I became crew chief on 242, I think. It could have been 243. Guidry was my assistant and from there, it was all fun. The two of us loved to pester - in a good way - MSgt Blount and his favorite reference to us was the "two frogs".
One day Guidry and I were doing a run-up and saw Blount standing in front of the Engineering office and it was all we could do to not start taxing by him and waving out the window. When he was told of our thoughts, he stated that he would have just called the tower and tell them to let us go. After spending some time in the large bay in the barracks, Guidry and I were moved downstairs into a room across the hall from the gun room. My great dislike was the Guard Duty. Looking back on it, I will admit that I hated that. Secondly was waking up and touching the very cold pup tent when on maneuvers at Geibalstadt. And then trying to set the magnetos when the temperature was so cold. I, like some of the rest of you, remember going into Chaterreaux when the mud was the only sidewalk. Flights to deliver supplies to the Canadians at their base across the bay from Athens was a blast. Take off, leave the gear down and land at Athens for the night.
Racing the cleat-tracks on ice and then hitting the brakes was always fun. Running tugs into each other was a blast. I remember an incident that occurred with Mulvihill while he was on guard duty, but I will let him tell that one. Over all, my stay at Rhein Main was fantastic. Being young, like all of us, the fact of being overseas was awesome for me and it was because of the caliber of all of the guys in the 12th that made the time pass faster. All were great people. There were some times at RM that were not so good, but there were many things that were good - and they were all people.
1971-OV-10 Foward Controller Southeast Asia, Vietnam
I returned to the land of round door knobs in May of 1955 and attended college. I was accepted into the Aviation Cadet program and earned my wings and commission. I found that sitting on alert for 10 days of the month was not my thing, so I conned my way into maintenance where I was not stuck in one type of aircraft . I spent time as a Targeting/Alignment office in the Minuteman Missile program where I was stationed at several bases to include fabulous MINOT. My aircraft experience ranged from Mach 2 aircraft to the 140 knot U-3; and in size, from the C-5 to the OV-10. My first tour in SEA was in the Wild Weasel outfit and my second tour was as a Forward Air Controller in the OV-10. I retired in 1980 from C-130’s at Little Rock AFB with a total time for pay of 28 years, 1 month and 13 days. (The 13 days was terrible!!!)
.The last time I saw a C-119 flying was in SEA where they were being used as gun ships
My flying days were over in 1981 when I had my first heart attack and lost my medical certificate.
2001
My son was brave enough to allow me to fly from the right seat of his airplane.
I have a daughter who is the accounting manager for a large hospital in Houston, Tx; a son who is a photo journalist for ABC News working in Kansas City and a daughter who is a registered nurse here in west Texas.
