Reflections of An Uncommon Common Man

Rob made it through boot camp and was scheduled to graduate in May. We made plans to be there for the graduation ceremony. I don't know if it was because of the Vietnam war but I didn't have a graduation ceremony when I graduated from Air Force basic training. I have always wondered why we didn't. Other Air Force basic training units did but we didn't. We packed up the kids and Courtney who was about a year and a half old and headed for Illinois. Somewhere in Illinois I was waved over by a State Trooper who was standing on the side of the road. A helicopter had clocked me speeding. Illinois is so flat that I was doing ninety before I even knew it.   I loved all the pomp and ceremony of Robbie's graduation and it was an experience. Rob's fiance Jody flew up to Chicago where I picked her up at O'Hare International airport just before the ceremony. Even though it was May it was freezing cold and the ceremony was held inside a big hangar. Afterwards we went to a...

    In the summer of 1988 my Air Guard unit was deployed to Hurlburt Field Florida. This was right next to Eglin AFB. While we were there we were tasked to guard aircraft with several different missions. Helicopters, special ops C-130's and the AC-130 gunships. At the time Hurlburt was one of only two AC-130 units in America. The AC-130 H Spectre is a badass. On the port side of the plane, in front of the wings, it was armed with two 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannons, or Gatling guns. One Bofors 40 mm cannon, or what they used to call the pom pom gun in the Navy, just behind the wing. Last but not least a 105 mm M102 howitzer near the rear of the plane. Since 1994 the two Gatling guns have been replaced by one 25 mm GAU-12 Equalizer cannon. It can lay down a tremendous amount of firepower and is used in close air support.   We were also there to work law enforcement. Days were set aside to do ABGD or Air Base Ground Defense training on Eglin's Army Ranger training area. I bro...

I was hired at Bridgestone Tire Company at Lavergne Tennessee in the Fall of 1987. My situation at Cumberland- Swan had improved to the point that my boss called me into his office one day and asked me what it would take to keep me there. My salary was 20,000 a year at Swan but I would more than double my salary at Bridgestone. Starting pay there was 45,000 a year before built-in raises over a 6 month period until I topped out. My insurance package and benefits would be far superior to anything I had at Swan. After I told my supervisor this he acknowledged that there was no way they could match what Bridgestone was offering me. He shook my hand and wished me well. I was extremely grateful to him for believing in me and giving me the chance to prove myself.  At Bridgestone I started off in Department 123, Stock Prep. We cut steel belt and innerliner stock for the TBR tire room. TBR stands for Truck, Bus, Radial. In the tire room they built tractor trailer and bus tires. When I start...

 On January 17, 1987, Democrat Ned McWherter was sworn in as governor of Tennessee. MP units were deployed from all over the state to help provide security for the inauguration and ball later that night at the Opryland hotel. Our unit, the 118th Tactical Airlift Wing was tasked with providing security for the entertainers at Opryland and the governor while he was there. My first post that night was in the rear of the hotel along with another security policeman named John Myers. Our job was to keep a spot open for the governor's car. We were told that the governors driver was supposed to drop Ned off at the front door of the hotel and from there he would bring the car around to our location and park the vehicle. Nearby was a line of celebrity buses with such names as Hank William's Jr., Waylon Jenning's, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tammy Wynette, Krystal Gayle, and many others painted on their sides.  While standing post Ralph Emery walked past us with an entourage. This was the third ...

  Sometime in November, or December 1986 Misty was supposed to go to an all night skate party in Smyrna. We let her go thinking that she would stay in the building all night and it was supposed to be chaperoned so we thought that it would be okay. I had a rule that my kids could not car date until they were sixteen. She was fourteen and seeing an older boy named Marshall. He was coming over to our house to see her on a fairly regular basis. The morning after the skating party Debbie told me that she had discovered that Misty had left the skating party with Marshall and had gone over to his house. I never whipped Misty more than a couple of times in her life but I was very angry at her over this. Although she was fourteen I thought that she needed a whipping and I gave her one with my belt. Debbie was normally at home with our kids when they were growing up but during the 1980's after I lost my job at Colonial. It became necessary, however; for her to work in order to help out with ...

    We had a C-130 that had a throttle cable snap while doing "touch and go's" at Ft. Campbell in 1986. The plane crashed while landing and killed the pilot, navigator, and load master. Two crewmen survived. One was the co-pilot who only had minor burns on his face because he was able to run out through the rear of the plane and away from the flames. The other four were engulfed in flames and the one crewman who survived the flames underwent months of treatment at Brook Army Burn Center in San Antonio Texas. I was the chapel song leader and honored when they asked me to lead the singing at the memorial for the three men who had died. The only problem was that they asked me to prepare two songs that I had never heard of in my life and I can't read music. The songs were Our God of Ages Past and My Faith Looks Up To Thee.  Our God of Ages Past was the opening song and for some reason no matter how much I practiced I could not get that song in my head. All four local tele...