Did you think about acquaintances on Veterans Day?

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col Dan Crawford
  • 5th Flying Training Squadron
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  Veterans Day has come and gone. What did you do? Did you attend a parade honoring the veterans of America's past wars? Did you do some work around the house? Maybe you watched war documentaries on the History or Military Channels. Nonetheless, I'd like to share some of my thoughts about what Veterans Day is all about.

Take some time to think about people you know who've fought in a war. Personally, I think about my grandfather, a marine who fought in the trenches in World War I; my uncles, who served in the Navy during World War II, one as a torpedo bomber pilot and the other as a surgeon; and my infantryman brother-in-law who was awarded the Bronze and Silver Stars for combat in Vietnam.

I think of people I've met during my 22 years in the Air Force. From my early days in the B-52 when I flew with crewmembers who had flown 100-plus combat missions over Vietnam. Or I remember a few of the pilots from my C-130 squadron who flew into "hot" landing zones during Vietnam. It was always interesting listening to them tell their war stories.

The Daedalians (fraternity of military pilots) invite pilots to speak at their monthly dinners. One of the most memorable speakers was Enid resident Fran Hoad. He was a B-17 pilot who was shot down over Belgium and captured by the Germans during World War II. His survival and perseverance is a testament to the sacrifices our nation made to free the world from fascism.

Recently I had the opportunity to meet another World War II veteran. Lt. Col. Ron Baldinger, 71st Operations Support Squadron commander, was wondering who the Empey Room was named for and did some research. As it turns out, that OSS conference room is named for Lt. Col. (ret) James Empey, who was the first ace in the 5th Fighter Squadron, the predecessor of Vance AFB's own 5th Flying Training Squadron. Colonel Baldinger discovered Colonel Empey was alive and well and living near Randolph AFB. As luck would have it, Lt. Col. Kevin Kallsen, my director of operations, and I were heading to Randolph for a conference the following week. As commander of the 5th, there was no way I was going to pass up this opportunity to meet with a part of our own squadron's history.

Colonel Empy was thrilled to hear the 5th was still around after all these years. We spent an hour with him at his house listening to stories of his 30-year Air Force career. During World War II, he flew the P-39, P-40 and British Spitfire. Ultimately, he ended up in the P-51 Mustang, the aircraft from which he would shoot down five German planes.
He told us about becoming a test pilot in the 1950s. We got to hear stories about his service in Vietnam as a forward air controller, flying the O-1 Bird Dog. Interestingly, he thought that mission was far more hazardous than flying against seasoned German fighter pilots.

Finally, he showed us the most extensive personal aviation art collection we'd ever seen. He knew the stories behind all the paintings and mentioned to us that a famed aviation painter had been commissioned to portray the aerial victory that made him an ace.

Close to home, there are many Airmen at Vance AFB who are part of this same group of "veterans." They work right next to us in our squadrons. They are veterans of America's wars over the past fifteen years. They're veterans of Gulf War I, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Even closer to home (for me at least), several reservists from my own squadron have deployed to support the Global War on Terrorism.

To highlight the contributions of just a few: Lt. Col. Mark Irwin was an air liaison officer during the liberation of Iraq; Maj. Brian Vandivere is currently serving at CENTCOM headquarters; and Maj. Homer Nesmith is starting his third deployment since 2003--this time to Afghanistan. Space limitations prevent me from listing everyone, but I'm proud of all of them. They and everyone else who have supported our nation in its recent conflicts deserve to be remembered on Veterans Day.

So, next Veterans Day while you take a day off work to catch up on some reading and/or housework (or watch war movies and documentaries) or maybe even go to the Veterans Day parade, think about those people you know who fought in our nation's wars and the sacrifices they made. Maybe one of them works right next to you. Maybe it's you?