It seems so long ago (and it was.)
Left the Philippines in 1969.
Gosh--39 years ago!
Last weekend, I reconnected with guys I served with in the U.S. Air Force in the Philippines: Mike Stegeman, Les Forester, Allen Canedy, Malcolm Harmless, Wylie E. Hunter, Tom Flynn, Tony D. Hill, Larry D. Durham Sr., Willie Wright, Clarence Graham, Jerry Latham, Dan Hannon, Bruce Tewell, Freddy Brace (and Mark Staley--with us in spirit).
We're older and slower.
Most of us are fatter.
Some of us, sad to say, are no longer around.
But the 15 who did make the trek to the reunion in Myrtle Beach, S.C., celebrated spending our years together in the Air Force (Vietnam era) at Clark Air Base or Wallace Air Station (both in the Philippines, but no longer there today, because the U.S. military pulled out of that country in the early 1990s, thanks to a volcanic eruption by Mount Pinatubo.
(Click on the hotlink in the headline for this blog post to see video of the explosive force of Mount Pinatubo.)
We hugged. Broke bread together. Swapped lies. Some of us got choked up with emotion. We reminisced about San Miguel beer, having fun, defending our country, and the beautiful (and I do mean BEAUTIFUL AND FRIENDLY) Filipinos.
Today, we are black and white, thin and fat, disabled and working, Yankees and Rebels and everything else. You name it. We're all over the board. But we basically love each other and cherish our U.S. Air Force memories from the late 1960s.
Some of us wondered if we'd make it or still be around for our next reunion--tentatively set for 2010 in Orlando, Fla.
I'll be there, God willing.
4 comments:
Glad that you and your USAF comrades were able to reconnect and share memories. Best wishes for another round in two years! Good writing too. Loved the cadence and parallelism. Bet the meeting was emotional, especially since you had not seen each other in almost 40 years. And you still recognized each other?
I didn't know a bunch of the guys there; they served at a radar site about 75 miles from Clark Air Base (where I spent 18 months.) However, I did talk to a lot of them on the phone or radio. So knew them in that respect. And I had met some at the reunion we had in 2005 in Newnan, Ga.
Thanks for reading and for your kind comments.
Nice job in describing the reunion. As one of the heart by-pass survivors - is was emotional to realize that one is "alive" and having an opportunity to re-establish friendships that were created 39 years ago, plus greet those who have maintained contact throughout the 39 year period. Looking forward to the next one - where ever it may be!
You're the man, Malcolm. You had three times as many bypasses as me. Me a double. You a sextuplet (or whatever).
Yes, great to be alive.
But for you, we would have forgotten lots about our stay in the P.I. You're our trusted, loyal resident historian.
You rock, Malcolm.
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