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Airway Pioneer Member |
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I was born in Seattle WA on 11/2/1918. When I was four years old our family moved to Vancouver BC. I was raised and educated in Canada. In 1940 I returned to the US and signed up for a construction job at Ft. Mears, Dutch Harbor Alaska. After 6 months in the Aleutian cold and snow, I left for Seattle again. As luck would have it I just missed the Japanese bombing raid on Dutch Harbor. That same month I signed up with the US Army Signal Corps, Alaska Communications System....War broke out in 1941 and I was transferred to the Alaska Defense Command Hdqtrs at Kodiak Alaska. During the next few years of the war in the Pacific I worked at stations in the Aleutians, Kodiak, Adak, Dutch, then Ketchikan and Anchorage. After discharge from the army in 1945, I went to LA, where I heard the FAA (then CAA) was hiring. Andy Anderson signed me up as Asst. Overseas Communicator and assigned me to SFO Overseas station. Shortly afterward I transferred to the Electronics Branch. After some duty as MTIC of some stations in Utah and Nevada, I became Relief Electronic Technician and relieved at stations in the Western Region from Hanksville, Utah to Burbank and LA. If I remember correctly, my wife and I liked traveling and we stayed on that assignment for about ten years. Later on, I became the Deputy Chief of the Systems Maintenance Office at Fresno....along with Ken Willits and Jerry Long. Many were the problems we got into!! After years there, I took an Eng. Job Overseas in Pakistan....this was a two year assignment, the purpose of which was to assist and help Pakistani techs and engineers in installing and maintaining Electronic Navigation Aids. They learned fast and we maintained a very friendly relationship with them 1962-the next overseas assignment was at Ankara Turkey. A whole new ball game. The Turks were very friendly and also learned fast....their country was sadly lacking in Navigational Aids. We helped them to install several VORs and repair the ILS at Istanbul that the British Airway Jet had smashed up. 1966-By this time my wife and I had decided to return to the US. Our children had begun to adopt Turkish ways and language so we thought we had had enough for now. 1975-On my return to the US I spent six months in Denver and ended up as Manager of Systems Maintenance at San Francisco International. Had a great time there...with the greatest and smartest bunch of technicians you could hope for. Well the rest is history....I'm 88 but still in good shape for the shape I'm in | |
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