We saw one of 50 amazing Blackbird spy planes, supersonic snoopers that took pictures during the Cold War over the Soviet Union or anywhere else the US damn-well pleased to go. It is a rocket ridden by two pilots and is absolutely huge. Stan is the red dot under the left engine. He remembers hearing incredible stories in the early 70s about this top secret bird when fellow servicemen would gossip about having caught a glimpse somewhere of something that seemed too powerful, too fast, too secret to be credible. But it all turned out to be true.
From high tech to low tech, Stan walked into a wooden barracks, (below) exactly like his Ft. Hood home for one year, except the latrine was closed and no one was playing cards.
On a colorful hangar wall display he spotted his shoulder patch for his mighty, mighty 13th Support Brigade. On the tarmac was an assortment of Vietnam-era helicopters he would see and hear daily, including the Huey which he would ride from time to time.
But the most interesting exhibit was the 390th's B-17 museum. That unit existed for only three years and its sole purpose was the bombing of western Europe before and after D-Day. A full-sized B-17 was the centerpiece, of course, but it was surrounded by detailed stories and fascinating exhibits about the work of the 10,000 men who served in this unit before it was disbanded.
An interesting day indeed, that also included a trip to the nearby boneyard. Tell you about that later.
