Remembering the Dragon Lady: The U-2 Spy Plane: Memoirs of the Men Who Made the Legend

by Gerald McIlmoyle

  The publicity angle of the accident was a particular concern to me. I was reluctant to release any information on the crash due to the classified nature of the overall operation. On Sunday, I received clearance from the Public Information Officer at 16th Air Force to release at least the names and hometowns of the six airmen presently in Naples.

  On Tuesday morning, March 8, I received a message that the Accident Investigation Team had determined the wrecked C-119 was “damaged beyond economical salvage or cannibalization,” and would be disposed of by giving it to the Italian Air Force. The Italians also operated the C-119 and they could have used some spare parts for their own aircraft from the remains.

  On Tuesday afternoon I received a message from the disaster scene that advised all survivors, including flight crewmembers, had been sent to Taranto at 7:00 a.m. local time by surface transportation. The three injured airmen remained in the hospital. From Taranto a C-130 flew them to Naples where they remained overnight.

  On Wednesday morning, March 9, I joined the group and we took off at 11:20 a.m. local time and continued our flight to RAF Brize Norton. We arrived at our destination at 2:10 a.m. GMT. All members of the 4080th SRW's Operating Location 1B, minus our three injured airmen left behind in Italy, were finally together again.

  Harry R. Magill

  Moreno Valley, California

  Wife: Dixie

  “The Great Turkey Raid”

  During the Cuban Missile Crisis, most of us guys were restricted to the base, even the married fellows. We stayed in the 4080th A&E dorm located directly across from the Chow Hall where we ate all our meals. I had a front-row seat for what became known as “The Great Turkey Raid.”

  I'm not sure of the thought pattern of the airman who initiated the raid. He managed to get into the kitchen of the Chow Hall. He confiscated a whole cooked turkey and delivered it across the street to the dorm. There he invited all the residents to join him in the feast. We did have a lot of turkey and enjoyed the great feast.

  Sometime later the Base Police arrived and asked if anyone knew how the turkey seemed to “fly” from the Chow Hall to the dorm day room. Most of the guys were mum, but the turkey liberator confessed that he had delivered the turkey to the dorm. The humorless Base Police took custody of the remains of the bird and returned it to the Chow Hall. This marked the turkey liberator as the hero of the downtrodden airman, and to this day he is still one of the Squadron's heroes; just ask anyone who was there that day. Maybe Rooster Robinson can better explain that caper.

  Samuel R. Mcdowell, Jr.

  (Deceased April 28, 2007)

  Sam provided the following prior to his death.

  In mid-1959 I was sent TDY to Taoyan Air Base, Taiwan for three months as an engine technician to the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) for the RB-57D. Sgt. Shelhorne, an autopilot technician, worked with me at Taoyan. We helped the ROCAF maintenance guys with a problem they experienced with one of the aircraft engines. RB-57D #5643 was losing power as it gained altitude. It was over-compensating and reducing too much fuel. I suggested they replace the fuel control; but to my surprise, the problem persisted. The maintenance guys asked what they should do next and I repeated my first suggestion – to change the fuel control. They said they had already changed one fuel control. They were dubious about my firm stand on replacing the fuel control again, but they ordered another one and installed it. To their surprise and my absolute delight the problem was corrected.

  We discovered that the first replacement fuel control had the same deficiency unit. I was told that after that episode, they wanted to change the fuel control for every problem. Sadly, that plane was shot down on October 7, 1959 by a PLA SA-2 missile killing the pilot, Capt Ying-Chin Wang.

  We worked with Line Chief Chung who spoke English very well as did other members of the maintenance team. The Chinese treated us well; I enjoyed my only maintenance TDY. Concerning any cultural or scientific pursuits I engaged in there, I respectfully take the Fifth.

  At Laughlin AFB I was in charge of the Jet Engine Shop and did not have the opportunity to go TDY. Adolph Janosky and Harold Brownback were with me in the Jet Engine Shop. I was in Quality Control for a long time and maintained updated blueprints on the U-2. The engineers referred to these change orders when they experienced an unusual problem.

  I had another change of career fields to the PMEL shop. I was only a TSgt. at the time and I was put in charge of the shop over fellows with higher rank as sometimes happens in the Air Force. Nobody complained, least of all me. I just continued to do my job. Guys in my shop were frequently in and out on TDY. Sometimes I had to be creative in order to keep the guys busy. Once I assigned each man to take a tech order and develop a test for everybody else. George Devers was assigned “exiting B-57C precautions.” He nearly stumped everyone with his question. I don't recall his question, but the correct answer was: Be sure the seat belt pin is in place.

  I worked in several different career fields and I can say I never had a bad assignment. There was something about each one that I enjoyed. I retired April 1, 1971. My career had a lot of events that occurred on April 1. One event was that I was assigned to Laughlin AFB on April 1, 1957. After retirement I moved to Indiana and then to Kentucky where I now reside and own a printing business that produces family histories.

  I still reminisce about my tour with the 4080th SRW. It was a high point of my career and I made some great friends in that unit.

  Marion E. Neal

  Charleston, South Carolina

  Wife: Doris

  TDY to Alaska

  I bid my family goodbye and departed Laughlin AFB, Texas on October 1, 1962 on a 90 day TDY to Alaska. A great place to be in spring or summer, Alaska in the dead of winter was not on my agenda of places to visit. However, as a career man, I packed and went where I was ordered to go, this time to Eielson AFB, Fairbanks, Alaska. Our mission was nuclear air sampling over the Arctic Circle to determine radiation levels. While we were in Alaska, the Cuban Missile Crisis was in full swing from Laughlin and later at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.

  I was an E-8 Senior Master Sergeant Line Chief in charge of everything related to the U-2, and it was my responsibility to ensure the plane was operational for a scheduled mission. The Operating Location (OL) Commander was Colonel Forest Wilson. Colonel Wilson's first air sampling mission over the Arctic was one I remember to this day. Somewhere over the frozen tundra, the generator went out on his U-2, and he came back on a wing and a prayer. He literally had to guess his direction back to Eielson because his instruments were out. It turned out that he was a very astute guesser. He was over the Aleutian Islands with his windshield fogged up, without navigation equipment or instrumentation. North American Defense Command (NORAD) identified his aircraft on their radar and scrambled two fighter aircraft to intercept him. With one fighter on each of his wings, Wilson wagged his wings hoping they would understand he was friendly. The fighters escorted him to Elmendorf AFB, at Anchorage where he landed.

  I took a maintenance crew from Eielson to Elmendorf and changed the generator in Wilson's aircraft. We checked out the aircraft and performed other maintenance to ensure he would be good to go for the return flight to Eielson.

  Colonel Wilson and I went to have coffee and got him squared away through the command channels at the base. The wing commander at Elmendorf showed up, met with us and then sent us off to Eielson. This was at a time when we endured a great deal of scrutiny from the White House.

  Chuck Maultsby's Arctic flight

  Routine sampling flights were still in progress at Eielson; however, with the 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit temperatures, we had to be selective about dates when we flew. It was so cold, tires were freezing to the concrete. We had heated hangers where we could performed our maintenance routines in relative comfort for the aircraft, and our technicians. On October 26, 1962 Churck Maultsby took off and flew a sampling mission around the Arctic. On his return to base, he became disoriented, ran short of fuel and got lo
st. Two F-102s from Galena AFB, a forward operating base under the 5072d Air Base Group at Elmendorf AFB, were scrambled to intercept Maultsby. He landed at Kotzebue, a radar station 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska's western coast.

  I organized a special preparation for the flight to Kotzebue to refuel Maultsby's plane. Our OL Commander, Colonel Wilson led the recovery team. One of the Physiological Support Division (PSD) people was with me. We loaded fuel into 55-gallon barrels and took two C-47s Gooney Birds full of materials and fuel. By the time we arrived, Maultsby's batteries were dead with not even enough power to crank the engine. Kotzebue, was an Army base, and the personnel were unfamiliar with Air Force operations. The unit commander and an NCO were very helpful; they probably didn't have many drop-in visitors at Kotzebue. They helped us determine how to put batteries together and get enough voltage to crank up the U-2. The first thing we had to do was put fuel in it. The JP-4 fuel we used had become contaminated and unusable. We spent the night straining the fuel through a chamois cloth to have enough fuel for Colonel Wilson to make it back to Eielson. At daybreak, I went to see Wilson and he asked me if I was ready to try it. I told him I was definitely ready to go.

  The runway was covered with twelve inches of snow, and where it had been plowed, eight feet of snow was piled on either side of the runway. We took a Jeep out to survey the runway and Wilson looked at it and declared, “We'll get this son of a bitch out of here.”

  We had brought an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) with us which we used it to start the aircraft. We put Wilson in the aircraft, hooked him up and he took off. The runway was so narrow the wingtips of the U-2 struck both sides of the snow banks. Then I had the C-47s reloaded and we took off for Eielson too.

  Roger (‘Big O’) Owens

  (Deceased June 25, 2002)

  The following memories were submitted by Roger's widow, Patricia.

  Roger was with the 4080th Civil Engineering Squadron from 1959 to 1961. His group was responsible for maintaining the runways at Laughlin AFB. He told me about the many snakes they had to deal with when they were working on the runways there. The Del Rio area seemed a haven for snakes.

  The enlisted guys’ pay wasn't very good in those days. However, we wives were resourceful with what we had. A few days before payday when money was very short, several families would get together and share whatever we had in the refrigerator or pantry. We had a big community meal. It wasn't a gourmet feast, but it was just a wonderful time of sharing with our friends.

  To this day Roger's TDY bag is still packed as it was when he last used it. He missed his family on those TDYs, but we understood his job came first.

  Roger retired after 25 years in the Air Force. For the next eight years he worked as a rural mail carrier around De Leon, Texas.

  Roger (‘Big O’) Owens.

  Art and Martha Reichert.

  Roger and I had three children – Roger Jr., Richard, and Peggy. Peggy was born at Laughlin hospital. We have two grandchildren, Allyson and Albert. Albert is carrying on the military tradition; he is in the Army.

  Arthur A. (Art) Reichert

  (Deceased July 26, 1991)

  The following memories were submitted by Art's widow, Martha.

  Art was stationed at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana from September 1952 to April 1956. It was during this period that we met and married.

  In April 1956 Art was transferred to Turner AFB, Georgia where he began his association with the Black Knights, later known as the “U-2 Project”. We relocated to Laughlin AFB in 1957 along with about 500 Air Force families. The nearby small town of Del Rio had many unpaved streets at the time. There was no base housing and the local people were closing in carports and garages and renting them to us. Art and I managed to find a tiny house that consisted of a bedroom, bath, kitchen and living room. It had been purchased from the base as surplus property, and we were grateful to have it. Our landlord and landlady were wonderful people; their name was Hill and they owned the Hill Lumber Company.

  Soon after our arrival, it began to rain. It was a welcome relief from the town's dry, dusty climate. Having never lived west of my native Louisiana, I finally got acclimated to the area after about a year and a half. The next exciting event was the construction of base housing where we were privileged to live in brand new quarters. Our only child, son Tommy, was born at Laughlin AFB Hospital in May of 1960.

  Everything was changing rapidly for the families. Our husbands’ work was classified TOP SECRET which meant they could not discuss anything at home. On a regular basis the Base Commander would call for the wives to meet in the base theater. He would explain to us that we shouldn't get upset if our husbands couldn't tell us what they were doing. He thanked us for our support and told us how important we were to the success of this project. Of course, that really made us feel special. It was not unusual to get a telephone call from our husbands saying, “We're on alert and I don't know when I'll be home.”

  Art was in the 4080th Armament & Electronics. He worked on the cameras for the U-2. Art and I had a close bond with the fellows he worked with as well as their wives and families.

  In June 1963, Art and I relocated to Davis Monthan AFB when the 4080th SRW was transferred there. I felt that we had the best of everything; we had Air Force friends and through my work a number of civilian friends. We considered it a pleasant “mix.”

  Art was transferred to Offutt AFB, Omaha, Nebraska in January 1968 and it was the end of our involvement with the U-2 project. It was also our most difficult assignment. When Art was sent to Thailand for a year, our son and I returned to my hometown in Louisiana to be near family. Art spent the last 14 months of his AF career at England AFB where he retired in 1971.

  Sadly, Art was in a fatal motor vehicle accident on July 26, 1991. Prior to his death, Art and I often talked of the time we spent with the U-2 project and the many wonderful people we met.

  Glenn Simmons

  Lancaster, Pennsylvania

  Wife: Marianne

  I supported the U-2 program for four years and it was certainly an interesting time in my life. My assignments were in Administration and Operations of the 4025th SRS and propulsion, ground power and orderly room for the 4080th. I kept the jet engine records that were recognized as the best in 2nd Air Force according to the Inspector General auditors.

  My memories of those days include Airman Shelby, Airman Fariar, Chief Warrant Officer Underwood and all the jet engine mechanics.

  One of my most memorable experiences was when we received a radiation sample that had to be wrapped in a lead sheet and sent to Isotopes in Nevada. President Eisenhower's visit to the area to dedicate the Amistad Dam was a highlight of my tour there. John Wayne's visit while making the movie The Alamo was another memorable event of that time.

  Marianne's memories:

  I was 17 years old when Glenn and I married. When I had saved enough money, I went to Del Rio to be with Glenn and we found an apartment on Fourth Street. Our first child was born December 25, 1959. If it wasn't for the Air Force, I would not have been serenaded in Mexico, an event I remember to this day. I also enjoyed living in the town of Del Rio and meeting so many friendly people, both in town and on the base.

  Glenn, Marianne and Diana Simmons, 1960.

  Richard W. Staats

  (Deceased October 16, 2001)

  Memories submitted by Richard's widow, Reiko.

  Richard and I met during his tour of duty in Japan in 1952 and were married 48 years when he passed away in 2001.

  Richard was assigned to the U-2 maintenance unit first at Turner AFB, Georgia and at Laughlin AFB, Texas. His last station was at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. He supported the U-2 program for a total of 11 years.

  Our two children and I were accustomed to Richard's frequent absences. One year the Christmas tree remained up until April when Richard returned and the family celebrated together. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Richard had 30 minutes to pack and leave on TDY to a destination I had not been told. W
hen President Kennedy announced on television of the tension building in Cuba, I thought then that Richard had gone to Florida. On that particular TDY he was gone more than a month.

  Richard had another mysterious foreign destination that I remembered. He was directed to pack a civilian suit, white shirt, tie and dress shoes. Money was always in short supply and Richard did not have a suit. Richard's Commander told him that funds would be arranged for him to have a suit. I thought their destination might be a Communist country but I was not sure.

  Dick Staats.

  Reiko and Dick Staats.

  Richard served in Vietnam for one year and returned in 1973 to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He later went to Virginia and retired in Pennsylvania where I currently live.

  Memories of Cyndi Staats

  I don't really remember much about Del Rio because I was just a baby when my parents were there. However, my mother and father have told many stories of the time they were stationed at Laughlin AFB. My parents’ eyes would brighten as they retold tales of how the close-knit community supported each other. I recall that my parents were close with a rancher in Del Rio named Mr. Cox who helped them from time to time. My father told stories of deer hunting on the Cox ranch. To this day, my mother stays in touch with other families she met during that time. Although they are scattered across the country, they write as though they just transferred from their last assignment.