The 126th Med Co (AA) in prehistoric times

If you can recall when UH-1Hs and Vs shared the skies with pterodactyls, perhaps some of the photos  I'll post here might make sense to you.  And if you ARE that old, ask your handler to skip this hour's medication, give you a couple of extra cookies and a fresh Depends-ultrahold while you scroll through pre-memory lane.
 
 

Shot in the summer of 1974, this photo depicts a mine-exploring adventure near Goldstone when Ft. Irwin belonged to the Guard and consisted of many abandoned buildings occupied by ravens.  This was the year of the 126th's first AT and  these guys were some of my crewmembers.

Note the somewhat, uh, different hair styles.  At that time, people in the National Guard could wear short-hair wigs--and did.  You still can, if you're interested...

To find out who these guys are, click here.

 
Still in the summer of 1974 at Ft. Irwin, here's another guy only the truly superannuated might recognize.  As one of the very few NON-Vietnam vets in the unit at the time, he stood out quite prominently with his tightly trimmed hair, stiff-brimmed hat, and matching outlook.

Actually a good, well-meaning person, he once lamented to me that there was no real way to starch our two-piece Nomex flight suits.

During the mine-exploring trip mentioned above, he decided to go on an exploration of his own.  Wearing only a bathing suit and combat boots, he disregarded my advice to the contrary and wandered off into the open desert.  It took us nearly two hours to track him down.  Click here to identify him.

By the way, note the 1964 Econoline van.  We got that one whenever we did site-support at Irwin.  It's probably still there for us.

 
A few years later (I'm not sure how many with these photos), we had a Search And Rescue (SAR) mission in Madera County, looking for a kid who'd walked away from a group in the high country.

I went with CPT Mike Gralian (at the end of the arrow) and medic, Sp/5 Wayne Blunk.  Our CE that day was SFC Ray Thompson, later to become the Brigade CSM.  We dropped into a meadow to meet his parents and the Madera County Sheriff.
The kid turned up pretty quickly, having walked twenty miles to wind up at a ranger station.  Wayne grabbed his backpack and we flew him to meet his parents.

But if you remember Wayne or what year this was, please let me know.
Meanwhile, back at the meadow, the kid's parents were most grateful for his return.  Incidentally, this shot and the one of Wayne with the backpack made the front page of the Sacramento Union the following morning.
Anybody recognize these people?
Of course for you Chinook-drivers who still possess some semblance of long-term recollection ability, there was that windy night at Camp Roberts out in the dirt during the summer of 1989 when that CH-47 parked and chocked on the hill decided to roll down into camp.  Though it might have made some of the "tactical parking" fanatics happy, this Chinook's entry into the treeline surely must have upset the "noise discipline" acolytes with all those breaking branches, excited shouts, and crunching rotor blades.
Amazingly, though it took out a large chunk of a big oak tree, it just missed a tent full of card-playing people and no one was hurt.

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n6tst@ridgenet.net