I was born August 18, 1930 in Newark, New Jersey. I graduated from East Side High School in 1948, where my only memorable contribution to the school had been helping to win baseball games. I excelled in nothing else, especially in education. Having no desire to spend any more of my time on academics, I spent the summer after graduation footloose and fancy free, until some friends and I decided on the Air Corps, as it had been previously called (until September 1947, when the US Air Force became a separate service).
I went through basic training at Lackland AFB in the old training area, now completely renovated beyond recognition. After Basic I was assigned to Bolling AFB in Washington, DC for training at the Navy’s Cryptologic School. Upon completion of training, I was sent back to Texas for an assignment with the USAF Security Service, then at Brooks AFB. I spent the next four years acquiring the rank of Staff Sergeant. I also married the office secretary in April 1952.
In June 1952, I was transferred as a member of a cadre to establish an operation at Kirknewton Air Base, just outside Edinburg, Scotland, where my wife joined me a few months later. It was there that I decided to apply for OCS. I had CQ duty and I noticed that the Air Force practiced “rank discrimination” when it came time to get some sleep. The OD had a cot, complete with sheets, pillow, and blanket -- while I, a lowly staff sergeant, had nothing. After spending a miserable night trying to sleep curled up on a desktop, I decided RHIP was really true and I had better try to get some. OCS seemed the best choice. I was returned to the US in 1955 and assigned to USAFSS, now headquartered at Kelly AFB. I did not apply for OCS right away, because my wife and I were then expecting the birth of our first child. I was busy with the new house we had bought and all the problems of starting a lawn, furnishing a house, and getting settled into stateside living as opposed to overseas assignments. I also had received two more promotions and was a master sergeant, but still not deterred from my determination to at least try for a commission. I was accepted for Class 57C---summer training in Texas! How lucky can you get?
One OCS memory I will never forget was the determination of my First Class to starve me to death, or so it seemed at the time. I was 5’9” and weighed 210 pounds so, obviously food was important to me. I was denied solid food for three months, but they did let me drink milk. Every time I began to consume anything else they would begin talking to me, so I had to hit a brace and stop eating. It worked…I lost fifty pounds in three months…in spite of all the milk they did let me drink, which of course left me permanently constipated. Also, it was a real problem to keep enough uniforms on hand that would still fit. However, it seems to have altered my metabolism in some way, because I never again had a weight problem…except a small one in Germany, caused by drinking their excellent beer delivered to the house like milk.
Another unfortunately memorable experience involved the Kopocina Dogs. I was given command of a detail of dogs and had to take them with me at all times. This meant that I had to call out detail commands wherever I went. I had to constantly call out “Kopocina Dogs, Column Left” (or right) every time I changed directions. Also I had to command them to “Forward, March” or “Halt” -- whatever the case might be. This went on for weeks until another unfortunate underclassman inherited the task.
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After graduation, I returned to my original command (USAFSS) and, within weeks, was assigned to the lovely Aleutian Chain off the coast of Alaska for a twelve-month remote tour of duty. Actually, it was a good assignment. I was operations officer of a joint Army, Navy, and Air Force command. After that, I was again assigned to USAFSS at Kelly AFB in San Antonio and worked there until 1962 when I was assigned to Hof AFS, Germany. It was five kilometers from the East German border and ninety kilometers north of Nuremberg. There was no base housing, but we were fortunate enough to rent an apartment in a new home, just built by a very nice German family. We had a wonderful time in Germany. We thoroughly enjoyed the people, the countryside, and the ability to travel to other countries, in spite of my being assigned to rotating shift staff duty for the entire four years of my tour. There was an Army post thirty-five miles away, where we had to go for commissary, BX, and medical care, and where our daughter had to ride the bus to school for the first year. After that, we had our own amenities on base. Also, while in Germany, our family increased by another member…we adopted a German baby boy.
From Germany, I went to Fort Meade, Maryland, where I was assigned to the USAFSS liaison unit at NSA. The duty was excellent, housing in government quarters was very convenient, and it was near my original home in New Jersey. We were also able to visit all the historical sites in the area as well as enjoy frequent trips to the Smithsonian museums. (You always have a lot of visiting friends and relatives when you live near Washington, DC.)
In 1967, I went to Peshawar, Pakistan, which is in the Northwest frontier, near the Khyber Pass, for my last overseas tour of duty. There, I had the honor of being appointed the project officer for the base closure. The assignment was quite an experience, to say the very least. That was a two-year tour, so I left Pakistan in 1969 the day after the US landed the first man on the moon. I remember that, because all the Pakistanis at the airport were beaming while offering congratulations -- as if I had something to do with it.
From Pakistan, I was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington DC. One year there spent walking the halls of the Pentagon was quite enough. I was eligible for retirement and my request was granted. After twenty-two years of service, I decided it was time to settle down, so we moved to Texas to my wife’s hometown of Lockhart, which is near both Austin and San Antonio.
Over the years, I had reversed my opinion about classroom education and had been taking college courses whenever and wherever they were available to me. Between San Antonio College, Trinity University, and the University of Maryland, I almost had a degree. I had decided that I wanted to teach…so much for my teenage decision that I never wanted to set foot in a classroom after high school. Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos was nearby, so I enrolled there and completed my degree requirements. (My wife insists I tell you I graduated Summa cum Laude, which I do not consider any big deal since I was a mature adult at the time.) I taught mathematics and world history for eighteen years, and decided to retire again. I was eligible to purchase five years of teaching credit because of my military service, which gave me twenty-three years for retirement purposes.
Living in a small town, when fully retired with nothing to do, can become quite boring. So, we sold our home and moved to San Antonio, long our favorite city. We bought a smaller home on a much smaller lot. Even though I grew up in a large city, after retiring from the Air Force, I discovered I had some “farmer” instincts and became enamored of raising garden crops, trees, shrubs, and flowers, as well as grass. My wife got tired of coping with all the fresh vegetables I so proudly dumped in the kitchen sink when she was otherwise engaged in preparing dinner, so I had to give that up. Our new home had just enough yard to give me something to keep me busy and satisfy my desire to make things grow.
I currently just piddle around the yard, comply with my “honey-do” requests, play some golf, and volunteer one day a week at the Lakeland AFB Diabetes Clinic. We have a place on a lake and one on the Texas coast, which we visit from time to time. We’ve pretty much given up long driving trips and escorted tours, so we don’t do much traveling anymore. Our son, David, lives here in San Antonio, is 36, and still unmarried. Our daughter, Joanne, lives in El Paso where her husband owns a business, has two daughters, and is currently attending the University of Texas at El Paso, working on a Masters Degree in ancient history, which she plans to teach when she completes her requirements. (We Tortoretes seem to be slow in deciding teaching is our forte.)
Ed Note: Joe passed away on 2 February 2009. He will be missed by all.
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