Another Trip the the Air Force Museum...Meeting up with FHB

I seldom blog this late at night, but having been gone much of the day and with a full schedule for tomorrow{Friday}, I though I would kick this out. With baseball, painting, and the Lake Festival in front of me for the upcoming weekend, I may not get much out until Monday.

Patricia and I headed south towards the Dayton area this morning...we planned on taking in the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB for the 2nd time in 6 months....Last January we met up with 35{60 folks counting wives and guests} former Air Force Security Policeman from Vietnam, and had a "Mini Reunion" of sorts...most of the guys took in some of the Museum, but if you've ever been there, you know it can't be done in a couple of hours...at least not if you want to do it up right.

The Fat Hairy Bastard____

Yep, that's what Jeff goes by on his blog:

http://fathairybastard.blogspot.com/

Anyhow, I've been following his escapades for a couple of years now, and Jeff, Denise, and I met up last summer for lunch at a Ruby Tuesdays on the north end of Dayton, while they were on vacation, heading for Pennsylvania. This year Jeff wanted to get a chance to see the Air Force Museum, a place that he had not visited for over 35 years. His dad was a pilot during the tail end of WW2 and being the History teachers he is, Jeff has alot of knowledge on the subjects at hand. Things have changed since those days, 35 years ago, and he wanted to bring Denise and her 2 grandsons to see what was up. Jeff teaches college history courses to military and prison folks and has some time off, so they headed to Kentucky to see Denise's family, and wanted to make a road trip to Dayton. Patricia and I met them at the Museum, and over the next 3 hours we stayed in touch as all of us wanted to visit as much as possible....we didn't get a lot of time to do small talk, the boys wanted to try some simulator things and we all knew that there is just too much to see, and not enough time to do it all.

We took some photos and said our good byes around 3pm, with them facing a trip back to Kentucky, and Patricia and I headed to youngest son Hal's place about 10 miles down the road in Kettering...Jeff and I agreed that hopefully next year we can meet up at Mushy's in Tennessee, for a longer get together. Mushy is another former Air Force Cop, who was stationed at Da Nang, a couple years before I landed at Nha Trang:

http://mushysmoochings.blogspot.com/

Paul{Mushy} is who I got my idea to start this blog from...seeing he being a wiser and older former Sky Cop....I've talked with him on several occasions, and hopefully by this time next year, I will get a chance to knock down a beer or two with him. Which is what The FHB will be doing in the next day or so, as he continues his Summer Vacation.

The Museum_____

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

Last January, being one of the hosts of the Mini Reunion, Patricia and I didn't take much time away from the get together area to view the museum...maybe an hour or so. Today we took in about 2 1/2 hours worth, and did a complete look at the WW2, Vietnam, and Cold War areas of the buildings...but still so much more to cover.

Dad, Stan Houseworth, worked on various aircraft during his stint in the Army Air Corps during Second World War...one large photo that mom has is of his 1505th Squadron at Mather AFB in California in 1944...the complete photo shows the Squadron in front of and on the wings of one of the B-29s...dad was a mechanic on this one, and he is sitting in the glass enclosed front of the Airplane...sort of in the "Cat Birds Seat". So I wanted to see the B-29 on display, as well as the stories from WW2 and my war, the Conflict in Vietnam. We got some photos, some of which you can view on tonight's post.

After saying our good-byes, we headed to Kettering and visited Hal for about an hour...still looking for a post Masters degree teaching job, he will go back on the road for Celina Moving and Storage next week to make some post Masters degree money, gotta pay the bills. He will be working in South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama, for about a week. We headed home after that visit...and the weekend promises to be busy...baseball, painting, and the Grand Lake Festival will be in the plans....

back when I get the chance

Enjoy your weekend.

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Photos-(top) Me at the Defender Fortis Security Police Statue on the Museum grounds. Jeff, Denise and the boys at the entrance. The restored WW2 Vintage B-29 and the cropped 1944 photo of Dad sitting in the bomb sight pit of the B-29 at Mather Field, California.

{Double Click Photos to Enlarge}