US Air force 336th Fighter Interceptor Squadron Rocketeers , 1954, visitors and discussions

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The 2004--2008 Rocketeer Air Force Guest Book
Discussions & comments about the Korean war, vintage fighter aircraft photos, air force memorabilia and the F-86 jet fighter.
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NOTE: Visit or click-on websites and home pages listed by guestbook visitors at your own risk. Also, in an effort to reduce email abuse, as of 5/02/04 I am presenting emails only in graphic format. To email a person listed in this manner, you have to manually type their email address.

Hi -- I served in France as crew chief on F-86 jets in 48th statue of Libert Wing , I wish there was more info on this AFB Wing . If there is Iwould like to hear about it. Thank You

Sure did like your posting of 03-29-08. I'm a huge fan of John's site. It's a great historical archive, including in a personalized way.

As can be seen in the hundreds of postings over the years it's been a great outlet for sharing personal experiences of interest to many. Years ago I learned of Oscar Brand through this site. I was delighted with Brand's work. My most recent experience with his artistry was in December of last year. My grandson is an aviation enthusiast with his pilot license. However, just driving a plane through the sky wasn't enough for him. Last December he applied and was accepted for OCS in the Navy and for flight school after graduation.

Having experienced seven years in the Air Force ( starting at age 17, and continuing,as a low-level grunt) including a 10 month tour with the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing in 1952-53, in hindsight I wasn't too happy to see him going into that profession although I did support him in his decision. In December, it occurred to me I could "needle" him a little. Although it was just a week before Christmas I decided to get him a copy of Brand's "Wild Blue Yonder".

So many ironic and humorous songs with such insights as "I wanted wings til I got the GD things, now I don,t want them anymore", "Itazuke Tower" ad infinitum. I didn't think there was any way it could get to him in time for Christmas but sent an order with personal check enclosed explaining it was for a Christmas present. I expected them to wait for the check to clear. God bless 'em. They obviously shipped the day they got the order because it got there in time for Christmas.

Just a note to thank you for the posting and express my long lasting appreciation of John Starr and Oscar Brand, among others.

I, too, remember my Father, now long departed, a retired U.S.A.F. Lt Col, listening to the Air Force song album by Oscar Brand. I also remember my Mother saying the identical words your Mother did: "Honey, not now, wait until the kids are in bed". I used to sneak out of bed to hear the songs. Though I didn't understand some of the terms I did later on, when I began flying as a crewman on Navy recon aircraft. Great music. Just wish my Dad was still around to listen to the songs with me.

Pictures of the T-33 brings back alot of memories,I was a flight line mech. on T-33's at Moody AFB,Valdosta,Ga.1952-1954, finished out my hitch on B-25's as a flight mechanic same base.

Pat O'Brient

posted 3/15/2008

I am looking for information on JAMES PRESTON MARTIN for my family research. I would love to find out anything about my American cousin and have been searching for over a year. JAMES was in the American Air Force and stationed in LIVERPOOL ENGLAND in early 1950's untill 1960 when he returned home to U.S.A. JAMES was born abt. 1934 in U.S.A. but I do not know in which state. This is a needle in a hay stack search but I am determined to find out any info on my black American roots. Are there any Air Force Buddies out there who were stationed in LIVERPOOL ENGLAND in 1950 - 1960 or anyone who knew JAMES ? I think I have found his Death record : 1990 Long Island National Cemetery. Service A1C US AIR FORCE KOREA.

Many thanks from Sheila Hancock in Southport Merseyside England.

home address 74 West Street, Southport, Merseyside, England. PR8 1QS. PHONE 01704 514539.

tham half tracks that didnot run .,went from puson to poyngyang north korea in 1950 and to yalo river and back to K14 I was 17 a cpl in D btry sgued ledar later sgt sec.chife d 122 and d 121 were my half tracks . we went threw hell D btry was the only btry of the 865thAAA TO BE IN KOREA AT thatTIME .

I am a long time patch collector who is now retired with a lot of time on my hands. Recently I have been going thru my collection verifying info that I have for each patch and I came accross a 336th FIS patch that I have had in my collection for years. The patch is a 1950's era patch with the nickname "RAGS" on the bottom. I am curious to know who "RAGS" is/was. Do you or any of your members know?

Webmaster note: It is possible the patch belonged to one Lt. Frank W. "Rags" Ragland, an F-86 pilot who flew with the 336th during the time of my father -- 1953--1954 at Kimpo Air Base. A photo of Lt. Ragland, one of the few (only?) African American pilots in the unit at the time, is at the lower portion of this page of this website: http://www.fabulousrocketeers.com/Photo_Pad_Read.htm If anybody can shed additional light on this for Mr. Trotter, email him at the above address. - John Starr, webmaster

Hi, I was at Kimpo with the 12thTRS "Blackbirds", I worked on the flight line on RB-26C's. Moved with the squadron to Itami AFB in Japan. And was with the sqdn whenit moved toYokotaAFB, and traded the B-26 for the RB-66. Was with the 12th from Oct 1953-Nov.1958.

Today I had lunch with an old friend and pilot in our unit the 165th Tactical Airlift Wing here in Savannah. His name is Kenneth R. (KR) Davis and lo and behold after all these years we found out that we were at Kimpo (K-14), Korea together for a brief period in '53 during the Korean War. I had departed Kimpo in early June '53, but had heard all about the $100,000 offer for any MIG pilot to land at Kimpo. He was assigned as a pilot with the 334th FIS and I was across the runway assigned to the 67th Tac Recon Wg. What makes this story most interesting is that he was sitting in his F-86 on alert at Kimpo when Lt Kum Sok No flew his MIG-15 into Kimpo.

KR told me a flight of 4 F-86's had just taken off to the North when he saw flares from the Control Tower and Lt No landed from that direction and pulled up and parked in a space right beside his aircraft. He said that Lt No started waving to him and of course he waved back.

The story outlined in website above should have included KR in it. Once again we find ourselves in a small world.

Hey, great photo with the cigar, funny U just HAD to mention it was the WIDE ANGLE LENS that made u look chubby!

Anyway I am a 53 yo ER MD who is scheduled for his first jump ( a tandem) with my 18 yo senior in HS son. TODAY FRIDAY 3/16 at 1300 cdt! ( I figure it will give him an interesting answer to the inevitable question on monday " hey Thomas, what did u do over spring break?...Oh, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at ten thousand feet, what did u do?! (isn't it great to have testosterone in your veins?)

The whole story behind this is that at 18 yo I talked my 20 yo brother into skydiving wit hme and we went and did the 'ground school" which consisted of a 30 min. talk and jumping off the instructor's picnic table in his back yard!! He finished with saying " OK, come out saturday with these waivers signed and we jump." Our parents said " you will have to wait until u are 21 to kill yourself." WELL, I'll call my 87 yo mom tomorrow when we are done (same for the ex!) Soooo. 30 + yrs later I am going with my 18 yo. His older brother was not interested and his middle sister (who is in Europe on junior year abroad anyway), well, let's just say it would be wasting a dime to ask her, she is a "feet on the ground" kind of gal, like her mother. My youngest son (and hunting buddy) said " heck yes dad, when do we Go?? So we are on for this am.

BTW, have u ever asked your readers why they jump? Why don't u start a forum or discussion group on why people jump? Are one time tandems different from repeaters? Mid life crises? prove something to self or GF? Just the rush?

Wow, how this has all changed in 30 yrs. My thanks to all the guys and gals who matured this sport to the safe, fun. sport it is today, I mean think of it, what a change from training on picnic tables and round canopies!?

Thanks for good Q&As, I have downloaded those so my son can read them enroute in am so he has a few basic facts/lingo for this event

2. Why do people skydive? During the time I was in the sport I saw people doing it for a lot of good reasons, and a lot of bad reasons. Most fighter pilots on this site say there is only one good reason -- when the plane you're flying in is no longer controllable! From a sporting perspective I disagree. But then again, I've never strapped myself to a perfectly good jet fighter so I'm not sure my opinion counts for much!

3. What sets one-time tandem jumpers apart from repeat solo jumpers? Hopefully a lot of skill! Seriously, what sets them apart is every successive jump a repeat jumper makes! A friend of mine had just made her first two jumps and asked me "It's so scary. How do I know I really want to pursue this sport?"I told her, "it's easy to figure out: you'll either keep coming back for more, or not!" I got over the fear in about five jumps, but I've known very experienced jumpers who never got over the fear. I think that's weird because I don't like being afraid and would not have continued skydiving if I had remained afraid. There is a saying in the sport about how the fear cycle works "you get used to the fear long before you get over it." That didn't seem to apply to me, but it's a good saying ain't it?

During period earlt 1958 to early 1961 I was the entertainment coordinator for all of Taiwan. At one point during this period, Col. Jbarra and his squadron of F-100 Super Sabres, I believe they were called, were posted to the northern part of Taiwan. During this period, there were many instances where I was able to furnish the people involved with this squadron many nice goodies my office controlled, for, as the old saying goes, "welfare and recreation." As I understood it, their reason for being there, along with a bunch of Nike missiles, was because the Chinese had begun shelling Quemoy and Matsu, permission granted to send dependents home, etc. For my efforts on behalf of his group, Col. Jbarra sent to me a letter of commendation before departing Taiwan, a letter long since lost, sorry to say. I was a USN chief yeoman (E-7). For some reason I am unable to access your site which obviously tells a lot about the good Colonel.

I just happened across the T-33 picture being maintained at Bryan AFB. I graduated class 53F having flown T-28 and T-33 there. Went on for 13 years USAF and the 32 years with United airlines. I feel my 2 tours in Viet Nam flying F-100s repaid my debt to USAF. I enjoyed the 6 months at Bryan. Since I had graduated from Baylor just a few miles up to Waco I didn't have to compete with the Aggies for the few girls in town. Just flying and a few beers occasionally. What a life we had. I still get to fly one of the five remaining F-100s that are (although marginally) airworthy.

There was a picture in the paper recently of the Astronauts that died in the (Apollo 1) capsule fire. You might remember that Gus Grissom was an instructor at Bryan. He was working with our class although in the other section as we had a large group. The Korean war was just winding down but USAF was still in a huge buildup at that period. Particularly Air Defense Command and SAC. Do you recall that we had to discontinue flight training during some periods in the summer due to caterpillers on the runway. They were there by the millions and after we squashed them there was little or no braking action so were had to stop flying. I still remember the Fire Dept crews trying to wash down the stopping area of the runways with fire hoses. Even after 50 years that still is a funny one.

My father, then Lt. John W. Ross, flew F-86F with 12th FBS at Kadena Sept. 1955 to August 1956 when he was transferred to 336th Fighter Day Squadron (picture of patches, scarf and hat attached) until September 1957.

While with 336th at Kadena, he survived a mid-air collision with an F-84H (mock dogfight) ejected on October 26, 1956. Anyone with 336th at that time and recall incident?

According to my Dad's Individual Flight Records the 336th Fighter Day Squadron was under the 18th FBW, 18th FBG from August 1956 to February 1957 at which time the 336th Ftr Day Sqdrn. was under the 313th Air Division (AD)

Also, I have a patch and wedding ring (recovered from the crash) of Lt. Earl Norman Farris, my dad's best friend, who was with the 336th at Kadena and was killed in F-86F crash into mountain in 1956. I found Farris' ring and patch while going through my Dad's attic after his death in 1992.

My mother recently told me Lt. Farris had a newborn (less than 12 months) at the time of his death. I'd like to get the ring to them. Any ideas? I googled w/o success.

Yes, I'm an F-86 lover too. It was my job to take care of the ROKAF and their F-86's. I was stationed at Kimpo, K-14 from May 1961 thru June 1962 as an Aircraft Crash and Rescueman. I'm on here to honor the F-86 and to find anyone who served with me. Please respond if you remember me. Thanx...

My father was crew chief on F-86D FU520 out of Tyndal AFB in Florida in the mid 1950s. I also think it is the best looking plane made. He is 75 and still doing ok. His name is William A Ewers. He would probably like to hear from someone from that era.

I was in Kimpo Korea from March '59 to May '60. I was in the AIRWAYS AND AIR COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE ,Radio Maintenance. I have wonderful memories of the Korean people and would like some day go back and see the new K-14. I signed up in the service when I was 15, lied about my age, just to see the world.

John Alvarado, now 65. Thank you.

My husband, Col. Jack Smith, was the operations officer of the 386th when they went on Mobile Zebra. We have a small historic avaiation museum here in Tyler Texas and they are having a program on in-flight refueling this weekend. That got me digging in lots of old slides and decided to see just what was on the web about that particular operation. Jack died about 9 years ago--he would have loved all the info you can come up with these days.

I was at K-14 Kimpo Air Base when your father was there. I was there from July 53 to June 54 I was in 4th Motor Vehicle Squadron where I drove the drinking water truck most of the time. It is nice reading and looking at the pictures your father had. It brought back many memories. I also have my yearbook. Jim Kunkle was in my Squadron would like to here from others. When I got back to the states. I went to Webb A.F.B. Big Spring, TX. Were your father was earlier.

I was with the 45th Tac Recon Sqd., on the other side of the field, and worked on RF-80's. Our tent had a sign on it that read "Kimpo Aslymn " and had the names of inmates listed: Monson, Hal, Weltly, Tex, Woody & Jarvas. I arrived On Oct. 1st 1953 and left in Aug. 1954. It was a great experience for me, have pictures of guys in the unit + others. would like to hear from anyone that remembers me. Great site. Thanks

I got on this site to view a photo of the F-86. My youngest son, A1C James C. Blalock, is presently stationed at Spangdahlem AFB, Germany in the 52nd Equipment Maintenance Squadron. I recently learned that he was chosen, out of all members of his squadron, by the shop chief and a second NCO to be a part of the restoration of an F-86. Needless to say, he is very excited and proud to be part of such a project. James takes a lot of pride in his work and takes everything down to the finest detail. In fact, his work has been set by the shop chief as the expected standard for the squadron. His high morals and dedication reserve him the right to wear the uniform of the USAF. Of course, as a parent, I was very proud to learn of his selection. Perhaps this restoration project would make a nice entry on your site.

My father retired Major David G. Tryling served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. In Korea he flew the F-86.

I was interested if anyone on this list knew my Dad and would let me know more about his tour in Korea. He passed away on Nov 30, 2005 just four weeks after his 76th birthday and 6 months shy of his 50th wedding anniversary with my mother. He never talked much about either tour. However, he did take a lot of pictures and we have posted some of them on a website in his commemoration:

My name is Capt Gary Beckett and I am the historian for the 336 FS Rocketeers. I was recently on your website and noticed that you have a great deal of information that is an outstanding credit to your father and the Rocketeers. I also noted that you have a fine collection of Rocketeer memorabilia. One of my jobs as the squadron historian is to populate our history cabinet with such items.

Do you know of, or have any connections that would allow me to aquire items of Rocketeer history? I would appreciate any assistance that you could give me. Thanks for keeping Rocketeer history alive!

Second time visitor, I liked it first time and wanted some more, I did not see Korea but saw action in RAN in Malay in early '60's and Vietnam in the later '60's. I appreciate your dedication and welcome any mail so feel free to post my "address". I was a Tactical Communicator in the RAN as well as a "Diver" but in Malaya, we had no Clearance Divers aboard so we "Ships Divers" had to carry the weight, pretty hairy stuff on the Coastal Interdiction along the Moluccas "Highway", I must have done something right as I am still here but I lost a lot of body waste on the way. (If you get my drift?).