Air Commando Chronicles

IHF Note: This book is no longer in print. Lt. Col. Robert L. Gleason passed away on 5 Nov 2014, aged 93. A full copy of his work is already available online via the Air Commando Association. I am replicating his worl here for posterity's sake. No infringement or disrespect is intended. I have attempted to reach the original publisher and the Gleason family, but neither have replied. Upon the request of either party this work will be removed from this site.

https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/1534082/Robert-L-Gleason

Appendix B

Songs of FARM GATE

Air Commando songs from the early days, on the first trip to Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, in late 1961, led by their “fearless leader,” Colonel Ben “WOULDN’T SAY NO” King. (From the collection of Eugene D. Rossel)

The Land of the Great Monsoon (Tune: North to Alaska) We all left from Fort Walton in the Year of ’61
Along with Col King on a flight that was no fun
We went to trash the Viet Cong in the land of the great Monsoon
How did we get there? By an overloaded Goon.

CHORUS:
Your feet are getting rotten
Your names have been forgotten
The bug bites itch like a son-of-a-bitch
In the land of the great Monsoon

We pulled out of Montana for the land of the midnight sun
And when we got to Whitehorse we landed all but one,
Frank overflew that Yukon town on a nite that was so black
He had to make Alaska for there was no turning back

CHORUS:
The Col bought an engine in the land of the ice and snow
The ground crew changed it quickly because we had to go
We lumbered down the Aleutian chain headed for Adak
The prop ice on the fuselage reminded us of flak

CHORUS:
We blasted off from Adak and the clouds were all around
The ice was bad, the weather sad, but we were Midway bound
The west wind lashed our ancient craft with a mighty force
And Maheu and Tegge were ninety miles off course

CHORUS:
When we touched down at Midway it was dark as it could be
And it wasn’t any lighter when we got up at three
We took the active runway as dawn began to break
And sixty thousand gooney birds saw us off to Wake

CHORUS:
Now Wake’s a little island where Marines made history
And how our gooney’s got there is still a mystery
We descended on the Colonel with grog and a two piece band
And by seven in the evening the mob was out of hand.

Songs of the Gooney (SC-47 Crews)

(Tune: Cigarettes & Whiskey)

Gather around flyboys, I’ll sing you a tune
Of life with the Air Force and four ancient goons
They shook and they shuddered, protesting each mile
But they crossed the Pacific from isle to isle

Departing one morning from old number nine
To Destin the Crestview for one final time
Off for Montana all day in the sky
Watching the US and A pass on by

Commander’s decisions, last minute revisions
They’ll drive you crazy, They’ll drive you insane
Next morning at four we were up and around
Through headwinds and snowstorms the goons thundered on
Three stopped at Whiethorse, but Owens went by
Oh! Elmendorf radar, oh where the hell am I

The next leg’s to Adak, an island of stone
It seemed that good fortune had left us alone
We wondered why we flew this route straight to Hell
But Niles had picked it and he’s TAC Eval

The V.C. and snake bites and bugs that bite all night
They’ll drive you crazy, They’ll drive you insane

The trip down to Midway was filled with remorse
The nav’s all had trouble with the line they called course
Through UHF DF we all got the word
And came into Midway, that blundering herd

One day to Wake another to Guam
They seemed like short trips to our prop driven bomb
Then on to Bien Hoa in the final test
But Lewis decided it’s time for a rest

The couriers and Recon on the banks of the Mekong
They’ll drive you crazy, They’ll drive you insane

We finally made Bien Hoa, but things here are sad
The commander is worried, morale is so bad
But he has a solution that will fix all that
A guaranteed genuine good morale hat

Each week we’re inspected by Generals from Clark
They get here in daylight and leave before dark
But we’ve still got spirit, desire still burns
That someday we’ll rotate and never return

The faucets they all fail, there’s no pay and no mail
It drives you crazy, it drives you insane

The TF-28 Fighter Pilots Song

The fighter jock were fearless when they left the old home shore
They spanned the Blue Pacific in their F-124
They thought the ride on “Shakey” wasn’t very great
But they never could have made it in their TF-28

CHORUS:
We’re finally all together at the station of Bien Hoa
The B-26 boys are the worst we ever saw
They never miss a briefing, they’ve always got the word
But you can’t fly any mission when you haven’t got a bird

CHORUS:
We finally got a mission in this foreign distant land
The jocks made practice air strikes, while we dropped bags of sand
And sometimes in the evening when we were free of cares
The Colonel gets us out of bed to drop a hundred flares

CHORUS:
You new boys do not listen, pay no heed to what we’ve said
Bien Hoa’s a bed of roses, but we’d rather be at Stead
So hide your apprehension and conceal your many fears
Take comfort in remembering that you are volunteers

Appendix C

Roster of the Original JUNGLE JIM Organization

4400TH COMBAT CREW TRAINING SQUADRON (TAC)

United States Air Force
Eglin AF Auxiliary Field Nr 9, Florida

Rated Officers
SPECIAL ORDER 3 August 1961 (NUMBER P-10)

Under the Provisions of Paragraph 7 Section V, Chapter 2, AFM 35-13, the following named Officers, this squadron, this station are placed on Unconditional Flying Status Code 1, Effective 1 Aug 61.

• COL BENJAMIN H KING • CAPT DAVID L MURPHY • LT COL ROBERT L GLEASON • CAPT AARON L NILES JR • LT COL CHESTER A JACK • CAPT FRANKLIN G OWENS • MAJ RICHARD N BROUGHTON • CAPT JOHN R PATTEE • MAJ JOHN L DOWNING • CAPT RUBEN H PATTERSON • MAJ HOMA B STILLWELL • CAPT JOHN L PIOTROWSKI • CAPT THOMAS L BIGGERS • CAPT ARTHUR W PITTMAN • CAPT HERBERT W BOOTH JR • CAPT RICHARD J RICE • CAPT GEORGE F BRENNAN JR • CAPT EARL D RICHARDS • CAPT HARRY J BROWN • CAPT JOHN M ROWAN • CAPT JACK H CAPERS • CAPT RICHARD W SANBORN • CAPT HOMER J CARLILE • CAPT MARTIN G SAUNDERS • CAPT JOHN D CARRINGTON • CAPT PAUL E SHEPARD • CAPT BILLY J CHANCELLOR • CAPT RICHARD N SMITH • CAPT FRED C CLOW JR • CAPT HENRY B STEIDL • CAPT JOHN S CONNORS • CAPT IRWIN C SWETT • CAPT WILLIAM R DAVIS • CAPT THOMAS H TEMPLE JR • CAPT SIEGEL M DICKMAN • CAPT GERALD F TEWES • CAPT PAUL G DONNER • CAPT ARNOLD A TILLMAN • CAPT WILLIAM E DOUGHERTY • CAPT EUGENE J WALDVOGEL • CAPT MARVIN A FITTS • CAPT LUTHER A WEBB • CAPT DONALD L GEPHART • CAPT WILLIAM R WILLIAMSON • CAPT LEROY E GLIEM • 1ST LT EDWARD J AHERN • CAPT DANIEL F GROB • 1ST LT JOHN R ALBRECHT • CAPT GERALD S HAMMER • 1ST LT JOHN W BRIGGS • CAPT JAMES M HARRIS • 1ST LT CHARLES R CARROLL • CAPT DAVID E HENRY • 1ST LT THOMAS B CARTER • CAPT KEITH H HILL • 1ST LT WILLIAM G CASTLEN • CAPT HENRY L KARNES JR • 1ST LT JOSEPH J CONDE JR • CAPT IRA L KIMES JR • 1ST LT ROBERT F DAVIS • CAPT GEORGE R KIRBY • 1ST LT ROGER S EDWARDS • CAPT JAMES A KOSTAN • 1ST LT LOYD L ENNIS • CAPT ROBERT A LAMBERTON JR • 1ST LT RANDALL EVERETT III • CAPT JEAN D LANDRY • 1ST LT CHARLES W FISHER • CAPT RICHARD F LEGEZA • 1ST LT MAURICE S GASTON • CAPT JESSE E LEWIS JR • 1ST LT CHARLES R HARPER • CAPT ARTHUR G LIMPANTSIS • 1ST LT JAMES L HARPER • CAPT LAWRENCE L LIVELY • 1ST LT WALTER K HENNIGAN • CAPT THOMAS C MCEWEN • 1ST LT JOHN A HOPE • CAPT JOHN R MCGAVIN • 1ST LT CLYDE L HOWARD JR • CAPT LORIS R MILLER • 1ST LT DUDLEY J HUGHES • CAPT HERMAN S MOORE

B. H. KING
Colonel, USAF
Commander

WARREN V. TRENT
Captain, USAF
Administrative Officer

4400 COMBAT CREW TRAINING SQUADRON (TAC)

United States Air Force
Eglin AF Auxiliary Field Nr. 9, Florida
SPECIAL ORDERS 4 August 1961 (NUMBER P-11 )

Under the provisions of Paragraph 7
Section V, Chapter 2, AFM 35-13, the following named Officers of this squadron, this station are placed on Unconditional Flying Status Code 1. Effective 1 Aug 61.

• 1ST LT ANDREW T JESSUP • 1ST LT EDWARD K KISSAM JR. • 1 ST LT ROBERT L LESCHACK • 1ST LT JACK D LETOURNEAU • 1ST LT JOHN H LIVESAY • I ST LT ROY I LEWIS • 1ST LT ROBERT F MAHEU • 1ST LT CLYDE E MARTINEZ • 1ST LT RICHARD A MATHISON • 1ST LT DONALD J MAXWELL • 1ST LT JOHN D MITCHELL JR. • 1ST LT JIM A MOORE • 1ST LT RALPH M NADDO • 1ST LT RONALD G PHILLIPS • 1ST LT DEXTER F POTTER • 1ST LT BOBBY K REYNOLDS • 1ST LT RICHARD A RUSSELL • 1ST LT CARMEN T SCARPINO • 1ST LT PAUL E SCHUELER • 1ST LT GLYNDON V SCOTT • 1ST LT WILLIE L SEIRER • 1ST LT RONALD L SELBERG • 1ST LT RICHARD G SEMPLE • 1ST LT JOHN P SLAUSON • 1ST LT RICHARD C TEGGE • 1ST LT LORENZ J WALKER • 1ST LT HILLARD J WALLACE • 1ST LT THOMAS R WHITE • 1ST LT PAUL R WINDELL

B. F. KING
Colonel, USAF
Commander

Warren V. Trent
Captain, USAF
Administrative Officer

• * *

Six non-rated officers were also in that original unit: Warren Trent, Administrative Officer; Captain Joe Threadgill, Flight Surgeon; Captain Tom Egleston, Combat Controller; Captain Tony Scarpace, Communications Officer; and Captain Bob Block and Lieutenant Bill Williamson, Intelligence Officers.

It is with great regret that the author could not locate anything close to a comprehensive list of the NCOs and Airmen of this unit. However, I hasten to add that their contribution was every bit as valuable and noteworthy as those on the above rosters.

• * *