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Of course we all know what happened on Nov 22nd 1963, but another personal occurrence happened exactly 9 years to the day later.
It was on this date, Nov 22nd, 1972, that myself, then an 18 year old fresh out of high school, took the oath of office and enlisted in the United State Air Force. I had been engaged to my then high school sweetheart, and was pondering what I was going to do with my life. Then, one day in August, shortly after my birthday, I was driving down Colfax Ave in Aurora, CO and spotted an Air Force recruiter. For some reason I decided to pull into the place and went in to see what they had to offer.
The recruiter told me about a test I would need to take called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), which would tell them what sorts of jobs I was best suited for. So, I agreed to take the test (still not sure if I wanted to join) and the test was scheduled for a few days later. Not long after I took the test, I got a call from the recruiter informing me that my results were in and asking me to come down to discuss the results and the jobs for which I was qualified.
When I arrived, the fellow handed me very thick book and said "you nearly aced every area on the ASVAB - you can basically pick any enlisted job we have to offer, as long as there's an opening." So, I sat down at a desk and started flipping through the book! Man, there were a lot of choices - it was almost overwhelming. Then, I came to a page that caught my attention, "Computer Systems Repairman." At the time, I was a real geek who was into CB radio and had taken electronics classes in high school. At this time computers were like science fiction - giant consoles full of electronics housed in big buildings. The idea of personal computers was still years away, but something about the idea of working on something that, at the time, was so futuristic really intrigued me. So, I took the book over to the recruiter's desk and, pointing to the page, declared "this is what I want to do."
The recruiter opened another book with lists of job codes and found that specialty code, then said, "oh gee, I'm sorry, we don't currently have any openings for that AFSC right now." He continued, "we could sign you up for that but you would have to be on a waiting list and I can't say how long it would be. It could be months!" He encouraged me to look through the book to see if something else appealed to me. It was at that point I did one of the smartest things I've ever done - I said "No, that's the job I want - I'll wait."
A short time later (maybe about 3 days later), I got a call from the recruiter, "Good news! We just had a slot in the Computer Repair tech school open up. How soon can you be at (some location in Denver) to swear in?"
The next thing I knew, I was down at some office in Denver (don't remember what it was called) with about 50 other young boys and girls, raising my hand and taking the oath. Because I was engaged (that's a whole other story) I decided to enlist for 6 years instead of the usual 4 because, as a 6-year enlistee I would get 2 stripes as soon as I finished Basic. I did this because, since I was getting married (or so I thought) it would give us a little more money in the early stages of our marriage (like I said - that's a story for another time). The next day I found myself at Stapleton International Airport (no longer in existence) waiting for a plane to take me to San Antonio, TX for 8 weeks of basic training before going to Biloxi Mississippi for 32 weeks of Computer Repair technical school. It was there, at the airport, that I met Tom Cabazos, a kid about my age who had also just enlisted and was waiting for the same plane. Tom, who was going to be going into security police, and I ended up in the same squadron at Lackland AFB. We ended up becoming good friends and pretty much did everything together in our (rare) free time. We spent a lot of time in San Antonio doing the tourist thing and I remember we both went together to see The Poseidon Adventure, with Gene Hackman, which had just hit the theaters.
One good thing about being in Basic over Christmas holidays was that we got 3 days off in a row! It was during this break that Tom invited me to Christmas dinner at his aunt's house. Tom being hispanic had a lot of relatives in the San Antonio area. It wasn't the typical Christmas turkey dinner I was used to, instead it was "real" Mexican food and it was great!
After Basic training, Tom and I went our separate ways. I remember a few years later, I did manage to look him up. He was by then out of the service and living back in Denver. I found out that he had been in a serious car accident and was in the hospital so I went to visit him there. He was in pretty bad shape so the visit didn't last too long.
Fast forward to recently. I was going through some old pictures and ran across some pictures of me and Tom at Lackland and in San Antonio. I decided to see if, through the power of the internet, I might be able to track him down again and see if I could send him the pictures I had found. Well, I did track him down only to learn that, sadly, he had passed away in 1998 and was buried in a small town in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. However, through his memorial page, I was able to contact his son. His son emailed me back and told me that, because of the car accident that did a lot of damage, Tom had fallen into a deep depression and began to drink heavily. It was the drinking that destroyed his liver and eventually killed him, according to his son. I remembered Tom as a very happy go lucky kid who made my time in Basic Training almost fun! Anyway, here are some pictures of Tom and I from those long ago days.
It was on this date, Nov 22nd, 1972, that myself, then an 18 year old fresh out of high school, took the oath of office and enlisted in the United State Air Force. I had been engaged to my then high school sweetheart, and was pondering what I was going to do with my life. Then, one day in August, shortly after my birthday, I was driving down Colfax Ave in Aurora, CO and spotted an Air Force recruiter. For some reason I decided to pull into the place and went in to see what they had to offer.
The recruiter told me about a test I would need to take called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), which would tell them what sorts of jobs I was best suited for. So, I agreed to take the test (still not sure if I wanted to join) and the test was scheduled for a few days later. Not long after I took the test, I got a call from the recruiter informing me that my results were in and asking me to come down to discuss the results and the jobs for which I was qualified.
When I arrived, the fellow handed me very thick book and said "you nearly aced every area on the ASVAB - you can basically pick any enlisted job we have to offer, as long as there's an opening." So, I sat down at a desk and started flipping through the book! Man, there were a lot of choices - it was almost overwhelming. Then, I came to a page that caught my attention, "Computer Systems Repairman." At the time, I was a real geek who was into CB radio and had taken electronics classes in high school. At this time computers were like science fiction - giant consoles full of electronics housed in big buildings. The idea of personal computers was still years away, but something about the idea of working on something that, at the time, was so futuristic really intrigued me. So, I took the book over to the recruiter's desk and, pointing to the page, declared "this is what I want to do."
The recruiter opened another book with lists of job codes and found that specialty code, then said, "oh gee, I'm sorry, we don't currently have any openings for that AFSC right now." He continued, "we could sign you up for that but you would have to be on a waiting list and I can't say how long it would be. It could be months!" He encouraged me to look through the book to see if something else appealed to me. It was at that point I did one of the smartest things I've ever done - I said "No, that's the job I want - I'll wait."
A short time later (maybe about 3 days later), I got a call from the recruiter, "Good news! We just had a slot in the Computer Repair tech school open up. How soon can you be at (some location in Denver) to swear in?"
The next thing I knew, I was down at some office in Denver (don't remember what it was called) with about 50 other young boys and girls, raising my hand and taking the oath. Because I was engaged (that's a whole other story) I decided to enlist for 6 years instead of the usual 4 because, as a 6-year enlistee I would get 2 stripes as soon as I finished Basic. I did this because, since I was getting married (or so I thought) it would give us a little more money in the early stages of our marriage (like I said - that's a story for another time). The next day I found myself at Stapleton International Airport (no longer in existence) waiting for a plane to take me to San Antonio, TX for 8 weeks of basic training before going to Biloxi Mississippi for 32 weeks of Computer Repair technical school. It was there, at the airport, that I met Tom Cabazos, a kid about my age who had also just enlisted and was waiting for the same plane. Tom, who was going to be going into security police, and I ended up in the same squadron at Lackland AFB. We ended up becoming good friends and pretty much did everything together in our (rare) free time. We spent a lot of time in San Antonio doing the tourist thing and I remember we both went together to see The Poseidon Adventure, with Gene Hackman, which had just hit the theaters.
One good thing about being in Basic over Christmas holidays was that we got 3 days off in a row! It was during this break that Tom invited me to Christmas dinner at his aunt's house. Tom being hispanic had a lot of relatives in the San Antonio area. It wasn't the typical Christmas turkey dinner I was used to, instead it was "real" Mexican food and it was great!
After Basic training, Tom and I went our separate ways. I remember a few years later, I did manage to look him up. He was by then out of the service and living back in Denver. I found out that he had been in a serious car accident and was in the hospital so I went to visit him there. He was in pretty bad shape so the visit didn't last too long.
Fast forward to recently. I was going through some old pictures and ran across some pictures of me and Tom at Lackland and in San Antonio. I decided to see if, through the power of the internet, I might be able to track him down again and see if I could send him the pictures I had found. Well, I did track him down only to learn that, sadly, he had passed away in 1998 and was buried in a small town in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. However, through his memorial page, I was able to contact his son. His son emailed me back and told me that, because of the car accident that did a lot of damage, Tom had fallen into a deep depression and began to drink heavily. It was the drinking that destroyed his liver and eventually killed him, according to his son. I remembered Tom as a very happy go lucky kid who made my time in Basic Training almost fun! Anyway, here are some pictures of Tom and I from those long ago days.
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