[0:33] So my name is Bryce Honeywell, and I'm here at Paul Bachelors' House in Betty Bachelors in

[0:39] Enfield, Connecticut. And we're going to be interviewing Paul, and he's going to tell us a little

[0:47] bit about what he did in the service. The Paul. Well, say state your full name and date

[0:54] of birth and Paul Dean Batchholder and August 2nd 1933 and your branch of service and

[1:06] US Air Force and your highest rank and second class and you were in the data birth the times

[1:19] you were in the service. What was their good time span there? It was a Korean style of the Korean War.

[1:26] Oh, okay. Because the Korean War started in 15. Yeah. And that prompted me to enlist. Yeah.

[1:39] I was only 17. Oh, okay. I had to get my mother's permission to join. Yeah. She was pretty

[1:48] But then she said after talking to her brother, Stanley, with him, he suggested that I

[2:02] call and gave me some tips on how to behave, because he was in the service before he was

[2:09] He was in Second World War,

[2:13] another uncle, Carol, within both the state wars and Second World

[2:26] War.

[2:27] But they were very helpful in documenting me on behalf.

[2:35] Okay.

[2:35] That's good.

[2:37] What were some of the tips that gave you?

[2:38] They said yes sir.

[2:44] They've been through that. So your early days of the service now tell

[2:50] me where you went the basic training. Samson Air Force Base in Finger Lakes region of New

[2:56] New York. Like Geneva is where we serve. Okay. And in May it's kind of cool. Northern New

[3:10] the air force opened up the sense of air force base in 1950, so it was prior to that

[3:27] it was a naval installation and the Navy moved out, the air force moved in.

[3:36] Yeah.

[3:37] Now that's where they trained all the Air Force people at that time, for basics, or the

[3:44] ones that were Ohio and East.

[3:48] Okay.

[3:49] Okay.

[3:49] Yeah.

[3:50] And the ones west of Ohio, how went to Lankford?

[3:55] Okay.

[3:55] Oh.

[3:56] Yeah.

[3:57] So I was told.

[3:58] Yeah.

[3:59] Right.

[4:00] So what was the basic, did you go into with anybody from your town?

[4:04] No.

[4:05] No.

[4:05] It was just you.

[4:06] Yeah.

[4:07] Yeah.

[4:08] Where was the recruiter at the time?

[4:11] He was in Manchester, New Hampshire.

[4:15] Okay.

[4:16] I went to Springfield to Manchester, New Hampshire, and I tried to get the Navy, but they said

[4:30] and I had a preference, you know, they wouldn't allow me into it.

[4:35] Okay.

[4:35] And I was about to join the guard troopers.

[4:40] Yeah, all right.

[4:41] So I said, I'll take the air force.

[4:44] Okay.

[4:45] Yeah.

[4:46] And it was exciting time.

[4:48] Yeah, I bet it was.

[4:50] So, so we had to travel to Manchester before you went to New York

[4:55] or something.

[4:55] They, they, how'd you get there?

[4:57] Oh, well, I went to King New Hampshire from Springfield, and then from King they blessed

[5:10] me over to Manchester, that's where I took my oath, and then from there they blessed

[5:22] So to Boston, I took an overnight train of Pullman, a sleeper track, and we went from Boston.

[5:38] We went up into Canada and over into Buffalo area, and then back again into Geneva.

[5:51] Yeah, yeah, and so it was a line we arrived in

[5:55] Samsung at 4 o'clock in the morning. Oh my goodness

[5:59] So there were with the other air force people on the train with you? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, all recruits. Okay

[6:08] How many you think there were?

[6:10] I would say they're about

[6:12] 16 16 16 oh, that was a good group

[6:17] Yeah, it was because we took up several cars of the Pullman.

[6:24] Now, once you got to your basic training, how many was in your group of trainees?

[6:32] Well, there was 22 in the group I was, and the 4 o'clock in the morning, the barracks

[6:45] was needed. Oh no. And so we had to make our beds. Yeah. And kind of pinched me. And they

[6:58] said, okay, you hit the sack. Yeah. When I were here, they came in and I read the case

[7:07] Okay, up on the parade. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So it's still in the dark. Yeah. And it was, we

[7:19] got on a parade, still in civilian force. Yeah. Okay. And we had a march around the parade

[7:26] We're back to bed and we were issued Army uniforms because Air Force hadn't got all

[7:37] the blues made yet.

[7:40] Yeah, okay.

[7:41] So my first uniform was a U.S. Army.

[7:46] Okay.

[7:47] Yeah.

[7:48] It was, it took some time to get Air Force uniforms.

[7:54] Yeah.

[7:55] Yeah.

[7:55] So you said there was 20 in your group, were there other groups of 20 like in different

[8:00] barracks and stuff like that?

[8:01] Okay.

[8:02] Yeah.

[8:03] We were on one floor.

[8:05] Yeah.

[8:05] We were on the second floor of the barracks.

[8:10] Yeah.

[8:11] And the first floor where there were good guys and they had a good sergeant taking care of

[8:23] them.

[8:23] Yeah, okay.

[8:24] The one we had,

[8:27] he was quite questionably a tough guy.

[8:33] Okay, okay.

[8:34] Yeah.

[8:35] But I was so enjoying it.

[8:38] Yeah.

[8:39] Yeah.

[8:39] Now was it kind of a rude experience that did they swear at you and yell at you and stuff

[8:44] for?

[8:45] Yeah.

[8:45] I don't ever hear.

[8:47] Yeah.

[8:48] I swear.

[8:49] Okay.

[8:51] There were, it got within two inches of your face.

[8:54] Oh.

[8:54] Yeah, you know that a lot of things could that you yeah, it kind of break it down. Yeah, right. All right. Time to break it. Yeah. So, um, so how long did we there?

[9:08] You do calisthenics and oh, yeah, we did learn how to shoot a gun in the soap and you know, I just turned out pretty well.

[9:19] Yeah.

[9:21] You've done that before, right?

[9:23] Yeah.

[9:24] We've issued them once.

[9:26] Oh, yeah.

[9:27] And so we would ensure it's moving targets.

[9:33] Yeah.

[9:34] Yeah.

[9:34] And so I did get sharp fuel on that.

[9:37] Oh, good.

[9:38] Good for you.

[9:40] So in years later, my son said that you like to go out and target, right?

[9:48] Yeah.

[9:50] And so I hadn't lost my touch of being saturated.

[9:56] So you develop those skills and they say, ready, don't they?

[10:02] Yeah.

[10:02] Like riding your bike.

[10:03] Yeah.

[10:04] Yeah.

[10:05] And then interesting.

[10:06] Yeah.

[10:06] Good for you.

[10:08] So how long was basic training back then?

[10:11] Well, it was 16 weeks.

[10:15] Oh.

[10:16] But I had a break in between because it got pneumonia.

[10:22] Oh yeah, hold on.

[10:23] They spent time on the hospital.

[10:29] They served me well in the hospital.

[10:30] Good, good.

[10:32] And it got me well enough that I started out with flight number 158.

[10:39] And then the flight number 220.

[10:42] Oh, okay.

[10:43] Yep.

[10:43] Yeah, right. They kept on running no matter whether I was in basic training or not. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Wow. So, um, so once you, once you completed basic training, um, did you take any testing to see what you were good at so they can give you a school?

[11:07] You know what? The old trick, do we have any electricians in there? So some of you raise

[11:18] your hand, turn the light off, please? Yeah,

[11:25] they tested us and I found that I trained

[11:35] Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. I worked on the first operational aircraft I worked on was the P-51.

[11:47] Oh, you worked on airplanes then. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

[11:54] Then right after I started

[11:57] were down to P-51. I read designation as F-51. Oh, okay. All fighter. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[12:07] The P is pursued. Yeah. And have this the fighter. Oh, okay. Now, what base was this

[12:15] at? With the training for that? Login to the National Airport. Login? You went down there,

[12:24] And then that's where you were stationed?

[12:26] I was stationed at Boston University and our training facility was at Logan.

[12:37] Really?

[12:38] So we'd have to take the subway from right across the red sucks field to take it all the

[12:47] way into the airport.

[12:49] Yeah.

[12:50] Isn't that interesting?

[12:51] thing. And how many of you were in that training group?

[12:59] Yeah. I mean like there was 20, 30,

[13:02] or 40 or 60. Oh my goodness. Big group. Yeah. And so what did you learn about P-P-F-51s?

[13:13] Well, the, uh, uh, more than, uh, uh, engines, yeah, okay, yep, oh, wow, good for you.

[13:23] So that, how long was that training?

[13:26] Uh, that was a year.

[13:28] No, a year.

[13:28] Okay.

[13:29] Yeah.

[13:30] So, uh, in a while, I was at that training facility.

[13:35] Yeah.

[13:35] I saw the, uh, the last game between, uh, the reds, uh, blast red shocks and the blast

[13:43] and Braves. Oh, okay. Yeah. Wow. So that's a little history. Right. Side hit straight. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Who won the game?

[13:53] I'm sorry. Yeah. And that is why Boston Braves moved out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God. Isn't that something? So that. So you did that for a year. And so did you ever fly on any of these planes. That's a single engine one in the trainer. Yeah.

[14:12] So I did not fly in the P5, we did some of the basic trainers, we had a

[14:26] BT13 and a

[14:27] BT19, it's a basic trainer.

[14:32] Okay

[14:33] We were we were not a taxi on man. Oh

[14:37] Southern and

[14:39] They didn't have no luck to start. Yeah

[14:43] they

[14:44] had an

[14:46] Nursery star

[14:48] So you crank up the

[14:51] the inertia yeah, border and get it up to a high wind. Yeah

[14:57] and you are more like

[15:05] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[15:10] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[15:13] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All

[15:14] fleas and that for wind them up too many times. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right.

[15:17] To get the engine going. I think that's something. Yeah. I thought, how did that, um, so did

[15:23] And did you, what was your job in that process?

[15:28] Well, my job was to learn how to make needles for it, how the engines operate, the difference

[15:38] between an inline or a V engine or a radio engine and how you maintain those types of engines.

[15:51] So, how did you get the engine spinning before it started?

[15:56] The inertia style, you wind up mechanically on the side, you remember the old tractors

[16:08] you'd have to turn the crank on the front of the aircraft.

[16:11] Right, right.

[16:12] It was the same thing in the aircraft.

[16:14] Yeah.

[16:14] Okay.

[16:15] You get this inertia going, and hopefully when the stack wasn't pushed, the engine would

[16:24] run.

[16:24] Oh.

[16:26] So your job was to crank the engine over?

[16:28] Or sometimes I'd be in the cockpit.

[16:32] Okay.

[16:33] And so we trade off.

[16:35] Yeah.

[16:35] And you get the plane already for the pilot to come out and fly it.

[16:39] Yeah.

[16:39] Okay.

[16:39] So one of the engines, in every once in a while, we would flip the shocks, being that

[16:53] we'd get the engines going so fast that it would break loose and you'd end up taxing

[17:01] the airplane.

[17:02] Okay, so that's what you learned to do, is to kind of put the plane in the positions for

[17:06] the pilots.

[17:06] Well, it wasn't intended that way, okay, it was a devil that made it, got me to do it.

[17:15] Yeah, yeah, oh gosh, and that's something.

[17:18] Oh good, so what did you do with that training after you finished that, that year of training,

[17:23] where did you go?

[17:24] We went to, she didn't feel, oh she knew it, I heard of that, yeah, yeah, and in Illinois.

[17:32] Yep.

[17:33] And that's where we learned to repair a 28 cylinder engine and specialize in carburetion

[17:47] on that particular engine.

[17:49] Okay.

[17:50] Wow.

[17:52] Again, it was all good material.

[17:57] Yeah.

[17:58] What kind of engines were they?

[18:00] Yeah.

[18:01] Oh, right.

[18:01] Windy engines.

[18:02] Okay.

[18:02] Yeah.

[18:04] And so,

[18:11] front engines were the 28 cylinder, and so that was fun, it was nine, four rows

[18:24] of banks of engines, one behind the other that made up the 28 cylinder.

[18:31] Oh, wow.

[18:32] Interesting.

[18:34] It was interesting, particularly if you had to pull a cylinder in the middle and there's

[18:43] an hourly and you run between the handlebars, you know, and then pull a cylinder, and again.

[18:50] So you learn to rebuild the engines and stuff like that and all that work on them, wow.

[18:59] So how long were you in Chinook?

[19:04] We were there for three months.

[19:07] And then I was reassigned to West Gover for space.

[19:12] Oh West Gover.

[19:13] Did you choose that?

[19:14] No.

[19:15] No.

[19:16] Okay.

[19:17] Again, when they said you're going to be over there.

[19:21] Yeah.

[19:22] It was a question.

[19:24] Right.

[19:25] Anywhere you were going, even if you didn't.

[19:27] Yeah.

[19:28] Okay.

[19:29] So, what did you do it down?

[19:31] So, you learned to repair engines at Chinook, and then you went to Westover, and what was your

[19:37] responsibilities there?

[19:39] Well, we worked on the heavies, the 400 aircraft, C97, the double-decker.

[19:56] What do you mean double-decker, what does that mean?

[19:59] It was the main flight deck and then sleeping quarters were in the lower part of the pilot

[20:20] Yeah, yeah, so what was that a transport plane yeah, so I had you could have put a lot of stuff in there and the transport different places

[20:34] Yeah, yeah, could you put like jeeps in there and

[20:41] It was not until we got the C-124, that you could put jeeps in, and C-74, they had

[20:52] the C-74, the same as the C-124, except the bottom half of the aircraft on the C-74 didn't

[21:04] exist.

[21:04] You have a really long landing gear so they can take an edge of transport and an engine from

[21:15] one place to another.

[21:18] You pull the engine under the aircraft, under an elevator, and then put the engine on

[21:30] the aircraft and fly it to wherever it is.

[21:33] Oh, and that interesting, yeah.

[21:35] Wow.

[21:36] Now, did you get the fly with the engine sometimes so you could mount it in another airplane and whatever?

[21:42] No.

[21:45] I never followed that engine.

[21:48] Yeah.

[21:49] But my job was to load them.

[21:53] Load them.

[21:54] Okay.

[21:54] And that's pretty technical, too.

[21:56] You got to make sure the weight is balanced in the plane and all that.

[22:01] Yeah.

[22:04] Well then you went to Chinooka did that and what was your next step after that?

[22:11] Well I worked on the same aircraft on the Burle and the Air left, really, T-74,

[22:22] I mean

[22:24] 1954 by me. Yep. And so I worked on burlant airlift. Yeah. Okay.

[22:33] Even though it was after the start of the burlant. Yeah.

[22:38] It was still using most of the C-54s to continue feeding the people in West Burlant. Oh, okay. Yep.

[22:53] So they had all kinds of supplies, food, and medical stuff, and everything, yeah, yeah,

[22:59] oh wow, wow, that's what a thing to do.

[23:04] So where were you stationed when did you did that?

[23:07] I was all west over.

[23:09] Oh, west over.

[23:10] So they flew from west over to Germany, didn't they?

[23:13] Did they have to refuel those pant planes and flight and everything?

[23:17] They didn't have refueling.

[23:18] Oh, okay in flight refilling at that time, so they'd fly the west over they would fly

[23:28] over to Iceland and from Iceland

[23:34] over to Europe wherever whatever station. Yeah. Yeah. Oh wow. It was hip hop. Yeah. Yeah.

[23:44] Wow. So we have to west over. How long did you do that job?

[23:50] I was at three times. Oh, oh, three times. Okay. Yeah. But it was a heavy aircraft. Yeah.

[24:00] That we worked on all the time. Okay. Okay. Yeah.

[24:05] So it was

[24:07] It's hard to remember. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[24:12] Right. And then you then you mentioned earlier that

[24:16] Before we started you went to Greenland. Yeah, I was yeah.

[24:26] But before we got that assignment, we were sent to Florida for training, and then

[24:36] from Florida, back to Westover, and then to Greenwood.

[24:41] Now what kind of training did you get there in Florida?

[24:47] Survival training?

[24:48] They had a big,

[24:53] cooler, huge ice box that you worked in, so your body used the cold

[25:03] temperature.

[25:04] Oh, okay.

[25:05] Interesting.

[25:07] That was, it was put in beach international airport.

[25:12] Okay.

[25:13] That's where it was.

[25:15] Yeah.

[25:16] I guess you have, you need a cooler down there.

[25:17] Yeah, yeah, so how long did that last?

[25:23] That was only about three months.

[25:25] Oh, okay.

[25:26] And then it went back to Westover.

[25:28] Yep.

[25:29] And then we flew from Westover.

[25:33] We took off from Westover.

[25:37] And as I sent the aircraft, I noticed one engine quit in the aircraft.

[25:45] Yeah.

[25:45] I'd have to take off. So we turned around, went back and we got another C50 for it and started

[25:58] out and we got up to Maine and we had to land in Maine and for all the equipment I put

[26:14] another C-54 because one we were having replacement was having mechanical problems.

[26:23] Oh, okay, yeah.

[26:24] I took a three-hour craft to get to L.A.

[26:26] Oh, gosh.

[26:27] Yeah, yeah.

[26:28] Wow.

[26:30] And so, you know, what was your responsibility up there in Greenland?

[26:34] I was assigned to Air Rescue.

[26:37] Oh.

[26:38] What's it?

[26:38] And so repairing engines, general repairs of the aircraft.

[26:46] Now when you say air rescues, what's that involved?

[26:51] You worked on seed planes.

[26:53] Oh, OK.

[26:54] Seat planes.

[26:56] Trifidiums.

[26:57] OK.

[26:57] from an SA 16, they had a big ski on the hull, a huge ski, it was on the hull and I had

[27:18] Okay, so when they land on the ice cap, it would stay even.

[27:24] Oh, okay, yeah, yeah.

[27:27] Did you ever fly in one of those?

[27:29] Many hours.

[27:30] Oh, really?

[27:31] Oh, really?

[27:32] We would go out on the rescue mission.

[27:35] Yeah.

[27:36] I'll try to spot a downed aircraft.

[27:40] Oh, yeah.

[27:41] and whatever. And it's funny how your eyes play tricks on you. I see it. I see it. Yeah. Yeah. And they turn around. There's nothing there. Oh gosh. Yeah. Yeah.

[27:55] Like a morage or something. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, isn't that something? So how did you adjust to that environment? I loved it. Did you? Okay.

[28:08] The day I arrived was on my birthday and had a huge snowstorm as we came into Greenland.

[28:22] Now your birthday, you said that's coming right up, was that in August 2nd?

[28:26] That's when they had the snowstorm?

[28:28] Yeah.

[28:28] Oh my goodness.

[28:29] Yeah.

[28:30] You grew into, you can't tell them, but anyway, again, I was aircraft maintenance, no matter

[28:40] whether it was hydraulic or sheet metal or mechanical engines or hydraulic, whatever it was.

[28:51] You did the job.

[28:53] Okay.

[28:53] Oh, wow.

[28:58] Now, how many people did you have in that work group?

[29:04] There was in our shift there was about 15 for our group and then there was another group

[29:18] of 15 mechanics.

[29:20] Yeah, and whatever they might be a hydraulic specialist. Well, okay. It might be a propeller specialist. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[29:30] Oh, good.

[29:32] So you've learned that yeah, and then you had different shifts probably you were you worked certain shifts

[29:37] And then they know the group would take over or something like that. Yeah, okay. Yeah

[29:44] mostly

[29:48] in

[29:51] And that is a Miami of the North.

[29:56] Okay.

[29:58] So why?

[30:00] And they call it that.

[30:05] Okay. And so it was the warmest. Yeah. Yeah. So then come January

[30:18] first. We had a huge storm and our barracks were tied down by steel cables.

[30:30] My bunk was on the

[30:33] And on the side and with the wind, the actual would lift the whole barricade out.

[30:43] Okay.

[30:44] Doesn't it like a quancet hut or something?

[30:45] No, it was a record building.

[30:47] Oh wow.

[30:49] And so it had these cables all over for that.

[30:53] Yeah.

[30:54] Roof.

[30:55] And it could keep the ceiling from blowing away.

[30:59] Isn't that crazy?

[31:00] Wow. One good thing they thought of that, I guess.

[31:05] So while I was there, the contract that came in to fill the new operational tower for

[31:17] a landing, they got this tower made, and the inspectors came to look at it. They used

[31:29] the wrong rivets. Oh no. So they had to one by one pull the trillion rivets out of the

[31:38] tower control tower. Oh my goodness. And put in the right rivets. Oh my. Which kind of smile

[31:46] you said not everybody can be perfect. Oh my goodness. So that if you didn't have the right rivets

[31:55] It would probably hold up or somewhere.

[31:58] Yeah, yeah, my gosh.

[32:00] Kind of like recently, there was an incident on the, uh, uh, what was it, that, uh, submarine?

[32:10] No, the, uh, rule of course, oh, yeah, yeah, you know, use the right, uh, uh, skill, uh,

[32:18] for that brace.

[32:19] Oh, crap.

[32:20] Yeah.

[32:21] Yeah.

[32:23] Yeah.

[32:25] Okay.

[32:25] Okay. But in that January storm, it blew five aircraft from there more. Oh my goodness.

[32:38] Through one over a mile backwards. Whoa. And Navy, the CBs had to come up and blow, take care

[32:49] Yeah. Oh my goodness. Wow. It's a pretty rugged weather up there.

[32:54] You know, we were right across the fjords from the agricultural reds first church.

[33:01] Oh, okay. Western hemisphere. Yeah.

[33:03] And the ruins were across the fjords.

[33:07] Oh, okay. So you got to do a little sightseeing up there when you're up there?

[33:12] Not much. Yeah. Yeah.

[33:14] Yeah.

[33:14] I got a busy, another choice.

[33:16] Yeah.

[33:18] It was interesting.

[33:20] Yeah.

[33:20] Oh, like that.

[33:22] We've been reviewing movies.

[33:24] Yeah.

[33:25] I took the agreement and it showed, oh, you took the movies up there?

[33:32] Yeah.

[33:32] We took more.

[33:32] Oh, okay.

[33:33] And I have reviewed all of it.

[33:36] Yeah.

[33:36] But my son and grandson were, I just spun some of the movie film that I made.

[33:44] Yeah.

[33:45] Oh, and then interesting.

[33:46] Yeah.

[33:47] Wow.

[33:48] I got to really live that again.

[33:50] Right.

[33:51] Right.

[33:51] Yeah.

[33:52] Kind of neat.

[33:54] So, how long were you assigned somewhere else after that?

[33:58] We went to the ice gap.

[34:01] Oh.

[34:02] How far away was that?

[34:03] It was the ice cap was right at the edge of the base at that time and now there's no ice cap in that region.

[34:15] But anyway we got to go up and get an airplane that could stuck on the ice cap.

[34:24] Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. We had to dig it out. And so I've got some of the material I use in

[34:37] working on the ice cap. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. They say, yeah, when they project, they said,

[34:45] just keep it here. Okay. Yeah. I still have that gear on. Okay.

[34:50] huh?

[34:53] Still have the mopping bag. Yeah. That's sleeping bag. Me? That's sleeping bag? Yeah. Yeah.

[35:03] Well, it's not like you'd need it up there. We're doing a polar ice cap there. Wow.

[35:08] So, um, so we re-signed somewhere else afterwards? So, is that the end of your four years or what? No, I

[35:15] I went, we were back to West Shore.

[35:20] Yeah, back to West Shore.

[35:22] Then from West Shore went to Otis Air Force Base.

[35:27] Oh, that's on the Cape.

[35:28] On the Cape?

[35:29] Yeah.

[35:29] And spent two years on the Cape.

[35:35] Was that a Navy base?

[35:38] How was combination?

[35:39] Oh, okay.

[35:40] Combination, okay.

[35:42] Otis Air Force Base.

[35:44] And then there was a part of it, the Navy, and the rescue side there, and then the jet fighters were on the other side of the same base.

[36:06] What kind of jets were they?

[36:08] Back then it was F-A-G-Six, F-A-N-E-Six, and I never got to work on those.

[36:17] Yeah, yeah.

[36:18] These stayed with the propeller planes.

[36:20] Yeah.

[36:21] Very good.

[36:22] And it was really cool, and they gave us special gloves, and I still have the clothes

[36:36] I worked on the ice cream.

[36:40] My hands one day were so bitterly cold to get the aircraft out of the ice cream.

[36:50] I went in and I said, Commander, I said, I need some dry cloth and can't have them.

[37:02] Well, this curl was in the aircraft warming himself up.

[37:10] Yeah.

[37:11] So I looked at the commander and he said, give him new clothes.

[37:17] Yeah.

[37:18] Now.

[37:18] Yeah.

[37:19] Oh my gosh.

[37:20] Yeah.

[37:22] Oh gosh.

[37:23] That's something.

[37:23] Yeah.

[37:24] Yeah.

[37:25] Well, that's like he had a heart for you airman there.

[37:29] They were working out in the cold.

[37:30] So we get the aircraft off the ice cap, or I should say, ready to go off the ice cap.

[37:42] The day that they were attaching, it's over a mile to get the aircraft off the ice cap at the 10,000 foot level.

[37:56] You know, here you try to get air, under you get the aircraft in the air, and we had

[38:05] this time where you couldn't see the airplane, you could hear the engine.

[38:14] Yeah, yeah, and the aircraft got stuck half

[38:21] mile away and so we had to walk through the

[38:27] snowstorm, towards the noise, oh my goodness.

[38:32] We got within, I would say, 30 feet in aircraft and they got the aircraft moving.

[38:40] So we had to walk back to where we started.

[38:44] Oh gosh.

[38:45] Yeah. Yeah. So it was an interesting time up there. But anyway, we during that time we were sent

[38:55] back to the base and we were on C-47 aircraft and that's 20 engine airplane. Okay. We were sent

[39:07] back to the base and then they asked for volunteers to go back on the ice cap. Here I

[39:13] Oh, you did. Yeah. Yeah. I really loved that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Good. So what'd you have to do?

[39:21] We're asking another play or something. We still had work to do. Oh, I see. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

[39:34] That was an experience that I said, I gotta go back there. Yeah. Yeah.

[39:39] Good for you. You are a valuable valuable employee then. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And how many of you were doing that on that kind of assignment?

[39:54] I think there were 10 of you. Yeah. Now, you said you had a mummy bag and stuff. Where'd you sleep and stuff were up there?

[40:05] on the ice. We had a, we dug all into the ice cap. Okay. So we slept inside the nickel

[40:18] of the surface. Okay. Oh wow. Whoa.

[40:24] It's like a, yeah. Well, I guess that's good for

[40:29] you that you embraced it. Yeah. Yeah. He did. So then you said you went to West over. I mean,

[40:36] I mean, not whatsoever. You went to oldest and what did you do there?

[40:41] Again, more maintenance.

[40:42] Okay, maintenance.

[40:44] Yeah, okay.

[40:47] SA-16.

[40:48] Yeah.

[40:50] And so the rest of my career was always with the rest of your career.

[40:57] Yeah.

[40:57] Okay.

[40:58] and then I got out of the service and I was looking for jobs. Nothing really appealed to me so I was like, okay, back in the year, of course, my second hitch was,

[41:22] I worked on heavies.

[41:25] and heavies?

[41:27] I call it a twin engine and four engine.

[41:31] Okay.

[41:33] Yep.

[41:33] I see.

[41:34] Okay.

[41:35] And so we're going to see one 24, C97.

[41:43] Okay.

[41:44] Yeah.

[41:44] All right.

[41:47] And I specialize in, again,

[41:51] and collaboration on those engines.

[41:56] Are they quite a challenge to work on?

[41:59] Oh yeah, yeah, they were.

[42:04] It was one of those things that you accept

[42:08] what assignment you give and go for the best.

[42:13] Now what were you in charge like rebuilding the carburetors

[42:16] and adjusting them for adjustments?

[42:19] Yeah, oh wow.

[42:20] taken the coverage. We're talking about this line, about this deep end.

[42:34] We're talking

[42:35] about the

[42:39] end. So I love that job because I said your ability to say this is run with

[42:51] the engine and this is what's wrong with the carburetor, so you learn to turn the carburetor

[43:00] apart, do the repairs, put it back together, and reinstall it in the aircraft.

[43:09] Wow.

[43:09] Now, where are these?

[43:11] I should have another set for all of you.

[43:12] Where are these?

[43:13] Prep with the engines, too?

[43:14] Yeah.

[43:15] All right.

[43:16] Yeah.

[43:19] Well, I was really worried about any other time.

[43:23] Oh.

[43:27] But more tomorrow, perhaps.

[43:29] Yeah.

[43:31] Okay, Paul.

[43:32] So you're still at rebuilding carburetors on prep with the engines.

[43:38] Do you remember the name of the engine or the model?

[43:42] R43-60.

[43:46] And when the R43-60 was a kind of a like the last engine of Recipes that Pratt did, then

[43:58] they switched to jet engine.

[44:02] And our skies that were put to all the driven aircrafts, they'll never fly, a lot

[44:12] we knew.

[44:13] We are right, right, yeah, yeah, we're not interested in that.

[44:17] with the prop bivinear crack, the altitude that you flew at was generally in the 13 to 14,000 foot level.

[44:31] And not like today when you're flying into the 30,000 foot.

[44:38] Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. So, but you never worked on jets. So, yeah. I was not in the airport. Not in the airport. Okay.

[44:51] So now you got out of the airport and then you rejoined and you were at Otis.

[45:00] You went to Otis and then what happened? Okay, they transferred me to Downer, a temporary

[45:18] four dicks, okay, and there's McWire Air Force Base, and the four dicks were all connected together, yeah, okay.

[45:29] And so that was in a maintenance squadron down there, and there was too many people to count who was who.

[45:42] Well, it was interesting, more supply, or it didn't supply it, or aircraft, and it was

[45:54] a repair at that point.

[45:56] Okay.

[45:56] Yep.

[45:58] Hmm.

[45:59] So, it was an interesting job, but not quite as interesting as going green ones, or

[46:07] Yeah, I bet. Yeah, that was must have been real challenge to do some of those rescues. Yeah. Yeah, yeah

[46:13] Then I that ends my service. Yeah, my first edge. Yeah

[46:20] So what year was that you remember the year or?

[46:26] Okay

[46:26] Yeah, and then you said you you've you've re listed. Yeah. Yeah. Now how was the second hitch was that quite a bit

[46:37] different from the first one? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[46:48] Oh my goodness. Yeah.

[46:52] Yeah. Yeah. Oh wow. And so it was much different. Do you remember the year you were down there in

[47:01] Marshall Islands? 1958. 1958, okay. Yeah. And what was your your responsibilities down there?

[47:12] Okay. Yeah.

[47:21] And we talked. Yeah.

[47:26] I was selected forever in the month. Oh, okay. Yeah.

[47:35] from all the troops. Yeah. I told me one day to report to the base commander. Yeah.

[47:47] Getting a class A uniform because the base commander wants to talk to you. Okay. Yeah.

[47:52] I thought, myself, what did I do?

[47:55] Oh, I didn't do wrong, yeah, oh, God.

[47:58] So anyway, I got there, the base commander, and there was a nice apple of my navy there,

[48:14] No.

[48:15] And there was a general from the Army and a general from the Air Force were all there.

[48:22] And they got talking to one another, and they said they were having trouble with their

[48:33] airplanes on the parking strip.

[48:37] On where?

[48:38] The parking strip of where they parked here.

[48:41] Oh, okay.

[48:42] Yeah.

[48:42] Yeah. And I said, part of me, the problems you're having is that the aircraft are parked

[48:52] in the wrong direction, because people never worked as much looking at the corrosion level on the

[49:08] section of the aircraft. Yeah. Yeah. Facing me on coming salt air. Yeah. You'll be better off.

[49:21] Oh. Because that's where you inspect the engines all the time. Yeah.

[49:26] What?

[49:27] The corrosion control is there, so the next day, all the aircraft from the whole field,

[49:36] they passed them in the other direction.

[49:39] Okay.

[49:40] And so as we look, they do mean a word for that was there, they threw me to a way for an

[49:51] attend a vacation. Oh, and they're wonderful. Yeah. So that was that was good. Well,

[50:00] some of the things you didn't know why. I went into I didn't go much on the beach as I went

[50:10] And then into housing, you know, local community.

[50:16] Yeah, yeah, okay.

[50:17] And so I got to see how they lived in a way that was the super rich.

[50:25] Right, right.

[50:27] Right, right, yeah.

[50:28] Oh, good.

[50:29] Good.

[50:30] So, uh, oh, I think we're trying to think of, hey, hey, hey, hey, come,

[50:36] Air Force Base.

[50:37] One that, hey, come.

[50:37] Yeah, that's the airport space there, yeah, it's the one in right right in Hawaii. Yeah. Yeah, but we flew from

[50:51] Travis Air Force base over to here. Okay, and then I think I

[50:59] Travel all the way into the Marshall Islands. Oh, oh, and then back yeah, so

[51:09] 13 hours from Travis Air Force Base just to get to Hawaii. Yeah, I don't know. I

[51:16] mentioned.

[51:19] Right, right. Yeah. Not nothing

[51:23] speedy about those. Right. So what's that trip to Hawaii? Was that a pleasure trip or

[51:29] leave? And then again, you were stationed in the Marshall Islands after that, right?

[51:35] Yeah, I was before and after.

[51:36] Oh, okay.

[51:37] Oh, okay.

[51:38] And so, it was a while I was in Marshall Island.

[51:44] Yeah.

[51:44] I was awarded several awards from growing aircraft.

[51:51] Yeah.

[51:51] Oh, wow.

[51:54] Yeah.

[51:55] Other places for the work I did.

[51:58] Yeah, wonderful.

[51:59] Yeah.

[52:00] Good for you.

[52:01] So, in the book that I have there,

[52:05] that it shows, uh, uh, uh, may receiving several different awards.

[52:12] Yeah.

[52:13] You're on the left.

[52:14] We've been receiving, uh, what, what, what award is this?

[52:16] A new, uh, ever in a month award.

[52:19] Okay.

[52:20] And, uh, the, the, uh, the current one here is, uh, presenting it to me for, uh, uh, maintenance

[52:28] where I did and which was a surprise to me that the work I did deserve this much.

[52:40] Right.

[52:41] And that was in the Marshall Islands, or from, I guess, I was at an enemy time, of that.

[52:46] And this is a war presented to several airmen, I saw it included by Grumman Aircraft Corporation for the work that we did on the aircraft.

[53:02] and you can see the chrome and the representative who again came in an award for the work I did to maintain their craft.

[53:25] That was the Operation Heart Tag and Operation Heart Tag 1, but this is all on the Operation

[53:35] Heart Tag.

[53:36] Okay.

[53:37] This is a bomb blast.

[53:40] And this was an aircraft.

[53:43] I mean, this ship was USS Oopera Island.

[53:49] And when this bomb blast went off, I was saying, I bowed in this aircraft, this ship.

[53:57] Wow.

[53:58] And I looked down, and I, before the blast went down, the water was at the 13th Fort Laudeline.

[54:05] Yeah.

[54:07] And after the blast, which this is all water, after the blast, I went down and I saw the

[54:17] one foot water line.

[54:19] Wow.

[54:21] So that main water we were in, is now here,

[54:28] so years later, I went to Washington, DC.

[54:43] The

[54:47] senator from Illinois said, you're talking about this one shot, and I told him that

[54:57] I was on that ship when this blast went on.

[55:03] Why did they put you so close?

[55:07] Who knows?

[55:09] We were first ship out from Grand Shell.

[55:11] Now today, give you any protection, mask, or earplugs, or...

[55:17] No.

[55:20] They were testing to see if we were resounding, I guess.

[55:27] Wow.

[55:29] But anyway, when we met this senator, I said I was on that ship,

[55:38] He said, well, he pointed to a guy saying he had a table point, so he said, that guy

[55:50] was in the same ship at the same blast.

[55:54] Wow.

[55:55] So I went over and talked to the guy and he was on the bridge and I was on the ball.

[56:04] and I said, what did the commander say? He said, I think we're a wee bit too close.

[56:14] Oh gosh, whoa. Now did you get the water pour onto the boat? No, no.

[56:22] You were far enough away? Yeah, it was actually the sky was like this before the blast.

[56:32] Yeah, and this is a shockwave. Oh, okay. Oh, that's a shockwave. Oh, well,

[56:42] it's quite

[56:47] the thing to live through. Yes, I imagine.

[56:51] Well, I witnessed a total of 28 atomic bomb blasts. Now, were they super loud two years?

[56:59] Oh, and you didn't have any air protection? No.

[57:01] So Paul, that was quite the picture of the atomic bomb thing, and how many tests were

[57:07] you involved with, were you watching that?

[57:11] 28.

[57:12] 28.

[57:15] Now, what was your duty on the ship there when we-

[57:19] I was on the ship only one.

[57:21] Oh, okay.

[57:22] The rest of us all land.

[57:23] Okay.

[57:24] And so we would prepare for the blast by taking our footlakers and taking them off the deck

[57:35] and put them on top of our bunks because the level of anavitac was so close to the water level

[57:47] They were afraid by the blast itself, it would blow the water right over the island.

[57:57] Oh my goodness.

[57:58] So we were at a beach, I told, as the top rim of the volcano, so on the ocean side,

[58:11] The water keep, I kept on eroding under the island and on the lagoon side it started

[58:22] building up so over centuries and you know the island probably will move over because

[58:35] it's been washed away on one side and building up the island.

[58:40] Was that because of the tide chips or because of the atomic bomb?

[58:46] Okay, yeah, yeah

[58:48] Wow

[58:50] so

[58:51] These these so what were some of your duties as far as repairing engines down there in the Marshall Islands?

[58:58] Were you doing that too? Oh, yeah, okay

[59:01] My loyal thing to do. Yeah

[59:10] Now, what kind of a plane did they drop the bombs out of for these tests?

[59:14] They had all kinds of aircrafts, they had, I think, I got pictures of them in the aircraft.

[59:31] I did a slideshow and in the slideshow I showed the different aircrafts that were out there

[59:40] and the B-52, you have that picture?

[59:46] Yeah,

[59:49] I think it's in all the...

[59:52] Talk about the first couple pictures.

[59:53] This picture here is the...

[1:00:01] Okay. Um, be, uh, be fifty two, and that had ten engines. Um, original. Um, uh, I was just, uh,

[1:00:18] thirty six. I'm sorry. Yeah. It was, be, be thirty six. Okay. Ten engines had six, three

[1:00:24] six pushery engines and four jets.

[1:00:29] Wow.

[1:00:30] And every morning, these B-36s and B-52s and other aircraft of that era would be at one

[1:00:43] end of the runway, warming up at three o'clock in the morning.

[1:00:47] Oh, wow.

[1:00:48] And my 10 was at the other end of the runway, the first 10 from the end, and they were

[1:01:01] sat warming up at 3.5 in the morning, and they would end up being about 10 to 20 feet

[1:01:11] a bugged your tent. Oh my goodness. What a roar. Oh yeah. Yeah. So I was going to say, you know,

[1:01:24] open up the tent fire. What about it? Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. But it was an interesting

[1:01:30] one of the things that happened. This guy when he landed it and we talked he was on the same

[1:01:39] America after I was in. And we got on to the ground and headed for a tenderly. And he says,

[1:01:51] I'm going to get out of here. I'm not saying. And so I could like to know. But he didn't

[1:02:02] So he grabbed a boat out

[1:02:12] of the water, and he started heading towards the east.

[1:02:24] So the navy watched him, and he said, oh, he was raising the ramp out of gas.

[1:02:32] and then told him back he didn't make it up. Oh gosh. Oh and that's something. Yeah, but

[1:02:43] So what are these other pictures? What's that picture down below there that just below the airplane?

[1:02:52] Yeah, this is one of the test aircrafts or shots they did. That's a rocket, isn't it?

[1:03:03] Yeah, they food up and it was a mini-air explosion, so they fired this off and the testing

[1:03:18] was the effects of the re-the-cogs, radioactive plants, and that was what this test was

[1:03:30] about.

[1:03:30] It's like the rockets on the 4th of July and they send up or this was a little bit bigger than the 4th of July right now.

[1:03:40] Yeah, yeah.

[1:03:41] All right, that.

[1:03:44] But we had no protection from radiation.

[1:03:56] I was assigned to a

[1:04:03] radio active decontamination group and I think this

[1:04:15] picture here is how

[1:04:20] I always team contaminated the aircraft that flew through the radioactive clouds and we wore

[1:04:29] no protection gear whatsoever to start no longer fatigue your nerves.

[1:04:37] And I don't know whether they knew what they were doing or not, but I assumed they did.

[1:04:44] Yeah.

[1:04:47] So, I have a really, really active detector in that bag over there, and I'd like to talk

[1:04:55] about that radio icon.

[1:04:58] Okay.

[1:04:59] We'll talk about that now.

[1:05:00] Yeah.

[1:05:01] Okay.

[1:05:02] This is a radiate detector that I wore during the session and after each time in class,

[1:05:13] we turned in our radiate detectors and they were, it's like an X-ray and it's how many,

[1:05:23] how much radiation your body absorbs, and we would take, we'd take it where this

[1:05:38] radiated detector in the front, and the bond blast would be back on you.

[1:05:47] Yeah.

[1:05:51] This detects how much radiation passed through your body.

[1:05:54] Oh my goodness.

[1:05:56] So, we would turn these in after every test.

[1:06:01] Yeah.

[1:06:04] The last bomb test, they would already get a sound of the island, so they never asked me to

[1:06:13] turn in by radio.

[1:06:15] Oh, okay.

[1:06:16] Yeah.

[1:06:16] So, I don't know where the film is so good inside this reactor, and that's what you were

[1:06:26] last

[1:06:29] of last year.

[1:06:29] Wow.

[1:06:30] Usually, when we witnessed it, my blast, we were laying on our stomachs in the sand, and

[1:06:42] with your eyes closed and you have started looking directly down at the sand, well when

[1:06:58] the bottom blasts went off, I saw the bone structure of my elbow.

[1:07:06] Really?

[1:07:07] Wow.

[1:07:09] It was like looking at an X-ray then.

[1:07:12] Yeah.

[1:07:13] And so this time I went to Washington, the senator from Illinois said he talked to a guy

[1:07:27] and he was making the president say,

[1:07:32] saw his bone structure at one of the shots.

[1:07:36] And afterwards I went up to the center and I said, I witnessed this thing, and it would

[1:07:47] be all of us would be laying on the ground and I were feet toward the planet area.

[1:08:02] But I was not too far from the hangar, and one of the blasts was so powerful that it

[1:08:11] moved the hangar doors right off the hangar.

[1:08:17] Oh my goodness.

[1:08:18] Well, you didn't have any year protection though.

[1:08:23] No.

[1:08:26] They didn't provide you as much.

[1:08:28] So, do you have hearing lost in the day?

[1:08:32] I had a little bit and I've recovered most of it.

[1:08:38] Okay.

[1:08:41] The VA gave

[1:08:45] me hearing aids.

[1:08:47] After

[1:08:52] a while it creates another problem with my ears.

[1:08:56] Yeah.

[1:08:57] There's a wax buildup, so intense, that I started having a severe hearing, so you're

[1:09:09] back up into my inner ear and I said, okay, that's enough of that.

[1:09:16] So I took it out of myself, no war in the days.

[1:09:21] Right.

[1:09:22] Okay.

[1:09:22] Okay, now you're down to national hours, would this the end of your tour and the Air Force?

[1:09:27] Pretty much.

[1:09:28] Pretty much.

[1:09:29] Okay.

[1:09:30] Yeah.

[1:09:31] Was there anything else that you'd like to share, people you meant, people that were

[1:09:36] mentors to you?

[1:09:39] Well, first, my first stage, because I quit high school,

[1:09:49] my father died when I was 50.

[1:09:52] Yeah, and I couldn't get my life back together. Yeah, that's why I joined the air. Okay, I think you know

[1:10:02] When I was at Boston University a professor in his wife took me under there

[1:10:09] Yeah, and got me my G.E.D. Oh good

[1:10:14] For the world of me. Yeah, I can't remember their name. Oh, wow

[1:10:20] I wish I could thank them since then I had accomplished two years of college.

[1:10:30] Wonderful.

[1:10:32] One of those things happens that you run away from one thing and you run into a couple

[1:10:43] of people who think you were something.

[1:10:48] Yeah, yeah, right, right. Well, that's important though. Yeah.

[1:10:57] Yeah,

[1:10:59] yeah, oh, yeah, sounds it.

[1:11:03] There was much older than I saw it. Yeah. There are chances of being alive today. Right. Right.

[1:11:08] quite small.

[1:11:11] Now, are we involved with any veterans groups or?

[1:11:16] I was an American Legion, and it became a point that I wasn't attending me, and it was

[1:11:29] like originally the really fee to the American Legion was quite reasonable, but then they

[1:11:42] kept up and finally I said, I can't afford to join my membership and they couldn't understand

[1:11:54] that.

[1:11:54] Yeah. Now, your wife was saying that you're signed up for a trip to Washington with the

[1:12:04] veterans. They still go down the Washington to visit the monuments. And what do they

[1:12:09] They call that group, it's a group of, I can't remember the exact name, but a group that

[1:12:20] says Southwest Airlines, you fly, Southwest Airlines down, and they tour the monument,

[1:12:35] miss and stuff. But I can't take you away. Yeah. Yeah.

[1:12:45] I'm going to take your grandson. You can't. You can't. Oh, you can't. Oh.

[1:12:50] Oh, okay. Yeah. Somebody can go over there. I'm signed up. Yeah. Okay.

[1:12:56] Okay, so having a situation of three, two bands on the call line, yeah, yeah, right.

[1:13:08] And the sign of the daughter of one, yeah, yeah, out of four, yeah, right, how do you

[1:13:18] pick one now?

[1:13:18] That's too bad, yeah.

[1:13:21] Well, I'm sure that it'd be quite a privilege for you to go down there and it was one of

[1:13:27] your family members, and hopefully you take some lot of pictures and stuff, and I'm

[1:13:32] sure they can understand that you only have to pick one, I think.

[1:13:36] And so it would be nice to do that, but in a few days I'm going to be 90 years old.

[1:13:49] And so I don't have that much more time to do a thing like that.

[1:13:56] Right.

[1:13:57] You take that amazing tape and inch, inch, inch, inch, inch, and tape is only 100 inches

[1:14:09] line.

[1:14:09] Right.

[1:14:10] Sorry.

[1:14:11] I'm at the other end of that.

[1:14:13] Right.

[1:14:14] Yeah.

[1:14:16] Well, I want to thank you very much, Paul, for sharing your lengthy air force experience

[1:14:22] here.

[1:14:24] And thank you, White Betty, for sharing your home together here with us, and being able

[1:14:33] to share your experience.

[1:14:34] I really appreciate it.

[1:14:35] And I thank you for participating in the Veterans History Project, and also the SEPA TV.

[1:14:43] Oh, thank you.

[1:14:44] Oh, thank you very much.

[1:14:45] All right.

[1:14:46] God bless you.

[1:14:47] Thank you for your service.

[1:14:48] Thank you.

Veterans Stories - Paul Batchelder, 7/7/23

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