There's a veterans group in the OFH which I attend. One of the participants, Terry, told the group about his posting to Johnston Island when he was in the Army. The Island is a tiny atoll some distance from Hawaii. Johnston is a U.S. military base with an airfield and a few barracks. The U.S. Army has long used it as place to store weapons. While Terry was there, during the Vietnam War, the army stored barrels of Agent Orange on the beach. Agent Orange is highly corrosive and consequently the barrels leaked Orange into the sea. Terry regularly scuba dived in the bay by the Island. Today he's on full disability from the effects of Agent Orange poisoning.
Hearing Terry talk of Johnston Island rang a bell with me. I thought, "I know someone else who was there." The Island is a high security facility so the chances of knowing two who had been there is very coincidental. Who else? Frode told about his experience there.
After leaving active military service Frode spent a couple of years in his North Dakota hometown giving flying lessons. After that he was hired by the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), from which he retired after 34 years of service. During his first two years with the FAA he was stationed in Hawaii. While he was there he flew aircraft around Asia inspecting navigational equipment at various airports.
Returning to Hawaii from an inspection trip to Asia he was piloting a four-motor Lockheed Airplane. (Parenthetically, it was a plane he liked to pilot although there was no auto-pilot. the manufacture thought the pilot should always have hands on the controls.) Realizing that he did not have enough fuel to reach Hawaii he landed at Johnston. The plane was immediately surrounded by security vehicles. No one on the plane was allowed to leave it. The Army refueled the Lockheed and Frode and crew were sent on their way to Hawaii.
Terry was not at all surprised about the reception Frode received on the Island when I told him this story.
Takk for alt,
Al
Johnston Island
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