2017 Summer Friends Journal Sampler

AI R

UM

The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. Post Office Box 1903 Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433-1903

RCE MUSE FO

FOUNDATION, INC.

Summer 2017

Vol. 40 No.2

The Magazine of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. • www.airforcemuseum.com

Sept 18, 1947 President Truman Signed the National Security Act While Aboard the Douglas VC-54C Sacred Cow

1948/49 Berlin Airlift

February 26, 1949 the B-50 Lucky Lady ll Became the First Airplane to Circumnavigate the Globe Nonstop

October 14, 1947 Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier in Bell X-1

June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953 Korean War

March 1, 1954 First Hydrogen Blast

November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975 Vietnam War

1955 First U-2 Flight

1964 First SR-71 Flight

The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. is a Section 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components, and it has no government status.

1969 First Man on the Moon

August 2, 1990 – February 28, 1991 Desert Storm

Today’s U.S. Air Force

THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mr. Philip L. Soucy - Chairman Col (Ret) Susan E. Richardson - President Col (Ret) James B. Schepley - Vice President Lt Gen (Ret) C. D. Moore II - Secretary Mr. Robert J. Suttman II, CFA - Treasurer Mr. John G. Brauneis Col (Ret) Mark N. Brown Dr. Thomas J. Burns, PhD Brig Gen (Ret) Paul R. Cooper Dr. Pamela A. Drew Mr. Roger D. Duke Ms. Frances A. Duntz Ms. Anita Emoff Mr. David C. Evans Col (Ret) Frederick D. Gregory Sr. Mr. Benjamin T. Guthrie Maj Gen (Ret) E. Ann Harrell Brig Gen (Ret) Allison Hickey Mr. James L. Jennings CMSAF (Ret) Gerald R. Murray Gen (Ret) Gary L. North Gen (Ret) Charles T. Robertson Jr. Maj Gen (Ret) Frederick F. Roggero Maj Gen (Ret) Darryl A. Scott Mr. Scott J. Seymour Mr. Erik D. Smith Mr. Harry W. (Wes) Stowers Jr.

From the Executive Director As this is the 70th birthday of the United States Air Force, I was interested in the genesis of all things birthday. Did you know in 1893 Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill wrote a song they called, “Good Morning To All,” which was meant to be sung by students before classes began? The song quickly became a favorite across America, with numerous variations on the theme arising. Fast forward to 1924, when Robert Coleman published a songbook and added a few extra lyrics to the Hill’s tune. The rest is history. For while you may never have heard of Robert Coleman, no doubt you have sung his version—which we know as “Happy Birthday to you.”

In the case of the “Happy Birthday” song, Coleman took a familiar tune and transformed it for another purpose. The end result, at least as acknowledged by history, made something good even better.

Innovation, like transformation, finds a new or better application for an unmet need. The future demands it—and the United States Air Force has thrived on it. In fact, it is one of the key themes of the Air Force’s year-long 70th birthday celebration. Walk through any of the Museum’s galleries and you will find the innovative spirit of the U.S. Air Force on display in myriad applications—trumpeting man’s willingness to go beyond understood boundaries to achieve our nation’s objectives.

Walking through the Museum recently, I happened upon a father in the fourth building’s Research & Development Gallery explaining the importance of in-flight refueling to his son. “In-flight refueling was a game changer,” he said. “Some aircraft were designed so they could fly attached to another plane to extend their mission so they would not have to land to get gas. But someone had to be the first to get into a flying gas station and try it out.” The son listened intently, then asked “But why?” I could tell it caught the father off guard. As he tried to explain using words like innovation, the son became more and more confused. Finally the son said, “Oh I get it. It’s like the record player you showed me. Someone wanted to hear music while they’re running, and you can’t do that with a record. So someone had to invent a way to do that.” Relieved, the father said, “Yes, that’s it,” and moved on.

As I reflected, I could not help but smile. General Hudson and his team continue to find innovative ways to connect with its visitors and educate and inspire the next generation. And like the father and his son discussing refueling, you just never know how or when it will happen. One thing is certain though—without your generous support, the conversation would not be possible.

Let’s celebrate the innovative spirit of the United States Air Force. While the “Happy Birthday” song is good, there is another song that’s played when the Museum opens every morning at 9:00 a.m. So clap your hands along with me as we all sing, “Off we go into the wild blue yonder. . .”

With respect,

Mike Imhoff

MiG-23 “Flogger-E”

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE Lt Gen (Ret) J. L. Hudson, Director Krista Strider, Deputy Director/Senior Curator

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Executive Director - Michael Imhoff Chief Development Officer - Col (Ret) Mona Vollmer Chief, Museum Store Operations - Melinda Lawrence Chief, Attractions Operations - Mary Bruggeman Marketing Director - Chuck Edmonson Membership Office: 1-877-258-3910 (toll free) or 937-656-9615

Friends Journal

Editors - Peggy Coale and Alan Armitage Graphic Design - Mark A. Riley and Cheryl Prichard Editorial Assistants - Joe King, Robert Pinizzotto, Art Powell Friends Journal Office: 937-656-9622

Cover: Celebrating the 70th Birthday of the

United States Air Force.

The Friends Journal is published quarterly by the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the expansion and improvement of the National Museum of the United States Air Force and to the preservation of the history of the United States Air Force. Authors retain all rights to further publication or use. Author’s views expressed in the Friends Journal do not necessarily represent those of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. or those of the United States Air Force. Printed in the USA. USPS Standard ”A” rate postage paid at Dayton, OH. Subscription to the Friends Journal is included in the annual membership of the Friends of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. All materials are copyright 2017 and may not be reproduced without permission from the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. Submission of material for publication and correspondence concerning contents should be addressed to The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 1903, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-1903, and marked in the corner of the envelope “ATTN: Editor.”

NMUSAF

The newest addition to the Cold War Gallery - The MiG-23 “Flogger E.”

T

he Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS, “Flogger-E,” moved into the Museum’s Cold War Gallery on April 25, 2017. The Soviet-built MiG-23 “Flogger” was designed to replace the widely-used MiG-21. The MiG-23’s advanced radar and fire control system could fire missiles at targets beyond visual range. Variable “swing” wing geometry, similar to that of the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, and robust landing gear allowed the MiG-23 to operate from short, remote runways. The pilot could select the wing sweep for low-speed take-off and landing or for supersonic flight.

training against then state-of-the-art Soviet technology.

The MiG-23MS “Flogger-E” on display was declassified and transferred to the Museum in February 2017.

The MiG-23MS was designed for foreign export and was less capable than domestic Soviet versions.

It was equipped with a less sophisticated radar housed in a smaller radome. First delivered in 1973, it was given the NATO code-name “Flogger-E.” More than 5,000 MiG-23s of all types were built.

The U.S. Air Force’s 4477th Test Squadron, the “Red Eagles,” flew this aircraft during Project Constant Peg. This highly classified program provided USAF, Navy, and Marine Corps fighter pilots with realistic combat

NMUSAF

The cockpit of the MiG-23 “Flogger E.”

Events that create lasting memories.

My “Hero” Lt Col Paul A Kari, USAF(Ret).

Guests at the Living History Film event.

Commemorating 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid

Lt. Col. “Dick” Cole of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders autographs his story.

Brig Gen Paul R. Cooper, USAF(Ret), CW2 James E. Miller, US Army and Lt Col Paul A Kari, USAF(Ret).

Aerobatic Pilot Sean D. Tucker

You make history an experience!

Your contributions help fund once-in-a-lifetime historic events like the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders 75th Anniversary Ceremony and the Living History Film Series featuring distinguished veterans and legendary aerobatic pilot Sean D. Tucker.

Thank you for helping to connect heroic stories with today’s visitors!

You make an impact.

Thank you for helping to share the U. S. Air Force story AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC.

EXPANDING THE LEGACY of the

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

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A special thanks to these event sponsors:

Craig & Betty Willan

Contents ARTICLES

DEPARTMENTS

5 SAM 26000 Lauren Smith

3 Editor’s Notes

4 Friends Feedback

9 Crew Duty on Air Force One Robert Spiers

MSgt Chuck Hoeppner, USAF (Ret)

14 Operation Linebacker: Photos from the Flight Line

26 Classic Aircraft of the NMUSAF

F-100F Super Sabre

31 Upcoming events

50 Reunions

Bob Johnson 17 Quick Turn Col Frank Alfter, USAF (Ret)

19 Mission to Mafraq

Sidebar to the Six-Day War Brig Gen Tom Pilsch, USAF (Ret) Bob Cook

22 The Zodiac Squadron and the Two Virgos Mack Parkhill

29 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders 75th Reunion

32 Return of Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby Bill Holder

Do You Have a Story for the Friends Journal?

We love to hear from our Friends of their firsthand accounts of military service. Our goal is to be able to present a variety of Air Force-related stories from all eras in which the U.S. Air Force or its predecessors played a role. We especially need stories from more recent conflicts, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you or someone you know has a personal experience you think our readers would find interesting, please consider submitting a story to us.

Writers with all levels of experience are welcomed!

Please ensure that your story does not contain any classified information!

Contact the editor at 937-656-9622 or aarmitage@ afmuseum.com with any questions you may have.

The typical Friends Journal article is 3,000 words maximum and includes three to five photographs.

Your photos will be returned.

36 B‑17 Lead Pilot in the Eighth Air Force

Lt Col Robert H. Kaurin, USAF (Ret)

Submit manuscripts and photos to:Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., Friends Journal Editor, 1100 Spaatz Street, P.O. Box 1903, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433. Or email it to aarmitage@afmuseum.com.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in

41 Aerial Supply in WWII Burma

Lt Col George A. Larson, USAF (Ret)

45 The Saga of Strobe Zero One Lt Col John Lowery, USAF (Ret)

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Friends Journal • Summer 2017

the Friends Journal articles and Feedback letters are solely those of the authors in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., the United States Air Force or any other entity or agency of the U.S. Government.

EDITOR’s

NOTES

My name is Alan Armitage. I am the new editor of the Friends Journal.

Thank you for your patience. I want to sincerely apologize for the late delivery of your Summer issue.

Prior to my taking the editor position there were discussions about changing the procedure we follow for review of the Journal’s content. As sometimes happens, such changes took longer than planned to implement. In this case, to make sure we continue to do it right required waiting on decisions out of our control. Again, I apologize for the delay in publishing the Journal and assure you that we are doing everything in our power to see that future issues are not delayed.

Editing the Friends Journal is a dream job for me and one I take very seriously. I love military history, and military aircraft in particular. I am an Air Force spouse. Working for the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc to support the National Museum of the United States Air Force™ by telling the stories of the men and women who have served their country through the entire history of land based military aviation combines my professional skills as a journalist with something I’m passionate about. It doesn’t get any better than that.

I want to make certain that I thank everyone directly involved with the Journal for their work in getting this Summer issue put together and out the door. The welcome and assistance I have received since joining the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc has been outstanding. I am very thankful to Peggy Coale for her work getting this issue started before her departure and for her help during the transition. Outgoing Art Director Mark Riley, whose talents have been essential to the readability and enjoyment of the Friends Journal, was indispensable during this time.

I look forward to working with our new Creative Manager, Cheryl Prichard, who has hit the ground running and been extremely helpful at the same time she is working on her own transition.

And I am especially grateful for the work of editorial assistants Joe King, Robert Pinizzotto and Art Powell whose knowledge and insight are as important as their proofreading skills.

However, my biggest thanks go to you, the Foundation membership. Thank you again for your patience. I hope to reward you with an exceptional magazine.

As the 70th birthday year of the United States Air Force winds down we will continue to focus on the themes of innovation, teamwork and heritage. However, those themes are timeless and are already celebrated in every issue of the Friends Journal. The aircraft on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force™ are beautiful illustrations of the heritage of innovation and teamwork begun by the first Army Air Corps flyers, enhanced over the years and expanded by today’s generation of Airmen. But they are merely illustrations—the heritage is the men and women who developed, maintained, flew and supported the missions of those aircraft. Their individual perspectives on the unique contributions of Airpower combine to tell the story of that heritage and I am grateful to them for their willingness to share.

I feel honored and humbled every time I speak with a veteran, or someone who supported them, and hear their story. I look forward to hearing so many more and sharing them with you.

Very Respectfully,

Alan S. Armitage

Friends Journal • Summer 2017

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Friends Feedback Gunships and Flight Test Engineers Your interesting article on the AC-47 “Spooky” gunships (“Spooky 42,” Winter 2016-2017) brought back memories of my dad, Lt Col Richard Gough. He was assigned to the Air Research & Development Command as an engineering test pilot at Wright-Patterson AFB from 1958 to his retirement in 1970. One of the several programs to which my dad was assigned during this time was the gunship program. Then a Major, he was the project test pilot of the prototype AC-47 in “Project Tailchaser.” Dad went on to work on the AC-119, the O-2, and the ultimate evolution of the series, the AC-130.

When I was eight years old, Dad graduated from the USAF Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB, Class 56-D, a group that included Gordon Cooper and Gus Grissom, who later became Mercury 7 astronauts. Engineering test pilots became glorified during the manned X-plane series culminating with the X-15, and the pilots became legends of flight and even space travel.

the men and women known as engineering test pilots have applied math and physics to advance the known boundaries of aviation. And always with safety in mind.

Robert Gough, San Diego, California Gunship in Georgia I read with great interest the article entitled “Fifty Years of the AC-130 Gunship” in the Summer 2017 Friends Journal concerning the development of the C-130 gunships.

Readers might like to know that there is another AC130A, owned by the NMUSAF, that is on public display at the Marietta Museum of History’s Aviation Wing in Marietta, Georgia. Located about a half-mile from the Lockheed plant where it was built in 1956, USAF s/n 54-1623 is the tenth C-130 built and was converted to an AC-130A gunship in 1968. Known as Ghost Rider, she has been fully restored on the exterior to the paint scheme and markings that she had while in service in Thailand in the early 1970s.The Aviation Wing’s website is http://www.mariettahistory.org/aviation-wing.

Bill Paden, Marietta, Georgia From Museum Research Division: This aircraft, AC-130A, s/n 54-1623, “Ghost Rider” is indeed on loan from NMUSAF to the Marietta Museum of History. The aircraft was acquired by the AF History and Museums Program in 1995 and is marked to appear as it looked in the early 1970s. Black and white imagery available online [and below] suggests the aircraft did carry an overall matte black finish while flying in Southeast Asia. The nose art looks to be a respectable facsimile, but I suspect the colors are a bit more vibrant than those that likely were actually applied in combat.

Brett Stolle, Manuscript Curator, NMUSAF

Author’s father, kneeling second from right, with some of his USAF Test Pilot School, Class 56-D classmates. Gus Grissom is in the middle of the front row.

Amazingly, Dad’s work on the gunship program continues to save lives of our ground-based troops to this day. From the Wright Brothers, through the incredible body of work by General Doolittle, and to present day,

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AC-130A Gunship Ghost Rider.

SAM 26000 Lauren Smith

Three students were recently selected as the winners of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s seventh annual student writing competition and were awarded scholarship funds courtesy of Deloitte through the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. (Federal endorsement not implied.) The research questions for this year’s competition were focused on the Museum’s new Presidential Gallery and asked students to write about the historic events that occurred on board some of those aircraft and how they reflected the role of the president as it is outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The Friends Journal is pleased to present the first-place winning essay here as submitted.

H

istory was changed in a moment by three gunshots fired at 12:30 p.m. on November 22, 1963, in front of the Texas School Book Depository. They signaled the death of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, leaving the most important government position in the United States of America vacant.

In American government the executive branch would be incomplete without a president. According to Article II, Section II of the Constitution, he is vested with the power to make treaties, issue pardons (except in cases of impeachment), and serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president appoints certain officials and selects officers to fill occasional vacancies in the

government. Most importantly the president’s signature makes Congressional bills become law.

Someone had to take Kennedy’s place, to execute the duties of his office, and to ensure that government affairs could still be conducted until the next election.

This was the vice president, on whom, according to the Constitution, would devolve the duties of the presidential office. Although the Constitution did not grant him the actual title of president, he would assume it by tradition.

The vice president at the time was Lyndon B. Johnson, who had been riding with his wife in another car of the motorcade when the president was shot. In the confusion after the shooting, Johnson and his wife were removed to Love Field. Air Force One—the Boeing 707 SAM 26000—was waiting where the president and his friends had disembarked not long before. There, it was hoped, the vice president could be kept in safety until he was sworn in.

Everyone on the plane knew, long before Lyndon B. Johnson arrived, that something terrible had happened; the shadow of confused rumors was vague until trustworthy news arrived of the president’s death.

The pilot, Colonel James Swindal, heard the terrible news over the radio. He fired the engines as a test, in preparation for the emergency flight to Clinton, Maryland, and then shut down all but one, which he left on to provide power for the lights and on-board television.

Once Lyndon B. Johnson was aboard the plane—accompanied by his wife, Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the dead president’s casket— his friend, Judge Sarah Hughes, was chosen to administer the oath of office. Less than an hour-and-ahalf after Kennedy’s death, Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th president of the United States.

NMUSAF

Boeing VC-137C tail number 26000, known as Air Force One when carrying the President of the United States and the aircraft that carried President John F. Kennedy to Dallas on November 22, 1963.

Friends Journal • Summer 2017

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SAM 26000

It was an important time in world history. Not far from the borders of the United States, in Cuba, Fidel Castro had become the prime minister and was commencing relations with the Soviet Union. It was Kennedy, who, after hearing that there were Soviet missiles placed in Cuba, organized the United States’ response and prevented possible disastrous effects of a nuclear standoff.

In addition, with Kennedy’s authorization of the CIA to assassinate Ngo Dinh Diem, the president of South Vietnam, the United States was becoming deeply involved with affairs in Vietnam. Kennedy had also been attempting to pass Medicare legislation, though at the time without success. The president’s death occurred at a difficult moment for a sudden transition. Lyndon B. Johnson was left with the tremendous task of piloting the presidential ship through dangerous waters for about a year before the next election.

But before the chaos caused by the assassination, social and economic affairs in the United States itself were fairly peaceful. President Kennedy had been traveling to Dallas, Texas to make political speeches, hoping to win Texas in his upcoming reelection campaign. He disembarked from Air Force One at Love Field, accompanied by his wife, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Lady Bird Johnson. He then proceeded in an open convertible through Dallas, on his way to speak at the Trade Mart, a well known wholesale market. Around 12:30 p.m. the car turned into Dealey Plaza and passed the Texas School Book Depository. The sound of gunfire—three shots, as the Warren Commission later confirmed—came from the sixth floor window.

The president and Governor John Connally were both hit, though the Governor was not fatally wounded and survived his injuries. Immediately, President Kennedy and the governor were taken to Parkland Hospital, where the president was confirmed dead not long after.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the body of the president were transported back to Love Field and taken aboard Air Force One—a plane whose distinctive paint scheme Mrs. Kennedy had helped to design. It was a modified Boeing 707, known in the Air Force as a VC-137C, but more popularly as SAM-26000. The 1254th Air Transport Wing, forerunner of today’s 89th Airlift Wing, owned the plane which was to serve as the presidential aircraft for 36 years. John F. Kennedy himself had requested that Jackie Kennedy help create a new paint scheme for the plane, one that incorporated an American flag

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and the words “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the outside of the plane in a highly recognizable pattern.

Suddenly, not long after the vice president and his companions boarded the plane, the attention of all was arrested by a car that came speeding across the runway.

It was a police car, and its sirens were flashing wildly. It must have looked suspiciously like a secondary plot to the assassination; at any rate, the Secret Service agents aboard Air Force One were prepared to open fire on it and very nearly did. However, it was discovered that the four people in the car were not assassins, but friends of the vice president: a Secret Service agent, one of Johnson’s advisors, one of his unofficial aides, and the allimportant White House photographer, Cecil Stoughton.

Stoughton had been a photographer in Guadalcanal, and he was familiar with photography performed under unusual or violent circumstances. He was riding in the motorcade with the president at the time of the assassination, but he had been several cars back and had not witnessed the event. When he arrived at Parkland Hospital, however, he discovered that Kennedy was dead and watched as the Johnsons hurriedly left for Love Field.

Impulsively he got in a car with three others and drove after them. Due to a wrong turn, the car accidentally entered the active runway and came under the sights of the Secret Service agents preparing to shoot it.

Stoughton was friends with the pilot, Swindal, from whom he received permission to board the plane.

Without delay he began taking photographs of the swearing in, always careful to frame them so that the

NMUSAF

The famous Cecil Stoughton photograph of Lyndon Johnson as he was sworn in as the 36th president aboard Air Force One after the assassination of President Kennedy. Mrs. Kennedy is to his left and his wife Lady Bird Johnson is to his right.

SAM 26000

bloody skirt of Jackie Kennedy’s dress did not show.

There aboard SAM 26000, Lyndon B. Johnson stood beside the wife of the late president and took the oath of office from his close friend, Judge Sarah T. Hughes. Stoughton stood on a couch, looking down upon the people, and taking photos of the historic event.

Even aside from the circumstances that caused the impromptu event, it was a remarkable moment in the history of presidential inaugurations—it was the first time in history that a woman had administered the oath of office, and the only time a president was sworn in on an airplane. Immediately after the swearing in was finished, Stoughton debarked the plane and developed his film negatives, rather than continuing the flight to Maryland.

NMUSAF

Air Force One upon its arrival at Andrews AFB, Maryland, the night of November 22, 1962.

The casket containing President John F. Kennedy is being loaded into a hearse. Mrs. Kennedy and her brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy can be seen just behind the casket.

When at last the vice president and his friends were safely on their way to Maryland, and there was no longer a danger of imminent catastrophe, there was time to ponder the many questions surrounding the assassination.

The first and most obvious question was simple: who had committed the assassination, and why had they done it? Not long before Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration, a man named Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for killing a police officer, who stopped to question him not far from the Texas School Book Depository. After a careful search revealed several cartridges in his pockets, he was charged with the murder of John F. Kennedy and placed in a high security prison cell.

He did not remain there long. On television, before the entire nation, he was shot by Jack Ruby and later pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital—the same one where Kennedy had been taken after the shooting in Dealey Plaza. He never stood trial; neither did Jack Ruby, who died of a medical condition before the formalities could be completed. Even today the motive for their actions is unknown, and the various theories differ widely.

There was another unusual feature about this assassination, something rather new and revolutionary; the entire event had been filmed by one of the bystanders on a home film camera. Abraham Zapruder, a dressmaker, captured footage that recorded the entire assassination from beginning to end. It was 486 frames long, with 26 seconds of footage.The film, which later became famous for its clear depiction of the event, was commonly known as the Zapruder film, after the man who created it.

Enter the Warren Commission, a special committee created by Lyndon B. Johnson, and led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, solely to investigate facts concerning the assassination. The Zapruder film was one of the most important pieces of evidence, as well as one of the most widely known. The Warren Commission examined it carefully, frame by frame, and from it and many other sources came to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald had shot the bullets from the Texas School Book Depository, though he never confessed and never stood trial.

The Zapruder film was made available to the public, with the exception of a single frame—number 313. For 12 years after the election, per a request of the haunted Abraham Zapruder, it was kept back due to its depiction of an image which Zapruder believed was too horrific for public view.The horrifyingly graphic frame showed a bullet passing through Kennedy’s head, with the terrified Jackie Kennedy leaning forward in a useless effort to assist him.

After the assassination Lyndon B. Johnson finished out the remainder of Kennedy’s term and then ran on his own right, winning the election by the largest popular margin ever. He turned his attention to several of Kennedy’s own affairs, such as signing and establishing the Medicare legislation and attempting to peacefully terminate the turbulent fighting in Vietnam. It was his decision, as president of the United States, to limit American bombing missions so that peace talks could be conducted with the North Vietnamese government. In Friends Journal • Summer 2017

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SAM 26000

LaRock

There are many theories about the assassination; some people believe that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the three shots, some believe that he was seconded by an accomplice, and some believe he was not the assassin at all. However that may be, it was a tragic day in American history: a beloved young president was killed in an instant before the eyes of a shocked and horrified public. It was this fear—of an image which so clearly showed American safety and tranquility rudely shattered—that prompted Abraham Zapruder to request that frame 313 of his film be withheld from the public.

And yet thanks to a strong leader in the person of Lyndon B. Johnson, the presidency was immediately preserved and even strengthened. Thanks to SAM 26000, he was inaugurated in comparative safety and under the watchful eyes of the Secret Service. Thanks to Cecil Stoughton, the entire event was commemorated in black-and-white photographs that have become famous for the resilience they show.

On January 30, 2017, former White House pool reporter Sid Davis visited the Museum taking a tour of SAM 26000, the Presidential aircraft that carried John F. Kennedy’s body from Dallas to Washington D.C. on November 22, 1963. Davis heard the gun shots and covered the story, including the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson aboard the aircraft.

addition to all of this, he signed an Amendment which corrected a curious obscurity of the Constitution of the United States.

Lyndon B. Johnson had served for 14 months—the remainder of Kennedy’s term—without a vice president, since Article II, Section I of the Constitution does not say whether, in case of the president’s removal, death, resignation, or inability, the vice president becomes president or only fulfills the office and duties of the president. If he were only acting president, there would be no need to replace the vice president; but if he became president, the office of vice president would be left vacant. During Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, the 25th Amendment was passed to clarify this obscurity.

It specifically states, “In case of the removal of the president from office or of his death or resignation, the vice president shall become president.” In addition, it provides for the succession of the vice presidency: “Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the vice president, the president shall nominate a vice president who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.” The Amendment was approved first by Congress, then by the states, and was finally brought to Lyndon B. Johnson for his signature, which he gave on February 23, 1967.

Not long after the peace negotiations in Vietnam began, Lyndon B. Johnson left office and decided not to run for reelection, much to the surprise of the American people.

Sadly he never lived to see the negotiations brought to a successful close. He died on his ranch in Stonewall,Texas, on January 22, 1973, before they were finished.

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It was this resilience that reassured the people as to their safety and the safety of their country. It was this resilience that prevented such a catastrophe from destroying unity and creating an internal strife that might have had terrible consequences. Article II, Section II, gave the new president the power to step into the role of commander-in-chief and begin where Kennedy’s plans had so suddenly left off.

Perhaps things would have been different had Kennedy lived. Perhaps they would have been better. Perhaps, even, they would have been worse—no one can tell what would have been. At least the event showed Americans two things: first, how sudden a catastrophe could be, and second, how safe our country really was. This was demonstrated by a peaceful transfer of power, amid a sea of chaos and confusion, carried out aboard the beautiful, iconic American symbol, SAM 26000.

Lauren Smith, age 14 years, is this year’s winner of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s annual history essay competition. Lauren lives in Beavercreek, Ohio and is home schooled.

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