INVADER 2022 Reunion Issue

San Antonio Reunion

2022 Reunion Recap

President’s Corner

Hello fellow association members. I hope you are all doing well and possibly getting out and about and resuming your prepandemic life styles. I want to fill you in on our recent reunion in April in San Antonio and on the significant changes to the association that were recommended by the board and approved by the general membership meeting. First, as always, Bob and Myrtle Parks did an outstanding job planning the reunion and saw to it that everything was carried out without a hitch. The reunion hotel, the Holiday Inn on the river, was an excellent venue and the staff treated all of us very well. Our ice breaker buffet dinner was there the first night. We had several first-time attendees and a few who have not attended reunions in quite a while. We were also joined by four young squadron officers from Whiteman AFB. Introductions were made and we settled in for a nice evening. Early the next morning, we drove out to Lackland AFB to observe a basic military graduation. We were seated in the VIP section and our group was

recognized by the master of ceremonies with special notice for our WWII representative, Don Mathews. Then, some 768 young men and women passed in review marking the completion of their basic training. Afterwards we had lunch at the officer’s club. Everyone remarked what a beautiful facility it was. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to visit the airmen’s museum on the base and then checked out the very complete static display of USAF aircraft including an A-26 Invader. That evening was red shirt night at the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum. The Buckhorn is the oldest saloon in all of Texas and the museum featured mostly early Texas history. During dinner, we were provided music, complements of a pianist from the Lackland band. The next morning, we again boarded our charter bus for Fredericksburg, Texas, Admiral Nimitz’s home town and location of the excellent Museum of the Pacific for an escorted tour. We had 2 hours 45 minutes scheduled, but the museum is so fascinating and so well done that I think most of us could have spent most of a full day there. Lunch on our own at our choice of mostly German flavored restaurants was next, then returning back to San Antonio by way of a drive through part of the LBJ ranch. The evening was at leisure. Saturday morning, we had the general membership meeting and I will discuss that at the end. The rest of the day was free until the closing banquet, again, at the hotel. The MacArthur High School JR ROTC unit posted the colors and we proceeded with the ceremonies including two speakers; first being Daniel Vargas, founder and president of Operation TRIAGE which provides emergency financial relief, mortgage-free homes and home remodeling to disabled veterans, first responders, and active-duty service members in an effort to get their lives back on track. Dan was followed by our GWOT rep, recently retired Commander of the 509th Operations Group at Whiteman

Bob Koehne

AFB, Brian “Pico” Gallo. Pico is currently a United Airlines pilot and consultant for Northrup Grumman. He spoke about his experiences flying our current strategic bombers and planning for the new B-21 “Raider”, named after the Dolittle Raiders of WWII. Following the two speakers the association presented a nice Waterford crystal water pitcher to Bob and Myrtle Parks for their dedicated effort planning outstanding reunions over the years, and to Don Henderson, with Pamela’s support, for his dedication and professional skills as INVADER editor and association historian. After dinner we retreated to the hospitality room for refreshments and toasts. First, Dave Brandt, our only attending former 13th Bomb Squadron Commander, B-57 G model in Thailand, toasted the squadron. Next, Bob Butterfield, a former association president toasted the association. Then, Pico and I jointly toasted to the future of the 13th Bomb Squadron association. The significance of that coming up. Now to the matter I spoke of in the beginning of my remarks, about changes to the association voted on at the general membership meeting. It should be noted that all changes received unanimous approval by the attending members which did constitute a quorum:

● While few members attend reunions, it is pretty obvious that almost all look forward to the INVADER magazine. Without Don Henderson’s dedication as editor and historian, it’s doubtful anyone else in the

association could perform those duties with the skill Don has. The INVADER editor/ historian position was also added to the board.

● In recognition of the importance of the association locator and all the work Charlie Breitze does towards that effort, the locator position was added to the executive board Comment: The above additions to the board may seem odd as you read on about the board, but continue on, and towards the end it may make more sense.

● Due to declining numbers at reunions for a number of years now, further reunions are suspended.

● Printed versions of the INVADER will not be continued, but an effort to do online issues with information how to obtain a printed copy at individual cost will be tried, and Don Henderson will continue to receive a stipend as editor.

● The association treasury is basically suspended for a period of three years. Although we will try to maintain the association website, and publish an online version of the INVADER with a continuing stipend to Don Henderson, association donations will not be solicited for the time being. After paying all the recent reunion expenses which were pretty high due to low reunion attendance numbers and the minimum dollar requirements we had to meet for some venues, the treasury stands at right around $33,000. The executive board of currently elected members is basically dissolved,

The INVADER is the official newsletter of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association, a non-profit organization. The INVADER is published three times yearly for the benefit of the Association members. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Association or of the Department of the Air Force.

*Members of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association must maintain contact with the Association or “after two years of not communicating with the Association, a member will no longer receive the INVADER or the Directory”.

Editor: Don Henderson, e-mail: Don@HendersonGDI.com

Cover Photo: WWII and Korean War Veteran, Donell Mathews poses the B-26 Invader, “Old Able” or “Versatile Lady” that is dedicated to Senior Master SGT. Lucien Thomas at Lackland AFB.

although GWOT rep, Brian “Pico” Gallo, has indicated a strong interest in saving the demise of the association by recruiting new members from the GWOT era, including active-duty 13th Squadron members, to step in to fill some of the board positions and organize a reunion in approximately two years, likely at Whiteman AFB when the candidates could be affirmed to the board by attending members, along with other official business. Several from the dissolved board have said they would stay on and support Pico. Bob Parks will take on the treasurer’s duties which will be reduced with no donations coming in and with minimal expenses such as no INVADER printed publications, and mailings and reunions suspended. Charlie Breitze will keep the locator going, and Dan Pipkins will continue as Vietnam era rep. Others may contact Pico also.

● If the effort to resurrect at least a partial board, minimum of five and organize a reunion within three years, by May 1, 2025, is unsuccessful, then the organization will be dissolved and the treasury will be evenly split between the Disabled American Veterans, and the Air Force Association Educational Fund organizations as voted on at the Providence, RI reunion. The old board members will maintain loose contact and at the appropriate time, i.e. the board is rebuilt to the minimum requirement and the assurance that a reunion is going to happen, will release the treasury to the new board, or

on May 1, 2025 approve the distribution of the treasury to the above charities.

This is by far my longest president’s corner, but I felt like I really needed to give a detailed account on all these important issues. I went to the reunion deeply concerned about the association’s future, as I have been ever since becoming president, and I came away from the reunion feeling that we achieved the best possible outcome from the membership meeting, and I truly believe that Pico will be successful, although it may take a couple years and with the new B-21 coming on line, the association could have a long future. I think we are very fortunate to have someone as talented and motivated as Pico to lead the way. In that regard I have asked him to share his plans in a column in this issue and I encourage all of you to support him in his efforts. It has been my great honor to have served you as your president for these last five years. I cannot express how thankful I am to have had all the great support from you, the members, the board, and former presidents Perry Nuhn, Bob Butterfield and Charley Brown. It is hard to imagine that some of us guys who flew together in Vietnam some 55 years ago, were once again working as a team just like it was yesterday. I don’t think you will find such parallels in the civilian world. Reaper pride, Thomas

President

Officers of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association

Robert R. (Bob) Koehne 23332 SE 225th St. Maple Valley, WA 98038

1st Vice President/

Ron Silvia

20 Green Lane Assonet, MA 02702-1410

2nd Vice President

James R. (Bob) Parks

3219 Tavern Oaks St. San Antonio, TX, 78247

Treasurer Bill Hamann

1898 SE Coronado lane, Stuart, FL 34996-5140

Secretary

Edward T. (Tighe) Carvey

6980 Olympic View Ct. Silverdale, WA 98383

Member at Large Korea

Perry Nuhn

15 Osprey Circle Okatie, SC 29909-4228

Locator Data Manager

Charlie Breitzke

8 Hobkirk Drive Bella Vista, AR 72715-3404

Member at Large Vietnam

Dan Pipkins

112 Golden Oak Dr. Macon, GA 31216-5776

Member at Large

Brian Gallo

10355 Obernai Path, Schertz, TX 78154

Member at Large WWII

Donell Mathews

1156 Cypress Trace Dr. Melbourne, FL 329401619

Pico’s Perspective

Greetings fellow Reapers! I hope this edition of the INVADER finds everyone well and enjoying the beautiful autumn weather. I would like to echo Bob Koehne’s sentiments on the successful reunion in San Antonio and extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who played a role in making it happen, especially Bob and Myrtle Parks. I personally enjoyed getting to know everyone who attended better and helping to map out the future of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association. As we all agree that the heritage of the 13th Bomb Squadron is important as the oldest Bomb Squadron in the Air Force, I feel obligated to make every effort to reinvigorate the Association with the help of Bob Parks, Don Henderson, Charlie Breitzke, and Dan Pipkins. I also welcome anyone else who has the time and energy to support our efforts. I will briefly lay out our plan of action to reinvigorate the Association without reiterating Bob Koehne’s comments. This plan includes four lines of effort: revamp the Association’s website, a general membership recruiting drive, reconstituting the Board, and ultimately planning and executing the next reunion. Efforts are underway to preserve, streamline, and automate the Association’s website. Initiatives include minimizing the cost to maintain the website after making a modest investment to automate more functions within the website to make the interface more appealing and user friendly for our members. The first major effort is to move the membership registry to the website allowing new members to join the Association online and existing members to modify their contact information. This should streamline the effort required to maintain the registry. Second, we would like to add an interactive chat forum to encourage Association members to communicate directly on the website. Third, at the point we are ready to solicit donations again, we will add the functionality to make donations through the website. Finally, this will be the last mass printed edition of the INVADER as future editions will remain available online with the option to order a printed copy for a modest fee for those who still wish to read a printed version. Another benefit of these website enhancements is to minimize cost during the interim while we reinvigorate the Association. We hope to complete the website changes by the end of the year.

Brian “Pico” Gallo

course, any efforts by good old-fashioned word of mouth help too. The new website enhancements will facilitate our recruiting campaign as it will be easier for new members to join the Association online, especially considering that we are not currently soliciting donations. The recruiting campaign is a mid-term effort over the next 12-18 months.

As the recruiting campaign gains momentum, we plan to ask for volunteers to reconstitute the Board. The goal will be to stand-up a Board with five members minimum, but we would prefer to have the Board comprised of seven members. I propose this 7-member Board include a President, Vice-president, Secretary/ Registrar, INVADER Editor/Historian, and representatives from the Vietnam and GWOT eras. If we can only get enough volunteers for a 5-member Board, we could make do without the era representatives. My sense is that we only need to garner support from 2-3 individuals to be able to reconstitute the Board. Of course, we will hold an election to formally appoint the new Board members. The goal is to reconstitute the Board in the next 18-24 months.

The second line of effort is a recruiting campaign to bolster the general membership of the Association, specifically targeting Reapers from the Global War on Terror (GWOT) era. The primary thrust of this recruiting campaign will be through social media and the secondary thrust will be via e-mail. Of

Assuming the first three lines of effort are successful, the final phase to reinvigorate the Association is to plan and execute the next reunion with increased attendance from a larger membership base. Our current vision is to stay on a glide path to have the next reunion at Whiteman AFB in the spring of 2024. Colonel Geoff “Fletch” Steeves just took command of the 509th Operations Group. Fletch was the 13th Bomb Squadron Commander when I was the 509th Operations Group Commander, so I am confident we will have his support to host the next reunion with enthusiastic participation from current Reapers much as we did during the reunion commemorating the squadron’s 100-year anniversary in 2017. Thank you for bearing with me as I attempted to briefly explain our plans to sustain the 13th Bomb Squadron Association. I cannot guarantee this plan will succeed, but we have a team committed to giving it our very best effort. This is the least we can do to honor the legacy and heritage of our 13th Bomb Squadron. I welcome any feedback, suggestions, or additional volunteers who would like to help us on our quest to preserve the lineage of this fine organization which will endure to protect our freedom in the B-21 Raider and beyond.

Reaper Pride!

Brian “Pico” Gallo, Colonel, USAF Retired 13th Bomb Squadron GWOT Era Representative brian.d.gallo@gmail.com

A Red Bird Story

By Charles Cone

In an earlier issue of the INVADER, an article about the B-26 Red Bird brought back memories of my time with the 13th Bomb Squadron in 1953. The mission that stands out in my memory was briefed at the usual 1400 hours for our mission that night. Nothing unusual. There was a certain mystique about the Red Bird. We never saw it in daylight and there was only one crew assigned to it with no overlap of crews. When the current crew rotated the new crew was assigned. The navigator required training on the equipment before he flew a mission, but there was really nothing new for the pilot. Point the plane as the navigator directed, maintain the desired airspeed and set up the bomb interval on the BRIC unit. The plane had a different profile but the flight characteristics were essentially the same.

I was a Red Bird pilot. As I recall there were two basic requirements for the pilot. He had to be qualified for unlimited night low level missions and be acceptable to the other crew members who would volunteer to fly with that pilot. The unlimited low level had an upper limit of 200 feet. That was in mountainous terrain. I was the only low-level pilot so qualified in our squadron. Because of that qualification I had served on a general court martial of a pilot in another squadron as an expert witness. He had hit the mast of a Korean sampan when doing some illegal buzzing.

You may wonder how we navigated around mountain tops or hills at night at that low level. First of all, we only flew those missions with a cloudless sky with the moon phase of halfmoon to full-moon. We turned out all cockpit lights as well as our position lights. By the time we reached a route we had full night vision. It was very much like day VFR.

We arrived at the bird at the appointed time as the specialist would be completing the loading of dry ice and special equipment. Then off we go North, me following the direction of the nav who was looking for a target of opportunity using the Red Bird scope. This night was picture perfect. Not a ripple. Life is good! Funny thing though after about an hour I had to trim the rudder. I am a bug for trim so I would make a very small adjustment as required. Still do that today. I didn’t think too much

Red Bird pilot, 1st Lt Charles Cone at K-8

My favorite gunner, Harry Generette doing a preflight.

about that until I had to make another small adjustment. I checked the engine instruments, cylinder temperature, oil temp, RPM, oil pressure of each engine. Nothing was amiss that I could see. Then in a bit another rudder trim. Engine instruments were still normal for each engine. What is going on? I now realize that my left engine is producing more power than the right but there were no obvious indications of why. It was about this time that my waist gunner reported a black streak from the right engine. Not good! It meant that we were probably losing oil sufficient that there was a streak even though the instruments were aligned. I contemplated aborting the mission at this time. Then

my decision was punctuated with an affirm as my right engine burst into flames. Amazing how bright flames are in the dark of night. There was no fire extinguishing capability on this aircraft. One immediately moves the throttle to idle-cutoff, closes the fuel valve and performs the single engine checklist while expectantly watching for the flames to subside. And the flames did subside in what seemed like five minutes but was probably much less. Now smoke filled the cockpit. Did the fire go out or was it burning wires and insulation in the wing? There was no way for me to know. Just make the radio call about my predicament to control and let the powers that be decide what my next move should be. I knew this was a top-secret aircraft of which there

Aircraft hangars at K-8

The Devil’s Inn, 13th Bomb Squadron Coffee Shop, Headquarters at K-8

were only three in the entire air force so I could expect suggestions to make the best move to save the aircraft. I had four previous engine failures earlier in my career, one involved ditching in the Pacific thirty miles from Guam and one which involved a fire in the aircraft and a water landing in Manila harbor in the middle of the night amongst sunken ships so I might have been called a seasoned single engine pilot! I personally don’t think there is such a thing as seasoned single engine pilot of a two engine aircraft. It meant that I knew aircraft with proper handling would fly so that was not a concern to me. If the smoke entering the cockpit was residual from the brief fire then all we had to worry about was getting home with reasonably good weather for an almost routine landing.

In about an hour we arrived at K-8 airfield with good weather. God was in control so I was not sweating the approach and landing as I entered downwind for the landing. Checklist complete and final check for three green gear lights. Oops! Two green and one red. The red was for the nose gear. That’s not good. The guys in the nose would not like scraping along the runway. I waited for the gear to come down as I continued my approach on final. Now I have a serious decision to make: land on the main gear and the nose or go around to try to get the nose gear to cooperate. I knew that if I choose to go around, I had to be on top of my game watching the cylinder head temperature on the good engine, and be

sure to maintain a rate of climb that would keep me flying avoiding the small hills surrounding the airdrome. The cylinder head temp would be critical since it was already near the red line. The cowl flaps were already opened so my only recourse to keep it less than max was control of my speed and rate of climb.

The gear light was still red as I was about to flare so I decided to go around. I heard later that the chins of all the “wheels” on the ramp to witness the outcome of this mission of this classified aircraft dropped to the ramp. They did not expect me to be able to complete the go-around. I certainly did not know how it would end either but the choice was made. I was living it! I arrived downwind opposite my intended point of touchdown on the runway so all was good so far. Let’s try the gear one more time. There would not be another go around. Gear down! Two green lights - and a red. That’s a replay and that’s not good. I kicked the rudders as much as I dared but no green. I recalled that the nose gear could take several more seconds that the main gear with reduced hydraulic pressure. I then planned for a longer final approach keeping an eye on the instruments of the good engine and gave the guys in the nose extra time to be prepared for a nasty landing. Actually, I was pretty confident that it would be good. God always seemed to be there when I needed him. So here we come down final and still red. I’ve got to land and began my flare. Come on nose gear – and there it is just before touch down! We are home and everybody is safe.

Editor’s Note: I just want to say what a pleasure it was to meet Charlie Cone and his son Jim at the San Antonio Reunion. Charlie is an amazing guyot only was he a Red Bird pilot during the Korean War, but he continues to fly aircraft today and at the moment is training to fly helicopters! Long may you fly Charlie!

Charles Cone left with his navigator, Willie Yanchek, safe and sound at K-8. Note the ESQUIRE pin-up “The Lady’s Unstrung” by Ernest Chiriaka, 1952. See page 21 for some information on this Pin-Up and artist..

13th Bomb Squadron Association General Membership Meeting

San Antonio, Texas 23 April, 2022

President Bob Koehne (Bob) called the meeting to order at 9:30 in the Holiday Inn Riverwalk, Tango1 Meeting Room.

Bob asked Secretary Tighe Carvey to determine if a quorum was present. All of the members attending the reunion are present at the meeting, and that number exceeds the minimum requirement of thirteen members, so a quorum is present.

Bob asked if there were any changes or amendments to the minutes of the previous General Membership meeting in Boise, ID. There were none so the minutes were accepted as published in the INVADER.

Bob wanted to discuss the finances of the association in light of the dwindling numbers of reunion attendees. He said that due to the uncertainties facing the association, we have stopped soliciting donations. He also noted that the reunions are becoming expensive because there are minimum charges for meals and buses that we no longer meet, and that the Association is having to pick up those additional charges. We currently have $14,000 in our checking account and $33,000 in savings. After the reunion expenses the Association will have approximately $35,000.

Charlie Breitzke, the Association Locator, had a family emergency just before the reunion and

Old Business:

is not in attendance. He did forward figures indicating that when he took over the duties in 2017 there were 450 members. Today our membership has declined to 366. He does not see that downward trend reversing.

1. The Historian, Don Henderson, has had difficulty gathering current information for publication in the INVADER. Whiteman AFB has ceased publishing a base newspaper and the Base website does not have much content of current newsworthy interest. Don has had to rely on his trove of historical data to build out the INVADER. There was a general consensus that Don has done a great job with the INVADER.

2. We have exhausted our supply of merchandise and do not intend to resupply. The active unit at Whiteman AFB has a wide range of shirts, hats, patches, etc. that are available for purchase.

New Business:

1. Originally the Association was to have half of the officers elected each year at the reunion. With circumstances being what they are we haven’t had a reunion in 31 months, therefore the entire board would be up for election. Bob noted that most board members have been board members for 10 years. There were no volunteers to take board positions.

Bob said that he has intended to create two new Board positions for Historian and Locater. He said that those members are busy throughout the year with Association business. He will ask for a vote on this issue later in the meeting. Bob said that it was now time to address “the elephant in the room,” the possible dissolution of the association. He said that prior to the board meeting at the beginning of this reunion he sensed that the consensus of the active members was to dissolve the Association and disperse the remaining assets as provided for in the Articles of Association. However, at the board meeting a new possibility arose. We have long understood that active members of the Association come from the retired community. Active duty members and former members of the 13th BS are not able to commit to running an Association such as ours while fulfilling their active duty requirements.

Brian Gallo is a member who was one of the first assigned to the B-2 and he has been associated with the B-21 development as well. He is now retired from USAF active duty and he said that he knows a number of former 13th BS members (B-1 and B-2) some of whom have retired, and he believes that they might be willing to take on the responsibilities of maintaining the Association.

There was general agreement that changes would be necessary for this to happen. The INVADER would have to go digital; the website would have to move away from expensive outside management; and membership management would have to move away from mailings and paper checks to online information and online

payments.

2. Motion: Suspend all activities of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association going forward and schedule formal dissolution on May 1, 2025 unless Brian Gallo informs President Koehne that he has constituted a new board of at least five members and has set a date for a reunion where there will be a formal transfer of board responsibilities. All current board members will continue to serve in ad hoc positions until a new board is constituted or May 1, 2025, whichever comes first.

Motion: Bob Parks Second: Bob Butterfield Passed unanimously

3. Motion: Create two new board positions. One for the Locator and one for INVADER editor/ Historian.

Motion: Tighe Carvey Second: Brian Gallo Passed unanimously

4. Motion: Approve the following slate of officers: James R. Parks for Treasurer; Don Henderson for Invader editor/Historian; and Charlie Breitzke for Locator.

Motion: Bob Galbreath Second: Bob Butterfield Passed unanimously

There being no further business Bob called for a motion to adjourn at 11:10.

Motion: Bob Parks Passed unanimously

13th Bomb Squadron Reunion

San Antonio, Texas April, 2022

Dave Jr & Dave Brandt

Charles and Jim Cones

Brian Gallo & Morgan Hildebrand

Maryann & Bob Butterfeild

Tighe & Susan Carvey

Bob Galbreath & Wanda Presburger

13th Bomb Squadron Reunion

San Antonio, Texas April, 2022

Bill & Ellen Hamann

Jim & Marsha Humphries

Connie Ferguson & Don Mathews

Don & Pam Henderson

Carol & Bob Koehne

Myrtle & Bob Parks

13th Bomb Squadron Reunion

San Antonio, Texas April, 2022

Donna & Rick Russell

Dan Vargas

Rosalie Picna

Diane & Ron Silvia

Luis & Barbara Reyes

Jo Ann & Dan Pipkins

13th Bomb Squadron Reunion

San Antonio, Texas April, 2022

Bevin Whitby, 13th Bomb Sq, Whiteman AFB

Chase Cohen, 13th Bomb Sq, Whiteman AFB

Justin Linder, 13th Bomb Sq, Whiteman AFB

Zachary Harter 13th Bomb Sq, Whiteman AFB

MacArthur High School JR ROTC Color Guard

Also in attendance at the reunion, but not pictured: Fleming and Donna Hobbs.

509th Operations Group Change of Command

Published June 29, 2022 by Airman 1st Class Bryson Britt 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Misssouri

U.S. Air Force Col. Geoffrey Steeves assumes command of the 509th Operations Group and receives the ceremonial guidon from U.S. Air Force Col. Daniel Diehl, 509th Bomb Wing commander, at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, June 29, 2022. The 509th OG is the flying component of the 509th Bomb Wing and is equipped with all 20 of the Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Bryson Britt)

November 2007–November 2010: Evaluator Pilot, B-2, Assistant Director of Operations, Flight Commander; Chief of Nuclear Operations; 13th Bomb Squadron, Whiteman AFB, Mo.

November 2010–September 2011: Evaluator Pilot, B-2, 509th Bomb Wing Nuclear Executive Manager, 509th Operational Support Squadron, Whiteman AFB, Mo.

December 2016–August 2017: Director of Operations, 13th Bomb Squadron, Whiteman AFB, Mo.

September 2017–March 2018: Commander, 394th Combat Training Squadron, Whiteman AFB, Mo. April 2018–June 2019: Commander, 13th Bomb Squadron, Whiteman AFB, Mo.

U.S. Air

Force Col. Geoffrey Steeves assumes command of the 509th Operations Group and receives the ceremonial guidon from U.S. Air Force Col. Daniel Diehl, 509th Bomb Wing commander, at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, June 29, 2022. The 509th OG is the flying component of the 509th Bomb Wing and is equipped with all 20 of the Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Bryson Britt)

U.S. Air Force Col. Geoffrey Steeves, 509th Operations Group commander, speaks during the 509th OG change of command ceremony at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, June 29, 2022. The 509th OG is the flying component of the 509th Bomb Wing and is equipped with all 20 of the Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Bryson Britt)

Once a Reaper – Always a Reaper

By Bob and Myrtle Parks

This summer, Myrtle and I made three trips to Whiteman in as many months.

The first was in May, when we were in the area to attend the high school graduation of our former pastor’s daughter. We had mentioned during the April Reunion in San Antonio that Myrtle was the only one who had not been able to fly the simulator during the 2017 Reunion at Whiteman (somehow, she always manages to be busy doing something else). On this May trip, the omission was corrected, and Myrtle was thrilled to be given the opportunity to fly the B-2 simulator. As she took her place in the simulator under the supervision of Captain Justin Linder, she was smiling from ear to ear. And when she came out, she was grinning like she had just conquered the world’s biggest foe. When friends ask her if she crashed, she says, “of course not, Captain Linder just would not let that happen, even if my hand was a bit heavy on the throttle’. I teased her about her grin, and she said, “Bob, I am confident this plane, and its crew, can conquer the world’s fiercest enemy!!”

Our second trip to Whiteman was on June 29th when we were sincerely honored to attend the Change of Command Ceremony during which 509th Bomb Wing Commander, Colonel Daniel Diehl officiated the Change of Command as Colonel Keith Butler relinquished command of the 509th Operations Group to former 13th Bomb Squadron Commander, Colonel Geoffrey Steeves. Colonel Butler’s daughter played a beautiful trumpet rendition of the National Anthem that nearly brought tears. During the ceremony, we watched a smile appear on the face of Colonel Steeves’ young son as he spoke briefly to him in Portuguese. We read and hear so much about the important military role of these dedicated men and women who serve in this unique assignment, but on our summer trips we saw and heard their important family role. And it was a joy to witness! The sense of duty, honor, commitment, and family we see on

the faces of all we meet on each trip to Whiteman never ceases to amaze us. And, each time we visit, we come away standing a little straighter, smiling a little brighter -knowing the defense of our country is in their capable hands!

Our third trip to Whiteman was on July 29th. This time we were there to attend our very first B-2 Graduation Ceremony as guests of graduating B-2 pilot, Captain Justin Linder. Those who attended the San Antonio Reunion had the pleasure of meeting Captain Linder, call sign “Pops”. Why? Probably because he has a lovely family with three little ones under the age of four. Our hearts once again swelled full with Reaper Pride as we celebrated the accomplishments of Justin and the other five graduating pilots. We watched with sincere admiration as these received awards and recognition for various achievements during the rigorous testing they underwent prior to graduating. We listened to the various words of praise from the different instructors who lauded the commitment and dedication of the graduates as they presented the outstanding achievers with certificates for being best in certain areas of training. These presentations were followed by congratulatory, and somewhat sobering, comments by Colonel Diehl. Colonel Diehl clearly described the future commitment to Combat Training that would be the next phase of training for these pilots and emphasized that not in recent decades has their training been more important. Yet, the men and women, and their families, who carry the B-2 mission remain steadfast and loyal to their future military roles.

At the close of the ceremony, there was a slight twist to our smiles as we watched the 13th Bomb Squadron patches being stripped from the pilots’ uniforms and replaced with patches representing their places in the 393rd Bomb Squadron. But, we silently lipped, ‘Once a Reaper, Always a Reaper!’

B-2 pilot, Captain Justin Linder with Myrtle & Bob Parks in front of B-2 88-0331 Spirit of South. Carolina

Update on Capt. Biddle’s SPAD

By Michael O’Niell

Not a ton to report. Most of the progress gets made during the winter months, but we have started covering and painting. Two lower wings are covered, one completely painted. The other is camo complete, working on the underside roundels.

The SPAD’s fuselage is painted with its preliminary coats of clear dope and will be on the floor for additional paint.

The bigger news is that we hosted the Flying Circus Air Show on Labor Day weekend in which 4 rotary powered airplanes participated. Three rotary powered Fokker Triplanes flew together for the first time since the end of WWI - and given the logistics of getting them together, it may be the “only” time it happens. The 4th rotary was Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome’s Sopwith Pup. We also had a full scale flying Fokker D.VII on hand so it was a pretty interesting weekend. We had twice our normal crowd so while we were excited, we had a lot of logistical stuff with parking, food, bathrooms, garbage buckets, etc. I’ll keep you posted on our progress with Capt Biddle’s SPAD.

Mike Damiani covering the vertical fin to be prepared for painting.

Oscar is just taped on, but we’re well along with the fuselage paint. Once it’s done, we’ll clear coat and start the markings.

The roundels on the underside of the wings are painted. Upper wings are covered, painted and awaiting roundels.

“The Lady’s Unstrung” by Ernest Chiriaka, 1952. ©Esquire Magazine. The pin-up featured a beautiful redhead in a red outfit experiencing a wardrobe malfunction. Editor Note: This would have been a good choice of Nose Art for the 13th’s Red Bird! As many of you know, the 13th Bomb Squadron was noted for its nose art during the Korean War. Much of the nose art was painted on the noses of 13th Bomb Squadron B-26 Invaders by a Japanese artist at Miho Air Base, Japan. Much of his reference material was pulled directly from the pages of Esquire Magazine and calendars. Esquire Magazine made household names of many artists. George Petty, Alberto Vargas, and Al Moore, as well as Ernest Chiriaka, all cut their teeth at Esquire.

ERNEST ‘DARCY’ CHIRIAKA ~ May 11, 1913 - April 27, 2010 Anastassios Kyriakakos was born to Greek immigrant parents in New York City, adopting the more American name of Ernest Chiriaka. Out of humble beginnings and suffering came one of the most talented American

pin-up artists. In 1950, Liberty Magazine was the first to purchase cover art from Ernest. Sadly, the magazine suddenly closed their doors before Ernest’s August cover hit newsstands. Chiriaka’s first real success was in 1952 when he was commissioned to paint two pin-ups for the Esquire calendar. The following year, he was asked to paint all twelve lovely ladies. He continued working for Esquire, pin-up magazines, and pulp publisher’s cover art for many years. His famous Esquire pin-ups are sultry women with the proportions of Aphrodite. Chiriaka would hire as many as six different women to assemble his vision of an ideal beauty. Chiriaka signed using the moniker ‘Darcy’ or just ‘D’ for the slicks and he signed his pin-ups as E. Chiriaka. The calendar pages featured here are from the 1954 Esquire Girl Special Deluxe Edition Calendar. Art Deco Style!

Reaper Pride from the Editor...

If you are reading this, you are reading the last printed issue of the INVADER. From here on out we will be online only. I know for some you this may be a problem and we are going to try to address that. If you have visited the 13th Bomb Squadron Association website, you already know that the INVADER is online. Since the new website has been online, every issue published has also been posted to the website. As most of you know, the Association’s numbers have been dwindling as was pointed out by Association Locator Charlie Breitzke. The numbers don’t lie. The Association’s ranks are thinning both from the passage of time and because few new members are coming in from the ranks of the Dyess Reapers and the Whiteman Reapers. In the past, the membership was made up of individuals who had served with the 13th Bomb Squadron during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Some served their time in war, then went on with their lives. Others continued their careers in other assignments within the Air Force and retired. The 13th Bomb Squadron left an indelible mark on their lives and while they may have gone on to other things, both in the Air Force or in civilian life, they were always Grim Reapers and proud of it! Proud of their service, proud of their heritage and proud of the traditions of the squadron. For some like Lucien Thomas, the 13th Bomb Squadron defined who he was. Lucien served in the RCAF, the RAF, the U.S. Army Air Corps and the USAF in WWII, Korea and Vietnam! In a career that spanned three wars, over 400 combat missions, and attaining the highest NCO rank in the Air Force, the thing that he most identified with was being a Grim Reaper. He wasn’t alone. ORB, “Old Rotten Bill” Cowan, the man who saved the 13th Bomb Squadron from obscurity, served as a gunner on a B-17 in WWII with the 8th Air Force in the 487th Bomb Group. He served as a Aerial Gunner/Togglier with both the 836th and the 839th Bomb Squadrons, but it was his time with the 13th Bomb Squadron during the Korean War that he most identified with. So much so that when the 13th was put on the shelf after the Vietnam War, ORB fought tooth and nail to have this historic squadron reactivated!

Today the dynamics have changed. In the past, both ground and air crews were all part of the same squadron. Today, the ground crews are a separate maintenance squadron. Only the air crews make up today’s 13th Bomb Squadron, thus lessening the number of available members. That is why it is so important to be a part of the Association. If you served in this historic and storied unit, you need to be a part of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association. You need to leave your mark, like the Reapers before you. Many of you have done amazing things in your Air Force careers. Your stories, like the stories and missions of previous generations, need to be told. The modern era of the 13th Bomb Squadron from both Dyess AFB and Whiteman AFB needs to be shared. I always see Reapers signing off with “Reaper Pride”. If you truly take pride in being a Reaper, now more than ever, Oscar needs you to stand up and be counted!

Are You on Our Radar? Did you serve with the 13th Bomb Squadron? Contact Charlie Breitzke at info@13thbombsquadron.net

THE HOT SEAT

Editor’s Comments

This summer was a little overwhelming, both with work and family matters. I became a grandfather on the 5th of July. My daughter Brigid gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Mercedes after my Irish grandmother, and then on July 8th, my 65th birthday, I officially became a senior citizen. The words of my old friend Charley Hinton keep going through my head, “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional!” I’m going to take Charley’s advice on that and try to be the oldest teenager.

As you can see by the cover, this issue is the San Antonio Reunion recap. I feel very fortunate to have been able to attend this reunion since I wasn’t able to attend the Boise Reunion because of other commitments. I have always wanted to visit San Antonio for a variety of reasons and this reunion was a good chance to do it, not only to catch up with some of you, but to catch up with my good friend, Dan Vargas, who lives just outside of San Antonio. It was an added bonus to catch up with him and to introduce him to the Association in person. Dan was one of the guest speakers at the reunion dinner. He was made an honorary member of the 13th Bomb Squadron Association years ago when he procured the Association’s challenge coins at no charge. For those of you who don’t know, Dan was based at Whiteman where he was assigned to Air Force Protocol. I met him because of pin-up and aircraft nose art. Ironically the same way I met Charley Hinton! Dan contacted me via email back in 2002 and asked if I would be interested in creating a pin-up for each of the 21 B-2 Stealth Bombers at Whiteman starting with the Spirit of Pennsylvania, the flagship of the 393d Bomb Squadron. I jumped at the opportunity and that started a long and interesting friendship that has lasted decades and opened the doors to a lot of fun and rewarding projects. Dan has a heart as big as Texas and has been providing assistance to wounded veterans since retiring from the Air Force. His non-profit Operation TRIAGE provides a safety net for veterans and first responders, and I’m proud to be a part of it!

It was also really nice catching up with Brian Gallo and Morgan Hildebrand, both of whom I had met at Whiteman AFB at previous reunions. Brian was the other guest speaker at the dinner and gave us all some insight

into B-2 operations. It was really an impressive presentation from a guy who has been there and done that with both the 13th and the 509th Bomb Wing. One of the highlights of the reunion for me was the visit to Lackland AFB where we not only attended the graduation ceremonies, but we got to visit the B-26 Invader that is dedicated to Senior Master SGT. Lucien Thomas. The 6-gun hard nose B-26 sports Versatile Lady nose art and 13th Bomb Squadron red and black colors!

While at Lackland we got to see an impressive demonstration of military dog training! Also while we were at Lackland, we toured the USAF Airman Heritage Museum as well as seeing some of the amazing collection of aircraft displayed around the base including “Old Able”.

San Antonio is such an amazing town. Pam and I did a lot of walking and exploring in our free time. While walking around the town, we did the River Walk and took a boat ride, ate at some great restaurants and we even visited the Alamo!

Red Shirt Night at the Buckhorn Saloon was a lot of fun with many great conversations and stories. San Antonio at night is something to behold. So many of the buildings are beautifully illuminated and the River Walk at night is captivating.

The National Museum of the Pacific War, located in Fredericksburg, TX, was really impressive. The interactive displays and the attention to detail of every aspect of the war was incredible.

Sad to say, this is likely the last printed version of the INVADER for a while. When I took over for Bud Compton back in 2013, I never expected to be editor for this long. I figured at some point, someone would step up and take over for me, but that has not happened. Apparently, my work here is not done and if you have read this far, neither is yours. We have our work cut out for us, but I’m confident that we will weather this storm and continue to produce one the best military organization newsletters out there. So please continue sending in your articles and photos for future issues of the INVADER.

Don Henderson, Editor

13th Bomb Squadron Association

Charlie Breitzke

8 Hobkirk Drive Bella Vista, AR 72715-3404

Reunion attendees pose for a group photo with Lt. Gen. Sam Barrett, Air Force Director of Logistics at the Pentagon, at the graduation and tour at Lackland AFB.