Carefree Truth

                    Issue #445, December 7, 2015

 

 

M.C. Ted Dimon introduced Keynote Speaker Colonel Gobel D. James (U.S. Air Force, Retired). 

 

 

 

Gobel D. James, born August 1, 1930 in Amarillo,  Texas, attended Tulsa University in 1952 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Colorado in 1961. 

 

Col. James enlisted in the Air Force in 1952 as an aviation cadet.  He received his pilot wings and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1953.  He was assigned to the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing at Kimpo, Korea, where he flew the F-86F. 

 

In June 1956, he was released from active duty and joined the Colorado Air National Guard. While there, he flew with the “Minute Men”, the official Aerobatic Team of the Air National Guard of the United States in 1958 and 1959.

 

In October 1961, Col. James was recalled to active duty with the Colorado Air National Guard and when the unit was released, he remained on active duty.  In July, 1964, he completed the U.S. Army paratrooper training course and in September,1964, he was reassigned to Bitburg Air Base, Germany, serving as Flight Commander.

 

In October 1967, Col. James was reassigned to Southeast Asia as a pilot of F-105F "Wild Weasel" aircraft and was stationed at Korat Air Base, Thailand. On July 15, 1968, while on his 34th mission over North Vietnam, his aircraft was shot down.  He ejected from the aircraft and was captured by the North Vietnamese. He was held prisoner for 56 months.

 

After his release from prison in March 1973, Col. James was assigned to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, as Headquarters Squadron Commander and then studied at the National War College in Washington, D.C., from August 1974 to June 1975, before reassignment to the Field Command, Defense Nuclear Agency, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.  In August 1978,  he was promoted to full Colonel.  His last assignment was as Base Commander at Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento, CA.

 

Col. James is a command pilot with more than 3600 flying hours in jet fighter aircraft.  Among his military awards and decorations are the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star with Valor device, Meritorious Service Medal,  Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster, Prisoner of War Medal, Combat Readiness Medal, and the State of Colorado Meritorious Achievement Medal. 

 

After 32 years of military service, Col. James retired from the Air Force in 1984.  Following retirement, he was employed by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company in Mesa, Arizona until retiring in 1995.  He currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he provides free unsolicited advice to golfers, most of which is neither wanted nor appreciated.   Col. James and his wife, Betty, of 46 years, reared three children; Gloria, Joyce and Todd.

 

Please give a warm welcome to a true hero.

 

 

 

Col. James thanked Mr. Dimon and asked that all the veterans in attendance please stand and be recognized.  He then asked their wives to stand.  "This is a day set aside by Congress to remember, celebrate, pay tribute to, and commemorate all veterans living and dead.  And who is a veteran?  A veteran is any man or woman who served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps., the Air Force, and the Coast Guard, in a combat or a support role, in wartime or peacetime, and completed that service honorably.  In some circumstances, the Merchant Marines have also been given the title 'veteran' ". 

 

 

 

Veterans belong to a very exclusive club.  You can't buy your way into it, admission must be earned, and all the dues are paid up front.  Some notable members of that club, including each of you, are General George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Ike Eisenhower, Col. Bull Simon, Ronald Reagan, Johnny Carson, and General Joe Fosse, a Medal of Honor recipient and the leading Marine Fighter Ace in WWII, who shot down 26 enemy aircraft.  Elvis Presley was a veteran, as was Hopi Tribe member Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat, killed in Iraq in 2003.  Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WWII.  Standing 5'5" tall, and weighing 110 pounds, he was awarded 33 medals, including the Medal of Honor, in 27 months of combat.  18 men who fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somali are Medal of Honor recipients.  9 of these were awarded posthumously.  Millions more have served, just like you. 

 

 

 

Col. James began his story, "How One Man Got to the Infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' ".  Dale Osborne is a retired Navy Commander who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He and Col. James were cell mates in the "Hanoi Hilton" for more than 2 years. 

 

 

 

Dale and 2 older brothers joined the Air Force in the late 1950s, served their terms, and left.  Dale then joined the Navy and became a fighter pilot.  He was shot down over North Viet Nam while on an armed reconnaissance mission.  Anti aircraft shrapnel ripped through the cockpit, tearing out a huge chunk of his left calf and a chunk of his right thigh, broke his right wrist, and penetrated his oxygen mask, lodging in the roof of his mouth.  Dale lost consciousness, but regained it a few seconds later.  The cockpit was filled with smoke.  Realizing he needed to get out, he reached down with his right hand to pull the ejection lever, realizing then that his wrist had suffered a compound fracture.  He reached down with his left hand and pulled the lever.  He again passed out.  When he came to, he was surrounded by North Viet Nam soldiers who were pulling off his boots and his flight suit, standard procedure to be sure that captured pilots had no weapons.  It was then that he realized his left wrist was broken too, either while ejecting or upon hitting the ground.  4 men grabbed his arms and legs, carrying him to a nearby village where he was laid on the floor of a small hut.  

 

 

 

After 2 days in the hut, a "pseudo doctor" arrived to clean and bandage  Dale's wounds.  He remained in the village for several days.  Each day, the villagers would put him on a stretcher and truck him to neighboring villages to "show him off".  Each time, civilians would punch him, hit him with sticks, kick him, stomp on his legs, and bend close to spit in his face.  One night while moving him, it began to rain.  The guards carrying the stretcher slipped and fell, dumping Dale on the ground.  The guards left him and walked to an old barn 50-100 yards away. The rain was chilling.  Dale crawled to the barn on his elbows and knees.  He collapsed inside, exhausted.  One day, they carried him outside, placed the stretcher into what appeared to be a grave, and walked away.  Dale shouted and "raised hell" until they returned and removed him from the grave.

 

 

 

A week later, Dale was loaded onto an old Russian truck with no springs, and taken to Hanoi.  Laid on his back, he couldn't turn or protect himself because of the injuries to his wrists. Blisters appeared on his back which burst during the 4 day trip.  There were 2 bolts protruding from the bed of the truck which gouged his back, eventually penetrating his skin.  

 

 

 

When Dale arrived in Hanoi, he was placed alone in a small cell for 10 days, then moved into another small cell with Navy pilot Brian Wood, who had been shot down around the same time as Dale.  In the small cells, beds were boards laid across saw horses and nailed down to prevent collapse, covered with a 1/4" straw mat.  Brian took care of Dale as best he could.  After 3 or 4 days, Dale began experiencing a burning sensation, with significant pain in his back.  After a day or so of this, Brian rolled him onto his side.  Termites from the board had crawled into the sores on his back and were feeding.  Col. James assumed that someone had applied something to the sores to eliminate the termites.  Toilets were 5 gallon buckets in the corner of each cell.  Dale couldn't walk.  Col. James declined to describe the logistics of getting Dale to the toilet, especially after he developed diarrhea.  After several weeks, Dale was taken for surgery on his wrists to a hospital that had been built by the French.  His right arm was foreshortened by 4".  He can't move his hand or grasp with it because he has no wrist.  His left wrist healed properly. 

 

 

 

Dale was a prisoner for 4 years and 6 months.  He was returned to the United States in February, 1973, along with  other POWs.  Not long afterwards, he and his wife divorced. 7 years after Dale's return, his 14 year old son was killed in an auto accident.  He has had 4 back operations and an operation on his left rotator cuff which kept his left arm in a sling for several months, meaning he had no use of either hand.  A little over a year ago, he fell and broke a hip.  He spent 12 months in rehab, and takes 4 morphine pills daily to help keep his pain at bay.  He has been utilizing the Veteran's Hospital in Salt Lake City for 25 years and has nothing but good to say about his treatment there.  

 

 

 

Dale's father was gassed with mustard gas in Germany during WWl, and suffered for the rest of his life from the damage done to his lungs.  His oldest brother was shot down over Belgium while towing a glider on D Day, and was never seen again.  His remains were returned to the U.S. several years later.

 

 

 

This brought Col. James to the question he wanted to ask the audience.  "Has Dale Osborne given his fair share to the military and to the defense of his country?  Equally important, did Dale's mother, Vivian, give her fair share in the defense of the country?  Again, I salute you veterans for your sacrifices and your service to your country.  And to you, the younger generations, it will someday be your turn to defend your country, and if necessary, to fight for the freedoms we have enjoyed for more than 200 years, and for which hundreds of thousands have of American fighting men and women have given their lives.  It is an awesome responsibility and I trust you will fulfil it honorably."

 

 

 

Col. James honored the wives of servicemen for taking care of the children and homes while their husbands were away. They dealt with sickness, cuts, bruises, and myriad other problems.  "Their lives were infinitely more complicated than ours.  We knew what to do.  It was written down for us, or someone would tell us what to do."  If the military men were sick, they would go to the hospital and call in sick to their units.  Their wives didn't have that luxury.  Military units owe much to the wives of their men.  The Col. read a poem dedicated to military wives, written in 1970 by Navy Lt. Commander Duffy Hutton, while he was a prisoner in Hanoi for 7 years and 4 months.  It is called, "Heroes are Born, not Made", and can be found at 26:15 on the video.  Col. James saluted the military wives and thanked them for their sacrifices and their service to the military forces and to their country.

 

https://vimeo.com/user18676056/review/145833246/7d07f71231  

 

 

 

After Col. James finished, the Main Event Band played "God Bless America", with vocalists Chance McLaughlin and Katelyn Reinhart.  They then played a medley to honor the branches of service.  Audience members of each branch were asked to stand while their theme was played.  Mr. Dimon thanked the Town of Carefree and the Carefree staff members for their sponsorship of the Veteran's Day program, singers Chance McLaughlin and Katelyn Reinhart, the Cactus Shadows High School students involved in the Heritage Project and their mentor Barbara Hatch, Mike Wold with Healing of Memories, Col. Gene Rafanelli with AUSA, Susan Haines with Packages from Home and Packages of Hope, Keynote Speaker Col. Gobal James, The Kiwanis Club of Carefree, the DAR, Don Morosic and the Main Event Band, and the audience for attending.

 

https://vimeo.com/user18676056/review/146366283/ab59af5c14

 

 

 

Vice Mayor John Crane thanked Col. James for sharing such a memorable and moving story.  "It's an honor to have you with us today, sir."   He added that those who were worried about our future need look no farther than at the young people with us today.  Kate Finegan and her appreciation of what you, the veterans, have done and made possible for her and all of us, the passion with which Chance McLaughlin and Katelyn Reinhart sang the "National Anthem" and "God Bless America", and the Cactus Shadows High School students here to honor veterans today.  "Every American cares and feels deeply about those who have served our country."  There are literally thousands of veteran's groups across America, some of which are represented here today, staffed by the likes of Barbara Hatch, Mike Wold, Gene Rafanelli, and Susan Haines, all dedicated to serving veterans and their families every day of the year.  "That's what Americans do and that's how America works."  "So please give them a hand."   

 

 

The 2014 Carefree Veteran's Day program finale was the Vice Mayor's explanation and reading of "The Last Post".  "British Army tradition has given us two bugle calls, called the First and Second Post.  The 'First Post', done in the morning, marks the start of the inspection of the camp and quarters.  The 'Last Post' call or 2nd Post was used in British army camps to signal the end of day, when the duty officer returned from his tour of the camp and quarters. At the end of the day, when he had inspected all the sentry posts around the camp, a call was played at each of them to signify that all was well in the garrison.  The Last Post call had another function at the close of a day of battle. It signaled to those who were still outside the garrison walls, either fighting, wounded or separated from their comrades that the fighting was done, and to follow the sound of the call to find safety and rest.  During the 18th and 19th centuries, the use of the "Last Post" was carried to the various countries of the British Empire and beyond.  In all these countries, including the United States, it is now incorporated into military funerals, where it is played as a final farewell, symbolizing the fact that the duty of the soldier is over and that they can rest in peace."  The Vice Mayor's reading of the "Last Post" can be found at 4:58 on the video.  Then, Don Morosic played it on his trumpet. 

 

 

Vice Mayor Crane thanked everyone for attending.  "While I'm not the first to thank our veterans, please make sure I'm not the last to thank them today.  So be safe and we'll see you next year."

https://vimeo.com/user18676056/review/145767644/69a14437d6

 

Lyn Hitchon

 

 

Prepared by Carefree Truth

Visit our website at www.carefreetruth.com  If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me.  Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list. Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree.  Please support our merchants.