T-Tail-Tall-Tail:
LOVE AND MARRIAGE,
LOVE AND MARRIAGE
Dick Reichelt
Bear with me now, this is going to read like Genesis.
I retired from the AF.
A year's gone by and I no longer have a 'home' or
roots. I start flying for an Allegheny, commuter
airline out of Atlantic City.
One day I fly into Republic Airport, L.I. N.Y. for
parts pick up. I spot a
sweet thing there that I will chase until catch her.
Two line boys refuel the charter twin beech I'm
flying. One seemed a lot less
ambitious than the other. The 'other' was Matt
McCloskey, a jolly redheaded,
freckled-face kid. Matt was a person you take to
right away, a great fellow who
will become a friend and protégé.
The FBO at Republic had obtained a nice Convair 440
that was Germany's 'AF-1'
for Chancellor Conrad Adenauer and was looking for a
pilot for charters. Guess
who had a Convair rating and lots of hours? Meeee! I
left the mini airline and
mini pay for the Convair and more pay. I 'caught'
the sweet thing (my present
wife of 28 years) and we headed out to California to
fly a different Convair
for lots MORE pay.
Matt obtained all his flying licenses and followed
us to California. He wanted
to obtain 'heavy time' flying with me on the west
coast Convair. He applied for
The AF flight training program and graduated from
T-38's in 1979 as a
2nd LT.
Guess what airplane was his first choice? YES, the
C141 to be flown out of
Norton AFB. NOW you can sigh and go ooooooh. Matt
flew the same old routes with
a proud reserve unit accumulating 3000 hours up to
the Northern Lights and west
to the South Seas. Like a son, he did me proud. Not
only that, he would prowl
the same old shopping streets of Okinawa that I
mentioned in a previous 'Tale';
picking up whatever he was willing to carry home for
me. I was still shopping
in Okinawa without leaving home!
On those 141 trips, an AF reserve flight nurse
caught his eye. I can hear
'bachelor' being spoken somewhere in Nam, 'What's a
nice girl like you doing in
rotten place like this'? I'd like to say they got
married at 37000 ft coming
back home on a shiny C141, but you wouldn't buy
that. But they did get married
and I KNOW it was the 141 that brought them
together. I consider Matt a stable,
well rounded, all around family man, like the stable
and reliable 'ol 141 he
flew and loved. He's so stable he still drives his
1977 Sirocco!
Matt resides in Md. with his wife, former AF flight
nurse, Dawn and their three
children. He has given me permission to relay this
tale. He splits his time
between the AF reserve and American Airlines
Here's the happy ending: They're living happily ever
after.
Starlifter: We love you and will miss you.
09/18/2004
Richard (Dick) Reichelt richreichelt@msn.com