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T-Tail-Tall-Tail:
PINEAPPLES .... APOLOGIES - 1967
Dick Reichelt
You all remember the mix-and-match system. It was a
lottery of sorts that
drew from a pool of crew members from your squadron.
Some fellows you knew,
some you did not. We were all in the same boat,
doing our best in the C-141. If
there was a way to control the mix I never got into
that. Some trips were
uneventful with no special memories, yet others I
will never forget - ever!
Often times the crew was larger because of
accompanying check personnel. It
seemed like someone was always getting checked in
the back or on the flight
deck. Even so, we often 'connected' and it became a
great trip and is
remembered that way even though the names and faces
have long since faded. On
this one particular trip from McGuire AFB with this
very congenial bunch, we
made it around the system to the barbershops of
Bangkok (but that's another
story).
After that, we proceeded on for a shopping spree. Off
to James Jewelers, the
temple bell store, and the rural fruit stands, maybe
stopping to get your
picture taken with the 15 foot python over your
shoulder. At the fruit stands
you viewed lots of strange stuff. One of the less
formidable items was a
kiwi-sized fruit that, when opened, it was segmented
like a tangerine. But on
the outside it looked like and tasted like a banana!
Those little things were
25 cents each, but so was the price of the largest
pineapples that I had ever
seen.
Pineapples we know, little segmented bananas we know
not. Pineapples bigger 'n
footballs. We bought a LOT of pineapples that day
because we knew pineapples!
Not your little Hawaiian pineapples for $4.00
stateside. These were huge
25-cent pineapples! 'We'll have 'em on the trip.'
'We know you can't get 'em back through Elmendorf!'
Next with much sportsman-like bartering, I bought a
really big chrome plated
'Bowie ' knife for a buck fifty. A worthy 'pineapple
slicer'. Pineapples and
People (Crew)! Who would have guessed it?
A wildly festive nature prevailed on the flight from
Bangkok. Had we
collectively cracked? You have to picture 8-10
frisky cavorting crew members on
the flight deck ready to sacrifice the pineapples to
the god of flight
examiners. Temple bells were hung with care overhead
- and everywhere.
Suddenly, cheese and crackers appeared, pastrami,
homemade cookies, candy and
other fruits, and things my mushy old brain doesn't
even remember. I don't ever
recall as many sober men having as good a time much
less at 31,000 feet. Over a war zone!
Well remember, this was going to be an apology too;
and it is. Because you KNOW
how sticky pineapple residue can be. And sticky it
was. Hey, pineapple juice
was everywhere! On all the knobs, on the deck, on
the controls, on the walls,
and; Oh my gosh, even the navigator's
table &hellip
We left the knife and some more pineapples for the
next crew to make peace over the sticky airplane.
I just knew this C-141 would be infamous as 'The
Sticky One'.
I apologize.
09/01/2004
Richard (Dick) Reichelt richreichelt@msn.com