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Mini-Biographies
Tom Fitzgerald I was born in Chelveston in 1960 when my folks were stationed there. A photo of his flight crew on the B-66. From 57-59, he was in Bitburg, Germany. In ’62, we transferred to Shaw AFB. In ’64 we moved to Langley AFB, where he shifted from Recon to Intelligence. In ’66 he went to COMSTAFF for Intelligence school. ’67 was sent in Vietnam. ’68 we moved to Ramstein AFB with the 4thATAF ’73 we returned to the states the DIA in Arlington. In ‘76, my father retired from the Air Force. Since then he has continued to work as a consultant on military projects. He has tried to retire but he misses the work too much. He is one the smartest and hardest working men I know and I always try to live up to his example.
His current info (2004) is: Lt Col. Tom Fitzgerald
(ret) and Patricia Fitzgerald PETE CUIPENSKI, B-66 Crew Chief I WAS ONE OF THE
LAST TO LEAVE CHAMBLEY, AND WHEN THIS OCCURED, I WAS AT MORON AB ,SPAIN, READYING
THE B-66'S FOR THERE FLIGHT TO THAILAND. I WAS A "WHEATSACK", ON FLYING STATUS
AT THAT TIME. ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE,AND I WAS SUMMOND BACK TO CHAMBLEY,ON A T-39
VIA WEISBADEN GERMANY. ONLY TO FIND THAT WE WERE EVICTED BY THE FRENCH. I
HAD BEEN IN EUROPE FOR TWO YEARS,AND A GREAT FEELING TO GET BACK TO THE WORLD,
ESPECIALLY WITH NO ORDERS TO ANOTHER BASE. I WAITED OVER 30 DAYS FOR ORDERS TO
ARRIVE,AND ONCE THEY DID, IT SHOWED M-16 RIFLE TRAINING AT HAMILTON A.F.B CALIF.
AND A APO NUMBER NOT KNOWING WHERE I WAS HEADED.ONCE I HOOKED UP WITH THE OTHERS
THAT WERE IN FRANCE, WE HEADED WEST VIA C-141 TO TON-SON-NUIT SAIGON INTERNATIONAL,AND
ONTO DOM MUANG BANGKOK. UP COUNTRY WAS VIA C-130, BUT WE HIT EVERY BASE IN THAILAND
FIRST, AND TAHKLI WAS THE LAST STOP. I COULD GO ON TELLING ABOUT MY TOUR,BUT A
MILLION BUCKS WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TO ERRASE MY MEMORY. I WAS PROBABLY THE ONLY
GUY ON BASE,THAT HAD A "ROUND-EYE" GIRLFRIEND IN BANGKOK, AND EVERY FRIDAY, I'D
CATCH THE TRAIN TO BANGKOK, AND ON TO PATTAYA BEACH FOR THE WEEKEND. THE ENLISTED
WHEATSACKS WERE TAKEN OFF FLYING STATUS,AND WE WERE REPLACED BY O'S. O.K. BY ME.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO A END.I WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED IN NOV 1967, ONLY
TO JOIN THE MASS. AIR NATIONAL GUARD, AND HIRED FULLTIME, AS A AIRCRAFT TECH.
WITH WARM WEATHER AND AIRCRAFT IN MY BLOOD, ALONG WITH BEACH SAND IN MY SHOES,
I RESIGNED MY POSITION AND MOVED TO FLORIDA. IT DID NOT TAKE LONG TO FIND A HOME
IN THE WORLD OF AVIATION. I JOINED THE U.S.COAST GUARD RESERVE, AND WAS ASSIGNED
TO AIR STATION CLEARWATER. I RETIRED IN 1995 AS A CHIEF AVIATION MACHINST MATE,WITH
A CAREER THAT SPANNED OVER 30 YRS. PROUDLY WE SERVED. PETE CUIPENSKI ,U.S.C.G.
[RET.]
I was transferred from 9TRS to HQ 9AF Intell in Sept 56 after I returned from NY where I had been sent to finish my MS on Bootstrap. I did not know Pete Osterhus too well at Shaw
(he was the pilot on some of my B25/ B26 flights there), but when I went to HQ
TAC in Sept 57 (after SOS) there were 3 of us there;Pete Osterhus (I think in
Ops), Steve Klucarich in Comm, and I was in DCS/Intell. That lasted till I left
for Wiesbaden in Dec 60.
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