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Obituaries 3 Jim Huddelson, submitted by Joe Cobb Jim was an EB-66 and B-52 Electronic Warfare Officer and was KIA in 1972 when the B-52D in which he was flying a combat mission that was destroyed by a huge (60,000 ft + high) monsoon thunderstorm that his crew strayed too close to one night as they were navigating inside the "timing box" over Thailand before heading for their target. The gunner of this crew was the only person to survive this tragic combat accident. Jim's name, and the names of the 4 others on his crew that died in this accident, are all on "The Wall" in D.C. My crew was also flying a B-52 mission that night, and we listened to much of the radio traffic between the gunner (Callsign: SURGE 93F) and the SAR troops. We heard more than the one chute beeper on the radio (Guard frequency--243.0 MHz), but we never heard any other crewmembers talking to the SAR guys. We found out when we got back to base that the crew that had crashed was the crew we (my crew) had given their "over-the-shoulder Combat Check Ride" just a few weeks earlier, and it was the crew that Jim was on. Within the next day it was confirmed that there were no survivors other than the gunner. I was also a EB-66 EW with previous experience in B-52D's (including instructor and stan-eval) before 2 years at AFIT and, then, my EB-66 assignment. Jim and I both completed a 1-year combat tour flying in EB-66s out of Korat RTAFB in October 1971. We were both reassigned to B-52 units after our EB-66 tours, and in February 1972 we both ended up flying B-52 combat missions out of Andersen AFB, Guam and U-Tapao RTAFB, Thailand. Jim was a classmate of mine at the EB-66 Combat Training School at Shaw AFB from July through September 1970 before we went to Korat, Thailand. We became good friends during this training, and remained close until his death. Jim even enjoyed teasing and playing with my two young sons (3 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old at the time) after my wife and sons came to the Shaw AFB (Sumter, SC) area for a visit during the later part of our EB-66 training. I never met Jim's family. I seem to remember he had a little girl, but I'm not sure. Jim was "one of the good guys." I still miss him. Maybe I'll meet you at the 2004 EB-66 Reunion at the AF Museum. My wife and I plan on going. Our oldest son (now almost 37) and daughter in-law live in Kettering. Joseph L. O. Cobb Valparaiso, FL |
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