Salute!
Thank you FDR. Good stuff. The Novosels were quite a pair. Somewhere, maybe in Senior's book is the story about the father-son rescue mission(s).
What I found most interesting was sitting there for two hours with this guy who had flown B-29's over Japan when I was still in diapers!!!
Jr opened the bar and grill called the Flightline, and the outside was painted in aviation art. When he went west the new operators closed it after a brief time. The interior was filled with many picures of aviators and planes, plus Sr's MoH citation and a replica of his real medal.
Due to my timing, I met and flew with and taught many that became well-known and decorated. A few callsigns had instant recognition when things went south. None of us can forget Dustoff, Jolly, Sandy, Disco, Red Crown, just to name a few.
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So tonight I attend a dinner with the old farts that taught me things that saved me for another 20 years +/-. Our callsign for the 604th Air Commando Squadron was "Rap" The Vee complained that we were using "Dragon" and they had a unit that also wanted that callsign. So our Ops chief used a short form of his name, "Rapney". Our A-37's earned a great reputation for close air support and we were requested by name from U.S.Army units that had seen us before. I overlapped beginning of Mike Sr's tour and was back home when Jr showed up. I tink "SAS" and I also overlapped in '68.
See
A-37 Association, Inc
Gums sends....
P.S. My callsign back then was given by my flight commander and I was youngest nugget in the squadron - 'Boy Wonder".