There I was, participating in a downhill ski race on the Zillertal Mountain in Austria!

I have mentioned the American Express travel office at our base, RAF Upper Heyford, in England where we spent 3 years. One trip takes the cake: for 39 pounds apiece (about $93 at the time) we got a jumbo jet flight from London to Munich, Germany, a bus transfer to Mayrhofen, Austria, a welcoming evening at the Gasthaus Kugler (with Bavarian dancing), a 3-night stay there, a tobogganing evening down a mountain road at night, our skis and poles and ski instruction, and skiing on the Zillertal Mountain, with schnaps at the top! When I first booked the trip the clerk said, “Well, that price doesn’t include the airfare.” When I pointed out to her that it did, she was shocked!

I think Valo would agree that the toboggan ride was the most fun. We both sat on it and steered with our feet as we swooped down that snow-covered road. Unfortunately, when it came time for our ski instruction, Valo’s skis did not have the proper wax on them, and she could literally walk down the slopes on her skis!

During my downhill race there was a crowd of onlookers, and when I fell and twisted my left knee at one turn they laughed! I did finish the race, however, and got a bronze medal. For a long time I thought, “Wow, I got the third-fastest time!” I think it’s more likely that all racers who came in past a certain time got a bronze. But, what a privilege to ski in the Alps!

EPISODE 30

There I was, staring into the remaining oven at the Dachau concentration camp.

The holocaust has always been viewed with disgust, but Valo and I had the opportunity to visit one of the sites where it took place, Dachau, Germany. Much of the camp, as with many of the others, has been destroyed, but enough remains to get a real feeling for what happened there. As part of our trip we drove to the beautiful nearby town of Dachau, and wondered just how much its inhabitants knew about what was going on at the camp.

The one cremation oven at the camp was left as a silent witness of the horrors perpetrated on those who had been rounded up in the pogroms. We later got to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and many years later (in 2017) the Yad Vashem holocaust museum in Jerusalem. There we visited the separate building which honors the million children who died in those camps. We walked into a large, dark structure along a path, and were literally surrounded by one million lights, one for each child who died – very humbling.

EPISODE 31

There I was, sitting in the cockpit of an A-10 Warthog at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Sadly, I was not actually going to fly it, but was on base visiting my friend Ben Carter, whom I had written a letter of recommendation for to get into that branch. I stayed in the VOQ, the Visiting Officers Quarters, since I had been a major in the Air Force myself. I loved the sound of jets taking off through the night! Interestingly, someone had accidentally fired a round of the A-10’s gun through the hangar door a day or so before, and there was an inquiry going on!

I was also taken out to a monstrous B-52 bomber which I climbed into, up the ladder, and into the pilot’s seat. Ben was a specialist in that plane’s weapons systems, and it was fun to see both B-52s and A-10s taking off and landing all day.

Ben was scheduled to go fly F-16s in New Orleans, until Hurricane Katrina came along and spoiled that. He went on to fly Apache helicopters for the Army before returning to the Air Force.

I am thankful for my time in the Air Force.