The Times (Shreveport, LA) May 10, 2004
Reunion will bring warriors home
'Mailed fist' of peace primed for war almost half-century.
By John Andrew Prime
They practiced by day for war and prayed by night for peace, and now they will be able to share memories of a job well done.
Members of the former Strategic Air Command plan to hold their 2004 reunion in Bossier City on Wednesday through Saturday, with a banquet closing the reunion. Guest speaker at that event will be Gen. Ron Fogleman, who retired in 1997 as Air Force Chief of Staff. Sponsors are the Retiree Office at Barksdale Air Force Base and the Ark-La-Tex Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America.
"The attendee count is growing, and I think we'll see over 500 attending, which will be one of the largest reunions," said H.D. "Buck" Rigg, director of the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale.
The museum will welcome the veterans Friday at 10 a.m. for a memorial to lost comrades, after which they'll be free to roam the field of airplanes that includes most of the steeds SAC once flew -- the B-29, B-47 and B-52 bombers, which made up America's "big stick."
From its formation in 1946 -- more than a year before the Air Force itself was born-- until it stood down on June 1, 1992, SAC kept men and bombers poised to strike at a moment's notice if the nation was ever attacked. Its nuclear deterrence is credited by many with keeping the wars of the period to regional conflicts rather than world wars.
"The people of SAC did their job and that was part of its demise," Rigg said. "SAC did its job well, and the threat was no longer a threat."
Many people living in the region today still may recall the slogan written on placards at the gates of Barksdale and other SAC facilities -- "Peace Is Our Profession" -- and the familiar logo of the mailed fist holding olive branches of peace.
Fogleman never led SAC but got his baptism in the B-52 bomber at Barksdale, which he visited in February 1995. Fogleman piloted the B-52 "Memphis Belle IV" on a three-hour training mission that included an air refueling and low-level run.
Fogleman, a 1963 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, ended his service with nearly 7,000 hours of stick time, with virtually all of those aside from his B-52 sortie here in fighters and transports. But he logged 806 combat hours, most if not all in the classic F-100, and his medals include the Purple Heart and Silver Star.
The reunions are held every two years, said retired Col. Steve dePyssler of the Retiree Office. The last reunion was held at Savannah, Ga., home to the 8th Air Force Historical Society. The first reunion was held at SAC's old headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., in 2000, he said.
"We've got people from Washington, California, Maine and Florida, so we have them coming from all four corners of the nation," dePyssler said. "This is the third, but it's the biggest of them all."
Rigg and the museum people hope some of the attendees will share their stories, photos and memorabilia.
"We're trying to create a database of Cold War warriors because it was such a significant part of world history, that SAC era," he said.
"'Peace Is Our Profession,' and without SAC, who knows what would have happened," dePyssler said. "Peace was, and is, our profession."
Online
Strategic Air Command history site: www.strategic-air-command.com/home.htm.
Global Security.org entry on SAC: www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/agency/sac.htm.
To see the official Air Force biography of retired Gen. Ron Fogleman, go to www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5434.
© Copyright 2004, The Times (Shreveport, LA)
