After another semester at BYU, I decided that an Air Force career was for me and I made sure that I completed all of the requirements for a commission. In fact, I began to look at my B.S. as only a way to obtain an Air Force commission.
On August 19, 1964, I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, the same day I graduated from BYU.
I was called into the Air Force on Active Duty in November.
On November 22, 1965, I entered the Air Force and reported to Luke AFB, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix. When I arrived I found that I was a personnel officer and I had around 30 people working for me.
After we had been in Arizona a few weeks and were known by the ward leaders, we were asked to be Sunday school teachers. About a week later, I was asked to be the Sunday School Superintendent. This was followed by a home teaching route. In other words, we were very busy in the Church. This was quite a load, but I liked it a lot better than the system at the "Y", many jobs but little responsibility. Here I felt that I was needed and that made me live up to the task. That summer we started a study group, and it was really a success. It lasted for three years and we studied several books. At the end of the summer we were asked to be the stake dance directors and that involved many trips to Mesa since we were having a dance festival that year. Now we were really busy. As I expected the dance position was my favorite. Later on, I was called to be ward clerk which I kept until I was reassigned in 1969.
On May 22, 1967, I was promoted to First Lieutenant. I had been looking forward to this for 18 months and it was finally here. My job was good and the conditions were good, so I requested Career Reserve status and changed my DOS to November 21, 1985.
In December 1967 a representative from the University of Oklahoma came to Luke with a master's degree program that was suited to my desires. This program was financed by the Veterans Administration except for books and living expenses. Permissive TDY was available during class periods. The program consisted of a week in class for each course after a period of six weeks of study during which we were expected to learn all of the material. I usually received six or seven books that had to be studied completely before the class started. Graduation required 28 hours of classes, each class was about 3 hours, a paper which counted for four hours, and written examination. In February 1968 I began my studies. Before I finished the degree I had attended classes all over the South Central United States.
On November 22, 1968, I was promoted to Captain after only three years in the service. I was lucky because I fell into the accelerated promotion time frame. Those before me waited 4 1/2 years, those a few years later waited 4 years.
During the latter part of 1968 and early 1969, we were waiting for our first child through the Arizona Relief Society Social Services. The afternoon of the 3rd of July 1969 we received a call to come the next day at 9:00 or 10:00 AM to get our brand new baby boy. When I first saw him I thought that he didn't look so well. His skin was wrinkled, he was all yellowish and very plump. We were really happy when we took him home. Now we were three and he put a different light on things we were doing. He arrived just before I left for Vietnam, in fact, he was only three months old when I left. I was worried that my being gone for this year would hurt our relationship in the same way that my father's and my relationship was marred when he went away during this same period. The same problems didn't occur here though and that was probably because I was only gone for one year instead of four.
Before leaving for Vietnam, I had to attend a school at Keesler AFB in Mississippi. The day before we arrived there was a severe force 5 hurricane called Camille. This hurricane was so bad that it killed over 300 people, destroying complete houses, wrecking huge cement buildings and bridges. It destroyed the entire city of Pas Christian. We arrived at Keesler just 17 hours after the storm hit the coast. In fact, we drove through the hurricane while we were heading south and it was heading north. The first thing we saw, that indicated how bad it was, was full trees, roots and all, torn out of the ground.
This hurricane was a disaster! The response of the people was heroic! Everyone all over the Gulf states rushed to help. Electrical line workers came from all over the eastern part of the nation and worked 18 to 20 hours a day, seven days a week to get the power restored. Transworld Airlines donated an entire aircraft to shuttle supplies from New Orleans to Biloxi. The people in New Orleans collected so much food and clothing that the mayor of Biloxi had to ask them to stop. The telephone company set up a row of around 20 telephones with no charge that serviced anywhere so that people could contact their relatives. They kept this service running over two weeks. Several radio stations discontinued their normal programs and donated 100% of their time. Many furniture companies cancelled all outstanding debts on any items destroyed. The Salvation Army was one of the first on the scene with food and shelter. I didn't see the Red Cross do anything except appear on television and ask for money. Aid stations were set up by the communities all over the area. These stations were so complete that all you had to do was slowly drive your car through and it was filled with food, water, and necessities. After your car was filled you could go inside and get a hot meal. If necessary there were places to sleep. All of this was donated either by individuals or companies. One bottling plant took grape cartons, filled them with water, and trucked them from New Orleans. This plant, and others like it, kept the entire affected area in drinking water for several days. This experience really lifted my admiration for what people will do for others when the need arises.
In October 1969 I left for Vietnam. Sharon stayed in Salt Lake with our son David. All went well while I was gone. I served as group leader there and kept busy the whole year. I taught basic economics for the Education Office, through the City Colleges of Chicago, and worked out in the weight room extensively.
After I had been in Vietnam about 6 months I met a Vietnamese girl named Nguyen Thi Hong Lac. As time passed I taught her the gospel and she was baptized in April 1971, six months after I left. I tried to work out a way for her to come to the United States, but I could not arrange it.
In March 1970 I was selected for the Medical Service Corps. I felt that this was a real opportunity. The selection ratio was only 1 out of 6. When I returned to the States in October I assumed my new duties at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma as the hospital registrar. The progression potential in this field appears to be fabulous and the corps was relatively small. Most important we were considered separate for all selection activities. In other words, our promotions were separate from the line of the Air Force. So were our regular commissions and all school quotas. Because of this separation, we did not lose opportunities to the rated officers as the non-rated officers did who were members of the regular forces. We were also not eligible for any of the bad assignments such as missile duty, etc. All in all, this appeared to be a much better area.
I received my regular commission in June of 1970 and in July I went to Hawaii to meet Sharon on R & R. We spent a week together there and really saw the sights. Hawaii is a very nice place, especially when you are away from Waikiki beach. We were escorted throughout all of the island of Oahu by friends of my mother and we saw and were a part of things that other servicemen never get to. We spent one day on the big island.
In October 1970 I returned. My year in Vietnam was over. A year which I enjoyed thoroughly except that I was unaccompanied. I supported my country there and I agreed then with what we were doing. It was just a shame that our politicians did not allow us to really do the war.
When I returned David was growing up. For the first few days he didn't mind that I was there, but when he realized that I was going to stay he became quite upset. If he were in a room alone with me he would begin to cry and really carry on. Sharon couldn't even leave the room but what he would begin to cry and run after her. When he was blessed he screamed at the top of his lungs. On October 19, 1970, we took him to the Salt Lake Temple to have him sealed to us. During this ceremony, he was supposed to hold my hand and when I took his hand he immediately began to pull it away from me. He cried loudly through the entire service.
Before we left Salt Lake we had a very inspirational experience. We wanted to buy some land for a future house so we began to look for it. We looked all over the Davis County area and we couldn't find anything that suited our desires. We found land down by the Great Salt Lake for as little as $2,000 per acre. We found land that was landlocked, but we couldn't find anything that worked. Just before we had to leave our broker started to call all over the area to try to find something. He found a person that had a friend that might want to sell a portion of his farm. He did and we were able to arrange financing through the seller and with a down payment from the money that we saved while I was in Vietnam and with a loan from Grandfather Proctor we were able to finalize the deal. This was exactly what we had been looking for. A piece of ground that a farmer could continue to use so that it wouldn't sit idle for the years before we would be ready to use it. It was right where we wanted it along the main road in Centerville, just South of Farmington. Later when we drilled the well it came in at 120 feet exactly where we wanted it.
In Oklahoma I was asked to serve in the bishopric of the Midwest City Ward of the Oklahoma South State, and on May 8, 1971 I was ordained a High Priest by my father who came from Salt Lake for the occasion. That summer my father's parents both died within three months of each other and though it was sad we were all happy to see them go so close together. Grandmother died first and then Granddad was so lonely and depressed that he just gave up. That depression probably caused his death.
I was in the bishopric for only 6 months when I was called to the High Council where I served for 18 months or until we left Oklahoma. In this capacity I had many experiences and my main involvement was with the youth from 14 to 18.
The highlight of this era was a regional youth conference held June 30, and July 1 & 2 of 1972. I was the focal point for all planning and I coordinated all activities. I had 15 youth assisting me, and each had their own special committee. Nine hundred people attended and the budget was over $16,000. These youth worked together so well that even though they got almost no sleep during the entire three days, none of them ever shirked any assignment or denied assistance to someone else if they needed help. I have never before seen youth work together so well and be so united. These kids were all outstanding and I hope to see them again as time passes.
In August or September of 1972, while at a youth dance in the Midwest City ward chapel, someone called Sharon aside, and told her that a young lady was downstairs and she sounded sick. Sharon went down and found her kneeling by a chair groaning and moaning. Sharon came and got me and after one look I knew that she was possessed. I quickly got President Glenn Orr, of the Stake Presidency, and asked him to help me to administer to her. While preparing I told him what we should do describing what we had done in Brazil. As he anointed he deviated from the usual procedure and he commanded the spirits to depart. I immediately noticed their departure; but, to make sure, I asked for their names during the sealing administration. There was no response and therefore, I knew that they had departed. I could also tell by her manners. This instance was much less pronounced than my experiences in Brazil; but, nonetheless she had been possessed and the devil had been commanded to depart by the power of the priesthood. He obeyed instantly and left. I then sealed her up against reentry. Afterward President Orr and I talked about the blessing and he told me that he didn't really feel that there were spirits there. I knew that he felt that way as the procedure didn't go as I had explained it. It is also very difficult to accept. I had seen this type of problem before and I knew it for what it was.
Another real experience with these youth, was a walk-a-thon that we held the day after Thanksgiving in 1972. The weather was awful! The wind was blowing hard, it was raining and cold. The walk was 18 miles and the last half was around a lake. The wind whipped off the lake and froze us all. Of the 54 that started 52 finished all 18 miles. One girl missed a mile or two in the middle and one boy quit half way through. No one was dry or warm. Sharon drove the route with hot chocolate which the kids really looked forward to. This was another really fine experience and showed what kids would do if they were motivated. I was really glad to be associated with them.
In May of 1972 I finished my Master's Degree in Economics. What a relief. It took four years and many hours of work. Most of it was done while I was in the bishopric and the high council. Even though I had so much church work, my usual Air Force job, and school, I was still able to complete it. I found that if I put my church work first I would do the best. Most of our classes had the final course test on Friday. I had high council meeting on Thursday night. The stake president told me that I didn't have to come on those nights, and I tried it once, but I didn't feel good about it. Thereafter I went to my meetings and studied other times. In every class but one I took during this period I got an A. This included 18 credit hours and rose my overall average to a 3.5 for my master's degree. Another testimony that the Lord will bless you if you dedicate yourself to his work. This is significant because I had never before been able to get A's in any school work. One of these classes included an upper level Statistics class. One of the hardest classes required.
One of my assignments as a member of the High Council was representative for the Stake Presidency to branch in Ardmore, Oklahoma. This branch was located way down South almost at the border of Texas. I visited that branch several times. When I was studying at BYU I took a religion class on the Pearl of Great Price from Hyrum Andrus. One of the subjects discussed in this class was how Adam and Eve were actually created. Using the scriptures and references from many of the Prophets and Apostles he taught us that Adam and Eve were not created, but actually born of our heavenly parents just as we are born of our parents. But did not touch on what happened next so after class I asked him and he replied, “That’s for you to discover.” I had been pondering over this since 1963 or 1964 with no results, around 9 or 10 years. Then, one evening while I was driving back from Ardmore the answer was revealed to me and all became so clear that I wondered why I had never thought of it before. The pattern for the placement of all life upon this earth just filled out in my mind and the whole process was simplicity in itself. As they say in the scriptures, I went on my way rejoicing. This was also a great experience as I again knew that I was in tune with the Lord through the revelation of this principle me.
During the afternoon of September 26, 1972 we received a call from Salt Lake City from the Relief Society telling us that we had a baby girl waiting for us. We packed up that night and left the next morning for Salt Lake. We arrived on Tuesday at 1:00 P.M. and Londa was there waiting for us. Dave was really happy and right then began to protect his baby sister. If someone would hold her he would go up to them and say, "OK we'll take our baby back."
Early in 1973 I received notification of a reassignment to Turkey. Then in May Sharon's father was killed in an auto accident. We again rushed to Salt Lake City and helped with the arrangements. This was a sad time because this did not seem to be the time for him to go. Lois had eaten lunch with him in the temple just before he left on that last trip north on I-15 toward Ogden and she severely sensed his loss. While there we had an interview with Elder S. Dilworth Young. As he was a friend of the family the interview centered on Aaron’s death and what should we do about our pending trip to Turkey. He advised that we go on the assignment as there was nothing we could really do for Lois and to not worry about leaving her. We did what we could for her and returned to Oklahoma to get ready for our upcoming trip to Turkey.
We arrived in Turkey in July 1973 where I was given the job of Supply Officer. This developed into a very interesting job and I was glad to have it.
In March 1974 we went on a trip throughout Turkey. We went to Istanbol, Isnik (Nicea), Bursa, Troy, Pergama, Ephesus, Aphrodisias, Laodocia, Hieropolis, Aspendus, Side, and Perga. These cities are all still in existence and in varying stages of restoration. They exist in varying stages of destruction from almost completely gone to amazingly complete. This was an extremely interesting trip and one that we will always look back upon with satisfaction.
I was called as the Branch President of the Adana, Turkey Branch. There was a lot of work to do and we dived right in and got busy. Our major problem was that we were so far away from everything. We seldom received anything from the Church because we were under a German speaking mission (The Swiss Mission) and they received their materials in German. We were also so far from the mission office that we seldom saw the mission president or anybody else.
The end of April was a special time as we took Londa to the Swiss Temple and had her sealed to us. This took place on April 23, 1974.
When we arrived in Turkey, in 1973, we began to study the language. After more than ten months of real effort we were still unable to understand even the simplest regular conversation. This language is extremely difficult. It is related to Finnish and Korean. Even though it was hard this attempt showed me how much the Lord helped me while I was on my mission. In Brazil I didn't study nearly as hard and I learned to speak and understand limitedly after only two months. After one year I was able to read. Here in Turkey after one year of hard work I was able to form simple sentences about common things, but I could read nothing except menus. The language might be hard, but without the Lord's help Portuguese would have been harder also.
One afternoon in August 1974 Sharon was driving home and when she got out of the car to open the gate it started to roll backwards. Dave started to scream from fright and as Sharon tried to get into the car, the door knocked her down and the front left wheel pinned her foot and began to roll over her. First it rolled up on her foot, then down her leg, over her stomach and chest and finally across her face and off her head. It stopped just a few inches after it rolled off her head. We rushed her to the hospital and there in the emergency room I anointed and blessed her. After all of the tests returned we found out that there were no injuries more serious than one or two scratches and some bruises. She was not injured at all and in fact we went bowling two days after she was discharged from the hospital, which was three days after the incident. From our description the physicians thought that she would have extensive internal injuries and had set up surgery. They were astounded and could see no reason for her condition. As Dave said, "God held up the car."
Then in November we had another experience. Par-typhoid was sweeping the area. Londa got very sick and we took her to the hospital. Tests showed that she had the disease but she did not have all of the symptoms. The physician told me she would be in the hospital for at least three days. I blessed her at 5 o'clock P.M. and at 8 o'clock she was already showing signs of recuperation. The next morning the tests showed she was normal and the physician discharged her, not understanding how she had recovered. She hadn't received any medication while in the hospital yet she was cured. The Lord answered our prayers and Londa was all right.
Turkey was extremely fascinating. We participated in every activity possible. In December 1973 we went to Koyna, a small town in Eastern Turkey. This was where the Whirling Dervishes began in the 1300's and have continued ever since. It is a religious sect of the Moslem religion. In the 1930's it was officially banned by Ataturk, but it has continued secretly disguised as a tourist show. Each year in Koyna, a group of people demonstrate the worship service by performing the ritual a couple of times each day from the first of December until the seventeenth. The first half of the performance is composed of political speeches. These people really like political speeches. They will sit for hours listening to speeches. Regularly the television broadcasts speeches or parts of speeches. After the speeches were finished the worshippers entered dressed in long black robes with tall black hats. These people weren't really supposed to be worshippers as the religion had been banned, but as I watched the ceremony I noticed special devotion especially among the older dancers and among the older people in the audience. These men formed a large circle and then while being accompanied they began to walk around following the large circle. They were accompanied by a group of typical Turkish instruments. There was a sas, a long stringed instrument; a drum; a ne, a flute like instrument which you played by breathing out through your mouth while breathing in through your nose; and a reader. The reader sings the Koran while the dancers whirl. After they had walked a while they suddenly threw off their black coats and revealed full white outfits underneath. The black represented the grave, while the white now represented the spiritual life after death. Then they each walked to the leader of the performance and after receiving a sign each began to whirl. They did not go fast but rather went on steadily. This whirling continued without stop for 20 minutes or so. As they whirled they held one hand up to receive from heaven and held the other hand down to give to the earth. After the first whirling period, they stopped and again walked in a circle for a few minutes. They then each went again to the leader, received the sign and began to whirl. This went on for three separate periods and the participants were of all ages from what looked like 12 up to very old and all were men. As we watched we noticed that the audience prayed with them. Even though this was not a sanctioned religion it was obvious that a lot of people were actively participating.
Another fascinating experience was Corban Byrama, Sacrifice Holiday. On this day every active Moslem sacrifices a sheep if he meets certain qualifications, i.e. not in debt, devout, etc. The sacrifice is in remembrance of Ishmael's almost sacrifice by Abraham. They believe that it was Ishmael that was almost sacrificed not Isaac. The ceremony includes parts dedicated to the casting out of Ishmael into the desert. The sheep is offered some water and salt. It does not matter if he takes it or not. His front legs are bound and he is laid facing East on his right side. A long prayer is offered read from the Koran and at a certain point a knife is quickly drawn through the neck severing the main artery. The sheep dies quickly and quietly. The meat is then divided into three parts: 1/3 to the poor, (there sure are a lot of poor people wandering the streets on this morning), 1/3 to the relatives of the individual doing the sacrifice, and 1/3 to his own family. A feast is held in the afternoon to eat the third that is left. We made sure that we were there for that part. We got to participate in this holiday on two separate occasions. The second year it was held in our yard which was quite an honor.
In the summer of 1974 Greece and Turkey went to war over the Island of Cyprus. We were right in the middle of it. Turkey used Incirlik AFB as a launch base for their fighters. We had a complete blackout for the first three nights. No light was allowed to show. Our house was in back of several houses that faced the street and we lit a kerosene lantern on the floor after we had draped the windows. After a while a policeman threw some rocks at our windows and told us to turn off the light. Some left their lights on and had their fuses removed and given to the mayor. Driving was a real experience, we couldn't see anything and could not use our headlights. The nights were black as coal, we were fortunate that we didn't have an accident. During this time the people became very militaristic. They wore necklaces displaying bullets, and the only music was military marches. Everyone was in a state of excitement. The tension never left the country while we were there and as the United States began to criticize Turkey, relations became poorer and poorer. It became very difficult to get any products into Turkey for the commissary and BX. In our case this didn't pose much of a hardship as we were already living a lot on the Turkish economy, but others couldn't easily make the transition. During this time all our lives became more difficult.
All in all Turkey was a hard country to live in. The conditions and the atmosphere were very difficult. The rules were rigorous. For example, I'll never forget the beyanami. This is the customs list and if certain items were brought into the country or purchased at our BX they had to be listed on this list. Everything on the list had to be taken out of the country or you had to pay taxes on them. Many individuals were not allowed to leave on time because of some small item on the beyanami. If the item had been stolen you still had to pay the taxes. It was possible to be jailed if it did not balance and you could not account for the items. We shipped over 500 pounds of junk out of the country when we left which we immediately threw away when we got to Italy because we had to take them out of the country. Items included on the beyanami were as follows: chairs including children's chairs, cars, electric appliances, air conditioners, any kind of electronic item, cameras, many types of furniture, in short almost anything that was a convenience item.
There were many other hassles in that country. Automobile accidents were the most difficult. In fact anything to do with the car was very hard. One of my co-workers in the hospital was driving to work and was hit by another car that had hit some sheep. In Turkey everyone gets blamed for a part of the accident. In this case he received a percentage of the blame as that portion of the accident would not have happened if he had not been there. The other car got a percentage and the sheep got a percentage. Even if your car is properly parked and someone hits it you get a percentage because again it wouldn't have happened if you had not been there in the first place. Once Sharon was involved in an accident. She was hit by a dolmus (a shared taxi) when she was turning right. Now I'm sure that the dolmus was traveling at an excessive speed, they always did, but Sharon did turn into his path. I got called and I got my landlord to go with me. When I arrived it looked like the whole city was there and they were all shouting at once. I came up and asked what happened. I was told all about how careful the other driver had been and how Sharon had driven right into his path. I pretended I didn't care, showed that I didn't believe him and made sure that the police had been called. Now we must remember that every minute a dolmus sits idle he loses money and police are always very late. After a while I went up to the driver and said to him, "You know that when the police arrive you will also get a percentage, and since your car has very little damage here is 100 Lira ($7.00) to fix your car and we can call it even." "No", he said. So I told him he was the loser and I didn't care I'd just as soon wait for the police. A little later I came back and told him he'd better make up his mind as the police might be here any second and he would have to go to court if they came. Then a little later I came back and while searching up the street I said, "You better hurry and make up your mind about the 100 Lira as the police will be here any minute." He again said no but this time he was very nervous. All of his passengers had left with other dolmuses and the crowd had got bored and left for the most part. I waited a while and returned again with "you'd better make up your mind." I did this several times and each time he was more nervous. He was remembering the percentage and the fares he was losing and the time he would have to spend in court. Finally, he took the 100 Lira and drove away. I looked around and said to my landlord, "He's left, I guess we can go to." It's very bad to leave the scene of an accident. But at this point there was no accident as the other car had already left. In this way we avoided a real problem with the Turkish courts and the insurance companies.
In Turkey we ate out a lot as it was very inexpensive. And sometimes we ate in the most bizarre places. I remember once while we were on a trip we stopped at a roadside restaurant which really didn't look to bad from the outside. But when we got in it was really bad. As we hadn't eaten and it was quite late, we decided to stay. When we asked for glasses the waitress just rinsed out two in the sink in cold tap water and handed them to us to use. This meal was quite an experience. Another time we went to an out of the way place in Adana. As we came to the table the cats were shooed off of it. The food was very good but the environment left something to be desired. When we asked for the menu there wasn't one, so I went to the kitchen to select what we wanted. What a place!!! We really enjoyed our meal but I was surprised that we didn't all get sick.
We left Turkey during the summer of 1975. We were on our way to Italy and we went by ferry from Izmir. The country was still in turmoil and the relations with the United States were still deteriorating. We left Adana, where we had been assigned, on Monday, July 21st, and arrived in Izmir on Tuesday. We departed Izmir on Wednesday the 23rd and arrived in Brindisi, Italy on the 25th. On the 25th Turkey severed relations with the United States and closed all ports for goods either coming to Turkey or leaving Turkey. Our baggage and household goods were stopped in Turkey and held up for several weeks during this period. I was afraid that we would lose everything. We lived on borrowed furniture in our apartment. Eventually everything came through and the damage was about the same as always.
The ferry ride to Italy was also an interesting experience. The boat was not large but still had a swimming pool and several bars. Mostly everyone just sat in deck chairs and drank. I was very bored and I can't see that other ships, even though they are larger, will really have very much that's different, and as I listen to what they offer I'm still really not interested.
When we arrived in Italy I took the position of Hospital Administrator at the San Vito Dei Normanni Hospital. We lived in Brindisi, Italy right on the coast. I had looked forward to this and I was anticipating a good assignment. Almost from the beginning my job turned sour. The commander wanted several things changed and an Inspector General visit was due in just seven months. Therefore, I began to put his requests into effect. Now he didn't let on that these were his desires and everyone thought that I was making these changes as the new guy on the block. These changes were upsetting as many of the old policies were being altered. Individuals resented me on a wholesale basis and the commander just kept in the background and let me take the heat. An example of this occurred with regards to the use of the commander’s secretary. I was told exactly how she was to be used and I was instructed to ensure that these conditions were carried out. The dental chief was upset by these changes as they hurt his business as usual. So, he came to me and took me to task and then went to the commander who then also took me to task and publicly changed the rules. The first sergeant lied to me repeatedly and eventually I was taken to task by the inspector for items that he had lied to me about. But these problems were normal for the Air Force and I knew it, but the worst situation had to do with the black race and the church. This was what actually caused my early return from Italy.
The situation began in April 1976, before the black race was allowed to hold the priesthood. In January of that year our branch had scheduled an open house in the base chapel to give the people of the area an idea of what Mormonism was about. That event had to be canceled and so we rescheduled another one for April. Just prior to that year's general conference a High Priest in Seattle Washington named Wallace publicly baptized a black man, ordained him to the priesthood and had him baptize another man. The church said this was not effective because these ordinances were performed without church direction. But the people around us saw the action as a slap in the face against the black race. This caused a great commotion throughout the area where we were stationed. Brother Wallace also went to general conference and tried to disrupt the meeting preaching his ideas. The Stars and Stripes, the armed forces newspaper in Europe, followed these events item by item with big headlines and long comprehensive articles.
Now the blacks on our base got very excited about the Mormons using the base facilities if they were going to discriminate against blacks in this manner and they threatened to riot if we were allowed to have our open house. The Social Actions office, which was the minority headquarters, had a militant black as the NCOIC. He was TSgt Hayes and he had previously participated in the burning of a base. I don't know what he was still doing in the military especially as a member of the Social Actions office, but here he was and he was ready to do all the damage he could.
As I was the ranking member of the church at our base, which had nothing to do with this situation, but the base commander didn't want to talk to a SSgt which was the rank of our Branch President. Therefore the Base Commander called me and asked me to postpone the open house to avert any problem, which we did. (Interesting how these blacks controlled everything around them.) He then asked me to brief the chaplain staff on our faith so that they could better understand what was happening. When I arrived at this gathering I discovered that quite a few individuals had been asked to attend. These included the three chaplains, the chief being catholic; CmSgt Eccles, the Major Air Command enlisted Advisor, who was black; the Base Sergeant Major, who was white; the chief of Social Actions, who was Spanish; and TSgt Hayes. Only three people participated in this fiasco. The chief chaplain, as he directed the discussion, TSgt Hayes, and myself. Right at the outset the chaplain began to ask me questions geared to agitate Hayes. One question really sticks in my mind. "If a white person performs all of his church duties and responsibilities, will he be able to attend the temple?" "Yes." "If a black person lives all of the rules in exactly the same manner, will he be able to go to the temple?" "No." Hayes came all unglued. At one point he was standing up in the middle of the room yelling at me. It was as if the infernal pits of hell were raised up against me. No one took any action to restraint him at all, except for a few glances of disdain.
After this gathering TSgt Hayes made a personal effort to do everything that he could to destroy me and the church. He prepared a message to higher headquarters requesting that Mormons be denied use of all base facilities and that they be bared from the Service. This message went all the way to the pentagon, as no one in the headquarters had the courage to talk against the blacks, and eventually the headquarters of the church received copies of the correspondence generated because of it. I was never given the benefit of seeing the response. I found out about it when I was at church headquarters discussing this event and I was shown the reply. During this time and afterwards TSgt Hayes continued his personal barrage against me. He used to talk with all of the blacks in the squadron to find out what he could to discredit me. He used every trick he knew and he used them well.
Just prior to these occurrences I had attended a commander's conference which discussed how to get more involved with your personal. Ways were suggested to get better acquainted with the troops in the squadron. One of these was to have scheduled interviews with each of your people and learn about them personally. I though that this would be a good idea so when I returned to the base I began to put it into practice. TSgt Hayes was right there to watch. He would find out what I had talked about with the individuals and pervert it in the minds of the members of the squadron. At this point it was getting so that nobody trusted me and there was noting that I could do to change the feeling. He watched everything I did and made sure that he told everybody how my religion caused me to treat them that way. Once I had to hire a secretary for the commander. I had five to interview and one was black. The black lady had been interviewing over and over and no one would hire her, she was really bad. I listed her way in last place of the five. Now when I didn't hire her TSgt Hayes caused a great cry because she was black. I had to interview her again and she came in all set to trap me. I could tell that TSgt Hayes had coached her. She was not hired and then she filed an investigation against me. The base was so nervous that a special investigator was brought in from Germany to review the case. He found me completely in the right. But that did not stop the problems.
In running a squadron and the hospital I regularly had to do things that were unpleasant for me and others. Hayes wormed his way in and began to plant things in the minds of the squadron members. "Proctor's a Mormon. Mormons hate blacks. Everything he does is racial." Individuals not selected for positions were coached on how to respond and what to say. I had another investigation performed trying to pin a racial charge on me and again I was found completely innocent. It seemed that everyone on the base was trying to destroy and discredit me. None of these attempts were successful in finding anything amiss, but the situation was so hot that everything that I did was watched as closely as possible. Neither the Hospital Commander nor the Base Commander, who had really started the whole thing in the first place, could take the heat. They were literally afraid of the blacks on base. Again we can see how these kinds of people can control in a political way even when they are in the minority. The base commander and the hospital commander called me in to discuss the matter and then recommended that I should move to protect myself. Both assured me that they were behind me but that the situation was out of their control and something might happen. I agreed that it was out of control and that it might be best to reassign me to another base. They assured me that they were in my corner and they would do all they could for me but they were not sure what they could do if things got worse. They recommended that I be transferred and I concurred under the circumstances. I assured them that I would stay or leave whichever they thought necessary. When this action was processing I was on leave. I was called back from leave and reassigned to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. As it turned out later they just sold me down the river, blaming all of the problems on me to justify the early transfer. Later, when I got finally received the letters that had been generated, I discovered that they had used phrases from the investigations, against me. Phrases taken out of context to show how bad I was, even though the next thought in the document exonerated me. Later they also used these same phrases in my OER, which made it a referral report. These two individuals used every falsehood they could to build up their position at my expense. All of this came out later, at this point I just went on to Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.
After I found out that I had received a referral report I got my appeal ready. As a part of this I requested copies of all of the investigations and the other actions concerning the period. Remember, all of these investigations cleared me of any wrongdoing. The Group Commander, the one who had said he was in my corner and assured me that he would do all he could for me, now denied my request for this information. The request automatically went on to Major Air Command, and there was CmSgt Eccles. He wrote a letter explaining that he had been present during the briefing and that he felt that TSgt Hayes was of high character and conducted himself properly during the meeting. My request for this information was denied again by Major Air Command. I'm quite sure that CmSgt Eccles was the individual that caused this denial. I received all of this information and I then appealed their decision to the Secretary of the Air Force. At this point all of the requested documents were released immediately. It was at that time that I discovered how the deck had been stacked against me and the players had used me as a scapegoat. All of the unrest was blamed on me. TSgt Hayes had also been reassigned but no stigma was attached to it. Letters had been sent to Major Air Command pointing out how I had caused all of these racial problems. Some of these letters were dated before the meeting with the base commander and the hospital commander. Everything that they said to me was a lie. Using all of the information that was appropriate, I prepared a rebuttal to the OER that was in excess of 40 pages. All of the documents were brought out and based upon this the OER was removed from my records and every document pertaining to my reassignment from Italy was destroyed. But even though all written documents were destroyed, the attitudes were not. Individuals discussed that situation off and on for the rest of my career. I was never able to get a good reassignment again. On my last reassignment this was probably the reason that I couldn't get a proper job.
Now as I look back upon this incident I consider it a black time in my life. Forces were arrayed against me that were much more than I was used to dealing with. Because of this experience I had some real personality changes that followed me for many years. In fact, some of these changes were still with me over 12 years later. During that period I fell to the lowest ebb of my life. I experienced marriage difficulties and spent over a year in counseling. This was a real difficult time in my life. By the end of 1978 I began to come out of the worst parts of the problems, but effects still remained for many years.
Everything was not bad on my assignment in Italy. I was called as the district president for the Bari District and this was a real challenge. I did not speak Italian and we had 5 Italian branches. But as I knew Portuguese I was able to keep up with what was going on and could understand fairly well. I would travel city to city in my district and visit with the members in their homes. I helped set up the proper organizations at the district level and all in all that work was very satisfying. One item that was amusing was that whenever I was visiting the members they would always do an entire Italian dinner. This is a seven course meal served over a period of two or more hours. The meal began with an anti-pasta, a small meat type finger food which was often a meal by itself; then the pasta, a spaghetti type dish; then the salad; a meat dish, usually a small size piece of meat with a vegetable and potato; then the desert; then a fruit platter; and lastly a cheese platter, consisting of several types of cheese in medium size chunks for nibbling. There were variations of this but this was the basic idea. It is not possible to completely eat one of these dinners; but, I made several attempts. Interestingly every course was served on new/clean dishes with new/clean silverware. I never dirtied so many dishes in one meal as when I ate in Italy. One bad thing on these meals was the preparation. Most of the time I was served a Sunday mid-afternoon dinner. This required many hours of preparation so the wife would skip church to prepare it for me. Here I was trying to help members be better church members and because of me they were skipping church to prepare dinner. When we returned from Italy, Sharon and I often served these types of meals for our friends to demonstrate how it was done. In these cases we let them use the same dishes all evening and we served smaller portions and didn't really take as long as was customary in Italy.
While in Italy we toured a lot of the Southern parts of the country. We saw Pompeii and Naples and spent a lot of time in the small southern towns. This was very interesting and another part of our education on world customs. Once I was able to spend a few hours in Rome and while there I visited St. Peter's Cathedral and the Sistine chapel. Italy was really a country of art more than anything else and that really showed in the museums and buildings. But as for history Turkey is far out in front. If you want to see Rome or Greek history, go to Turkey.
As I mentioned, Italy was a country of Art, and I got the bug. On 2 January 1976, I began to paint. Then in April I began to draw. This turned out to be one of the greatest challenges of my talents that I ever undertook. I worked for years trying to get over hurdles. I remember one period trying to paint cliffs, another period on the hair of clowns, another on waves, another on faces. I spent regular evenings drawing over and over, copying from color books, the bible, record jackets, course materials, etc. I took three courses on painting and drawing from Sinclair College in 1977 and 1978. I took lessons from neighbors and private studios. I did everything that I could to improve on my skills. I painted many pictures, one of them almost life-size. Later I had to discontinue because there was no time to paint and earn a living. I hope to return to it later because it was interesting and fun to do. It is a great pleasure to hang paintings that I have done in the house for people to see.
When in Italy I was notified of my selection to Major on December 13, 1975. Finally on March 1, 1977 I was promoted. There was a long waiting period because of Air Force wide manning limitations.
While in Turkey and Italy I began my genealogy program. At first my goal was just to get everything we had in order and check it with the temple records to make sure it was correct. After several months of this I finally had everything we had completed. In fact, this project took over a year. Then while we were on leave between Italy and the U.S. I began the second stage. I went to the Genealogical Society in Salt Lake and copied every family group sheet that was available on our lines. I then incorporated that information into our total book. Lastly I began the research of our lines for more information. I was able to do a lot while in Dayton, Ohio, but due to the long time it took to get the films and the fact that I knew that I would be moving to Salt Lake I lost interest. When I stopped active work, Sharon and I had over 750 pages of family group sheets and pedigree charts. When we finally get back to Salt Lake and the time presents itself we will began again.
From overseas we were assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center. I was the registrar and had 70 people working for me, including two officers. This division was larger than the whole hospital in Italy. I was called in by the hospital administrator and told that currently the worst administrative division in the medical center was the Registrar division. That the past officers had been fired and almost everybody in the section was discontented and wanted to leave. Some of the most valuable individuals were looking for new jobs. Some of the current supervisors had recently been fired and I was expected to clean this whole mess up. A team from the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation (JCAH) was expected the next month and the division needed to pass this inspection as it was possible that if it didn't they could close down the hospital. (One of the supervisors that had been fired was the medical records librarian.)
This job really taxed my abilities. In just over one year I was able not only to reverse the trends but I was also able to reach a level that passed a Norton IG team inspection without a write-up. This was unprecedented. There are so many areas in Registrar that to pass without a write-up was considered impossible. This was a real feather in my cap.
The medical records librarian actually did stay and we became fast friends. He was one of the most loyal and dedicated employees that I had. The other employees allied with me and we had the best group in the hospital. We put out the work and even when the manning dropped severely in 1978 we were still able to get the work done and pass another JCAH inspection without a write-up. That made three outstanding inspections in a row, with generally the same crew that had been failing previously. I feel that my management skill was the main difference in this matter and I take personal credit for this accomplishment.
I was instrumental in several big changes to the Air Force Medical Service with regard to the computer accounting systems. I demonstrated that the Admissions and Dispositions (A&D) Office could control beds in the hospital. I was instrumental in changing Air Force policy on how Ward Clerks would be utilized. I set new guidelines for patient discharge procedures, but as these procedures caused more work for the A&D Office and less for the patient I expected it to be changed back just as soon as I left. In fact that was exactly what happened. My goal was to have the hospital staff do the out processing for the patient instead of the patient. Since this is not the usual Air Force procedure it was changed immediately after I left the job. This was a period of achievement in my Air Force responsibility and it was a very satisfying period of time. It was also short lived.
During the summer of 1977 I was asked to go to a regional youth conference as one of the guest speakers. This was significant as I was asked to go to Arkansas. They asked me to discuss the last days using the same material that I had presented at an Oklahoma Youth Conference.
In addition, during the summer of 1977 I was asked to be the scoutmaster for our ward. The troop was very small (4 boys) but we really had a great time. We had special activities each month including a summer camp. This was the first time that these boys had ever been on a summer camp and they really enjoyed themselves. Our troop of four became the best known troop there. At the end of the summer we had a real highlight. We did a two day backpack trip through Cumberland Gap Park on the Mishamookwa Trail. This was a 23 mile two day trip along the mountain ridge. We had to haul all of our food, fuel, and water. It was a real ordeal and during the middle of the second day my knee began to go out. Before the end I could not go down hill facing forwards. I really got razzed about that as I had to go backwards. We all made it and really had a good time. From this summer's experiences one of the boy's went back to summer camp again and again as a helper and finally as a counselor. Eventually three of the four boys achieved their eagle rank. I feel that I had a large part in their finally understanding what scouting was really about.
After the summer I was released as scoutmaster and called to the High Council. I was very unhappy about that change and it probably had something to do with everything else that happened later in 1977 and 1978.
During this period Dave, Londa and I used to have some good times. At the drop of a hat someone would get an elastic band and shoot it at another. The battle was on! We had elastic bands on door knobs throughout the house and when one of these battles occurred we would have ammunition all over. We had good time. There were also times when I would chase the kids through the house wielding a long icicle like a javelin. I would break it off of the eaves of the house and chase them all over.
Late in 1977 something happened to my personality. I use the word snapped, as I can't think of anything else to describe it. It probably occurred because of all of the problems in Italy, the change in scoutmaster, all together with personality problems of my own that were very serious. At this time I began the darkest period of my life. For over a full year I was completely out of touch with everything that was important in my life. I even went so far as to leave home for a few days. These were times of extreme trial. I began to see a psychologist on a weekly basis, Sharon and I also had weekly marriage counseling sessions and for a long period I had difficulty in really keeping my head straight. Gradually I was able to overcome these difficulties and I was somewhat in control again. But things were not the same as before, and never were again. There was another reoccurrence in late spring of 1979 but it was resolved after a relatively short time. Throughout this period I continued active in the church in my calling: i.e. Sunday School teacher, Choir President, Finance Chairman, Priesthood Chorister, Assistant Branch Genealogical Librarian, and High Priest Group Instructor. These callings kept me busy during the period and still allowed me the time required to improve myself. In January 1979 I was called as the Sunday School President and I felt that this was a new beginning. A first step, if you will, back to where I was. I was released from this calling during the reoccurrence of my problems in 1979. At the end of all of this I began forming a new resolution, I would no longer get so involved in church work that I would be unable to carry on family and personnel activities.
During 1978 I completed Air Command and Staff for the Air Force. This was a fill the square course and required one year of weekly classes plus two 2,000 word papers. We had to give 2 talks, critique 2 talks, and conduct 2 sessions. The course was mostly a waste of time but as I did most of it during duty hours Uncle Sam paid for it.
Our house in Medway was just right for us. We had 3/4 of an acre at the beginning, later selling 1/4 of that as we didn't require it. We had a garden that was about 3,000 square feet in size and a greenhouse. Here we learned to grow all sorts of vegetables and flowers. We also grew apples, cherries, raspberries, and strawberries. This was a real challenge. You don't just throw seeds on the ground. I had never successfully grown anything before and here I was growing enough food to feed our family to some degree. Many of our crops were not very good as we continued to learn and experiment. During our first year we planted 28 different kinds of vegetables. Too Many!! The following year we cut that to 21. The harvest that second year was really good for us, but not nearly as good as those around us. Now we learned the art of canning and storing. All in all our garden experiments were fun and profitable. Based upon this we will really get into the gardening business when we finally move back to Utah.
We also got involved in flower gardening. I began the first year with a few bedding plants and that was really great. That fall we planted $70 worth of bulbs and really had a colorful spring in 78. We cleared more area in 78 and put in over 350 bedding plants. Now we found discovered a difficulty, the plants did not last all summer. Therefore, we decided to plant flowers by the season. Spring flowering plants and then those of the summer and fall. But at $50-60 for each season it was too expensive. That's when we built the greenhouse.
Those years in Ohio were really growth years. And our thoughts were centered around learning all we could to prepare us for the days when we would be doing all of this in retirement.
During the summer of 79 there was a change of hospital administrators. This turned out to be a very serious change as the new administrator was a very difficult person to work with. In fact I felt that he was against me from the very first. After just a few weeks I had an OER on written on me and when it got to him he downgraded it to a level that reflected on me as a very poor officer. This report would kill any chances that I might have to make LtCol so I began my formal appeal of it in early 1980. I was successful in this effort and the report was removed from my records. This is the second report that I've had removed. Obviously I can show cause that I have not been dealt with fairly.
The first of November I had a change of jobs. I was assigned as the Squadron Section Commander over the enlisted personnel. This position was a new one for me and as time passed I grew more and more relaxed with the position. I had a good first sergeant and after the problems of Registrar, this was like a vacation. There were 600 individuals in the squadron and I was required to deal with all of their official and personal problems as they needed help.
In this position I set up annual picnics and the projects to raise the money to put them on. I set up awards for the Airman and NCO of the quarter. I got a program instituted to select an Airman of the year along with awards. I was also involved in handing out disciplinary actions. In this area on several occasions I prevented unfairly applied punishment. One example of what might have been heavy-handed punishment is as follows. On a Saturday night an Airman came up to the front door of the hospital and broke the glass door. He could have just gone around to the emergency room door but he didn't. He broke the door in. When I came to work on Monday the administrator, the same one who had given me all the problems and constantly yelled at all his officers in every staff meeting, called me in and wanted disciplinary taken against the individual, in addition to his paying for the door. I listened and it appeared that was what should happen. I then called in the airman to find out why he had broken the door. He told me that he had been at the barracks and a girl was there that cut her wrists in the bathroom. The girl was not with him. He saw this and rushed her to the hospital. Now the hospital layout was such that if you went to the front door in a car it was quite a distance in time to go around. In his excitement he went to the wrong door. He knocked and banged on the door but no one came and she was bleeding quite badly. He felt that they didn't have time to go around and so broke down the door. After that explanation, and checking to make sure that this was reasonably correct, I not only didn't take any disciplinary action, I also didn't charge him for the door. I did have a problem with the administrator, but I stood my ground and no action was taken against the airman. Another individual might have relented under the pressure from the administrator. In fact, in almost every case everyone was so afraid of him that they gave him exactly what he wanted regardless of what was proper or not. There were other similar instances but this illustrates what I mean when I say that I prevented heavy-handed discipline.
In late 1980 and interesting opportunity came along selling Aloe Vera products. We were introduced to Aloe Vera by Melvin Gourdin, our stake president. We went to the meeting in Columbus, Ohio and it was incredible. We decided to sign up for it at that time and I did an lot of work on this project. In five months we built an organization that moved over $22,000 of product per month. It made manager in that time along with several others that we introduced. It was exciting. I gave meetings all over South Western Ohio for the company. We also began taking the products and something happened to Sharon as she got pregnant by March 1981. This is after sixteen years! Then, three months after we start to take Aloe Vera she gets pregnant. My mother began to take the juice and her lifetime thyroid condition is healed and she never took thyroid again. This is a marvel. Because of my excitement with the product I approached several of my co-workers and took them to meetings. It never dawned on me that they were enlisted and I was an officer and that caused me problems. Later it was alleged that I made them go and I was disciplined because I had forced them into a business. Ridiculous, but I was still disciplined.
Christine was born December 23, 1981 and all because of the Aloe Vera. Sharon wanted me to be with her in the delivery room, but I could not handle that so I was with her in the labor room and then I went to the waiting room until after she was born. Interestingly she was born at 20 minutes after midnight when I called Lois and mother. They found out about Christine's birth on December 22, the day before she was born. The physician agreed that Sharon and Christine could come home on Christmas day so we waited until noon for Santa Claus and presents that year. The nurses on the ward also made a red and white stocking to take Christine home in. The pictures are really cute.
At this time I found a way to get out from under this hospital administrator. I found a job at the Air Force Museum. I applied for it and was accepted as the operations officer and I worked there for two years. It was a new type of position for me and I really enjoyed it. I was responsible for the tours in the museum, the movies that were presented during the evening and during the day, the special events, the retirement parties, and every other activity that went on.
One day while I was reviewing old films I found a copy of a film of the maiden flight of an old tri-wing bomber. A wooden plane almost as large as the B-36 bomber. This plane was built around 1922. It was a fascinating film. Later that same year during a retirement activity the pilot of that flight came to the museum. He was in his late 80's. I showed him the film and he raved on and on about what he did that day and what happened and the test flights etc. I taped his story. I then took that tape and the film and sent it to Washington to the Audio Visual department and they put the two together with some music and an opening narrative. This was all put on video tape and then they sent us back several copies. I have one of those copies and it is a fascinating historical document.
One summer while I was there we put on a Glen Miller Concert. This is a concert played mostly by people who played for Glen Miller. This was an every other year project and drew crowds from all over the country. It was done outside in the evening off of the end of the museum. A real treat.
The museum itself was based in two large buildings hanger shaped big enough to hold the B-36 inside. Military aviation was shown from the earliest beginnings of flight through to the moon landings. In every possible case the actual planes that were involved were on display. If there was no plane and it was feasible one was built. At the very least there were photographs and dioramas to show what happened. We also had planes from both Japan and Germany. After the museum was closed I often took Dave and since I had the keys to the planes we would go there and sit in the cockpits. We went all through the B-36. We also went to the movie room and watched many of the historical movies about World War II and the development of the airplane.
I learned enough to give tours and I remember a small group of high school students that were of a gifted class and I gave them a special tour that took nearly 6 hours. I regularly gave tours of the museum and explained the detail of the development of flight.
In 1983 one morning I was called to the phone and was told that since I had been on base for over 6 years, actually 7, I was to be reassigned and where would I like to go. I explained that I was not interested in a reassignment but to no avail. I explained that I would accept anything that was a major's position and that I preferred not to go to the Northern States. About two weeks later I was called and told that I was needed at Wilford Hall in San Antonio, Texas. I immediately called Col Jackson and we discussed my reassignment. I was surprised when he asked me when I would like to come, so I told him that I needed to wait until the end of the summer to get the house sold etc. He agreed and we set my arrival to the middle of August. I believe that if I had said January or February of next year he would have agreed. This wasn't right.
In August we packed up and went to San Antonio. I found then that I was to be the administrator of the Aero-Evac Unit and that there was no position for me at all. The commander was a LtCol and I supervised four airman. This all ties together now. The reason that Col Jackson agreed to my postponing the assignment is that he didn't have a place he wanted me to be in anyway. And now the beginning of my end in the Air force starts. I had no job! Not only that but when I tried to get one no one was willing to put me to work. It appeared that my last two years in the Air Force were occur with nothing to do and I cannot sit idle. So I began to occupy my time with other things. I read books, I wrote this history, I did some church work, and I saw a business opportunity and worked on that. I never used any government equipment or supplies. The others in the Aero-Evac Unit were also under worked and two of them became interested in the project. Finally the Air Force decided that I shouldn't be doing this and they took action against me. I resigned from the Air Force because of the demeaning way I was treated and planned to later take this matter to civil court. A detailed account of this episode can be found in other documents, but suffice it to say I was forced out actually by those people that would not give me a job and then criticized me for finding something to do.
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