Trease, Kenneth R.
After pilot training I flew C-130A’s in Viet Nam. I was stationed at Naha AB, Okinawa but all the flying was TDY stints out of Cam Ranh Bay from ’68 to ’71. It was a great assignment and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Our son was born there in 1970 during typhoon Olga, while I was in the Philippines, having flown a plane to Clark AB in a typhoon evacuation. When the war started winding down in early 1971 our wing was deactivated and the older C-130A’s were transferred to stateside ANG and AF Reserve units. I was assigned to B-52’s for my next assignment at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan where I was stationed for 5 years. We once again enjoyed our time in the wild pristine wilderness of the upper peninsula. We made great friends with people we still keep up with more than 40 years later. My next assignment was a rated supplement tour to West Germany as Chief of Services at Zweibrucken AB. Our four year tour there allowed us to travel to at least a dozen European countries. In 1980 I was assigned back to B-52’s at Fairchild AFB near Spokane, Washington. We finally settled down and bought a home in Spokane. Our son finished high school there and college at the University of Washington. I retired as a Major with 22 years. Just before I retired I took the Spokane civil service exam for fire fighter. I was lucky enough to make the top 25 hiring list and was hired shortly after I retired. At 43 I was the oldest “rookie” the city had ever hired. I worked for the city for 14 years. It was a wonderful job and highly satisfying. Jane and I lived in Spokane for 35 years where she taught high school until retiring. Three years ago we sold our home in Spokane and moved to Edmonds, Washington, a small town 10 miles north of Seattle to be near our son and three grandchildren. Jane and I are coming up on our 52nd wedding anniversary and feel blessed to be living the “good life.”