JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
An undergraduate pilot training class whose members grew up together as aviators at Laredo Air Force Base turned back the clock May 15-17 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.
Assembled for their 50th anniversary reunion, Laredo AFB Class 66-E, which called itself the "Laredo Escadrille" and distinguished itself throughout the Vietnam War and beyond, were guests of honor during a "re-graduation" ceremony that recalled that February day in 1966 when they earned their silver wings.
"All of us, we stand on your shoulders," Col. Matthew Isler, 12th Flying Training Wing commander, said after reciting the Airman's Creed. "We stand on the proud heritage, the tradition of honor and the legacy of valor with each of you, and we're proud to support your graduation today."
Isler listed some of the accomplishments of that class, which included 7,000 hours in combat and 71,000 military flight hours; two silver stars, both earned by Capt. Dave Burney; 16 Distinguished Flying Crosses; and 144 Air Medals in Combat. At the peak of their Air Force careers, Class 66-E's ranks featured "numerous majors, three lieutenant colonels, three colonels and one full four-star general."
Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Education and Training Command, presented certificates to 19 class members or their representatives and thanked them for showing his generation "how to win and how to fight."
"I want everyone to reflect a minute on what it was like for these gentlemen in 1966, when they graduated," he said. "Our nation was in the middle of a nasty conflict and they knew what they were going to have to go do."
Rand drew a parallel between Class 66-E and the current members of the 435th Fighter Training Squadron in attendance.
"Many of those folks standing back there, too, are going to do what you did," he said.
Class 66-E's "re-graduation" was the highlight of their seventh in a series of reunions that began in 2001 at Eglin AFB, Fla. Other activities on their schedule were tours of the Taj Mahal and the historical displays at the 99th and 435th Flying Training Squadrons, a 435th FTS briefing, dinner at the Parr Club, a round of golf at the Randolph Oaks Golf Course and sightseeing in downtown San Antonio.
Retired Maj. Tal Haas, who flew nearly 3,800 hours in the C-130, said his class shares a special bond.
"We all went our separate ways, but we still have camaraderie," he said. "Our Air Force training was the bond that holds us together. We knew nothing about flying when we came in and they taught us how to do that."
Haas called his class "unique."
"We all get along," he said "We have many backgrounds, but a unique personality. That's enough incentive to want to come back to the reunions."
Haas said more than 30 young men entered Class 66-E in January 1965, and 19 of them graduated 13 months later. Most of them had combat roles during the Vietnam War.
"Everybody who went to Vietnam came back alive," he said, including Lt. George Rose, who was shot down over North Vietnam on June 21, 1972, and was a prisoner of war until his release on March 28, 1973.
Haas said the class drew its nickname, "Laredo Escadrille," from the famed Lafayette Escadrille, the squadron of American pilots who volunteered to fight for France during World War I.
One of the parallels between the two units was the number 38, he said. Thirty-eight American pilots joined the French Air Service in World War I, and Class 66-E was set to be the first class to train in the new T-38 Talon at Laredo AFB. However, the T-38 was not quite ready, so the young pilots earned their wings by training in the T-33 and T-37.
Larry King, a C-130 pilot who transported war supplies to Vietnam, recalled his pilot training as a special time in his life, one that's become more precious with time.
"As I get older, I look back and realize that the experience means a lot more to me now than it did at the time," he said.