SCHOOL'S OUT!

That long awaited time is here! School is out, and the kids can enjoy the carefree days of summer.

GRADUATION. The end of the school year brings graduation and Mac Swann is celebrating his graduation from Davidson Academy this weekend. Way to go, Mac!

In our family, Nate is graduating from Mother's Day Out. His graduating class was recognized at church a week ago Sunday along with the high school and college graduates. Their commencement was Wednesday night. It is hard to believe Nate will be starting kindergarten in August. Of course, it is just as hard to believe Jenna has completed the fourth grade and Ben the first grade too.

BOYS AND JACKETS. As I remarked last time, it just seems like we are having a cooler spring this year. I am not complaining. One morning it was pretty chilly as the kids and I were leaving for school and work and Vicki told the kids to wear jackets. Ben griped about this but put his on to appease his mother.

Ben was ahead of me as we were walking out to the truck. I heard the van door open so I told Ben we were taking the truck. He said, "I know." As I came around the corner of the Red House where our vehicles are parked I saw the reason. Ben had opened the van. He was stashing his jacket in there! When I told Vicki about it later she just shook her head and said, "That boy, that boy."

73RD BOMB WING REUNION. Once again I have gone to the reunion of my dad's old unit from WWII. This year the reunion was in Colorado Springs. I flew out there on Wednesday and came back yesterday. This was the first time I had flown anywhere commercially since returning home for Korea in 1992.

I had a great view of Pike's Peak (about 14,110 feet) and the surrounding mountains from my hotel window. These mountains don't look much taller than the Smokey Mountains do from Pigeon Forge. Of course, even at the base of these mountains I am already over 6000 feet above sea level, almost as high as the top of Clingmans Dome, the highest peak in Tennessee at 6643 feet.

I had a great time reconnecting with people I had met before. A few people I was looking forward to seeing again, such as Bill Lind (Dad's pilot) and William Agee, were unable to make it this year. Mr. and Mrs. Krantz were also unable to come but their daughter Cathy was there to represent their family.

Bob Stangland (Dad's left gunner) returned this year and it was great to see him again. Bill Copeland was also at the reunion this year (he works with the Commemorative Air Force).

I mentioned last fall that we located Achilles Stathas, the tail gunner from Dad's crew. He and his wife Janet drove to the reunion from Scottsdale, Arizona (a 12 hour drive). I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. They are truly great people.

I spent a lot of time in the Memorabilia Room again this year. The 73rd Bomb Wing Association has a large assortment of books, documents, and pictures that just aren't available in one place anywhere else. These materials and the conversations I have enjoyed have shed a lot of light on what Dad did in the war.

On Friday I went on a tour of the Weisbrod Aircraft Museum in Pueblo, Colorado. They have a respectable collection of airplanes there, including a B-29. We got to go inside the forward section of the Superfortress. I even sat in the pilot's seat and the bombardier's seat. Unfortunately the tail section where my dad sat was not on tour, but I could raise my camera up and get some good pictures of the gunner's compartment. Most of the equipment had been removed from this area anyway. They also had a gun sight like my dad used out where you could touch it and see how it worked. I really didn't see the rest of the museum as I was so fascinated just standing around listening to all the veterans walk around the B-29 and reminisce.

The Welcome Banquet was Friday evening. David Oreck was the featured speaker. You will probably associate this man with his vacuum cleaners and air purifiers, however, he was also a navigator for the 73rd.

All the Saturday activities were at the hotel and I had a great time simply visiting with people. I got up Sunday for the farewell breakfast and then headed home.

MEMORIAL DAY. I had planned to mow the yards today but the weather had different ideas. I wound up wrestling and playing Game Cube with the boys. We had pizza for supper at Pauline’s this evening (no one wanted to cook on the grill in the rain).

Joe