We didn’t know all the things my father did in his 40 years in the Air Force; we just got pieces of his life in the military. Dad was 19 years old, right out of High School, when he signed up to go into the Army. His mother wanted him to go to college, so he did go to Ole Miss. When Dad was 16, he joined CAP and learned how to fly at Freedom Field Air Base, Seymour, Indiana. He was one of the first to join in Indiana. Out of Ole Miss, he went into the Army Air Corps. Then off to Texas he went.
He wanted to fly the big planes, Dad said the bigger the better. He checked in the B-24, B-25, and the B-29s, also C-46s and C-47s. He loved to fly. Dad told us how in WWII they bombed the Islands to end the war with Japan and to free our men and women in POW camps, and how they dropped their B-29s in Japan over those POW camps and how later they flew those boys home. He was 20 years old flying those bombers.
Then, next it was Korea, the peacekeeping mission that turned into an all-out war with North Korea, China, and Russia. He couldn’t talk about Korea without getting tears in his eyes, and then he would stop.
And start talking about the USO, all the wonderful shows and food, he said it was home away from home, it took the men away from the ugliness of war, and why they were there. Dad always had a big smile on his face when he talked about the USO. I have more of Dad’s life in the Air Force that he could tell us on TogetherWeServe.com, Lt.Col Herbert H.C.Zumhingst. I’m proud of him and miss him so. Dad passed away in 2008.
I made a promise to my father that I would NEVER FORGET WHAT ALL THOSE MEN AND WOMEN GAVE UP FOR OUR COUNTRY’S FREEDOMS. God, Family, Country. Dad didn’t get all his medals in the Korean War, and he was bypassed for two promotions because of Congress, like a lot of other men did. He should have been a full bird Col. if not a one-star. He trained many pilots and instructor pilots.
That’s why we give and volunteer at The USO.