Page 113 - The History of Veterans at Highland Springs

DAN WICKER
HIGHLAND SPRINGS RESIDENT, AIR FORCE
The Korean conflict started in June 1950, a few weeks after my high school graduation. I enlisted in the United States Air Force on my eighteenth birthday in December of that year. After processing at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, I was assigned to Keesler AFB, Mississippi.
At Keesler I attended Radio Operator’s School and upon completion I was assigned to the Air Force’s Far East Command. I departed San Francisco on December 14, 1951, aboard the troop transport ship USS Randal, headed for Yokohama, Japan. The ship crossed the International dateline on 24 December, thereby missing Christmas Day!
From Yokohama I proceeded to Korea via a troop train to southern Japan. One of the cities the train passed through was Hiroshima. Six years after the bomb was dropped, the city was still in total ruins.
From southern Japan we proceeded to Korea via air transport arriving in Korea on New Year’s Eve, 1951. In Korea I was assigned to the 502nd Tactical Control Group. The 502nd’s mission was to provide tactical air control and aircraft warning (AC&W). I served as a ground radar operator.
After spending most all of 1952 (five or six days short), I departed Korea on Christmas Eve 1952 headed for Japan and the return voyage to the U.S. aboard the troop ship USS Mitchell, this time crossing the International dateline on my birthday, December 29.
My next assignment was Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and the 31st Air Division. The Division’s mission was the detection and interception of Soviet aircraft attacking from across the polar region.
I served as a radio operator for the remainder of my enlistment, being discharged in December 1954. Upon discharge I attended college on the GI Bill, graduating from Texas A&M in 1958 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
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