FORGET KOREA, NEVER!!

Chapter 1

You'll be sorreee!

That was the yell raised by the shit-birds working a detail at the main gate as the bus loaded with volunteers entered Lackland Air Force Base in February 1950.

One of those volunteers was Private Ray Kidd, who began to wonder if he would be sorry. There had never been any doubt in his young 17-year life that he would end up here. Ever since he could remember, he had run around wearing an aviator-type cap with goggles on front saying he intended to be a pilot. This was a long way from being a pilot but at least it was the United States Air Force.

The USAF had become a separate branch of military service in 1947. But, in 1950, AF was still using Army uniforms and rank and insignia. They were known as the Brown Shoe Air Force. Sixty privates were delivered from all parts of the United States and thrown together as a flight of trainees and would be subjected to all the profanity and degradation that a drill instructor could heap on a flight of slick-sleeve privates in thirteen weeks of basic training. Private Kidd had already packed a lot of living into his short 17 years. Unlike some of his fellow volunteers who were high school dropouts but able to pass the entry test, he had graduated from high school and had completed one year of college. After high school, he had spent a week in Atlanta, Georgia, looking for commute daily as a day student. That year of college went into his personnel records and thereafter would cause resentment among his non-commissioned officers who would refer to him as "Hey College Boy" which he cared less for than the "Hey Kid" he had heard all his life.

When he thought about how he came to be at Lackland at this particular time, it seemed that it was destiny. He felt that he had little control. Things just happened and you went with the flow. Leaving college wasn't planned. An uncle in the Air Force came home for Christmas and Kidd persuaded his father to let him go with the uncle to California. There would be plenty of work in California. Uncle Homer was a sergeant stationed at Fairfleld- Suisun Air Force Base which was later renamed Travis Air Force Base. It was destiny that Uncle Homer would be at Fairfield- Suisun only three more weeks before being transferred to Biloxi, Mississippi.

During those three weeks. Ray Kidd worked two days. The work was physical labor at the minimum pay of $l per hour. There was a warehouse filled with 60-pound bags of walnuts and dried apricots, what would one expect in "the land of fruits and nuts" which had to be loaded on boxcars. There were no fork-lifts, so he picked up a bag under each arm and carried it to the boxcar and stacked it inside. In two days, the crew had emptied the warehouse and he had $16 hard-earned money.

The trip to California was interesting for a boy who had never been farther west than Chattanooga, Tennessee. Uncle Homer and Aunt Loly took turns driving and drove all night the first day of the trip. They stopped at a motel in New Mexico the second night. The only thing distinctive about the motel was the bullet holes in the ceiling. They took time to detour off the direct route to show the kid the Grand Canyon.

The trip back to Mississippi via the southern route wasn't as impressive but was still interesting. There were no interstate highways and the road followed the terrain. It was surprising to encounter so many low water crossings. Uncle Homer said these crossings were dangerous as it could rain several miles away and the crossings could fill with water without warning. Things had gone pretty well. Slot machines were legal then and Uncle Homer had put his change in one at a service station and won enough to pay for his tank of gas. There was one tense minute while Aunt Loly was driving through a swamp in Louisiana after a rainstorm and she let a wheel get off of the concrete on to the muddy shoulder and there was a sickening swerve as the car almost slid in the ditch. Biloxi was a welcome sight.

It had been three weeks since arriving in Biloxi and Ray Kidd could find nothing to do. His $16 was disappearing fast. Sometimes Uncle Homer had money to go to the base movie and sometimes they just went Downtown and parked a while and watched the passing pedestrians. This was as a good as a movie anyway. Not finding work was depressing and the kid knew he couldn't keep on living with Uncle Homer and Aunt Loly. Things would work themselves out. One morning after breakfast, the kid started walking along the beach. He had no destination. He was just enjoying a warm winter day and was amazed that the Gulf water was warm enough for mullet fishermen to wade waist deep and throw their cast-nets. A cast-net is round like an umbrella with lead weights in the bottom edge and a cord in the bottom edge. The net is whirled over the head and thrown in front of the fisherman. The net sinks over the mullet and the cord, when pulled, closes the bottom of the net and the fisherman pulls the trapped mullet back to him then moves along a few feet and repeats the action.

There were no buildings to obstruct walking along the beach and the few fishing piers were high enough to walk under. The kid must have walked five miles before feeling thirsty and hunger pains. He walked up to the highway to thumb a ride back to Biloxi. Traffic was slow and he decided it was almost as near to Gulfport as Biloxi. There was more traffic going to Gulfport, so he stuck out his thumb and had his burger in Gulfport then headed for the Air Force recruiting station. A sergeant was really pleased to see a walk-in whom they had not had to cajole into enlisting. The entry test was no problem, but the sergeant's joy waned a little when he learned the age of his volunteer was only 17. The sergeant explained that 17-year-olds had to have written consent of a parent to enlist. He did the necessary paperwork and went over the' application and asked the usual questions about arrest records and drug use and family history. He saw the name Ray Kidd and said, "You mean Raymond, and what is you middle name or initial?"

The kid said, "No sir, my name is Ray and I don't have a middle name." So the application was completed for Ray (no middle initial) Kidd. He said, "Now, as soon as your parent signs the consent form, you are ready for your physical."