Pilots of yesteryear interact with Airmen of today

  • Published
  • By Orville F. Desjarlais Jr.
  • Air Force News Agency
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFPN) --  Airmen can learn from past experiences, the Web and books, but on Sept. 10 Osan Air Base Airmen expanded their knowledge by learning from living legends.

As if magically appearing from the pages of an Air Force history book, four Korean War veterans mingled with the young men and women stationed at this remote outpost.

Eight Korean War fighter pilots are revisiting South Korea from Sept. 8 through 15 and will attend an Air Force Ball to commemorate the Air Force's 60th anniversary. While four veterans were visiting Osan AB Sept. 10, the other four were touring Kunsan AB, South Korea.

The four war heroes visiting here were retired Col. Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon who is also credited with having shot down two MiG-15s; retired Lt. Col. Harold Fischer, who was credited with 10 kills and was also a prisoner of war; retired Maj. Gen. Carl G. Schneider, a former Air Force Logistics Command chief of staff and a fighter pilot with 100 combat missions; and Robert Moxley, a former fighter pilot.

"You cannot beat meeting someone with first-person experience, their wealth of knowledge, their experience, their attitude about life and the military and their passion for it," said 1st Lt. Samantha Miller, an executive officer for the base. "It's contagious. You can't help but get caught up in the moment.

"I'm a young company grade officer and I'm always learning," she said. "Quite frankly, I'm very fortunate to have this unique opportunity to have four living legends give us a real-life education as opposed to learning it in history books."

She said he talked of his days as a child, his military life and ended with insights into his personal life.

"He's a very, very knowledgeable man," the lieutenant said. "I took away that he experienced more than I could ever truly understand. He embodied why we're still here. He told us where (the Air Force) started out in the 1950s and where we are now. It's nice to know that we're fighting for a worthy cause."

The meeting of two generations of Airmen, one in the 1950s and today's Airmen, brought to the forefront not only their differences, but also their similarities, especially in the fighter pilot world.

Capt. Katie Gaetke is an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot here. She knew a month ago she was going to meet the Korean War veterans, so she researched their biographies and read Colonel Fischer's book about his exploits. 

"It was incredible, just incredible," to meet Colonel Fischer, she said. 

For a few hours, she watched as they took turns flying in simulators, visiting with pilots and watching a munitions upload demonstration.

"This just goes to show that as much as our Air Force has changed -- and these veterans are wide-eyed looking at all of our munitions options of today and the incredible airframes we have today -- it comes back to the people being the most important thing." she said.

"It's the one thing that hasn't changed," said the captain from Manhattan, Kansas. "Thinking about their relationships with their commanders and flight commanders and the guys they learned from that were their heroes, it's great to see that hasn't changed in all these years."

At 82 years of age, Colonel Fischer continues to insist he's not a hero. He's just an ordinary guy who attributes his success to his parents and ancestors and their approach to live, which he summed up in two words: "You adapt."

Mention the word hero, and he'll deflect that compliment.

"I'm just lucky I'm alive," Colonel Fischer said. "So many people are dead. Perhaps the greatest pilot in the world was killed on his first mission."

The characteristics that make a good pilot today stand true for those during the Korean War, the Korean War double ace said.

"Motivation. That, and the ability to learn," he said.

And whom better to learn from than a Korean War ace.

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