Bitburg Germany and Tripoli Lybia

I joined the Air Force, April 1955. The one thing I remember about the event was that the recruiter asked what I wanted to do. I told him that I was trained in T.V. repair and I wanted to be in electronics. He pulled out a sheet and said that it might interest me. It was a job description of a Electronic repairman for a guided missile. Neither of us had ever heard of a guided missile. We read up on the subject and thats what excited me to the point I joined right there. That was the beginning of what I consider a very exciting career. I went on to become a instructor in the maintenance area at Orlando AFB. I was transferred to Bitburg in 1957 and again assigned to the maintenance area.I can honestly say that I have never met a better bunch of guys in my life.When I arrived at Bitburg AFB, 1st Tactical Missile Sq. I was roomed with an airman, whose name I just found out was Lucas, first name unknown. I believe his picture was in the one at the bottom middle. He was the second from the left. He lent money and sold back market cigarettes to mention just few of his side jobs. I tryed to stop my wife from coming to Bitburg which turned out to be a bad move. I had the commander to write her and she wrote a two page letter to him raking him over the coals. She came over. The exchange rate was 4marks to the dollar and we had a pretty nice apartment at 52 Trier Str, over a bakery,in the middle of Bitburg. We worked and played hard. We traveled every chance we got. We saw the WORLDS FAIR in Amsterdam, stayed in Paris a few days and traveled the country side every chance we got.I went to Tripoli in 1957 and what a blast that was. I had the job of maintaining our guidance system on an RB66 aircraft. It would fly down range before each flight. Just some of my experiences in Germany and was it great. It was back to Orlando for the Mace Missile. In 1961 they sent me to the Martin Co. In 1965 I was awarded the Commendation Medal for the suggestion I submitted. Then it was on to Okinawa as a Launch Crew Chief. I transferred into Computers for remainder of my career, retiring in 1975 as a MSGT.