At the end of 1964, my husband received a letter asking him to join the Air Force as a chaplain, with the rank of captain.
I wasn’t too thrilled, since this was during the Vietnam war. Soon he got orders for Lackland AF base in Texas for training. I was left with the children and Christmas coming.
Soon there were orders for Duluth, Minnesota. We would have to drive from Montana to Minnesota in the middle of winter. I thought, “I don’t think I like the Air Force.”
I arranged for the movers and everything was packed. We arrived in Duluth with 9 feet of snow on the ground. In fact, I saw snow until July.
We were assigned guest quarters [both my brother Danny and I remember that we stayed in a MOTEL near the base, not guest quarters, when we first arrived], which turned out to be one long room with 5 cots and one bathroom. Now I really didn’t like the Air Force.
I figured it had to get better and, three years later, it did. We were assigned to Japan.
[And now my hindsight. I could probably rightfully say that I am eternally grateful to the Air Force. God used it to change my life dramatically. While attending chapel, I heard the gospel from some Bible believing chaplains. I saw parts of the world, and experienced a lifestyle, I would not have otherwise been privileged to experience. And this little snippet from Mom was only the anxiety talking of making a total life turnaround. She, as stated in the last line, did appreciate the places and experiences the Air Force afforded them. I only wish I’d been younger when he went into the service, so that I could have gone to Europe with them. By then, I was a young mom myself, having met my husband at an Air Force chapel in Sacramento, California. Thank You, Lord, and Go, Air Force!]
