He was a true hero. RIP!
Chuck Yeager passes away at 97
- Thread starter Toolmanmike
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barnfind
Old Man with a Hat
A sad day, The man knew how to live to the fullest.
I met him once at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico while I was a Soldier in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Bliss, TX. We would go on EDRE (Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercises) where we would go on alert and have to be ready to load our tanks on Air Force transports in 90 minutes at Biggs Army Airfield. The Air Force would fly us to Holloman Air Force Base New Mexico and while we were flying they would tell us it was a drill and we would road march back through the desert back to Ft. Bliss. One time we were delayed road marching back because of an electrical storm and the brass didn't want thousands of us rolling through the storm. We met Chuck at the Mess Hall. He was dining with the flyboy's.
On another occasion when Carter was President we were on the ramp at Biggs Army Field ( across the street from Ft. Bliss) ready to load and destroy Iran during the Hostage Rescue Mission and Carter killed the mission before we left the ground.
On another occasion when Carter was President we were on the ramp at Biggs Army Field ( across the street from Ft. Bliss) ready to load and destroy Iran during the Hostage Rescue Mission and Carter killed the mission before we left the ground.
3175375
Senior Member
Ft. Bliss - not
LeBaron1973
Old Man with a Hat
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RIP a true American hero.
The Goose
Senior Member
Lucky enough to see a bunch of his old rides at Edwards AFB. We do a lot of support work out there. Some of the stuff he strapped in to has to be seen to be believed. Fearless.
The Goose
Senior Member
Ft Bliss is that the one where you could sometimes catch the delicious smell of dog food cooking from way out by the firing points? Don’t laugh we were out there long enough for it to start smelling good LoL!!!
In 2001, one week after 9/11 I was at Trinchera Ranch outside of Fort Garland, CO. As I was going over the license stuff for the elk and mule deer, there was a gentleman sitting across the small table from me. I looked at him and he had the clearest and brightest blue eyes, with smile lines at the corners of his eyes. I proceeded to say one of the dumbest things in my life, "Are you who I think you are?" He answered with a sly smile on his face, "Who do you think I am?" I said, "You're Chuck Yeager." He said, "You are correct." We proceeded to talk while the ranch manager was doing our paperwork.
The ranch comped him an elk hunt if he would spend time with the guests. I think he was living in the Gunnison area at the time. That afternoon he got a spike elk - good meat. I got a 6X6 bull that was in the rut, stunk like hell, and the meat was terrible! Just pure gamey! I think his elk was better eating than mine. (I wish I had that elk mounted, as it was my only fully guided elk hunt)
Had a great time with Mr. Yeager, as he stayed two days. RIP a true hero!
The ranch comped him an elk hunt if he would spend time with the guests. I think he was living in the Gunnison area at the time. That afternoon he got a spike elk - good meat. I got a 6X6 bull that was in the rut, stunk like hell, and the meat was terrible! Just pure gamey! I think his elk was better eating than mine. (I wish I had that elk mounted, as it was my only fully guided elk hunt)
Had a great time with Mr. Yeager, as he stayed two days. RIP a true hero!
I don't know about that.....
All of our field time was at Donna Anna Base Camp in New Mexico. There was no one out there but us. We never conducted any field training on Ft. Bliss itself. It was just us (3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment) which was the ONLY Combat unit on Ft. Bliss. All the other units were duck hunters (Air Defense Artillery) which did nothing except sit in place with all of their fancy radar. Maybe you are referring to the stench coming across the border from Juarez, Mexico.
mrfury68
Senior Member
Truly an American hero and another member of our greatest generation. RIP Sir.
The Goose
Senior Member
Nah not Mexico, we’d go out there for a week or two and punch 155 holes in the ground. I asked my brother and he said it was Alpo cooking dog food LoL!
Those NM Duster rigs were bad ***. I avoided DA like the plague. We had a bunch of guys get sick after playing out in the proving grounds. For some reason I can’t remember (none for me thanks) I never made it out to mop suit city.
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We (3rd Armored Cav) tested the XM1 Abraham's for almost 2 years in the 1970's. 90 days at Donna Anna and then 14 days garrison. We did that for 2 years and had one of highest divorce rates in the Army including me. Lol
1Fury1
Slab Side Slacker
When I worked for Union Carbide in the 80's I was in the Houston office and met with Hal Yeager, Chuck's brother. He had a photo in his office of Chuck going straight up vertical in a fighter jet. The signing on it read "Hal, on my way to 60,000 ft, Chuck".
Dona Ana, wow, half way between Bliss and White Sands. From the pictures, what a pit! The gate guard looks like an upgunned Sherman with Fury graffittied on its barrel! 90 days had to be hell!
Plus the heat.......
Tank trails ran along side the black top. The XM1 engine max speed wasn't governed back in those days. Most of the tank trails were as flat as a pancake. You could easily roll at 55-65 mph. The speed limit was 45 mph on the black top. No speed limit on tank trails back then. Occasionally the MP's would turn on their lights and sirens because we were rolling pretty fast. We would just hammer down and leave them in a dust storm. The MP's didn't have a choice and they would have to stop and wait for the dust to settle and we would be long gone by then.
Very Cool! Had to be fun with that turbine whining!
There was a few places that had a little elevation and if you hit them at speed the entire tank was airborne. Of course we trashed the torsion bars doing that and always got into trouble. Plus it isn't easy breaking track and replacing T-bars.
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