November 29th

Danny Morales and Olivia Alger

Last Meeting
November 29, 2006

Reporter – Skey Caskey

President Molly called the meeting to order. Barry Johns provided our invocation and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Harvey Hoots recognized our visitors and guests. Lyman Whitehead gave us a dose of Health & Happiness.

Thursday, December 7th, there will be a Board Meeting at Three Rivers Medical @ 7:30am. Our annual Christmas party will be December 13th from 7pm until 4am at the home of Joel Collins. (Just kidding Joel, 7pm – 10pm.)

Scott Moseley introduced our guest speaker, Russ Meyne, a Pilot who survived Pearl Harbor and 35 other missions in his B-17 aircraft. Russ was drafted June 10, 1941. He purchased a 1940 Ford for $850.00 and headed to California for basic training. He was compensated $12.40 for his first three months of service. Soon after basic training, Russ was shipped to Hawaii to train on “jet” aircraft, which raised his pay to $30.00 a quarter.

Two weeks prior to the bombing at Pearl Harbor the troops were put on alert. They were sent out to build bomb shelters above ground because of the water level being only a few inches below the surface. What was feared most was sabotage. Two weeks after the attack, Russ told about all the cows and hogs that caught “Hell” because of the noises they made. The Americans were in shock and shot at anything that sounded Japanese.

Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, Russ started pilot training in PT-19’s and 20’s, and after a mere 8 hours of training he soloed. Then off to Texas to train on PT-13’s with enclosed cockpits, radios and night flying equipment. Shortly after, Russ was in his Flying Fortress (B-17) with a speed of 120mph. This machine with IFR capability had the world by the yoke (airplane talk for steering wheel).

On January 7, 1944, with a full crew and only 3 months of training, Russ received his wings and was off to greet the world by way of South Dakota. After a trip across the North Atlantic, a 13½ hour journey with only 12 hours of fuel, Russ and his crew stopped by England for more training. The British would not fly in formation and flew only at night. With 88mm guns as the primary weapon, their cargo consisted of plenty of heavy metal (bombs). Flying at a height of 25,000 feet can get real cold and they had to wear heated suits to keep from freezing.

We were honored to have a real hero in our midst, Russ Meyne. The meeting was adjourned with a standing ovation.













Scott Moseley, Russ Meyne, and Nathan Ballentine