Coming to Colorado: A Young Immigrantâ??s Journey to Become an American Flyer

CHAPTER 27. Harlingen Air Force Base, Texas

Harlingen Air Force Base, Texas CHAPTER 27 { 319 } HARLINGEN AIR FORCE BASE, TEXAS Military orders soon arrived terminating my enlisted status in the air force reserve. Then I received a letter from the Commandant of Air Force ROTC at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, welcoming me to the officer corps of the United States Air Force. Last, but most important, a set of orders arrived directing me to report for active duty. “By direction of the President,” the orders read, and Leo smiled approvingly when I read that sentence to him, “2ndLtWolfgangW.E.Samuel,AO3123445,havingvolunteeredforactive military service is ordered to extended active duty to attend Navigator Class 61-11N. You will report to the Commander, 3610th Navigator Training Wing, Harlingen AFB, Texas, not later than 1200 hours, 30 Aug 1960. Effective date of duty 26 Aug 60. Retention of officer on extended active duty is subject to standard medical examination at first duty station . If officer fails to pass the medical examination he will be processed for separation.” I read my orders several times. I pulled out a road map to find Harlingen, which turned out to be a little town in the very southern tip of Texas, squeezed between the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican border, as remote a place as that radar site on top of the mountain near Winnemucca, Nevada. Dreams are one thing, reality another. The stark reality for me was that the silver dollar I gave the sergeant at my commissioning ceremony in Boulder was just about the last dollar I had to my name. I had used every penny of income and savings on my education, sold my IBM stock, which I regretted doing, and ended up with nothing. I looked forward to going on active duty and receiving a paycheck, but until then I had to lay my hands on some money. Orders in hand, Leo and I went to the Bank of Aurora hoping to obtain a small personal loan of four hundred dollars to tide me over. It was the bank where Hedy and Leo banked since they moved to Aurora in 1952, eight years earlier. We didn’t anticipate a problem getting such a small loan. The loan officer, however, saw things differently and curtly denied my application. I tried to persuade him that there was no risk as I was going on active duty as an officer in the United States Air Force and would repay the loan before the year was out. He wasn’t persuaded by my plea, rose from behind his desk, and without { 320 } HARLINGEN AIR FORCE BASE, TEXAS saying another word indicated with his hand that our interview was over and we were to leave. In 1960 Aurora was a town where most residents in one way or another made their living from employment provided by the federal government, working either at Lowry AFB, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, or Buckley Naval Air Station. But apparently the bank’s loan officer was not aware of the economic facts of his community, or perhaps he had another agenda. Whatever his motivation in denying my simple small loan request, I still needed money to support myself. I felt insulted; Leo was incensed by the loan officer’s hostile manner. “Wolfgang, I know another place,” Leo said. “The people at Household Finance always treated me fairly when I needed short-term financial help. Let’s go there.” The Household Finance office was across the street from the Bank of Aurora. Within thirty minutes I had a fourhundred -dollar check in hand. I paid off that loan before the year was out. Hedy and Leo promptly closed their account at the Bank of Aurora. I enjoyed the few free days remaining before I had to report on active duty. The sun shone brightly every day, the sky paraded its pristine blue, and each morning arrived crisp and cool. I loved my Colorado and hated to leave. Two years passed all too quickly. I mapped out the route I intended to drive from Denver to Harlingen, over Raton Pass, New Mexico, through Amarillo to Lubbock, Texas. I thought I’d stay overnight with my friends Dean and Shirley Stutz. Dean was going through pilot training at Reese AFB in Lubbock, and they should have settled in by the time I arrived. But after...