Home Again: Vietnam Veteran Returns to KC-135R Stratotanker

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jamie Titus | From left to right, David Field, Cameron Field and Lt. Col. (Ret.) Lawrence Field stand in front of a KC-135R Stratotanker, June 14, 2019, at the Nebraska National Guard air base in Lincoln, Nebraska. Field was a navigator on the KC-135R during the Vietnam War. (U.S. Air Force photo taken by Senior Airman Jamie Titus)  

LINCOLN, NE, UNITED STATES

06.14.2019

Story by Senior Airman Jamie Titus 

155th Air Refueling Wing, Nebraska Air National Guard

What is the perfect gift for a Vietnam War veteran on his 85th birthday? For Lt. Col. (Ret.) Lawrence Field, it was a visit June 14, 2019, to the 155th Air Refueling Wing at the Nebraska National Guard air base in Lincoln with his son and grandson.
The idea first came about after Field’s son David met Senior Airman Connor Comstock, an aircraft medals technology journeyman with the 155th Maintenance Group, through Comstock’s business. David shared with Comstock that his father had been a navigator on the KC-135R Stratotanker during the Vietnam War.
In fact, Lawrence led the one of the first refueling missions over Vietnam during the war.
David also mentioned his father’s 85th birthday was coming up and Comstock thought of inviting him to the Air National Guard base to see the same planes he used to fly to mark the special occasion.
“Instantly, from the first time he got out of the car, his demeanor just seemed like he was home,” said Comstock. “And then once he got up in the jet, that was pretty cool, just his face lighting up. It was crazy.”
Nebraska Air National Guard pilots came out to meet him, share stories and talk about the changes that have occurred to the KC-135R since Lawrence was last in the U.S. Air Force.
“It was cool. You can tell he still has a love of airplanes and was proud of what he did,” said Lt. Col. Randy Douglas, the chief of standards and evaluations with the 155th Operations Group. “You can kind of see even the rest of the base knows how important it is to acknowledge and appreciate the guys that went before us.”`
Douglas talked about the importance of what Lawrence and his fellow Airmen did during the Vietnam War.
“Those guys led the way for when the tanker kind of left its nuclear mission and started doing its conventional mission,” said Douglas. “The use and strategy of the tanker came into huge play with getting bombers and fighters to their targets. More importantly, getting them home when they were hit with bullet damage and stuff like that and leaking fuel.”
The fuel the KC-135R’s delivered didn’t just keep the aircraft in the air, but for some Vietnam servicemen, it brought them home.
Douglas added, “Without guys like that there would have been a lot more guys that got captured or killed in Vietnam.”

• Date Taken: 06.14.2019
• Date Posted: 07.02.2019 14:03
• Story ID: 330066
• Location: LINCOLN, NE, US