Fred Remembers~Part 18

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

More of Fred’s adventures at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (UNM):

University of New Mexico – Credit Google Search and UNM websit

During the first week – Freshman Orientation – various organizations on campus set up tables to advertise their presence.  As God would have it, the first table I came to was the BSU – Baptist Student Union.  They quickly found out I was a believer, and they offered to provide a ride to church the next Sunday.

Sure enough, on Sunday, one of the students came to the dorm and took me to his church – the First Baptist Church of Albuquerque.  I remember the young men’s Sunday School class he took me to was called “The Radiators.” Their motto was:  “if we rest, we rust.”

Photo credit Google search First Baptist Church, Albuquerque

After visiting that church for a few months, I joined the church and soon joined the adult choir.

One of the classes I signed up for was Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps).  (There are only three ways to be commissioned as an officer in the United States military:  (1) ROTC, (2) attending the Military Academy, or (3) completing Officer Training School (affectionately called the “90 Day Wonders,” since it is a 90-day program).

During my third semester of ROTC, I completed all the officer-qualifying exams which included a complete physical exam.  My vision was such that I was not qualified to be a pilot.  Since the Air Force was only commissioning pilots at that time, I was not allowed to continue in the ROTC program.  Some years later, after I completed my graduate school, I applied to Air Force Officer Training School and was accepted.  After completing the 90 days, I was commissioned a 2^ndLieutenant in the Air Force.  I was immediately ordered to San Jose State College in California for training as a meteorologist.

Fred’s commissioning 1966

Fred receiving his commission papers as a 2nd Lieutenant

For many years, beginning in my high school years, I had a “Dairy Queen” hairdo, complete with a large curl in front.

I knew the Air Force ROTC unit would not allow such a haircut, so before my first class, I went to the nearby Kirtland AFB barber shop and had my hair cut in a very short “flattop,” which I kept until after Judy and I arrived in Germany in the summer of 1967. (As a side note to this: I quickly discovered after arriving in Germany in 1967, that the German people looked askance at me with my flattop.  It was because Hitler’s German Youth Corps wore their hair so short, that I reminded them of the Nazi’s.  When I learned that, I let my hair grow out – but no longer with the curl)

Charles wrote:   In December of 1957 we left Japan for assignment to Cannon Air Force Base at Clovis, New Mexico.  There we would be not too far from Fred.

We went over to Albuquerque to pick up Fred at the end of his first year there and brought him to spend the summer with us.  During that same summer we were visited by a group of young people from the First Baptist Church of Albuquerque.  Fred had joined that church and was active in the young people’s group. Among those visiting us was a very attractive young woman who seemed interested in Fred and he in her. Eventually this mutual interest led to their marrying a few years later.

And so, as they say, the rest is history……

~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years

Tags: A military man remembers his life., ROTC