Memories of 87 years by Bob

  MY END OF STAY AT LOWRY Sometime after November of 1956 Ellen and I settled into a routine. I was spending as much time as possible with her considering all the school and furnace job I had. I think I decided she might like me a little as she asked me to go to Steamboat Springs with her to meet her parents, Norm and Alice Buchanan (of course I would meet all 7 of her siblings as well). This involved driving my newly purchased 1949  Ford over 2 mountain passes. Have I mentioned before that I was born and raised in Florida and the first snow ever for me was in November of 1956! I was excited that she wanted me to meet her family but had no idea how far was Steamboat Springs nor hor difficult the drive would become. There is a saying that "ignorance is bliss". Well, I certainly was very blissful! A friend of the family (who Ellen had stayed with during Business School) offered the loan of a pair of tire chains. I had never even seen tire chains much less knew how to use them!

  ELLEN and LOWRY The year 1956 was a busy one, especially the 2nd 6 months. I felt sad about the breakup with my fiance, even though I know it was best for both of us. I was very happy to have met what I think was one of the most beautiful and kindest girls I ever knew. Ellen and I came from large families and small towns but very different social backgrounds. Her dad worked as a rancher for many years and lived in very rural settings. She went to a one room school until she started 9th grade. When we met she had moved to Denver, went to business school (Parks Business). She studied comptometer at school and found a job at Borden's Dairy. This was a big change from ranch life I'm sure! Then, she met me. I did my best to try to wow and sow her. Of course when we met I had no car and all was on foot for me. I had another friend at Lowry whos name escapes me at this time. We were only friends for a short time but he helped me with transportation and I helped him with pool (billia

  LOWRY AFB COLORADO A lot happened during the short time I was at Lowry AFB. I arrived in the summer of 1956. I'm not sure of the exact date any longer but it certainly was different from Kelly where I had a semi private room and was a little spoiled. Lowry had left over WWII barracks, housing 50 or more on a floor and the heat was a coal fired furnace. Barracks inspections were reminiscent of Lackland. I enrolled in "missile" school, specifically the Matador missile. The Matador was a subsonic missile designed after the VI missle used by the Germans in WWII to terrorize the English country (England). The difference seemed to be that the Matador had a guidance system whereas the VI was like shooting a bullet. The "training" on the Matador consisted of learning which back box controlled what, not exactly a skilled job. The attraction for me was that all prior classes were sent to Cape Canaveral after graduation. My thought was that I would be reasonably close to