It was in 2005 or so that I was forced to sell the Rolex watch I'd worn for more than two decades. I asked that this letter accompany the watch when it found its new permanent owner.
I don’t recall the first time I saw a Connery/Bond movie, must have been around 1963 when I was 14. Maybe. I don’t remember his watch, but I do remember his Walther PPK, which I bought for myself in 1974, while in the AF. When I went to that movie though, I carried a cap gun which I carried in a shoulder holster. My father was a cop, so such a thing was available.
I joined the AF in 1970 after graduating St. John’s University in Queens. Some time in 1971 I was assigned to Miyako Jima Air Station in the Ryukyu Islands, with maybe 120 total USAF, including ~13 officers. While I was there I heard other officers talk about buying a solid gold Rolex from the Pacific Exchange, though I can’t remember how much it cost. I kind of tuned out of those conversations because I was just a 2nd Lieutenant, making $500 a month.
I had later jobs once I left active duty. Some just lasted two or three years like in tech stuff for military contractors, and public relations with Edelman PR. But the stuff I gravitated to was stuff that would eventually pay me a pension. Active duty AF (eight years) was combined with Air Guard, giving me 22 years total which gave me something of a pension when I got to be 60. A few years of US civil service gave me a small pension. Nine years as a public information officer with a Florida sheriff’s office gave me a small pension. When I left the active AF, I had the VA examine me for all my physical problems, so I get a few bucks for that too. I guess much of the time I looked for and held onto jobs that would eventually let me retire, which I have.
Your jobs sound very interesting, fun even. But they would scare the hell out of me!
Damian Housman
I don’t recall the first time I saw a Connery/Bond movie, must have been around 1963 when I was 14. Maybe. I don’t remember his watch, but I do remember his Walther PPK, which I bought for myself in 1974, while in the AF. When I went to that movie though, I carried a cap gun which I carried in a shoulder holster. My father was a cop, so such a thing was available.
I joined the AF in 1970 after graduating St. John’s University in Queens. Some time in 1971 I was assigned to Miyako Jima Air Station in the Ryukyu Islands, with maybe 120 total USAF, including ~13 officers. While I was there I heard other officers talk about buying a solid gold Rolex from the Pacific Exchange, though I can’t remember how much it cost. I kind of tuned out of those conversations because I was just a 2nd Lieutenant, making $500 a month.
I had later jobs once I left active duty. Some just lasted two or three years like in tech stuff for military contractors, and public relations with Edelman PR. But the stuff I gravitated to was stuff that would eventually pay me a pension. Active duty AF (eight years) was combined with Air Guard, giving me 22 years total which gave me something of a pension when I got to be 60. A few years of US civil service gave me a small pension. Nine years as a public information officer with a Florida sheriff’s office gave me a small pension. When I left the active AF, I had the VA examine me for all my physical problems, so I get a few bucks for that too. I guess much of the time I looked for and held onto jobs that would eventually let me retire, which I have.
Your jobs sound very interesting, fun even. But they would scare the hell out of me!
I love this story Stu - and the photos add so much. Keep sharing these stories. What a history your Rolex had :) Love it!