When I was a child living in Montana, I would always look up when I heard the jets fly over!
I knew the difference between civilian jets and military jets, just by sound alone.I would always wonder who was on those planes, where were they going or coming back to. Was it to another city in the state, maybe state to state or another country.
I always said and told people, one day I'll be in one of those jets, flying to an unknown destination.
The day did come on my birthday at 18 years old - my first flight and headed to Missouri from North Dakota to go to the US Army basic training camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (1973) ..
It was totally amazing; I was doing what I had promised myself, you're flying in a jet!
After my B/C training they sent some of us to Maryland to train, yes, another flight, another jet.
After that training I was going back to ND for leave, than off to another country (Germany) . That was three more flights.
I had many more flights in the Army before I was to ETS out of the military. I enjoyed every flight and the feeling it gave me.
I flew many more flights when I was a civilian after the Army life, I lost count on how many flights and planes I rode in.
Remembering my childhood memories about jets.
I would look out the plane windows and wonder who was on the ground and what they were doing, were they also looking up and wondering where that jet full of people was heading?
You can make your dreams come true, I did!
A simple country boy from a simple Montana small town, in the 1960's, looking up and saying, "I'm going to do that one day".
Michael VanDyke @C 2023
