How David got his nickname in the United States Air Force
1987
The 12TRS had deployed to Nellis AFB in Nevada on 3 January 1987 for Red Flag, the regular major air combat training event. Normally a couple of hundred aircraft would get airborne and do simulated air combat and bombing/reconnaissance over the Nevada desert. On 9 January 1987, I (then a Flight Lieutenant or CAPT equiv) was a WSO flying with LTCOL Jim Shambo in RF-4C '8548' and your David was in the backseat of our wingman's RF-4C. We flew a two ship as part of the attacking force for that Red Flag wave. Before we entered the exercise area we decided to top up with fuel and joined on a KC-135 tanker at F190 (about 19,000 feet altitude) and 320 KIAS. Jim and I took on some fuel then joined to the left wing of the tanker. Jim was busy listening to the radio and checking a few switches as well as formatting on the tanker, while I was watching our wingman refuel (David).
As I watched, the boom operator in the tanker extended the boom to plug into the AAR receptacle just behind David's cockpit when I saw the boom suddenly move short and extend straight through your David's canopy. There was a huge spray of fuel as the canopy shattered and when it cleared I saw the boom had hit (maybe damaged) the ejection seat and David was not visible. I said to Jim that I thought the boom had taken out David's head, and that he was no longer visible in the back seat. We immediately declared an inflight emergency and got an immediate descent to low level (well below 10K feet and slowed down to give Dave a better chance of surviving (below 10K for oxy and slow to reduce the cold). We went straight back to Nellis and the wingman landed straight in and stopped just off the runway so the Ambulance could get to Dave. I understand Dave was indeed soaked in fuel, but had seen the boom coming and ducked forward as it hit and so survived.
Of course, the combination of sub-zero temps at 19K feet in a 'convertible' RF-4C, followed by a freezing blast of air for many minutes and sucking fuel fumes meant he was a wee bit cold! Hence the callsign 'Eskimo'!
We had some great times in the Squadron, including deploying in an 18 ship of Phantoms from Texas to Germany (Zweibrucken) in late 1987. That was a 9.8 hour trip one way and 7 air refuellings from KC-135s on the way. I bet you Dave had his head down for those (-;
Story from Air Vice-Marshal K. Osley AM, CSC
Some Core Memories
The Early 2000s Era
These are a few of silly stories, but they're some of the earliest, best memories I had with my dad. I remember around this early 00s era, I must have been around 5, making my brother Matthew around 7. He took us out to the apartment pool to begin teaching us how to dive. To do this, he would throw Starbursts in the pool, let them sink to the bottom, and have us dive down to retrieve them, and eat them after, of course. I remember how much fun I had doing this with my brother, and how helpful it was in getting me comfortable with diving into the water.
Another funny one I remember was some random weekend day, with my brother and I being around the same ages as the prior story. We went to the apartment lobby to rent a VCR Tape, and since we had seen Space Jam (1996) around 10 times already, we decided to rent a musical with dragons. I remember setting up a giant blanket fort with my brother and dad, sitting back, and 10 minutes in, we were all laughing and making fun of the movie. This cemented our dislike of musicals, yet we still had such a fun night full of laughter.
One of my favorite memories we did with our dad was "Snack Supper Sundays". Every Sunday, we would lay out this big, white blanket on the floor in front of the living room TV. We would have a snack-like dinner and watch a movie or episodes of a show we were watching. I don't remember when we started it, but I always missed it when we got older and stopped. This is a tradition I plan on introducing to my kids.
Although I have hundreds of beautiful memories with my dad (and no bad ones), I couldn't fit them all in here, so I'd like to leave my final memories with the following: My dad attended every single sports game I ever played since childhood (baseball, basketball, football and lacrosse) through college, and after, during Men's summer leagues. He supported my brother and me throughout our entire lives in every aspect, from financially providing for us and putting us through college, to being there for deep, emotional conversations, and never failing to say I love you. I think we exchanged an "I love you" more than 50,000 times throughout our lives. My dad taught by example, and was the best example of a Father in every way, especially how he treated my mom, which he never went a day without complimenting. Both of them never once raised their voices at one another, and always told us how lucky we were to have the best mom/dad in the world. I feel incredibly blessed to have been taught and shown and raised with so much love by my Father.
Stories from his son, Nicholas
The day of David's service, Al, one of David's buddies from the Air Force, sent a message that the aviators were praying for Dave that day, and "throwing a nickel on the grass".
"So here's a nick on the grass to you, my friend, and your spirit, enthusiasm, sacrifice and courage - but most of all to your friendship. Yours is a dying breed and when you are gone, the world will be a lesser place."
Stories and Memories will continue to be added as more get submitted, or individuals give permissions for their stories of David to be published on his website.
