In December of 62 I started basic training at Lackland A.F.B. and finished up in January of 63. I was immediately sent to Sheppard A.F.B. to Helicopter Maintenance school. There ended up being six of us for "Chopper School". There didn't seem to be much call for helicopter maintenance troops at that time but it was coming. Most of the training was book work with some practicals on the H-21 and even some airframe instruction on the C-124. I never understood how that applied but we did it anyway.

1963: I received my first assignment to Minot A.F.B. This was to a Base Flight unit on a SAC base. Base Fight has a very diverse mission, we had a T-29, a Blue Canoe, and some H-19's. I was assigned to the H-19 section and Missile Support was our mission. Since the base was a SAC base all attention went to the Bombers and Tankers with a little emphasis on the ADC compliment of Fighters, 106's I believe. Lots of great experiences during my first assignment, I became a Crew Chief and eventually got the opportunity to get on flying status. Lot's of cross-countries. I became quite proficient with lots of stick time in the left seat. I was part of the crew to pick up the first UH-1F from Fort Worth in 1965. That began the transition from H-19's to Hueys at Minot.

Note: Time at Minot was defined as "Winters Spent" not years or months as with other assignments. All was not lost though as I met my wife Janie there. We married in 65 just as I was leaving for my first overseas assignment. We met in June on my 21st birthday and married in September. The best summer ever up to that point in my life. We just celebrated our 41st Anniversary.
                      
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Gerard J. Bucknall

Photo provided by: Tom Fallows, LtCol Retired

Gerard (Buck) J. Bucknall - Born: New York, New York (Bronx) June 1944. I'm one of the war time babies. Grew up on the east coast in New York and New Jersey. The 50's was a great time to come of age. Great cars, great tunes and good pals to hang around with! My teenage years were very adventurous. The crew I hung around with was quite an eclectic bunch...one very good childhood friend even became a priest. As the "East Coast" saying goes; you grew up to be either a gangster or a priest.
 
In the summer of 62 I started to lean toward leaving and going into the service. One evening I remember, while sitting in a Diner on route 23, we were talking about the "Cuban Crisis" and how that would be affecting those of us of draft age. Of course we didn't know that Vietnam was just around the corner. There were three of us who decided that the Air Force might be just the thing to do. Not much thought went into this. As it turned out only I was able to join, my two pals were considered unacceptable. So......off I went into the Air Force. My exploits were as follows:

Buchnall Biography page 1 of 3