Loren Albin Anderson

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by J. A. "Andy" Chacon on January 19, 2013:

Loren A. Anderson Born May 6, 1927 -- Died January 16, 2013 My military career started with a tour in the Army Prep School at Stewart Field followed by admission to West Point on a senatorial appointment. Four years later I was commissioned in the Air Force and began preparation for 20 combat missions in Korea with the 34th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Wing. Verle Johnston and Joe Crocco joined in this endeavor at K-9. Clyde Cocke, Andy Chacon, and Hal Headlee were in B-26 Bomb Squadrons with the 3rd Bomb Wing at K-8. When the Korean War ended we came back to the states where I taught electronics in the training command. The Air Force Institute of Technology and University of Michigan graduate school followed resulting in an MSE in Aeronautical Engineering. A career highlight was my next assignment with the Aeronautics Department at the Air Force Academy. As the fifth and lowest ranking member of the department faculty, I served as Supply Officer as we moved lab equipment from facilities in World War 11 buildings at Lowry AFB to superior facilities at the permanent site for the Academy near Colorado Springs. We were privileged to teach the highly selected group of cadets that made up the initial Air Force Academy classes. Next was a B-57 tour in Japan with the 90th Bomb Squadron and later 41st Air Division Headquarters as a War Planner for the F-105 Wing. This was followed by several challenging R&D assignments at Wright-Patterson AFB, including a tour as Director of the Energy Conversion Research Lab. Vietnam and 45 missions with a Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron and 9 months at 7th Air Force Headquarters command center as a Battle Staff Director followed. From Vietnam I had tours with an arm of the Joint Staff and later the Pentagon. Next were two challenging R&D tours in the Dayton, Ohio area. Military retirement and additional graduate school at the University of Dayton resulted in a Ph.D. in Engineering. This led to 14 years with the teaching and research faculty of the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, with additional duty as University Director of the NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program at Kennedy Space Center. Retirement from the university allowed us to fulfill our dream of living in Colorado permanently, and in late 1995, Marje and I left Florida and moved to our home near Glenwood Springs. We travel, host visiting family and friends, ski, hike, swim, bike, serve the church and the Kiwanis club, and enjoy every minute of it. The day before the Korean conflict ended, it was announced that the negotiations at Panmunjon were successful and a cease-fire would begin at 6 PM the next day, July 27, 1953. I flew a road reconnaissance mission the night of July 26th landing about sunup the next morning. After debriefing at the Intelligence shack with a bottle of Old Stag and a series of blow by blow questions from the Intelligence Officer about the size and color and location of observed fires and other activity on the ground, I made my way to the chow line in the Officers Club and joined other returning aircrews for breakfast. After getting into bed and before my trousers had stopped swinging on the hanger, a jeep roared up to our stucco hut, the Charge of Quarters rushed in and said, "Lt, you are scheduled for immediate takeoff on another mission". So we drove to the flight line, the aircraft engines were running, the Duty Officer gave me a map and said, "you are going to Sinmak Airfield". He pointed at it on the map, I boarded the airplane and we were off. Sinmak was a strip in enemy territory near the front. Weather was marginal with broken clouds in the area of the target but we approached in reasonable formation with the squadron commander in the lead ship and placed our bombs right on the target. When we landed about midday we agreed there ought to be a picture to record our last contribution to the Korean War effort. The picture above is the aircrew in front of the B-26 we flew on the last mission. My 20th and last B-26 mission was flown on the last day of the war, July 27, 1953. A party was held at 6 PM when the `cease fire' took effect and we all enjoyed a fine celebration. Children: Loren Jr. & Janet Anderson; Charles & Sandra Anderson: Elizabeth & Mark Richter; David Fisher. Grandchildren: Loren Andrew, Zachary, Michael, Rachel, Matthew, & Charles Benjamin Anderson; Thomas & Kathryn Richter.

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