He was there...
Donald A. Drumheller
by Norma-Lee
On November 11th, we honored the men and women who have served or
who are serving our country in the armed forces. These hundreds of
thousands of "unknown" soldiers make it possible for us to sleep in
peace each night and go about our business freely each day. One of
these men gave us twenty-four years of his life and, in his own way, is
still serving today. He is the Post Commander of the American Legion
Haggin Grant Post 521, Donald A. Drumheller. This is his life and times.
At five minutes to five on Tuesday evening the 14th of November, 1949,
the teenaged Don began his military career as he boarded a train from
Jacksonville, FL, to San Antonio, TX, where he was to complete his
basic recruit training in Flight 4550 Squadron 3702 as a member of the
United States Air Force. Thirteen weeks later he was a Private First
Class on his way to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX, to attend 28
weeks of Aircraft Mechanic's Technical School. After successfully
completing the program he was transferred to Oklahoma City, OK,
attached to a new WB-29 Squadron to be stationed at Hickham AFB, HI.
He
thought he was in the Air Force, but he boarded a MATS Troop Transport
Ship in Oakland, CA, for a ten day ship ride through Hawaii to
Kawajelin, Marshall Islands. They landed on February 5, 1951, and were
attached to the atomic bomb project called "Operation Ivy". The Air
Force was on one end of the island and the Navy was on the other end
with the Marines in the middle to keep them apart. While serving in
Kawajelin, he was promoted to Corporal. That was 1951. Eight months
later they got the word to go home to Hickam and after a four day ship
ride, he saw Hawaii for the first time. Three months later 'someone'
wanted to test the "H" bomb so back they went to Kawajelin for
"Operation Greenhouse".
Following "Operation Greenhouse", he returned to Hickam AFB for a short
time to complete his overseas tour of duty. Don then requested a
transfer to Florida, Georgia, or Virginia and in May, 1953, the Air
Force transferred him to Castle AFB in Atwater, CA. While working there
as an engine mechanic on green-tailed KB-29's, he and a friend, Larry
Marks, went to a dance in Fresno where he met Lerretta Jean Hoppe. That
was in June and on December 19, 1953, they were married in her hometown
of Dinuba, CA.
In November, just prior to his marriage, he was asked to re-enlist as a
Staff Sargeant with no chance of promotion in the near future. He
would, however, be put on flying status and assigned as a crew chief on
two C45 aircraft. He chose instead to take a discharge and went to
McClellan AFB on a Friday to report to Col. Jacobs, an officer he had
known while he was stationed in Hawaii. There he re-enlisted in the
55th Air Weather Service Squadron to work on the same WB-29s he was
with in Hawaii.
In May, 1954, Don was transferred to Kindley AFB, Bermuda and in July,
Lerretta took a ride on an Air Force C-97 to be with him for a
three-year tour of duty. During that time, their sons Dan and Marc were
born giving them both American and English citizenship. At Kindley, he
was assigned as a WB-29 Crew Chief on Aircraft 4040 and prepared it to
fly through many storms as a hurricane hunter. When the hurricanes came
close to the island the flight crew and ground crew would fly out to
safer ground. The wives and families including Lerretta and his boys,
were left to board up the windows and "weather the storm".
Completing his Bermuda tour in June, 1956, Don, Lerretta, and the boys
boarded a luxury liner and cruised to Brooklyn, NY, to pick up a brand
new 1957 red and white Ford station wagon which they drove to his next
duty station at Turner AFB, Albany, GA. From June to November, that was
their home. About that time, the Air Force came out with a new policy
to allow re-enlistment for "Base of Choice Enlistment". Don chose to
re-enlist at McClellan AFB, Sacramento, CA. He was assigned by "Verbal
Order of the Commander" to the 552N AEW&C Squadron as a Flight
Engineer and had his first look at the RC-121 Radar Constellation
(Connie).
In 1962, Otis AFB in Massachusetts closed and sent sixty-three Flight
Engineers to McClellan. It became Don's job to train his own
replacement as he had received
Permanent Change of Station orders to Hill AFB, UT, Military Air
Transport Service (MATS). He knew, though, that Travis AFB in
Fairfield, CA, also had a MATS base. Not wanting to move his family to
Utah, he called Chief Engineer CMST Conrad at MATS Headquarters and at
his suggestion Don signed out of McClellan at 1600 hrs and into Travis
AFB just before 1700 hrs on a Friday. After the resulting personnel
problem was cleared up, he was assigned as a Flight Engineer at Travis
and for the first time, he saw the Cargo Master C133B.
About the middle of 1969, the ADC needed qualified Flight Engineers to
attend Technical Instructor School at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls,
TX, which was where Don had started in 1950. He went and became the
class leader since he, as a Master Sergeant, was the ranking student.
After burning a lot of midnight oil, he earned the Honor Graduate place
and went back to McClellan AFB with the 510 Field Training Detachment
(FTD). Don had become combat ready as an Instructor Flight Engineer and
for the next four years he was assigned to the 963rd Squadron. He was
immediately sent on an 89-day temporary duty assignment (TDY) to
Keflavik NAS, Iceland. Returning to McClellan, he was put on the next
list to go TDY and spent 189 days at Karat AFB, Thailand. With the
Connie's (RC-121) phasing out and with the mission changing to the A-3
Radar Aircraft, he received orders to move his family to Homestead AFB
in Florida. He then went TDY to Altas AFB in Oklahoma to learn one more
airplane, the A3.
By now, Don had 23 years and six months service which in the Military,
counts as 24 years for retirement. He went to Personnel, after getting
Lerretta's permission, and filed for retirement. After 24 years, he was
an unemployed civilian again. Master Sergeant Donald A. Drumheller
thoroughly enjoyed his career that included 108 combat missions in
Southeast Asia. He recalls many good times and has put any bad times
behind him.
He became eligible to join the American Legion by serving during the
Korean War and the Vietnam War where he flew his combat missions. In
1976, he was elected post Commander of Haggin Grant Post 521 here in
Rio Linda. He has also served as Department Commander, has represented
115,000 veterans at the State level, and been elected to the National
Executive Committee headquartered in Indianapolis, IN.
As a civilian, Don attended American River Community College and
completed the Construction Management Technology course. Based on his
military career, he received his teaching credentials and taught
construction at Los Rios Community College for two semesters.
Because of both his military and his construction experience, Don was
contacted by the Governor's office in 1988 to help in the building of
California's Vietnam Memorial. He helped to select a site, raise funds,
construct, and actually choose the winner from the 186 entries
received. On October 10, 1988, the Memorial, at a cost of $2.1 million
dollars, was dedicated at the east end of Capitol Park. To further
serve veterans, Don requested and was appointed by the Department of
Veteran Affairs (CDVA) as a Claims Representative of the Veteran
Affairs Services Division.
Don retired December 2, 1998, from state service but he continued to
serve as Post 521 Finance Officer and Chairman of the Hall Board
building committee. He also served under four commanders as Editor of
the California Legionnaire Tabloid, which is headquartered in San
Francisco.
Today, Don devotes all of his time to Haggin Grant Post 521, which
sponsors the Rio Linda Boy Scout Troop, American Legion Troop 100. He
and his wife of 49 years, Lerretta, have five children, Dan, Marc,
Patsy, Paul, and Greg, six grandchildren, and one grandchild on the
way. You can find him almost any day sitting behind his big desk at the
Legion conducting business as usual with his friendly smile and easy
manner. The next time you find yourself berating some government policy
or official with your friends, remember that it's because of people
like Master Sergeant Donald A. Drumheller that you have the right to do
so - not all countries are so lucky.
.