Title

Oral History of Thomas Ouellette

Creation Date

January 23 2024

Description

2024.004.001   Born 03 December 1945, Duluth, Minnesota. USAF, E-3, sergeant. After high school in 1963 went to electronics school at Salter for one year. Entered service in August 1964. Train to Minneapolis with a day layover and swearing-in. Flew to Lackland AFB for basic. The first few days there was "a lot of hollering." The drill instructors were intimidating. Lots of marching, KP, and cleaning. Training was more mentally challenging than physical. Imagine different from Army boot camp. One day on the obstacle course. Smokehouse, swing on a rope across a crick. No crawling under barbed wire. Believes that basic was 6 weeks, maybe 8. After basic went to Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, Texas. Training to repair piston aircraft; engines, hydraulics, and wheel bearings. Never worked on jet engines. Worked mostly on cargo planes. The food was "about average." Graduated in winter 1964 [or 1965]. Went to Hill AFB, Utah for first duty station assigned to a C-124 [Globemaster] as crew chief of 3 or 4 other guys. He was designated as a crew chief. Responsible for one aircraft but helped other crews. Worked mostly on the engines. Parts came from a logistics company called Log Air in Utah. Flew to Hawaii. Worked on B-26s [at Hill AFB?] At Hill volunteered to be on Honor Guard. Mostly burial details flew to wherever a family requested an AF burial. The detail was for six months. Toured northern Utah and Idaho. Received orders for Vietnam a week before he left Hill. One week to get shots updated and personal affairs sorted out. Flew from Salt Lake City to Travis AFB, California. Commercial flight to the Philippines, via Hawaii and Guam, [for schooling on C-123s]. Sent to Vietnam, 12th Air Commando, code-named Ranch Hand. Went to the defoliant outfit at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Never bothered him walking around off base. Defoliant mission: 3 or 4 aircraft with spotter aircraft and fighter cover. The army would dictate where to spray. Agent Orange general purpose defoliant: 2-4D2, 4-5 T (Roundup without 2, 4, 5T, Agent White for agricultural products, i.e., banana trees, Agent Blue for rice fields. Flew as crew chief, loading the tanks, and patching bullet holes. No safety equipment, i.e., respirators, and gloves. Made rubber gaskets for sprayer nozzles. Had to replace boots as the chemical would deteriorate the rubber. The Navy out a sea complained about the fumes. "No way." Sprayed from bases at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Ben Hoa, and Da Nang all over Vietnam. Rainwater, defoliant, JP4 would collect in ponds below the flight line. Defoliant great for cleaning engines, and shining planes. At Tan Son Nhut for about a month then to Ben Hoa. Patched bullet holes with Coke cans. Horse trade whiskey for 200 pounds of steaks and party on Vung Tau beach while waiting for more defoliant. Australians had a very low opinion of people with "slanted eyes." Throwback to WWII and the Japanese. In Vietnam through August (September) 1967. The only source of news re: the Vietnam war, was "Stars and Stripes" paper. At night sit on top of the bunker watching the gunships firing. Never stood night guard. Guards were provided by the Army. Prank ... run a radial engine and shut it down leaving the fuel mixture open then restart the engine which would cause a backfire that sounded like a 105 [howitzer] to scare the guard in the tower. Barter for supplies such as generators. The Vietnamese he associated with said that all they wanted was to be left alone. We should have never been there. After leaving Vietnam flew to Travis AFB. Flew to Chicago. Bought a ticket for Duluth. Civilians did not treat guys in uniform, especially the Army, well. Had eight months of service left. Went to Scott AFB in Illinois and served as an Air Crew Chief. Story: A general (Gen. Cain) approached a new out-of-tech school [Black] airman and told him to load his golf clubs and bags on [that] plane. The airman told the general, "I am not your "nigger porter." The General went ballistic. Gen. Estes asked what was going on and was told. Estes outranked Cain and ordered him to apologize to the airman and was further told that he, Cain, would not be flying in one of his planes and ordered him off base to hitch a ride some other way. Broke his ankle slipping on oil. Time for re-enlistment. He said he would if he could go back to his unit in Vietnam. Didn't happen. As a civilian worked for a power company in Carleton then to Hinkley and Sandstone with a different electrical company. [Interrupted by a phone call.] Then worked for Super Wood Corp, a cardboard plant. Then a caulking business [for 55 years]. Started a business with his wife, Carol [Caroline]. Reflects on his 4 years in the AF. "Best four years" and "Vietnam ... probably the best year ever spent."