David Kennemore:  

Life I worked the summer after graduating from Holston High in 1963. That September Ben Donaldson and I joined the Air Force together. After basic training, he went to Elmendorff AFB, Alaska, and I went to Lincoln AFB in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. I stayed there through December 1965. In January 1966, I was sent to Thailand and was stationed at a base near Cambodia. I was there the entire year of 1966. Because of being stationed in a combat zone and at a remote base, I was able to choose my next base. I chose McCoy AFB in Orlando, FL. I had to extend my 4 year enlistment in order to go to another base, otherwise I would have been discharged at the port when I got back to the states. I didn't want to come back from the boonies into the real world, so I extended my stay in the Air Force. While in Thailand, I was promoted to the rank of SGT, which is as far as I got. I was ready for my next promotion when it came time for me to get out. They tried to get me to stay. I told them that if my name was on the promotion list before my time was up that I would stay. It wasn't, so I did't stay. My supervisor, a Tech Sgt, told me that I would never make it on the outside. He said that I would probably be pumping gas. That was before self service. Well, I never did pump gas, except my own. After leaving the Air Force, I came back to Knoxville and started looking...Expand for more