Clinton Bashore:  

After moving from Hempstead, N Y I finished High School at Pomona HS in Pomona Ca. Then spent the next two years at Mt San Antonio College where I received an AA with majors in math and science. I then worked a couple of months as a draftsman and tool designer for Vortox brfore joining the USAF. After basic training I spent a year at RADAR school at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi and was then shipped to Korea where I spent a year repairing IFF equipment for F-84 aircraft for the 8th Fighter Bomber Squadron.. While at Mt San Antonio I took flying lessons and continued them at Gulfport Airport in Mississippi where I received a SEL pilots license. My next assignment was at the 44th Air Rescue Squadron at Lowry AFB in Denver Co where I spent the next two years until I was discharged. While at Lowry i married Adele Miceli of Pomona and a year later we had a son, James. During my service with the 44th I took evening classes in calculus at UofC extension in Denver. My last class was interrupted by a USAF plane crash in northern Canada. It happened on a weekend while I was the only one in the squadron electronics shop. Gen LeMay called My CO to get a crew to the scene and I called my wife for some clothes and in a couple of hours we were on our way. A lot happened during the two weeks we were in Canada where the temperature never got above 20 below. The plane i was on lost an engine, one of the SA-16s had to have an engine replaced and one of the helicoptors had an intake turbine blade break, making it unsafe to fly and then after three days the last bomber passenger was found. The aircraft we maintained there were SA-16 Albatross amphibians built by Grumman and H-19 Helicoptors. Because of the search and rescue capabilities of these planes, there was an unusual amount of electronic equipment on board, from radar, HF, VHF and UHF communication to ADF , Glide...Expand for more