Karl's History In the process of completing this assignment, I uncovered a bunch of memories and new realizations. There were so many images that came flooding back that I could only capture a few of them or risk going on ad nauseum. I consider my most significant historical life events to be the following: Growing up in Glendale, California, attending USAFA, becoming a military aviator, marrying Susan, experiencing a career in the USAF, having 2 daughters and now 2 wonderful grand daughters.
USAFA provided the academic and self-disciplinary foundation that I would not have obtained elsewhere. At the time I entered the Academy, college was not extremely expensive but my parents were of very modest means and could not help financially with tuition, so, it was going to be necessary to work my way through. Which, of course, happened anyway at the Blue Zoo. My younger brother, Steve, and I would ride our bikes over there and frequently watch the airplanes take off and land.
We had been told that Charles Lindberg, and Amelia Earhart had flown in here. Charles Lindbergh, piloted the nation's first regularly scheduled coast to coast flight from Grand Central's runway as organizer of Transcontinental Air Transport. The president, C.
Smith, sent him out to Glendale to begin a base for wider west coast flight operations for what eventually became American Airlines.
There, in Glendale, he met and married my mother, who was born in Helena, Montana. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, , Grand Central Airport like all other west coast airports was immediately closed to private aviation. The remaining airlines had already moved to Burbank. The government moved in, heavily camouflaged the place, and converted it into an important defense base for Los Angeles. A P training base was built on the west side near the Los Angeles river which prepared the th Fighter Wing for action in Europe.
