By Capt. Raymond Hildebrand, Ret.
Editor’s note: The following keynote speech honoring former Loring Air Force Base military personnel and civilian workers was given Sept. 25 in Presque Isle at the annual Take Flight event, sponsored by TAMC.
The contrails overhead remind us of the Loring aircraft that once marked Aroostook skies. More reminders of Loring’s legacy can be found at the Loring Military Heritage Museum, dedicated to honor all Loring Air Force Base personnel, both military and civilian, with displays of over 5,000 items and artifacts associated with the Loring experience, 1947-94.
I wear my Air Force dress blue formal uniform today for three distinct reasons: first, to prove to my family and friends that it still fits.
Second, and more importantly, as a symbol of honor to all branches of the service and those who served in those branches. We have been called to a special duty, a special honor to serve our country, to take that special oath … ”to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States…” This makes of us an elite group in that we, in whom so much is expected, are in reality so few in number.
Yet, it is worthy to note that we remember, we as Americans are not so much a people, but an idea, an idea that under our Constitution free people can, and are able to, govern themselves and still remain free. It is this service that truly makes of us a “Band of Brothers and Sisters.”
Thirdly, I wear this uniform today as a reminder, that even when we leave the uniform or retire, it has been a part of our lives that we can never forget and goes to prove that the uniform will never leave us.
Loring Air Force Base; the terror of any Airman’s or young Officer’s base assignment sheet due to its isolation and climate, and yet, this was part of the plan. That plan was to establish secure forward stateside bases for our new post-WWII transcontinental bomber force and to keep these bases far from major population centers for their own safety. Bases like Loring, KI Sawyer, Kincheloe, Grand Forks, Minot, Glasgow and others that formed the northern tier.
To Loring, Airmen and Officers were assigned from all over this country. No matter what they had on their dream sheet, they more often would wind up at Loring; new faces, ethnicities and ideas, all new to Aroostook. They were welcomed here and many married Aroostook daughters, later returning to The County to raise their families, as local roots are strong.
Loring AFB was part of the TRIAD policy of national defense — nuclear bombers, nuclear missiles and nuclear submarines. 1947 was the birth of the USAF, Loring AFB and the nuclear missiles of deterrence. That deterrence was maintained by Peace Through Strength, the strength of the “Big Stick” President Teddy Roosevelt so long ago talked about; the B-36, B-52, KC-97 and KC-135.
The Cold War and Loring AFB put Aroostook on the Global Map. We were not just a corner, but THE northeast corner of the United States. Who could forget the throbbing drone of the big engines of the giant B-36, the gutsy roar of the jets of the B-52s and KC-135s, as they flew overhead, taking off and landing?
To the Airmen and young Officers; I take off my hat to you in a dedication of honor. It is you who flew those dangerous missions, several dying in the line of duty. Loring lost several crews from its bombers and tankers, due to the inherent risks of each mission. We trained hard because we all knew the real thing would be even harder.
October, 1962. Loring was an integral part of the Cuban Missile Crisis. A teaching colleague of mine was but a young lad at the time. What he saw stayed with him all these years as he witnessed all of Loring’s bombers and tankers orbiting overhead, but what caught his eye the most was that all the Nike Missiles were towed out of their silos and on the launch pads in the erect, firing positions. We were very close to war and Loring was ready.
1973 followed suit in the Yom Kippur War, when Loring strike aircraft were all loaded, engines running waiting at the end of the runway awaiting, in dread, the presidential GO-Code, signaling authorization for a massive launch. Again, Loring was ready to fulfill its mission, if required.
I also dedicate this honor to the ground and maintenance personnel, who worked long hours in all kinds of challenging weather to keep us flying. I remember readying a B-52 for flight. When the crew chief met us he showed signs of severe frostbite, and no wonder, with the wind, it was 97 degrees below zero, a very dangerous situation yet endured by so many, for so long for the sake of the mission.
I also honor those personnel including Civil Service and Snow Removal, again, spending long hours to make Loring Air Force Base a place fit to serve at and live.
Local businesses welcomed Air Force personnel, not just for economic reasons, but for their friendly faces, glad that those businesses brought a little touch of home, so far north and away from familiar surroundings.
Many of our people served in Vietnam, just like many of those veterans I see before me today. A personal friend of mine was a navigator on a B-52 mission over the North, near Hanoi. His plane received a near-miss from a missile that heavily damaged several of the plane’s engines. They barely made it back over the border of Thailand before bailing out. Fortunately, all survived, as they watched their bomber spin into the jungle.
I am here today to speak about Loring’s lasting legacy. That legacy … pride! There stands today, on the way to Limestone, along Route 89, amongst the trees, a sign that acclaims Aroostook’s fine potatoes, and rightly so. However, we also remember when that very same sign once proudly read “Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, Maine. Home of the world’s biggest bombers and mightiest tankers” And to this I say Amen and Amen.
Capt. Hildebrand is a former Radar-Navigator Bombardier assigned to the 69th Bombardment Squadron, 42nd Bombardment Wing, Loring Air Force Base, 1976-84.
