History of The Stringbusters
contributed by: Hank Newman
The band was formed in Jan. or Feb. 1953 by S/Sgt. Jack Johnson from Indiana. Band consisted of Don Allen from Lubbock, Tx. on the steel guitar, Bobby Bailey from Groveton, Tx. rhythm guitar and vocals. Hubert Parker from Oregon on drums, Hank Newman from Columbus, Ga. on piano,and Jack Johnson on bass.
The band was called Jack Johnson's Stringbusters. The band remained in-tact 1953 and most of 1954 when Jack and Don rotated back to the states. M/Sgt Hank Keomalu from Hawaii replaced Jack on bass and Eugene Davidson from Columbus Miss.replaced Don.
This group won the Northeast Air Command's talent contest held at the Harmon theater and got to go to the Tops in Blue talent contest held at Scott AFB,Ill.
We didn't win but were happy to run into Don Allen competing with a band from Washington,DC. We also met Jerry VanDyke who was competing in another category. After returning to Harmon it was time for Bobby Bailey to leave being replaced by Bill Stark. I played with the band until around the end of 1954 when I left the Stringbusters and formed a band called The Western Ramblers. The band consisted of Hank Newman piano, and vocals Y.J. Allen from Chattahoochee,Fl. on steel guitar, Jerry Clark from Louisville, Ky. on the bass, Bill Walker on drums and James Case hometown unknown on lead guitar.
My band played together for about a year including playing for my wedding reception (without me of course) in Stephenville Crossing where I married Greta McIsaac, my bride for fifty years now. In Dec 1955 we went back to the States, the Western Ramblers dis-banned, Y.J. Allen went to play with the Stringbusters who had hired a local named Larry Gaudet on lead guitar. I believe the band went on for another year or so hiring well known "Boxcar Willie" during that time. Three of the Stringbusters moved to Lubbock, Tx in 1962, Don Allen, Bobby Bailey and Hank Newman. Don hired four more musicians and formed the Sunset Ramblers. We were quite successful playing mostly after rodeo's in west Texas. We played what is called battle dances (one band plays half the job then the other finishes) with Hank Thompson, Bob Wills and Johnnie Lee Wills. We did this until the band broke up in Aug. 1966 when I moved back home to Columbus, Ga.
In 1967 we moved to Jacksonville, Fl. where we've been ever since. We are retired with three wonderful children and three granddaughters and one grandson with another grandson due in Oct. I am still in touch with Don Allen and Bobby Bailey. Also Y.J. Allen who recently told me the Stringbusters still existed and was a rock group(woe is me) just kidding. Thats about it for "The Stringbusters". Anyone out there remember me, I'd like to hear from you. Ganewm9@aol.com
Lebanon crisis in 1958
contributed by: Ron Steffen
We were put on 24 hour duty to refuel and turn around the C-124's and other transport planes coming through to Europe. All were filled with army or marines from the states. It was a hectic time and I remember being on a de-icer crew that went down the line on planes and de-iced them as they were in line for refueling. A lot of noise and confusion with periodic breaks for sleep and food.
CFSN-TV
contributed by: John Hartnett
I was stationed at Harmon from 1963 to 1965. I worked for AFRTS and did the evening newscast for CBC. Also radio news. I have great memories of those years. Worked with a great crew and loved going into Stephenville for fun and sport.
We played the first recordings of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and many others. The big hit on the radio was Louis Armstrong's Hello Dolly....
The Drifters Band
contributed by: Remy Abeyta
I was stationed at Ernest Harmon AFB from September 1961 to March 1963. I was assigned to, I believe, the 376th Air Refueling Squadron and worked in the Propeller Shop supporting the KC-97 aircraft that were stationed there I'm guessing until the bass closed. Shortly after arriving at the base I joined a Country Music band called "The Drifters". I,m sorry to say I have forgotten the names some of the musicians I played with. Our band leader's name was MSgt. Sam Lewis who played steel guitar and our vocalist & rhythm guitarist's name was Stu (sorry, forgot his last name). We had a young drummer who was a military dependent we called 'Sticks'. I played lead guitar. In those days the military clubs at the base would bring in Country Music stars from the states. We backed a couple of unfamiliar female country singers whose names I can no longer recall. We were also privileged to perform with singer Bobby Helms who was accompanied by fiddle and guitar player Joe Ed wards. Bobby was a real gentleman and treated us with respect. Joe as well was very friendly and taught me a few guitar licks I still use to this day. Joe later went on to play with the Grand Ole Opry Band for many years. Our Drifters Band played often at the NCO Club, the Salty Dog Club, Officer's Club and Airman's Club. After Newfoundland I went to Dow AFB in Bangor, ME. Then to Pease AFB, NH and many other bases before I retired from the Air Force in 1977. I now reside in Cheyenne, WY.
Story about Victor H, Beaver, T/Sgt.
contributed by: Larry Beaver
Victor H, Beaver, T/Sgt, USAF had transferred from the Mission at Bogota, Columbia to Westover AFB Base in Mass, in February 1951. Here is his story in his own words.
When I reported in at Westover AFB I was told that I wouldn't be assigned as a flight radio operator. It seems that I had too much rank. I was at Tech Sgt. And they were not assigning any ranks higher than staff sergeants to flight crews. I wasn't particularly unhappy about that. I didn't relish the long boring flights across the Atlantic to Europe and back on a regular basis. I just about had my fill of flying. Flying can be the most boring thing in the world, and like the man said " Flying is hours and hours of boredom interrupted with moments of sheer panic". I had my full share of those hours and moments over the last 12 years.
They found that I had a ham license and asked if I could build a MARS station for the base. This, of course, was right up my alley and I was a quick with an affirmative. I found the work fun , especially since it was my hobby. They had given us an old supply room for the station and it had plenty of room. I had a really great guy working with me; a Tech Sergeant named Ed Garrison. In two months we had the station finished.
The base commander, a full Colonel, was there for the inauguration. We phone patched him through to the Pentagon to talk to a friend of his. He was impressed. A short time after our opening the station, we found ourselves handling a lot of relay message traffic; mostly for the Pentagon, and Wiesbaden Air Force Base in Germany. Later we handled a lot of traffic with Harmon Air Force Base in Newfoundland.
Westover was Air Transportation Command's (ATC) East Coast base were all personnel and dependents going to and from Europe by air were shipped in and out of the base. We found ourselves handling a lot of phone patch traffic for these people. In those days the telephone systems were very limited and expensive. Phone patching by ham radio stations was a great service.
As there was only Ed and me to man the station we were kept very busy. I was having a lot of fun handling CW traffic from the Pentagon. I had practiced a lot to improve my receiving and sending ability over the years and could handle traffic at about 35 words per minute. The only problem was that there were very few operators that could do that. Most circuits were operated at about 18 words per minute.
I made a trip to the Pentagon to meet the operators there and to talk to the new U.S. Air Force MARS officer. I also visited the MARS station. It was in the main concourse of building. They didn't spare any expenses when they built it. It was first class. While I was there I met a Tech Sergeant who was their top CW operator. He was a real hot shot. I think before the war he had been an operator for McKay radio. In those days almost all of the civilian radio traffic that was going overseas was done by large communication companies like RCA, McKay, postal, and others that I don't remember the names of. Most of the traffic was done with CW. Being a radio operator and working for one of these companies was considered an elite profession. Being a really good radio operator was highly paid profession.
Most of our traffic to Europe and Newfoundland were on radio-telephone. One day I received an urgent radio call from the MARS station at Harmon Air Force Base in Newfoundland. The operator there said that there was a large flight of C-1 19 cargo type aircraft en route from Westover to Thule base at the northern tip of Greenland. They were to take on fuel at Harmon, but when they arrived Harmon was socked in solid with ground fog. Being unable to land they had to head back for Westover. It seems that only moments after the aircraft had made their turnarounds, the weather cleared. The Harmon tower tried to contact the flight to advise them that the field was now clear, but they were unable to do so. It seems that the flight had switched over to the Westover frequency. I never did find out how someone decided to try the MARS station to contact us. I immediately called the base operations officer and a Colonel came on the line. I told him that I was talking to Harmon and that Harmon wanted the C-119 flight turned around as Harmon was now open. He said "Who are you?" I told him who I was and after a pause he said "Sgt. I don't know you and I have never heard of any MARS station." And then he added "I can't turn a flight of aircraft around based on an unknown source of information." I said "Standby Sir". I then called the operator at Harmon and told him to get his base operations officer on the phone patch. The Harmon operator had the ops officer on the patch in less than 1 minute. The two ops officers knew each other personally and after quick explanation by the Harmon officer the flight was turned around again.
The next morning Ed and I were both at work when a staff car pulled up at the station. A Lieut. Col. got out followed by a Major. I knew the Major. He was a ham who hung around the station on occasions. He was a nice guy. When they entered the building we both were standing at attention. I saluted the officers. After returning our salute the Major introduced us to the Colonel as the Base Operations Officer. After shaking hands the Colonel said "I wanted to see the MARS station and meet you people. I showed him the station and explained what we were doing. He asked to see how we had connected the telephone to our station so he could talk to his friend at Harmon. I showed him the equipment and explained how it was connected. He was very impressed with this. I knew the circuit to Harmon was open, as I had just talked to them, so I asked the Colonel if he knew of anybody else in Harmon that he might like to talk to. He said he did and we set it up, and he talked to a friend he had from his days at West Point.
As they were leaving the station the Colonel said "I would like both of you to know that getting the twelve C-119's turned around, saved the USAF a considerable amount of money and time. The C-119's were loaded with construction material for the radar station at Thule in northern Greenland. Also it permitted the construction people up there to stay on their construction schedule." He was profuse in his thanks. After they left I turned to Ed and said "I think we just earned our pay for the last couple of months and the cost of the building and station." He agreed.
This story is a small fraction of Vic's story of his life which includes hundreds of pages of family history, growing up, learning ham radio, joining the Army just before his 17th birthday, serving in the horse drawn artillery, working his way into communications, schooling and becoming a flight engineer, his World War II services, working with and for MARS, serving in the Panama Canal Zone, serving with the ASAF Mission at Bogota, Columbia where he served as a radio operator, flight engineer, navigator and often took over the wheel, being in SAC Communications and more.
I will continue editing and condensing his stories to share with the MARS community. I hope you enjoyed this small section.
73's Larry Beaver W0AZC. Former W0LSS, AF0LSS, K6MTU, NX6E Note: My call was originally our father's call W0AZC Henry "Hank" with the MARS call of AF9AZC known in SAC Com as "Billy Goat". That's all another story that's coming soon. I can be reached at larryshon1@gmail.com
