USO Canteen FReeper Style....FReeper FRiday.... July 12,2002

Larry Johnson , AntiJen , Cotelanche and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

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The USO Canteen Honors FReepers
who have served, or are now serving their country.

Today's Honoree

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You may have a loved one who has served in the past.
We at the FReeper USO Canteen would like to honor each and every one.

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Welcome to the USO Canteen FReeper Style

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Message from Snow Bunny to all those who visit the Canteen.

This is how I think of the USO Canteen Freeper Style.
It is like a cottage down a road,
a place where a weary veteran can spend the night.

Since it opened, it is magical how so many
Freepers who post here, feel it too.
It has been so dear how the Freepers
kept making it a cottage - a home-type of place
that had a huge living room
for them to visit in and a dance floor, a library, etc.

Many Veterans have written to me,
saying that the Canteen is like home
to them for the first time since they served.

This is your Canteen -
a respite from our busy
and sometimes troubling world.
Make yourself at home...............................................................................................................................................................................

In 1998 Larry Johnson became a FReeper.

He retired to Maine in 1996 to be near his grandkids. Jay is on his back in the first picture.

It was Maine where he first heard Rush and Mary Matalin and got on WebTV to view Drudge, whom he thinks led him to Free Republic.

The road to Maine is etched on his t-shirt, LAAFB. For Larry is a retired USAF Officer, who served 22 years, 13 active in Los Angeles and another 14 under contract to the AF space agencies based there.

"I spent WWII in Baltimore, in uniform whenever I could get one. The sailor suit picture is my favorite.

But as you can see from the picture me with my older brother Carl and our Dad, we were given Army things.

At the rail yard, we raided freight cars for helmets and belts and shell casings."

The picture of Larry and Carl in AF blue was when Larry was at Gettysburg College. In the next picture he and fellow senior ROTC cadets are appointed Distinguished Graduates.

After a year's AF assignment at NYU graduate school, Larry and his college sweetheart, Darby, were married.

The couple posed with his mom and dad who performed the ceremony.

The next 10 years Larry was a weather officer, forecasting for global SAC and recon missions using the new satellites that tracked his career.

He returned to graduate school at the University of Michigan.

"I went to LA to be the staff weather officer to the classified space programs, now credited to the National Recon Organization (NRO).

They needed support for launch of course, but on orbit weather and recovery weather scouted by weather satellites was my specialty. The launch experience was very valuable to my later career. The Manned Orbiting Laboratory was a fun program since we had our own military astronauts. When that program fell to the VietNam budget, those guys, test pilots all who flew into LAAFB, did very well, many flying the Shuttle."

Larry volunteered to go to Vietnam to run a classified weather satellite site at Tan Son Nhut.
The picture is of Site VI and the group picture shows those site troops who are not on shift. These are mostly electronic techs trained for this job at Keesler AFB.

Larry says he grew a mustache to look older as a supervisor. And he is the one wearing California sandals.

In Vietnam the weather satellite data was real time sent down to 7th AF HQ where it was briefed for the day's sorties.

"Two other favorite pastimes were frequent trips to the post office where I am standing in this picture and on my day off to find quiet places in Saigon like the Continental Palace beer garden where I sit in this picture".

This was Larry's last job as a weather officer.

He then returned to LAAFB.

"My first job as an engineer was in the Titan Launch vehicle program in the same building where MOL had been.
NASA was buying Titans for their interplanetary missions. I was to make NASA happy (see picture of me and the Viking and launch vehicle directors) and to manage the launch facilities changes and Titan engineering to integrate NASA's Centaur upper stage.
At the same time I was helping the Air Force Public Affairs remind the public that the Titan and the Launch pad were Air Force contributions.
The success of the Viking missions stands out as one of them landed on Mars on THE FOURTH OF JULY 1976 !"

Larry says his family saw him a little more when he was in the space launch business than when he was in Vietnam.

There were social things that wives just love as in this picture of Larry and Darby in formal gear (always white in LA).

But Larry traveled to Cape Canaveral AFS which NASA kept calling Kennedy, hundreds of times. Larry stayed in LA so long that both of his kids went K-12 in Manhattan Beach schools.

After Titan he had a Vandenberg AFB Shuttle launch pad planning job and was a safety standard officer for satellite tracking stations.

"My last assignments in the USAF were as both engineering and operations directors of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP).
This was the program that first launched when I started supporting global weather forecasts."

The last official picture of Larry is the only one he didn't shave for because he was retiring. Then he tells me he shaved off the mustache, this time to look younger to get a civilian job.

I worked as a contractor for 14 years consulting to the Air Force on integration of military payloads on launch vehicles.

The best part of the job was reporting to younger Air Force men and women who were dedicated to making every launch a success because the Warriors are now getting many more of the space payload products directly"

[MistyCA]

Hi Bunny! So glad to hear you are safe and on your way to Portland! I am so anxious to hear what you have to say about Oregon! I am so sure you will love it! We miss you! :)))

[MistyCA]

I am so glad to see Larry honored today! That sure is an interesting and wonderful life history Bunny posted on your behalf! Thank you for your service, and thank you for hanging out with us here at the Canteen!!! :)))

[DoughtyOne]

Good morning Miss Bunny.

Congratulations Larry Johnson. All the best bud! Thanks for your service to our nation.

[MistyCA]

Good morning, Meek! Hope you have a great day today! :)))

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Thanks Gulf"

Since I spelled my name wrong when I registered and because it is so long people call me Tonkin.

[For_God_and_Country]

Ok...Thanks Tonkin...LOL

[MistyCA]

Welcome to the Canteen! It's great to have you here! Make yourself at home amongst the best people on all of FR! :)

[MistyCA]

I am exhausted! I have one more post to make and I am off to bed! See you tomorrow, Tonk! Thanks for being patient with me on the other thing.....I can't do much with it until I get this other stuff out of the way :(

[MistyCA]

You have been such a great support to all of us! I would like you to have this little something that I made for you... Hope you like it! :)))

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

I added you to my ping list so you'll get notified of each new thread.
The USO Canteen is a place we all call home.
Welcome Home!

[BringingUpPatriots]

And a brilliant idea, at that! Thank you SnowBunny and Jim Robinson! I do my best to spread the word every chance I get.

We got to Las Vegas April 1, 1999 after a dust storm and a snowstorm within 24 hours of each other. Renovations at the TLF made our reservation worthless. Other things happened too but I won't go into it...but we DO laugh about it. I knew there would be adventure to follow after I married my military husband 17 years ago. I'll say it again, he sure looks cute in his flight suit!

[BringingUpPatriots]

Hey there, Snow Bunny!
Yes, I am back...and in the words of Captain Kirk,
"but, for how long?" It only seems I left Earth.

Hey, I know YOU'LL understand what it means to live near Area 51. :)

My friend just came back from Portland recently and she LOVED it! Have a great time!

BUPPY

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Bunny.

[Aeronaut]

For anyone who loves our flag, I highly recommend a visit to this link. It takes about 5 minutes to see the whole thing. Trust me, it is time well spent.

[larryjohnson]

Tonk,I return your Salute! Too hard to describe but I learned a different salute from the VMI cadets who were at AFROTC summer camp. I figured if they chose AF, I would copy their style over what I had been taught. I was commissioned that summer at Lockbourne AFB,OH. Snowbunny, You did a nice job with this,thanks to you and to you Jen for scanning,scanning.scanning...

[larryjohnson]

Welcome! I am thrilled to have one of New York's hero's join us here. On my day as a FRiday Freeper,I feel humbled. I lived in NYC while in college and my family was there when I was in VietNam. Thanks for your Brothers' protection.

[larryjohnson]

Good mornin from Maine.I had mor pictures of me in uniform but I had a drink in my hand in most. I am grateful to the Nation and the USAF for allowing me to serve.

[MeekOneGOP]

Good Morning All,
Thank you to whomever started this canteen!! While I was a lurker here for almost two years before registering, I always checked out these posts. Thanks again from a grateful Army vet.........

That would be Snow Bunny, our fine USO Canteen Hostess!

[MeekOneGOP]

You have a lovely day too, sweetie!