Few people who read this have ever heard of Air Force Brigadier General Harry C. Aderholt. He was one of the pioneers in AF Special Operations. He fought and flew combat missions in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. He was my Wing Commander in 1967. I was a lowly airman, a munitions specialist with the 56th Air Commando Wing (later called Special Operations Wing). Col Aderholt would come down to the bomb dump where we would be busy preparing various air munitions for the night's missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. Col Aderholt, dressed in his all black flight suit, would come and chat with us and encourage us. He would even sometimes show us films of our munitions in action on the trail. He made us proud to be Air Commandos and inspired us to do our very best.He wanted us to know that our careful work mattered in the war effort. He encouraged us to volunteer for air missions like flare kickers or gunners. Our airplanes were all propeller planes, like A-26 bombers, A1E Skyraiders, T-28s, O-1 and O-2 Observation planes, C-47s, C-123s, C-130s, and the big Jolly Green Giant helicopters. And most of us did volunteer for those missions. He believed in cross training. He was the most inspiring combat leader I ever met. He was still flying combat missions at age 47 or 48.

Harry died on Thursday, May 20, 2010 at the age of 90. I salute him. He made me proud to be in AF Special Operations. In a strange coincidence, on that same day I learned that my daughter is being assigned to an AF Special Operations unit overseas. The tradition continues.