-
Recent Posts
- May 1973 First F-4 Combat Mission over Cambodia May 17, 2023
- Jungle Survival – A Piece of Cake May 2, 2023
- Leaving Luke For Southeast Asia 1973 March 28, 2023
- The POWs come Home and we welcome one January 24, 2023
- Greeting the Future in Times Square December 29, 2022
Subjects
-
Join 143 other subscribers
Copyright notice- An American Family, 2013- 2023
© John Norvell
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to John Norvell and an American Family with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Category Archives: Family History
Homestead or Don’t Drown
In August 1972, immediately after basic survival my wife Bonnie and I were married. We then went on our honeymoon. She went to Arizona – my assignment and been changed to Luke AFB, outside Phoenix, and I… Well I … Continue reading
At Fairchild 1972
After my graduation from navigator training in July 1972, I went almost immediately to basic survival training. When I got the F-4 aircraft assignment, I knew that this virtually ensured that I would find myself in combat soon. To … Continue reading
Posted in Air Force, American History, Combat, F-4 Phantom II, F4 emergency, F4 PhantomII, Family History, Fighter Aircraft, Fighter pilot lingo, Fighter pilot slang, Luke AFB, Mather AFB, Navigator, Navigator Training, POW training, SEA, Vietnam War
Tagged Fairchild AFB, Pow camp exoeriences, Survival training, Trek
13 Comments
The View from the Pit
Unlike Undergraduate Navigator Training –UNT, the F-4 backseat AKA “The Pit” was a very different world. At nav school, I sat at a table in a classroom, “flew” our practice mission, and did my computations. In the F-4 Sim, I … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, Air Force, Alaska, American History, Arizona, F-4 Phantom II, F4 Phantom II, F4 PhantomII, Family History, Luke AFB, Navigator, SEA, Vietnam War
Tagged F-training, The Pit
5 Comments
Little Orphan Annie and the end of the Air War in SEA August 1973
Lest we forget: F-4 Phantom II—445 total lost in the SEA Air War, 382 in combat more than any other fixed wing aircraft First combat loss F-4C 64-0685 (45th TFS, 15th TFW) shot down Ta Chan, NW NVN on 20 June 1965. Final … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, Air Force, American History, Cambodia bombing 1973, Combat, F-4 Phantom II, F4 emergency, F4 Phantom II, F4 PhantomII, Family History, Fighter Aircraft, Military history, Norvell Family History, SEA, U Dorn RTAFB, Udorn RTAFB, Veterans, Vietnam War
Tagged Air War SEA, air war vietnam, Cambodia, Cambodia Bombing, Letters home SEA, Recollections of combat, Vietnam memories
2 Comments
Every year Santa came until 2015
Since 1971, Santa Claus has come to my house. That was the first year that a 12 inch-tall standup Christmas card of Santa, holding a pipe with a heart applique in the billowing smoke, arrived in the mail. It … Continue reading
Speech Given at the First Annual Veterans Dinner at Finger Lakes Community College
Remarks by Lt Col John E. Norvell (USAF Ret.) November 10, 2017 President Nye, Dr. Pierce, ladies and gentleman and members of the College community, thank you for inviting me to speak tonight. As a former history professor I routinely … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, 43 TFS, Air Force, American History, Bolling AFB, F-4 Phantom II, F4 Phantom II, F4 PhantomII, Family History, Fighter Aircraft, Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, New York State History, Norvell Family History, Ontario Co, Thailand, U Dorn RTAFB, Udorn RTAFB, Veterans, Vietnam War
Tagged Bolling AFB, Cambodia Bombing
6 Comments
A Mystery Solved
My father never knew what happened to his brother Hamilton Redfield Norvell Jr, — shown below in one of his only photos. Perhaps not on the scale of what ever happened to Amelia Earhart, but in our family in many … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Buffalo, Family History
Tagged Genealogy, Missing persons, WWI and WWII records
7 Comments
Of Fireworks and other things
There is no way around it. The 4th of July makes me think of fireworks. When we were small there were always fireworks in Fair Haven, a town located on Lake Ontario about 8 miles away. We lived on the … Continue reading
Grandpa’s Home Repairs
My grandfather was a remarkable man. But he almost met his match and burned down the house when he decided to wire it himself in the 1930s. I defer to his own words on this: “When I bought the … Continue reading
Posted in Family History
Tagged Electrification in the 1930s, Home rep, Home repairs, Rural life
Leave a comment
An American Family 