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  • Robert Freese, center, tells James Bement the story behind the etchings in his canteen cup. During World War II, Mr. Freese etched the names of all the places he saw during his combat tour. Mr. Bement recently wrote a book from the perspective of the 93-year-old veteran and his wife, Leona, drawing on their wartime correspondence.(Air Force photo by Howdy Stout)

    A story untold: Tinker man’s passion for history leads him to write about World War II survivor, battle

    Everybody has a story to tell. But James Bement, senior intelligence officer for the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, didn't think he would be the one telling it.Mr. Bement's book, "Baseball, Battle and a Bride (An Okie in World War II)," tells the story of Robert Freese, an Oklahoma City native drafted a month after Pearl Harbor and seeing

  • Draftee sent straight into ground assault against Japanese in New Guinea

    Bob Freese entered the U.S. Army as a draftee in January 1942, little more than a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor precipitated the U.S. entry into World War II. A well-known amateur ball player, the Oklahoma native reported for duty at Fort Sill near Lawton before being shipped to Camp Roberts, in California.Half-trained, he and other recent
  • Heywood Martin and his award-winning model display of a KC-135 undergoing programmed depot maintenance. Mr. Martin works on the full-sized aircraft at Tinker. (Air Force photo by Margo Wright)

    Model citizen: Tinker man turns work into play with model aircraft hobby

    Heyward "Marty" Martin's days are spent working on aircraft. He does it all day long. And when he gets home, the work continues.On model aircraft, that is."I enjoy it," says Mr. Martin, an aircraft mechanic with the 564th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. "It's relaxing. This is my sanity."Mr. Martin rigs the control cables on the KC-135 tanker
  • Boxer Will Gilbert hones his technique on a punching bag at the new Tinker All Services Boxing Team workout facilities Jan. 6. The Fitness Center West now houses the team’s new amenities, which include a full-size ring, punching bags and sport-specific training equipment. The elite facility opened Dec. 17 and also includes new cardio and resistance-training equipment available to all Airmen. (Air Force photo by John Stuart)

    Tinker fighters suit up in new boxing facility

    Not everybody got what he wanted for Christmas. But for Coach Lavell Sims and the Tinker All Services Boxing Team, the present they received is just what they hoped for and more. In May 2009, Sims made a special list and has been checking it twice ever since. The purpose of this list? To tell his superiors exactly what equipment the boxing team
  • Father Manuel Magallanes consecrates the host and wine during the Immaculate Conception Mass celebrated Dec. 8. The Catholic priest is one of two auxiliary priests who, along with the base chaplains, are part of an active Tinker Base Chapel ministry that strives to meet the spiritual needs of military and civilians on base. In addition to holding Protestant and Catholic services and connecting people of different faiths with community-based worship services, chaplains also regularly visit the Airmen in their work areas and are familiar faces at base events, offering invocations.(Air Force photo by Margo Wright)

    Serving the spirit

    Parishioners put the finishing touch on the base chapel last week in anticipation of additional services during the Christmas holidays.Like many this holiday season, the chaplains and the chapel staff will be busy. Both Protestant and Catholic services are scheduled, including Midnight Mass and Candlelight Services on Christmas Eve. "The Christmas
  • The furniture section of the thrift shop carries anything not clothes related, from kids’ toys and yard tools to furniture, dishes and knick-knacks. The separate clothing area and a sales/consignment area complete the shop, open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and located on Arnold Street between the base theater and the Gerrity Fitness and Sports Center. (Air Force photo by Margo Wright)

    Tinker shop provides deals, charity donations

    A couple of dollars buys a budding golfer a club and a bag of golf balls. A boy waits impatiently to try on a pair of Spiderman shoes. And a woman carefully cradles a glass bowl in her hands like a sacred treasure. "My mother used to have a sugar bowl just like this," says the cashier, admiringly. Sugar bowls and Spiderman are just a few of the
  • Senior Airman Luke Pagan, 72nd Security Forces Squadron, is a pro at finding quiet places, like the base library, to put in some study time as he pursues his doctorate degree. (Air Force photo by Margo Wright )

    Airman works toward doctorate

    They don't call him Doctor Airman. At least, not yet. "I'm the college kid," says Senior Airman Luke Pagan, a desk sergeant for the 72nd Security Forces Squadron. "That's how they know me around here." Although Airmen with college degrees are not uncommon, an enlisted Airman with a master's degree working toward a doctorate is. Just over 5 percent
  • Tech. Sgt. Avri McKnight runs rapid flu tests in a hooded environment that uses forced air to keep airborne particles in the testing environment, protecting the Microbiology technician. (Air Force photo by Margo Wright)

    Test by the best

    It could be said the 72nd Medical Support Squadron's clinical laboratory is the backbone of the 72nd Medical Group. After all, the laboratory staff enables the medical group to breathe life into the motto, "Best Care Anywhere." Located on the first floor of Bldg. 5801, the lab staff draws blood, collects specimens and processes the samples. The 14

  • Lady Hawks take to the skies

    If he quit cold turkey I think he might die. Like the simple need for food or for oxygen, this man requires his sports fix to keep it all together. And while I'll steer away from saying he's outright addicted to the activity, it's apparent he could never give it up. But thankfully -- for all parties -- nobody is asking him to do that. So now, nine
  • Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Kinlaw and Staff Sgt. Cody Danker use a K-12 saw to remove wing attach point from a destroyed B-1 aircraft in Southwest Asia. (Courtesy photo)

    Battle repair for the air

    The 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group's Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight is there just in case of aircraft battle damage repair emergency. When the 22 Airmen who make up the flight receive a call about a damaged aircraft, they're on top of it, thinking outside the box, ensuring that aircraft will make one more flight. Together since the 654th
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