307th Bomb Wing History Book Moves Forward

Michael Hill, a LAFB SAC BRAT from 1958 to 1965, is proceeding apace with the planning, research, and writing of the story of the 307th BW during it’s Lincoln lifetime. His dad, Sedge, served with the wing in several areas during that period. His memory of growing up at LAFB and its people is vivid and his objective is that those hectic days of serving with SAC should be preserved for future generations.

Possessing a proven author’s track record, over the last 15 years he has had the honor of having seven books published by Schiffer Publishing of Atglen PA. They are one of the foremost publishers of military history in the United States. The titles include Black Sunday-Ploesti, Peace Was Their Profession and Role Call,Thud. His dad and he also did a history of the 451st Bomb Group called The Fightin 451st. Later came a rewrite of the book for Schiffer Publishing and then a history of the 464th BG in World War 2.

With a background of published books behind him, he knows how much work goes into a project like this. It is not a thing to undertake without a lot of prior planning, research and thought before sitting down at the computer and hitting the keys. He has been in contact with Schiffer Publishing and they are very interested in doing the book if we can come up with enough material.

First we need enough material to fill between 175 and 250 pages. We also need between 200 and 400 photos to illustrate the work. We have the "official" history on Microfilm from Maxwell AFB. This is the Wing history as written from the daily records and reports compiled by the Wing at Lincoln. If you have ever read this kind of material, then you know that by Page 5 you fell asleep. This is where you, the members of the Association come in. In order to make the history readable and interesting your help is needed to put personality on the pages.

Each of you has a lot of memories of those days when you served with the 307th. These memories are what are needed to make the book interesting to read not only for you, but also for future generations.

With the above in mind, here is what is needed to accomplish the mission: stories from the early days at Lincoln; building and training the Wing to combat ready status; memories of Reflex, TDY, deployments, ORIs, daily life on the flightline, training missions, and scary moments on the ground or in the air. When was Jimmy Stewart at Lincoln? We need stories from all aspects of the wing, from flightcrews, crew chiefs, commanders and clerks. Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, what did you do during that near-the-brink moment?

Mike also plans to include a listing of the B-47 and KC-97 tailnumbers and what happened to the aircraft. Crew Chiefs, tell us about your bird. Was she a good plane or a "dog". It doesn't matter if your memory of past events is not earth shattering; if you lived it, then it is part of the History of the 307th and should be put down in the book.

Contact Mike Hill at1405 8th ST SW, Minot ND 58701. Or email Mike at mikendaf@srt.com

Mike Hill
1405 8th St SW
Minot, ND 58701
1-(701) 838-9288
mikendaf@srt.com